Pieter van Zyl, Director at FinFive, shares his view on why debt clearance is the first step in a solid investment strategy In today’s uncertain economic environment, planning for your financial future has never been more important. As the cost of...
“I am currently saving R3000 in my Investment Advantage account with Absa and R200 on my 32days notice account with ABSA. I feel that I'm earning little interest in those accounts and I would like to invest in shares,” writes Godfrey who is living...
Structured funds that guarantee investors’ capital tend to be very popular after a market crash. Typically investors that get caught up in the market hype have full exposure to the equity markets and therefore suffer heavy losses when the markets...
James is an estate agent who focuses on both commercial and residential property leasing and sales. He recently moved from Durban and started his own agency in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. “I have a challenging situation. I have no cash...
Bidvest Bank’s offering is perfect both for the young and old. Grandparents often want to open a bank account for their grandchildren to encourage them to save. The problem with many existing products is that there is always a monthly bank fee that...
One of the questions I am often asked by self-employed people is how to budget. Most self-employed people tend to live in a world of feast or famine. When times are tough they skimp, beg and borrow, but when times are good they spend like the good...
At the moment estate agents are calling this a buyers’ market as property prices have come off their highs and interest rates are at historic lows. However many young first-time buyers are not able to take advantage of favourable market conditions...
My brother is my hero, for the simple reason that every day, as a small business owner, he makes a difference. Three years ago he made a massive leap of faith by leaving his employer to start his own business, today he employs six people and has a...
How a 22 year old accumulated R360 000 through saving and investing. A wise man once said that thrift is a form of income. What he meant was that it is what you do not spend rather than what you earn that will determine your wealth. Twenty-two...
A monthly debit order is undoubtedly one of the most powerful investment tools. It creates a savings discipline as it goes off your account before you have spent your money on consumables. But now studies show that, rand cost averaging, which...
What we can learn from our parents who survived the inflation beast of the 1980’s There is no doubt that our day to day living expenses are becoming increasingly more expensive as necessities like electricity, travel and food take a bigger bite out of our salary each...
I was recently relating a story to a friend about a conversation I had with my two boys aged 7 and 11 where they had grilled me on financial matters. They wanted to know if we owed money on our house and if our cars were paid off. They wanted to know what taxes were...
We sent our new City Press intern Liziwe Ndalana to do some field research on opening a bank account. Liziwe’s experience highlights how important service is to us as customers. Liziwe was so impressed with Absa’s service she was nearly convinced to switch banks,...
Many of our readers are shareholders in BEE share schemes such as MTN and Sasol, but are these good deals, should you hold onto them and should you invest now if you missed the opportunity? Maya Fisher-French speaks to Craig Graddige of Gradidge-Mahura Investments who...
Fuel levy would need to increase by R1 to fund roads As Gauteng drivers protest against e-tolling, a debate on the merits of tolls versus increased fuel levies has been unleashed across the media, twitter and dinner tables. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan may have put...
A banking price war is under way and is doing more to drive down bank fees than any government regulation could ever hope to achieve. Recently Standard Bank slashed its banking fees which, it claims, makes its range of transactional accounts amongst the cheapest in...
This week I received a survey on what customers want from their banks. The Speak UP Report commissioned by Capitec aims to "draw attention to what people want from their bank and ultimately help give them what they really need". I have to confess that when I read some...
This budget puts very little back into the pocket of ordinary South Africans and indirect taxes such as the fuel levy and sin taxes will add pressure to our pockets. We take a look at two hypothetical South Africans and what the budget means to their bottom line....
FNB was the first bank to challenge Capitec in offering a no frills, simple bank account when they launched EasyPlan nearly two years ago. The other banks have followed and are now all aiming to provide low cost banking for under R30 per month. In July last year...
Absa recently extended Absa Transact in a bid to attract clients looking to pay less to transact and bank smart customers could pay as little as R29.15 in banking fees each month. Absa Transact was introduced in 2010, but has been completely upgraded as a product and...