The majority of income earners in SA will have to seriously downgrade their lifestyles when regular income stops coming in at retirement, cautions Phillip Kassel, a financial adviser at Liberty. “Most employees earn approximately 480 pay cheques in their working lifetime between the ages of 25 to 65.

Investors who ignore offshore opportunities deny themselves the significant benefit of exposure to a far wider range of stocks, says David Nathanson, portfolio manager at Bellwood Capital. Purchasing foreign equities is a starting point for long-term investors wishing to unlock the value of

Tax filing season is officially open. And although Acting Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Mark Kingon has noted you don’t have to file a tax return if you earn less than R350 000 per year from a single source of income – and have no allowances – you may still choose to

Tax-free savings accounts are ideal tools for long term investment strategies, but a huge amount of education is needed to ensure that customers use the products in the most effective manner and avoid becoming victims of the law of unintended consequences, says Standard Bank.

HOW MUCH DEBT IS TOO MUCH? While there is no definite measure, there are ways to determine if you’ve taken on more than you can handle. If you cannot pay all your household expenses, including your debt repayments, you have a problem. It may be that you have too much debt,but it

A recent social experiment highlighted that many South African households have more money than they realise tied up in unwanted goods and that disposing of these assets could be their survival ticket in tough economic times. The experiment set out to prove that most households could

Steinhoff has lost millions after accounting irregularities came to light earlier this month. In a case that may well result in charges of fraud, some of the company’s most senior executives could be sent to jail. The most exposed investors are pensioners,

THE National Budget Speech on February 21 this year is likely to attract more interest than it has on many occasions previously. South Africans have become accustomed to a National Budget characterised by inevitable increases in the

VAT should be dealt with cautiously and if the hike is rejected, then Parliament will have to find alternative options to fund the revenue gap, according to chair of the Standing Committee on Finance Yunus Carrim. He was delivering the concluding remarks to

A question raised about the 1% value-added tax (VAT) increase to 15% as from April 1 2018, as announced in Budget 2018, is how it will affect fixed property sales currently in progress or under negotiation. Leonard Willemse, senior tax consultant at Mazars, explains this question stems

Shrinkflation, an unpopular term among consumers, is the process of items shrinking in size or quantity while their prices remain the same. Manufacturers engage in this practice to make money. Angelique Ruzicka has some tips on how to beat them at their own game Manufacturers often want to increase

Consumers who decide to reduce their savings by even R100 or R200 per month to buffer against the impact of the 1 percentage point VAT increase, are effectively robbing themselves of the benefit of compounded growth. Compound interest is essentially the addition of interest

There’s a saying that goes: “A fool and his money are soon parted.” While you may not lose all your money by making these financial mistakes, you could certainly lose some of it and even incur penalties and fines. Here’s a list of the silly things people do to lose money and solutions to avoid

A money market account is essentially a short-term investment account which is held with your bank. One gets various formats of a money market account, such as a 7-day or 32-day account. This type of account is an ideal “parking bay” if you will be using the money in the next year or two.

Question: I am 58 years old and have seven years before retirement. Is it too late to buy a retirement annuity? Tax-free savings account You can invest R33 000 per year in a tax-free savings account and still get the tax-free benefits of this type of investment. However, you don’t have to invest every year. […]

Your joint mortgage may form part of your partner’s debt review without your consent. If you are married in community of property and your spouse is placed under debt review, so will you be because you share a joint estate that includes all debt. However, what if you are married out of community of property,

Knowing whether you have saved enough for retirement is one of the primary causes of financial anxiety for pre-retirement investors, according to Duggan Matthews of income specialist company Marriott. “The current investment environment, characterised by economic uncertainty,

In tough economic times, most South Africans are looking to reign in their spending and cut back on unnecessary costs as far as possible. An overlooked area of reigning in spending is to revisit the hidden costs associated with your personal loan. Most people assume that these monthly repayments