If you have taken out a mortgage recently you would have noticed on your statement that the interest charged each month is nearly equal to your monthly repayments. In the first few years of your mortgage repayment, interest makes up a very large...
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A budget makes you spend less
My husband and I keep a household budget and have done so ever since 2004 when our finances went pear-shaped. It was only by creating a budget and learning to live within our means that we were able to survive when we hit financial Armageddon. Both...
Why the SARB should keep on nudging rates up
By John Loos, FNB Household and Property Sector Strategist There is little current pressure on the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hike interest rates this week, at least from a current inflation point of view....
Buying a home: understand your running costs
Episode 9 of the Change in your Pocket series focuses on the running costs associated with home-ownership. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx_jjJ5SutM – Video supplied by BrightRock Welcome to The Change Exchange where we are discussing the ins,...
How much tax will I pay on my investment?
Dihemo asks: I have R50 000 I want to invest but I want to understand how tax works on investments. Maya replies: Tax is an important part of investing. There are three taxes that are deducted when you invest. Income tax on interest Any interest...
Turning a 21st birthday into a legacy
Johanna writes: My daughter is turning 21 and she has asked that instead of organising a party for her she would love to invest the money for herself. What is the best investment to consider as currently we have unit trusts and a share account with...
Trading requires time, not expensive training
You don’t have to spend a fortune to become a trader, but you do need to spend time. When asked about his biggest financial mistake, Money Makeover candidate Dipolelo admitted that taking out a loan to buy software that claimed to teach him to...
Buying a home: understand your transaction costs
In episode 8 of the Change in your Pocket series, we continue the discussion around financing your own home by unpacking the transaction costs involved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqixEBSgOxA – Video supplied by BrightRock Welcome to The...
Should quality company growth be highly valued in today’s abnormal cycle?
by Clyde Rossouw, Portfolio Manager, Investec Asset Management Good businesses are more expensive than they have been in the past, but ironically far more valuable in today’s world. The reason for this is simple. In a world bereft of growth...
Should you cash in your pension to pay off debt?
I was recently asked by a young woman if it would make sense for her to cash in her pension, settle her debts and start all over again. It sounds like a good idea: on the one hand you have debt with interest as high as 25% per annum and on the...
Previous Articles
Financing your home
In a volatile interest-rate environment, it's important to keep your mortgage repayments stable. Episode 7 of our Change in your Pocket series looks at the financing of your home. https://youtu.be/QVhtGI_Zhcw – Video supplied by BrightRock Welcome to The Change...
Is the credit bubble just changing shape?
While personal loans and credit cards have peaked, payday loans grow by 150% writes Absa Asset Management’s Cornette van Zyl. When recently presenting on the SA Banks, it dawned on me - the industry as a whole, and the consumer in general, came out of our recent...
Should you fix your mortgage?
As interest rates increase, many homeowners are starting to feel the squeeze on their monthly mortgage repayments and are understandably wondering whether or not to fix their mortgage repayments to provide more certainty around what their repayments will be in the...
Emergency fund: your defence against financial slaughter
Debt is the only option if you don’t have an emergency fund. I have just had one of those months where I’m wondering which of my ancestors or gods I’ve offended. You know those months were anything and everything seems to go wrong and all of it involves spending money...
The true cost of debt
In this episode of Change in your Pocket, we expose the hidden costs that you incur when taking on debt. https://youtu.be/xo63SxHBCwU – Video supplied by BrightRock Welcome to The Change Exchange, where we are helping you find ways to make the most of out of your...
Will you be paying more tax next year?
Seven things worth knowing from the medium term budget policy statement. Despite student protests outside parliament, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene released the medium term budget policy statement. Here are some points worth highlighting: Not unexpectedly, there is a...
What your credit report says about you
Make sure you know more about your credit report than your creditors do. Mosala wrote to me when she discovered that she had been ‘blacklisted’. She had lost her job and fallen behind on some payments, and wanted to find out out who had blacklisted her. Salem Dyafta,...
Saving for retirement
In Episode 5 of Change in your Pocket, we look at the various options available when it comes to saving money for your retirement. https://youtu.be/UIyKKLfYcyo – Video supplied by BrightRock Welcome to The Change Exchange, where we are helping you find ways to make...
Equities: hitting a Chinese wall
Before raising the white flag, it is worth pointing out that the global economy survived a worse scenario four years ago, writes Patrice Rassou, head of Equities at Sanlam Investments. A last-ditch volte-face agreement by Greece to EU austerity measures and...
Time to stress test your finances
Many households are already seeing the impact of rising interest rates on their budgets. With interest rates increasing 100 basis points over the last three years, the prime lending interest rate has risen from 8.5% to 9.5% since 2012. To put that into perspective,...