How long is a piece of string? Well, the answer is actually simple: as long as you need it to be. If you have to cut a piece of string, you’ll start with what you need it for. You measure your need and then you cut the string. You don’t work the other way around, otherwise you will waste the string. The same is true for your investment needs. When approaching an investment plan, or structuring […]
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LIMBO WITH THE LINGO
Whether you’re casting your line off the end of a pier or buckling your seatbelt, we all deal with risk and return. Somehow, when it comes to emerging markets, nominal vs real, risk-adjustments, multi-asset portfolios, protection strategies and bull vs bear markets we panic amidst an onslaught of lingo that overwhelms us. Basically, when it comes to investments, it helps to bring things back to casting your line off the pier or buckling up, because we’re […]
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END-OF THE MONTH SAVING TIPS
Saving money can be as easy as not spending it unwisely. From monitoring the tyre pressure on your car to being aware of local community events, there are heaps of ways to save money! We’ve read up on some more tips this month and have four amazing, stress-releasing (except for the last one…) ideas. 1. AIR UP YOUR TYRES For every two PSI that all of your tires are below the recommended level, you lose 1% […]
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GAIN CONTROL OVER YOUR MONEY
There is a myth that Ostriches, when faced with danger, bury their heads in the sand. Although it is not found to be true in nature, many of us tend to behave like this when faced with our monthly budget… Financial behaviourists actually call the avoidance of perceived risky financial situations by pretending they do not exist, the Ostrich Effect. This tendency to pretend that all is well or ‘bury our heads in the sand’ instead […]
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CHECK YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN TODAY
We’ve written several blogs on planning for retirement and this is yet another to add to the quiver. Why is this so important? Because financial planning and provision for retirement is often relegated to the bottom of the budget and is only seriously considered when it is seriously too late. Current reports tell us that only around 6% of South Africans can retire comfortably. That means that three out of every fifty are comfortable in their […]
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6 TIPS FOR TAX FILING
When it comes to listing our fears, many people might cite spiders, thunderstorms and clowns as their top three. But for many of us we have to deal with SARS more frequently than clowns, however ironic that may sound, and dealing with SARS can be quite a scary thought! During the next tax season, which started at the beginning of this month, The South African Revenue Service intends on collecting nearly R1trn. Dealing with SARS does […]
Continue readingMore TagEND OF THE MONTH SAVING TIPS
Saving money doesn’t have to be difficult. It also doesn’t have to be a specific amount of money that you stash away in a protected account that you can only access when you’re 120. Saving money can be a creative behaviour that forms part of your daily spending habits. Truly a penny saved is a penny earned. When you have made wiser choices in how you spend your money, you will have a larger amount left […]
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THE CURRENT REALITY OF RETIREMENT
One of the most difficult elements of any financial portfolio is saving for retirement. For most of us, retirement always feels so far away and we feel like we’ll either have plenty of time to save for it, or we simply have other priorities that are currently higher on our list. Products like short term insurance and health cover seem to take the priority in our financial plan. Currently, most South Africans are not ready to […]
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IS WINTER BURNING A HOLE IN YOUR POCKET?
Winter makes saving money and keeping to your financial plan a little more difficult! All around the country temperature gauges are plummeting about as fast as the electricity meters are lighting up. If you, like many South Africans, have an electricity box that you recharge, you’ll be acutely aware of how much faster the usage light starts to flash during the icy winter days ahead. If you’re billed after the month, you’re probably anticipating a hefty […]
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LOVE YOUR HEART (II)
Last week I wrote about the importance of managing your blood pressure in order to keep your heart and vital organs healthy. One of the biggest dangers of hypertension is that it often goes unnoticed until it is too late and serious problems arise. These could include heart failure, a heart attack or kidney failure. As with my previous blog, I’d like to share some fantastic information that I recently read on Dischem’s website as it […]
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