Many of us would have prioritised our health and fitness in our New Year's resolutions, which may have included joining a gym. But before you signed on the dotted line of your gym contract, did you make sure you were familiar with the terms and...
Using rewards to pay for medicine
This year our family is working our rewards programmes to cover the costs of medication. After realising we would pay R1 500 less per month on our premiums if we selected a medical scheme option that did not cover my son’s R900 per month chronic...
Regulator challenges “set-off” rule
Court ruling may put an end to banks transferring funds without permission. Last year I came across the case of a Standard Bank client who had money deducted from his current account to settle his outstanding credit card, without his permission. In...
Tax-free savings accounts – when are they appropriate?
By Paul Leonard, CFP®, Regional Head, Citadel It is often said that there are no right or wrong investments but rather appropriate and inappropriate investments. Much has been written about tax-free savings and investment accounts (TFSAs) and there...
Have we made it too easy to dispute debit orders?
The move by banks to make it easier for individuals to reverse unauthorised debit orders has been an important step in maintaining the integrity of the banking system, especially after increases in illegal debit orders where syndicates would obtain...
Does your family think your employer will provide?
Recently the MD of a small company asked me if I thought they should provide employee benefits such as life cover and retirement funding for their employees. Currently the company leaves that entirely to each employee to sort out for themselves....
Better to own a car or to simply Uber?
If you are looking for ways to save in 2017, you might want to consider tossing your car and Ubering instead. MyTreasury.co.za, which helps South Africans find the best savings account to match their needs, crunched the numbers to see when it makes...
Less SLOW Lounge for FNB customers
How many SLOW Lounge visits will you qualify for? My husband and I both travel frequently for work and the SLOW Lounge offers a little bit of respite from the general chaos and mayhem of airports, so we tend to maximise our usage most months. The...
Over half of top shopping apps collect users’ personal information
More than half of the top 60 Android shopping apps collect users’ personal information through trackers, a new study finds, with South African favourites LetGo and OLX among apps with the highest number of trackers. The result is from a privacy...
Spouses need to review their finances
Changes to the taxation of estates could leave a surviving spouse with a hefty tax bill. Last month the Davis Tax Committee (DTC) issued an update on its tax recommendations especially around so-called “death taxes”. Some of the key recommendations...
Previous Articles
An overseas trip doesn’t need to break the credit card
I recently returned from an overseas trip that I started planning nine months ahead of time. I used the time to plan, budget and make sure that when I returned from my well-deserved break that there would be no scary credit card bills to deal with. One of the benefits...
Don’t use your tax-free savings account for emergency savings
Research finds that the tax-free savings account is still misunderstood. If there’s one thing the financial industry is good at, it is complicating things that should be fairly simple. Tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs) were meant to be really simple long-term savings...
Ignore SARS questionnaires at your peril
by Nthati Khumalo, Tax Compliance Trainee at BDO South Africa The High Court recently held that Mr Julian Brown must submit a response to a SARS lifestyle questionnaire or suffer the consequences. SARS may in terms of the Tax Administration Act (the TAA), in...
Is MiBiz too good to be true?
There is a big difference between knowingly investing in a high-risk technology business and being sold misinformation. I recently wrote about a group of companies: AllQuotes, BuyDirect and MiBiz, which fall under a parent company called FinGroup. I wrote about...
Should you use a foreign currency account to save for an overseas holiday?
We recently ran an article on the various options for offshore bank accounts and highlighted foreign currency accounts (FCA) which are effectively on-shore accounts that are linked to your local bank account and have low minimum deposit rates. These could be used, for...
Investors claim fraud in passive income scheme
Insiders raise the alarm over the business practices of AllQuotes and BuyDirect. When one receives anonymous tip-offs about unethical business practices, there is always the concern that the information is accurate and not just a disgruntled employee taking a dig. So...
Offshore bank accounts: not just for the rich and famous
You don’t have to be a high flier to have a foreign currency account or even an offshore bank account which have now become an easily available and relatively affordable option for South Africans who would like to hold some funds offshore. As exchange control has...
How to stretch your salary
Times are tough and even though the inflation rate might be slowing down, prices are still going up. This means your cost of living is only going to increase as the months go by. According to the latest BankservAfrica Disposable Salary (BDSI) data, the average South...
Are your adult children sabotaging your retirement?
By Mark MacSymon, Certified Financial Planner and Wealth Manager at Private Client Holdings An increasingly common issue in South Africa these days is adult children still being financially dependent on their parents. This is due to low entry-level salaries,...
Why pyramid and Ponzi schemes are doomed to fail
By Mike McDougall, CEO of the Actuarial Society of South Africa Faced with empty wallets and rising costs, thousands of South Africans are placing their faith in ‘get rich quick’ schemes that lure desperate consumers with promises of unrealistic investment returns....