How do we prepare our children, and our finances, for the fourth industrial revolution? I was chatting to a couple of financial planners about how clients save for their children’s tertiary education. It was no surprise to discover that most people...
Discovery Life has launched a Global Education Protector policy which could help fund your children’s education costs. Education is expensive. Currently, average tuition fees across public primary schools sits at around R20,000 per annum while the...
In late August I attended the Allan Gray Investment Summit which brought together a range of investment professionals. Most of the day was dedicated to experts discussing investment strategies and their top share picks. But it was the final speaker...
By Kezia Talbot, Legal Advisor and Remay de Kock, Legal Adviser at BDO SA. It is officially National Wills Week. Wills can get quite tricky – there are several common mistakes that are made when drafting a Will that can have a serious impact on...
Finding a balance between market returns and a guaranteed income in retirement When you retire from a pension fund or a retirement annuity fund, you are only allowed to take one-third of the value of your fund in cash; the remaining two-thirds must...
Women remain financially vulnerable, and it’s time we did something about it. I was reading recently that women are tired of being spoken to differently about finances – treated as if they are different from men. This is an important point. There...
Marilyn Monroe, Marla Maples, Michelle McGee, and Kristen Stewart – all successful women in their own right, with one controversial commonality – they were mistresses to married men. The term ‘mistress’ is an inflammatory one – a name as...
If you want to draw down on the equity built up in your property, you may be in for a nasty surprise. Paragon Lending Solutions recently issued a press release warning investors and small business owners that if they try and access additional...
Most parents want their children to be financially secure and to live better lives than they were able to ‒ lives without financial stress. Parents also want to be able to leave their children a financial legacy that will provide for...
In recent weeks, investors have been on a President Zuma-fuelled rollercoaster ride as market valuations and currencies reacted to the political and economic fallout of the Cabinet reshuffle. Everyone is trying to figure out what this means for the...
A new travel site allows you to pay for the holiday of your dreams without going into debt. Last year I took issue with a new travel company that offered customers the ‘opportunity’ to borrow money to fund the holiday of their dreams. I argued that the product that...
How much will you pay for advice once RDR comes into effect? It’s not too soon to engage your financial planner in a conversation about how much you will be charged for financial advice and for product-specific advice, says Jacques Coetzer, general manager of Broker...
When buying an investment property, you need to do your homework carefully to avoid your property becoming a financial ball and chain. While astute investors can make money, property has significant holding costs and is not as liquid as other investments. For anyone...
While we are getting our debts under control, we are not investing in wealth-creating assets. The recently released South African Household Wealth Index for the third quarter of 2016 identified some interesting trends around household wealth accumulation. The findings...
By Paul Leonard, CFP®, Regional Head, Citadel It is often said that there are no right or wrong investments but rather appropriate and inappropriate investments. Much has been written about tax-free savings and investment accounts (TFSAs) and there was considerable...
As motherhood and entrepreneurship are becoming more and more synonymous, many momtrepreneurs are learning that it’s entirely possible to take critical time off to care for a new member of the family while still maintaining a healthy business. All it takes is a little...
You really want to invest in the stock market but you don’t have enough money each month to buy expensive shares. Fractional investing is a cheap and easy way to invest at lower costs. After fielding numerous calls from listeners on Gareth Cliff’s CliffCentral show,...
By Sihle Lukhele, Institutional Investor Relationship Manager at Foord Asset Management. Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, defined an investment operation as “one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return.”...
This week I was chatting to my independent financial adviser who told me that the majority of the claims he handles these days relate to critical illness. He says the claims for serious illnesses like cancer and heart attacks have escalated among his clients in their...
By David Crossley, CFP® BDO Wealth Advisers You have received your first payslip, online or in an envelope from your finance department. You open it up and realise you have no clue what’s going on. It could be your first payslip, or maybe you’ve been working for some...