Parents who miss maintenance payments may soon find their access to credit affected. Ayanda Ndimande, Head of Business Development at Sanlam Credit Solutions, takes a closer look at new enforcement measures. The Department of Justice has introduced...
Last week was a very strange time to be a financial journalist. Journalists are usually given a copy of the budget before the Finance Minister tables it in Parliament. After spending the entire morning at Parliament writing our stories about the...
With the tax year-end only a few days away, provisional taxpayers must remember to make their second provisional tax payment. Danielle Luwes, Tax Director at Hobbs Sinclair Advisory, explains what is possibly the most mis-understood taxation in...
One of the most common question I receive is, "Where do I start investing?" With this in mind, I recently interviewed Adrian Hope-Bailie, founder of Fynbos Money, about this new investment platform, and how he aims to simplify the investment...
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) recently launched a campaign entitled “Claim It”, urging South Africans to check if they are potential shareholders owed a portion of the R4.5 billion in unclaimed dividends. The Claim It initiative is a...
28 February marks the tax year-end. Everything up until this day will be part of your 2024/2025 tax filings. As this date approaches, it's crucial to focus on your financial affairs to ensure that you maximise any available tax deductions to lower...
Many of us believe that if we simply earned a bit more money, all of our financial issues would disappear. Yet so many South Africans who are considered high-net-worth individuals, are struggling with debt. They earn very good salaries, yet still...
The student loan application process can be complex, so do your homework and don’t get caught short. Rising tuition fees have resulted in rising demand for student loans. Standard Bank has noted a surge in student loan applications, including for...
Fulufhelani Mashapha recently published her book Mind Your Cents - A Practical Approach to Financial Freedom. Fulu had asked me to read her draft copy and to write the book’s foreword, and I took the opportunity to interview her about her...
What do you not know about your finances that may be hurting you? Knowledge is power, so isn't it time to find out? A couple of months ago, a friend of mine sent me the link to neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman's podcast on the effects of alcohol...
Therèse Havenga, Head of Business Transformation at Momentum Savings, sets out how much a holiday can really cost you if you don’t plan ahead. I usually sleep too late when it comes to booking a holiday. I’m so task-oriented at work that holiday times seem to creep up...
Interest on your credit card is calculated differently in South Africa from how it works in various other countries. Social media is full of tips on how to maximise the interest-free period on your credit card. The problem is that credit cards in South Africa work...
A stokvel is more than just a savings group; it helps people build wealth and make their communities stronger. The end of the year is “stokvel season” – a time when most members receive their payouts. It’s also a great time to take a closer look at your stokvel and...
We are all being inundated by Black Friday specials. My inbox is full of both press releases and offers from retailers. But how many people know about Buy Nothing Day? Buy Nothing Day was set up as a protest against consumerism. It is held on the last Friday in...
Standard Bank has made it easier for clients to access previously unclaimed dividends, pension, and insurance benefits. In collaboration with the unclaimed benefits tracing company Robin Hood, Standard Bank has made the process of claiming these benefits seamless...
Criminals are now using AI to create sophisticated phishing emails, build hacking tools and uncover weaknesses in IT systems. While the world marvelled last year at the ease with which artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT completed tasks for everyday users, the...
Technology in general, and AI in particular, is moving ahead at breakneck speed. We need to make sure we are on the train, not hit by it. I recently attended the SingularityU South Africa summit, sponsored by Old Mutual. Listening to speakers like David Roberts and...
There are several reasons why your personal inflation rate probably doesn't match the consumer price index, which is the "official" inflation rate. When the official inflation figures for June were released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), they showed that the...
Earned wage access is the concept that workers should be able to access a portion of their monthly salary before payday. Is it a good idea? What do you do if you have an unexpected expense during the month or find yourself a bit squeezed? In a perfect world you would...
Absa has launched its Ultimate Banking proposition as a one-stop banking solution for its customers, at an attractive monthly fee. Absa customers currently using a Gold transactional account should consider switching to Absa’s recently launched Ultimate account. The...