As we moved past January, we are starting to see the first specials for the year (after back-to-school of course) – the Valentines Specials. So instead of spending money on your loved one this year, why not spend it on yourself. This is not buying yourself a new watch or a box of chocolates, but [...]

Over the last five years local equity markets have not produced any meaningful real returns. Investors are of course concerned and rightly so. We are often told that our returns should only be judged over the long-term, however five years has gone by and there’s not much to be excited for. While the above does [...]

One often hears that financial planning is crucial for your financial freedom, but what is it all about? You might have found yourself asking someone: How and where do I invest? How much should I be saving? How much life, disability or dread disease cover is needed? How much income do I need for retirement? [...]

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 [...]