When thinking about a Last Will and Testament, what comes to mind? Some might say, “It is my wishes at my untimely death”. These wishes are not always carried out as per your instruction. Here are a few examples of when your wishes are not carried out accordingly: Not revoking of previous Will; Liquidity shortage; [...]

We have previously looked at the complexities in passing away without a (valid) Will. Click here to view this. If you however have one, the question now arises: “When and how often do I change this?” The simple answer is that one should change your Will when your life changes. Events which warrant this includes, [...]

  The idea of saving is something we are all familiar with. However, the end goal of what we are saving towards can be vastly different. It could be something simple like saving for a new car or something more complex like saving towards your retirement. Whatever the goal is you are trying to achieve, [...]

Do you know what the tax implications are on the various pre-retirement products and how to utilize this to your advantage. This discussion assumes that the underlying investment strategy is made up of a basket of unit-trusts applicable to all products, where the focus here is the difference between products from a Financial Planning point [...]

You have retired and are now drawing an income from your investments. The question is, are you drawing it tax efficiently or is your hard-earned retirement capital being paid to SARS? In a world where you have a Living Annuity and discretionary capital (let us assume an investment plan), you can receive the same amount [...]

  Two words you will often hear your financial adviser say is “Asset Allocation”. They might say “based on your risk profile, an asset allocation with a focus on growth assets will meet your return target” or “this amount of property is too much, we will need to re-look at your portfolio’s asset allocation”. But [...]

You have an Estate Plan which has been quantified and your Will has been amended to ensure that the costs of your Estate can be paid as well as your dependents are cared for financially. This is only the first step! Over the years of winding up Estates, we have seen some pitfalls which we [...]

Estate planning is there to ensure that your heirs can continue their current lifestyle; your estate can pay all liabilities and costs; you do not unnecessarily pay income tax; your Will is properly drafted to ensure your wishes are met; the Trust/s you have are aligned with your Will and properly structured; your future financial [...]

Budgeting is an ongoing process, which needs to adapt to the changes in your life. You get a raise, you lose your job, you have kids, someone near to you passes away, your kids go to University (or worse, Private School!). Your car breaks down, your in-laws move in, your spouse loses their job. Your [...]

The former Minister of Finance, Malusi Gigaba, delivered the budget speech on Wednesday, 21 February 2018. Yes, this took place more than a week ago! The most talked about point is that Value Added Tax (VAT) will increase from 14% to 15% effective 1 April 2018. We believe this is the better strategy (of all [...]