Setting the record straight in terms of how the government's proposed retirement reforms will affect you. Over the last few weeks vested interests have tried to create fear and confusion around the proposed retirement reform. Between unions flexing...
Razeen Dinath, senior analyst at Momentum Asset Management, looks at whether value investing is a good investment strategy at the moment, given market conditions. Value investing has not worked well over the last five years. This is a long period...
Who should act as trustee for a family trust? A family member, a professional independent trustee, or both? This is one of the biggest decisions to be made in estate planning – and it’s a decision which can have massive consequences for the heirs...
For most South Africans, their domestic worker is part of the family. As such and as a responsible employer, you should consider providing additional benefits similar to those that an employee in any other working environment would enjoy – for...
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...
With tax filing season upon us, the annual tax-related cyber-fraud feeding frenzy has begun, warns Jonas Thulin, Security Consultant at Fortinet. "The Receiver of Revenue, financial institutions and security firms have been issuing the same...
By Oliver Charles Phipps, FISA member and Solicitor in England with Lester Aldridge It is quite common for an individual in South Africa to own a bank account which is registered in the British Isles. This may be because he or she originated from...
When Chantal Ogle returned to work after the December holiday and was told that the IT company she works for was no longer considered part of the holding company’s “core business”, she was taken by surprise. However, she soon realised that she...
Patrick Barker, Private Client Portfolio Manager at Cannon Asset Managers, identifies what he believes may be the biggest hindering factors in investment planning. Investors need to think in terms of taking responsibility for their investments,...
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...
Every parent would like to be able to leave a family legacy to help their offspring get an advantage in life and have a greater chance of creating real wealth in the family. Leaving an inheritance is one of the main goals identified by retirees when it comes to...
According to World Wide Worx, which monitors the local e-commerce landscape on an annual basis, in conjunction with MasterCard, online shopping has stayed in line with forecasts over the past few years – slightly surpassing last year’s expectations. A report by the...
A recent survey in the UK found that young adults are increasingly relying on their parents to help them pay for a deposit for their first home. The survey conducted by mortgage lender Halifax found that the majority of parents believed they would have to help their...
If you are 45 or younger, forget retirement. Immortality may be within reach in the next 40 years – or at the very least we will all be living a lot longer than we are now. Viresh Maharaj from Sanlam Employment Benefits says that scientists are working on ways to...
An hour before interviewing Carl Richards, author of The Behavior Gap, my husband and I had just had one of those money arguments that all couples invariably have, so as I shook Carl’s hand I blurted out “how do you speak to your partner about money?” It turned out to...
I recently undertook an exercise to see how much my monthly bills had gone up over the last few years and was shocked to discover that our household was spending nearly double on groceries than we had four years ago. At first I was in denial – I thought I had simply...
Last weekend, I spent my time searching for elusive pieces of paper and trawling my inbox for financial statements. It was a partly frustrating, partly liberating experience as the aim was to get all our family’s financial paperwork together so our financial planner...
You’ve employed the same domestic worker for the last 10 years but now, due to a change in your financial circumstances, you need to either end her contract or reduce her working hours. If you don’t follow the correct procedures, you could find yourself in front of...
When Jurie Pohl discovered that fraudulent debit orders amounting to R12 000 had been deducted from his bank account over five years, he became the latest victim of a financial crime where syndicates are deliberately using the debit order system to commit fraud....
As banks become tighter about who they lend to, with preference going to their own client base, could banking with Capitec hurt your home loan application? This was a question posed by Akhona who has banked with Capitec for a long time. “I have been told that this...