With only a few days left in the tax year, you have just enough time to make a prudent financial decision that may save you a few thousand rand on your next tax return, and earn you considerably more than that at retirement! It’s common practice amongst those astute in minimising their tax deficits and maximising their long-term gain: top up your Retirement Annuity contributions to equal 15% of your annual income for the current tax […]
Continue readingCategory: Financial Planning
WHY DO YOU NEED A FINANCIAL PLANNER?
This question crosses the minds of most people, just moments before they meet up for coffee with their financial adviser – and it’s a good question! This question can be answered in so many ways… so let’s answer it with a few questions: Would you service your own car? Would you diagnose yourself if you were ill? Would you fix your own laptop? Would you represent yourself in court? Would you get an unqualified person to […]
Continue reading
HOW TO BUILD A STRONG INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO (III)
Hindsight is 20:20; we can always view what we’ve done with a comprehensive view than before we did it. Whilst you can’t change the decisions that you’ve made, you can change the decisions that you’re going to make in the future. When building an investment portfolio, the third key consideration that you must bear in mind is: review. Look back at the investment choices that you’ve made and decide if they are worth repeating or if […]
Continue readingHOW TO BUILD A STRONG INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO (II)
THE LARGER THE GAIN, THE LARGER THE RISK For those in the southern parts of South Africa, there are rainy days ahead. Easter normally signposts the temperature drop and increased saturation in the air. Rain begins to fall, animals slow down and all too often our waistlines begin to explore the other side of the belt buckle… Rainy days are ahead. We’ve heard it plenty of times, but are you prepared? Not for the cold, but […]
Continue readingHOW TO BUILD A STRONG INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO (I)
BASIC INSTINCTS Every winter we begin to see a profusion of pallid tree-dwelling rodents, squirreling away nuts and seeds for the cold season. This is a lovely illustration of wise investments for the future: simple, natural and too true to life. The reason for this can be put down to instinct, but ask yourself – what about the first family of squirrels, how could they have known of the three-month scarcity of food? I think it’s […]
Continue reading
NECESSITIES, NICETIES AND NOT-JUST-YETS…
BREAKDOWN YOUR EXPENSES It’s hard not to notice how fast our current economic landscape is changing. Jobs are harder to get, and harder to keep. Although things may look tough for everyone else, they don’t have to for you! How is this possible?With wise and creative financial planning! I’d like to share with you how you can begin approaching your monthly budget in an objective manner. I call it the Three N’s. Basically you break down your expenses […]
Continue reading
ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE STORM?
Bruce Cameron, finance writer for Personal Finance, recently published an article highlighting the concerning statistics that most South Africans, who are currently employed, may be seriously under-assured for death or disability cover. His opening paragraph reads as follows: “The vast majority of 13 million employed South Africans are ignoring the fact that, if they die prematurely or are permanently disabled, their families will not be able to maintain their standard of living – in fact, most […]
Continue reading
DO YOU NEED A FINANCIAL ADVISOR?
Iona Minton The profession of financial planning is relatively new, the average pensioner will tell you that in their youth financial planning was not even a recognisable term. During and after the Second World War the depression made it virtually impossible for most people to make ends meet, let alone have surplus money to invest. Access to financial advisors was the domain of the super rich. As the world settled down to growth and prosperity and […]
Continue reading
THE COST OF CANCER
Every year countries throughout the world dedicate the month of October to raising awareness around Breast Cancer. Cancer has increased exponentially and is, in many cases, treatable – at a cost; making cancer a life, health and personal finance issue. There are very few families in South Africa that have not had one or more members diagnosed with some form of cancer. Recently I read an email from Money Marketing that highlighted some of the statistics […]
Continue reading
COMMON FINANCIAL PLANNING MISTAKES | PART THREE
HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20:20 If a person has perfect vision is both eyes, they are considered to have 20:20 vision. Whilst we can not always predict what will happen in the future, it’s always seems to easy to see the things that have happened with great clarity. Hence, when we look back, events seem so much clearer than prior to their happening. As part three of our articles on common mistakes in financial planning, (catch up […]
Continue reading