While many professional women earn impressive salaries and contribute towards corporate pension requirements, Citadel Advisory Partner Kirsten Smit says that it's important to build wealth outside your job. Many women believe they can only become...
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What to do when you fall behind on repayments
Lindi wrote to me looking for advice regarding her car repayments. She had fallen behind on her repayments to BMW Finance as her business was in financial difficulty. She wanted to find out if she could hand back the car to the financial...
The best gift my mother ever gave me
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...
Is ‘affluenza’ threatening the survival of your business?
By Andrew Ratcliffe, Director of Private Client Holdings, a family office that specializes in generational wealth management. Family businesses constitute the world’s oldest and most dominant form of business organisations. In fact, according to a...
Am I obliged to leave my estate to my family?
By David Knott of Private Client Trust, the fiduciary services division of Private Client Holdings, and a member of the Fiduciary Institute of South Africa In many countries around the world there are forced heirship laws in place which have...
The case for offshore still remains compelling
By Lourens Coetzee, an Investment Professional at Marriott Demanding equity valuations and a subdued outlook for growth in South Africa suggest investors may need to increase their offshore exposure to ensure an acceptable investment outcome....
Why a marriage contract saves you tax
A marriage contract is not just about divorce; it defines what happens to your finances while you are married. Not formalising your relationship could cost you more than you realise. When Melanie and John decided to get married after living...
Do household savings really impact SA’s economic growth?
According to the National Development Plan (NDP), the South African economy needs to grow by 5.4% or more to create enough jobs to redress inequality and resolve the country's stubbornly high unemployment rate. In order to reach and sustain this...
Paying for someone else’s mistake
If someone jumps a stop street and crashes into you, you could find yourself liable for damages. When Chantal’s car was written off by a driver who jumped a stop street she was confident that the driver’s insurance would cover the full damages to...
Investigate your body corporate
Buying into a sectional title scheme requires more than understanding just your own finances. You’re ready to buy your first home, you’ve saved up the deposit, got financing approval and done your homework on the area where you want to live. The...
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Santam launches new safety app
Between 1 December 2014 and 5 January this year, there were 1 118 fatal road accidents recorded, resulting in 1 368 fatalities. Such frightening statistics have prompted short-term insurer Santam to develop an app which is designed to help your friends and family make...
How to cut your fuel bill
The fuel price increase on 1 April was unfortunately no April Fool’s joke. Motorists are now paying an extra R1.62 per litre of petrol, which means that if you fill up your 50-litre tank twice a month, you're now spending an additional R160 per month on fuel. It is...
The high cost of death
Why death is killing us financially “Around 85% of people’s debt problems start with a death in the family,” says debt counsellor Deborah Solomon. Despite a relatively high penetration of funeral policies, Solomon says the cost of death in families is plunging many...
Should you use tax-free savings accounts for retirement?
South Africans are now able to invest up to R30 000 a year in tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs). The aim of these savings accounts is to encourage South Africans to save for medium-term goals and emergency funding, reducing our reliance on debt and the temptation to...
Bull market poised to turn bearish
Insight on dealing with a bear market from award-winning active asset manager Rob Spanjaard, of Rezco Asset Management. The bull market has been going for over six years and investment managers now need to moderate their risk in anticipation of a potential bear market...
The meaning of money
Money can fulfill us or just fill our homes. Recently, as the fires raged in the mountains above our home in Hout Bay, I had that moment of complete clarity about the meaning of money, relationships and what really matters in my life. When we received the message that...
The high cost of insuring your loan
Despite an investigation into the rates charged by credit providers for insurance, borrowers are still paying high rates for their credit insurance. If you were stuck for cash and needed to borrow R5 000 which you would pay back over just four months, how much do you...
Invest for income
By Simon Pearce, CEO Marriott Asset Management Saving is rather like trying to lose weight: it takes effort and willpower, and is entirely up to you. People often ask me how much of their annual income they should save. I tell them that 30% will see them through those...
Fraudsters target ATMs
ATM card swopping leaves bank customers with little recourse when funds are stolen from their bank account. Sidwell contacted me after money had been taken from his bank account. His bank refused to refund him after his card had been swallowed while drawing money from...
Five steps to sustainably grow your wealth
Middle and upper-class South Africans are earning more than enough to afford comfortable lifestyles, but they need to come to terms with the trade-offs required to ensure that their lifestyles are sustainable well into a long retirement. Andrew Bradley, chief...