Bank customers will have a nasty surprise if they allow their debit orders to bounce. When Anil contacted his medical scheme to cancel his premium as he knew he had no funds, he discovered it was too late. The debit order went off and Standard Bank...
Busang wrote to say that he has no debt and R600 extra each month that he wants to start investing for the long term. He wanted to know which unit trust or exchange-traded fund would be the best option. For anyone who is starting to save or invest,...
While you are sitting in lockdown, now may be the time to turn that WhatsApp group into a stokvel. In her book Stokvels: How they can make your money work for you, author and financial educator Palesa Lengolo writes, “I have watched how some...
Most parents make supreme sacrifices to provide for their children. Research shows that mothers in particular will put their children’s needs before their own. We want to offer our children the perfect world where they want for nothing, where they...
This Mother’s Day I will have been a mom for 20 years, as my son celebrates his 20th birthday this week. Being under lockdown and living through COVID-19 has been a huge teaching and learning opportunity when it comes to raising our children to...
As a result of the unexpected 100bps cut in interest rates, we received many questions about interest rates, and the impact the rate cut has on both borrowers and savers. Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) unpack how interest rates...
With a cut in interest rates likely, now may be the time to lock into a fixed deposit. Over the last two years interest paid by financial institutions relative to inflation was the highest since the end of the credit crisis in 2010. Last year, unit...
The first challenge for our 2020 Money Makeover contestants was to get a get a handle on where their money goes each month and to make some decisions about what they were prepared to live without in order to reach their personal goals. For all of...
By Carla Rossouw, tax lead, Allan Gray The laws around tax for South Africans who live and work abroad have changed and it's important to work out whether or not you are now expected to pay tax on income you earn outside of the country. As of 1...
As this is a leap year, 29 February marks the end of the financial year. All information up to this date will be included in your 2019/2020 tax return. This includes all tax deductions. Top-up your retirement fund You can invest up to 27.5% of your...
By Rebekah Funk Sjoe, you made it through Janu-worry 2020. Well done. After exhaling that deep sigh of relief, get ready to follow these five time-tested money tips from the experts to ensure you can save more and spend better come the December holidays 2020. 1. Save...
The 29th of February marks the end of the financial year. All information up to this date will be included in your 2019/20 tax return, including all tax deductions. So, make sure you have taken advantage of all those tax perks before the end of the month. Top-up your...
Still using Excel or some other rather rudimentary means to keep track of the household budget? Ditch them now! It’s so easy to keep track of your finances and achieve your savings goals with these smartphone apps, websites and online financial tools: Use your bank’s...
Comparing interest rates is not simple, especially when comparing interest on maturity with annual compounding interest and nominal interest rates. Take for example an advert for a five-year fixed deposit with 13.3% interest on maturity. In this case the annual...
TymeBank has announced that after nine months of trading, they have onboarded one million customers. Of these customers, approximately 45% (450 000) transact once or more a month. Although the bank’s main customer focus has been lower-income earners, nearly half of...
If you do just one thing this festive season, plan for those 40 days to the next paycheque. As we approach the end of 2019, I could write a long list of all the things you need to do to get your finances in order for next year – but that can wait until January. Right...
Last year we had a Money Matters show where we illustrated how you could save R1.1 million within 15 years using your tax-free savings allowance of R2 750 per month. A viewer asked us if it was possible to reach R1.1 million within five years by tripling the amount to...
Incorrect balances and terms on home loans, personal loans and revolving credit make up a significant portion of complaints to the Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS), according to its latest report. Of the 5 996 cases it has closed so far this year, nearly 40% were...
After a significant spike in the number of illegal debit orders, banks say action has been taken to clean the industry of rouge players. Despite much fanfare around the introduction of DebiCheck which puts customers in control of approving debit orders before they are...
A reader wants to invest R1 000 per month for a period of 15 years towards her child’s education and wonders what the best option would be. The key is to make sure that the underlying investment meets your timeframe. If you are only putting money away for the next two...