A small business owner learns the importance of knowing his break-even point Nico Jano runs a waste management business in Pofadder in the Northern Cape which in his words is “making some money”. He is now in a position where he needs to start...
You are Here >
Home > Financial Sense >
Putting words into practice
Putting a personal financial plan into action After writing my review on the South African version of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, I received an email from a reader who shared his experience of getting his finances in order after reading the...
Limit your financial risks by protecting your cellphone
Contract customers in particular need to be extra vigilant about protecting their phone especially in light of new fraud syndicates that use your SIM to call international premium-rated numbers and clock up R2 800 an hour on your phone bill. The...
Risky Business: SA Bond market poses more investment risk than you think
With developed-world bond yields currently looking unattractive, emerging market bonds are increasingly more in demand from foreign investors. However investors should be aware that the bond market is not as low risk as it might once have been....
Cellphone companies need to re-examine their policies around fraud
A new form of crime around stolen SIM cards can cost a customer up to R2 800 an hour, but some cellphone companies don't seem to care. At around 5.30pm one evening Jenny Hibbert’s cellphone was stolen from her handbag at a restaurant. Only noticing...
What you need to know before turning 40
What most 40 year-olds discover is that the choices they made ten years ago are now limiting their options when it comes to retirement, risk and medical cover. When you are in your 20s, it is hard to imagine what it would be like to be 60 years...
Get a Total Money Makeover
How the experience of editing the Total Money Makeover changed the way I view my finances Having written on personal finance for the last nine years and being a financially savvy person, I didn’t think there was much I would learn from working on...
Beware of online fraudsters
How one victim lost R11 000 to elaborate e-commerce fraud A City Press reader was recently scammed of R11 000 when he bought goods through a website selling electronic goods. His experience highlights the need to be cautious about who you are...
Who controls your money decisions
Modern day philosopher and writer Alain de Botton wrote a provocative article in The Wall Street Journal entitled Why most men aren’t man enough to handle web porn. While this title may seem completely irrelevant to personal finance (apart from the...
A financial plan is all about focusing on income
As a young person studying while working on becoming an entrepreneur, Shaun needs some advice on how to juggle his finances. Focusing on income and avoiding debt are the golden rules of success. Shaun is 21 years old and is studying a BComm in...
Previous Articles
Procrastination: the thief of money
This article is an extract from the Liberty customer newsletter on why we procrastinate and the impact it has on our finances The beginning of the New Year always brings with it those inevitable New Year's resolutions, and if there is one New Year's resolution worth...
Ten ways to survive 2013
Keep a budget: As boring as it may seem, you have to know what you have and what you are spending. If you need extra discipline draw the cash you need for day to day expenses as per your budget and put it in an envelope. When that envelope is finished, there is no...
Investing strategies
When it comes to building wealth you need to have different strategies and these require different investment vehicles. These are your saving and investment strategies in order of importance: Pay off debt: There is no point paying a microlender 25% and earning 5% in a...
The cost of waiting to save
One of the more common questions that readers ask is “which fund should I invest in”. They often provide a list of funds and hope that some crystal gazing will allow them to select that fund which will outperform all others. However, your future wealth will be...
Where to keep emergency funds?
“As part of one’s personal financial plan, I believe in having 3-6 months living expenses saved up and easily accessible in case of an emergency. “My wife and I have saved extra funds into our mortgage bond and estimate that the value of the additional capital we have...
Group saving bank accounts
If you form an investment club you will still need to have a bank account for the group in order to collect money and pay out withdrawals. Speak to your bank about the best account for your needs. These bank accounts are specifically aimed at savings clubs: Absa Club...
Tap and pay
Absa recently launched the first fully functioning bank card that enables customers to simply tap and pay for low value items. Building on Absa’s PayPassTM technology which is behind the roll out of the My Citi transit card in Cape Town and the BRT in Johanneburg,...
Borrowing to study
It is that time of year when many students will be selecting their courses for the year. In an ideal world one would have saved enough to pay for one’s studies, but unfortunately this is seldom the case and most students need to consider taking a loan. Borrowing money...
The secret to money is already in your pocket
Old Mutual’s On The Money financial management programme, which targets mainly lower-end to middle income earners, helped me understand that the secret to being financially independent does not lie in earning a lot of money, but rather in learning to manage the money...
Now is not the time to blow your windfall
This month some households will experience a financial boost with either a bonus or a tax-rebate. Many South Africans have become used to having bonuses and tax refunds as an expected additional income instead of an ‘unexpected extra’, and subsequently include it in...