Using your child’s tax-free savings account is not necessarily the best vehicle for their education fund. Since the launch of the tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs) there have been suggestions that this would be an ideal way to save for your child’s...
I was fortunate growing up to have a really great mom. She was the kind of person one thinks of when you say “mother”. She was a really involved parent – she made the pom-poms for sports day, sewed pretty dresses for me, came to all the...
What is it about money that makes it so difficult to discuss with our children? While many taboos around discussing sex, drugs and politics have broken down, for some reason money remains a topic that many parents feel uncomfortable talking about....
Even if you have a natural saver on your hands, you still need to teach your child about budgeting and investing, as well as how to shop mindfully by comparing prices and understanding the value of what they are buying. Whenever I meet people whose...
When selecting a bank account for your child, first consider what they will be using it for and then look for one with the best pricing structure. A young child who is mostly saving will want an account with a high interest rate, while an older...
If you have an existing savings club with a group of friends that you want to take to a new level, creating an investment club to build wealth is a great strategy. Twelve years ago the Ya Rona club transformed itself from an informal savings club,...
A study into what drives people’s decision-making discovered that people with a particular gene variant appear to make better financial decisions. A paper entitled Born to Spend? How nature and nurture impact spending and borrowing habits,...
Think differently about what makes a great Mom The truest thing ever said about becoming a parent was by author Elizabeth Stone who said deciding to have a child was to “decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." Most...
“What to expect when you’re expecting”, the latest American blockbuster that was released in South Africa in June this year, put the spotlight on the journey by parents-to-be as they prepare to become parents for the first time. This is both an...
Bidvest Bank’s offering is perfect both for the young and old. Grandparents often want to open a bank account for their grandchildren to encourage them to save. The problem with many existing products is that there is always a monthly bank fee that...
At the moment estate agents are calling this a buyers’ market as property prices have come off their highs and interest rates are at historic lows. However many young first-time buyers are not able to take advantage of favourable market conditions due to the fact that...
How a 22 year old accumulated R360 000 through saving and investing. A wise man once said that thrift is a form of income. What he meant was that it is what you do not spend rather than what you earn that will determine your wealth. Twenty-two year old Rob, who...
What we can learn from our parents who survived the inflation beast of the 1980’s There is no doubt that our day to day living expenses are becoming increasingly more expensive as necessities like electricity, travel and food take a bigger bite out of our salary each...
I was recently relating a story to a friend about a conversation I had with my two boys aged 7 and 11 where they had grilled me on financial matters. They wanted to know if we owed money on our house and if our cars were paid off. They wanted to know what taxes were...
South Africa is one of Africa's richest nations and we are seeing an increase in wealthy families. These families generally have one aim in mind – to grow wealth and, where possible, pass it on to future generations. Leaving a legacy is something we'd all like to do...
Bank account: All the banks offer account for children but it depends what you are trying to achieve. If you want to give your teenager a bank account to teach them how to manage their money, these accounts are good options. Alternatively open an account with Capitec...
Earlier this week I was interviewed on radio about savings accounts for children. I related a story about the savings account I opened for my son -- a story I have written many times. For the last eight years I have invested R200 a month into Satrix 40, the latest...