‘Tax season’ elicits in most people the kind of shudder you’d imagine ‘open season’ to elicit in hunted animals. We all hate doing our taxes and, because of this, we often postpone the inevitable, sometimes with horrible consequences like penalties and waiting hours at SARS.
Continue readingMore TagExplaining credit risk
Last month we talked about interest rate risk – the risk of your investment devaluing and you losing money due to changes in interest rate. In a sense, this is about an investment’s possibility of flailing due to macroeconomic conditions. This month, we’re going to look at credit risk.
Continue readingMore TagSoil is not enough – what does it mean to be truly rich?
Coco Chanel, a woman who overcame her fair share of financial difficulties to become one of the most successful women of all time, said: ‘there are people who have money and people who are rich.’
Continue readingMore Tag5 ways to keep you and your money warm this winter
It’s a cold world out there this June. As the thermometer temperature drops, the price of fuel and cost of living keep rising… but it’s not all doom and gloom.
Continue readingMore TagTaking an interest in interest rate risk
Education around the basics of wealth creation and preservation is like a good, solid diet packed with healthy food staples, it can help you enjoy healthy finances for years and create a strong foundation for building your future.
Continue readingMore TagBetting on cars – how to invest in motor innovation without getting a flat
“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way,” Henry David Thoreau once said. Investing in the future is an exciting prospect, but a daunting one as well. And what could be more of a ride than investing in motor vehicles?
But the road can be a bumpy one, even if it is a fast ride, so prudence is paramount when investing in all things motor.
Continue readingMore TagA shout out to dads
It’s Father’s Day time, and we would like to honour the men, and the women too, who have been parents to us. Our dads.
… And by ‘Dad’ we don’t necessarily mean our fathers. Ever seen the Omo Father’s Day advert that went viral on YouTube? It showed a little boy reading a Father’s Day card, with all the important things dads do listed in it like providing financially and teaching right from wrong, to his grandmother. She was his ‘Dad’.
Continue readingMore TagThe retirement you know will be gone by the time you retire
One of the most important reasons to save throughout our working life remains retirement. It’s shocking how few people afford themselves the ability to live with dignity and independence, without sacrificing a huge drop in standard of living.
Continue readingMore TagThe four numbers of retirement – and why they aren’t enough
‘It’s my life, it’s now or never. I ain’t gonna live forever…’ The famous Bon Jovi words could well be used to describe retirement – and saving for it.
Most people don’t know where to start when contemplating something as big and hectic as retiring in decades’ time, but there are ample titbits of conventional wisdom from the financial planning industry. Let’s take a look at some, and their pitfalls.
Continue readingMore TagDelicious savings – how to eat for a week on four meals
With tough economic times all around, a lot of us are trying to cut unnecessary expenses. Be that as it may, we still need to eat and feed our families. Yet who has the time to play chef and work a fulltime job? And who wants to eat mediocre meals just because the economy is in a slump?
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