This year’s Budget Speech was probably one of the most anticipated by all South Africans, but surprisingly Minister Gordhan and his cabinet did not pull (some expected) rabbits out of the hat. The speech delivered addressed a year one budget in a three-year budget cycle. Whether you think the speech was back-to-basics or not bold [...]
Nobody wants to think about death, but the sad truth is that you have to make provisions for it. There are a number of things you need to think of when doing your Estate Planning, but today I would like to highlight the importance of having enough cash in your estate to cover liabilities and [...]
By the time you have decided that you are getting Divorced, counselling and distressed calls from your family and friends will inevitably harden your resolve and not help with changing your mind. A pity we think, because marriage is a wonderful, exciting, frustrating, tough journey and – we believe – a permanent commitment. Having said [...]
The calendar year of 2015 has come and gone, and as we flip to February 2016 on the relatively new desk pad, we look back at an incredibly topsy-turvy month on global markets. Hot Topics included: China, Gold, Oil, Interest Rates, Politics, the Rand. O goodness the RAND. It is fair to say that this [...]
So we are at the end of the year and our minds are doing cartwheels just thinking about how to spend that bonus. If you need some guidance, here are some tips on how to spend it: Buy something for yourself. You worked hard this year and deserve something for yourself. (Keep it cheap!) Buy [...]
Walking along happily and suddenly stepping into broken glass is horrible. Much the same sort of feeling when you spend happily on your credit card and suddenly find the bonus you were expecting - and which you thought would cover the spending - is less than half. So our message to you today is twofold [...]
So this week two aspects about medical aid which we think you should be thinking about [and doing something about, sorry to say!]. In your financial plan for the future, which includes retirement amongst other things, how much are you budgeting to save each month specifically to pay your medical aid in retirement? Too many [...]
This time of the year being a member of a medical aid is as stressful as your daughter getting married or your favourite pet being run over by your kind neighbour. The pressure of having to make a choice as to whether you continue with the same plan as you are on this year, with [...]
There will always be people who think that medical aid is for the old and sickly only, but this is undoubtedly a false perception and one that should be avoided. Regardless of age or health status, everyone is at risk of landing up in hospital. The reality is that accidents, injuries and stress may lead [...]
Two performance ratios that often pop-up on the fact sheets of unit trusts are the Sharpe Ratio and the Sortino Ratio. Many do not however know that the Sortino Ratio was developed to overcome some of the short-comings of the Sharpe Ratio. Firstly the Sharpe Ratio measures how well a fund has performed given its [...]
