Pandemics, disruption and change. These can be equally exciting and exhausting. How you choose to manage their impact is important if you want to adapt well. How are you going to prepare for 2022? Read more.
Let’s change this Christmas season to a different one. Radically different. Read more.
We’ve been here before. We allowed ourselves to imagine a joyous, people-filled silly season only to have a red line drawn through it. And it does something to us. It leaves us traumatised and many of us have started to unravel. More than ever, we need to pay attention and choose to heal. Read more.
I have often written about the discernment needed when consuming news. Frequently, good news is presented as bad news. The build-up and post results news from the November elections are a great example of this. And unless you actively search for alternative views to your own, your truth will be unbalanced. Read more.
I eventually just did it. Wrote a blog. It had been a dream procrastinated on for years. And today I celebrate that. One of the best decisions of my life. Read more.
Too often, it seems that people cannot give the important things, like financial planning, the time it needs in the absence of urgency. And urgency is no friend to sound financial planning. Read more.
Our relationship with our clients can sometimes span decades. When they do, we are, to a degree, a part of their life journey and we witness how a life can be well lived. We observe what good choices look like over the long-term and how in valuing the right things, you truly grow wealth. Read more.
People all over the world are either planning to or have left their jobs. Coined the Great Resignation, people are, worldwide, critically evaluating the role of work in their lives. Read more.
Emotional responses to gains and losses are very real. And making decisions from that place can become difficult. But it doesn’t have to be.
People are going crazy for cryptocurrencies and NFTs. If you do not understand what these assets are used for, and what the potential downside is, you’re speculating, not investing. Best you watch out then for when the bubble bursts.
Recognising what your own measure of success is does not come naturally. And controlling your own response to what does or doesn’t speak success even more so. Said simply, we are not in control of our response to success. Rather, most of us sit astride an elephant.
We have had enough. We want to get on with our lives. But surprisingly, there may be ambivalence about how exactly we do that Read more
Life is no longer a straight line. It is complex, defined by multiple changes in a lifetime. With serious financial implications. And the decisions you make need to encompass more than just financial products.
The relationship between facts and your story shape so many aspects of your life. When that relationship is distorted you may need to change your story. Review the facts.
Humankind is the loneliest it has ever been. But after spending the day with my mum-in-law I saw a picture of how it could be different.
When faced with a fork in the road, which path we take comes with risks. An even greater risk however, is our response to the outcome of our choice. Crediting success to the wisdom of our decision-making when things have gone well is a risk; very often there are a plethora of factors ...
Money talks. Not just about your wealth, but also about your heart. It can speak of love or neglect.
When I embarked on a career in investments, I did not plan to stick around after I had had children. I was raised, with my four siblings, by our warm, loving, stay-at-home mum and corporate career father. With two post-graduate qualifications in finance, I had more than enough knowledge to determine my own financial freedom. ...
Are you aware of what values drive your life? Perhaps you have done one of those exercises that help you recognise what your values are. Perhaps you even have them written down in a journal or a file. What are the values that you live by? What will your bank account say about your values? What ...
Last week, our family headed to the mountains for a few days. I intended to disconnect from the outside world. It’s what I believe time out should be – time away from screens and distractions so my brain can have time to rewire, and my body time to rest. It didn’t last long – I was ...
While Wimbledon spectators watched without masks, we once again tightened up. We masked up and locked down, preparing to battle the third wave of the pandemic and the delta variant of COVID-19. Eighteen months into the pandemic and here, in South Africa, it feels like we have made no progress. There are currently more daily ...
Only 6-8% of people can retire comfortably in South Africa, according to National Treasury. It’s a frightening stat and one that is widely used to create fear amongst South Africans. Fear that a good retirement is out of reach for most people. This fear-mongering creates the perception that normal people must go to exceptional lengths to ...
Years ago, after presenting a comprehensive and holistic financial plan to a client, the client, dropping the document on the table claimed, “Of course, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. The moment we sign this, everything will change again.” Today, warning lights would go on about the value this person attaches to my ...
When Danish soccer player, Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field during the Euro 2020 clash with Finland last week, first on the scene was his captain, Simon Kjaer. Before the medics even arrived on the field, Kjaer cleared Eriksen’s airways and turned him on his back. Kjaer then comforted Eriksen’s wife in the stands, before ...
When faced with trauma, the front part of our brain, where rational thinking lives, shuts off. Our ability to process information, reason or even understand what is being said, may be severely limited. You may become disorganised and overwhelmed. You may not be able to speak with clarity, or even at all. You will agree that ...
People are exhausted and dealing with heavy and difficult stuff. Stories of loss, drama and suffering abound. Events that are normally stressful – like helping my parents move to a retirement home – become even more difficult. In the middle of my parent’s move, we learnt that a friend from the Karoo had died from Covid. ...
South Africans are obsessed with the value of our currency. It determines our moods, sometimes even more so than our rugby results. When was the last time you checked the value of the Rand against the dollar? At below R14 to the US Dollar, the Rand is at a better level than five years ago. Yes, ...
Midlife is messy – teenage kids, ageing or dying parents, career plateaus, marital dramas and menopause make for a toxic cocktail. Like a middle-aged client said to me the other day, “I just can’t see that it will get any better.” Thankfully, the truth is that it is very likely to get better. Interestingly, it may ...
Not every decision about your money needs to be about maximising return. Especially once your basics needs are met, and you are well on your way with planning for your future needs, you should consider other factors. What about your family’s feeling of security? What about your children’s sense of belonging? What will the impact ...
Can you remember that margarine ad from around the time when low-fat eating was prescribed by American health authorities in? It’s the one that showed a happy family playing outside whilst the smiling mum made sandwiches using the said margarine. The tagline: She knows what’s best for her family. It’s a great example of the picture ...
This week I had a delightful catch-up with a long-standing client. He expressed his gratitude for our conversations at key junctions in his life. He remarked that the questions asked helped him to stay the course with the result that he is now comfortably retired. Those are the moments that make my career meaningful. The ...
It’s been a year since we entered that first three-week lockdown to flatten the curve. Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a blog, “So really, how are you feeling right now? It was a blog about rest. If I’m honest with myself, I didn’t follow through on my own intentions. It’s a year later, and ...
Have you ever considered this question? What’s your money for? Why do you work long hours under stressful conditions? Why have some of us allowed ourselves to be reduced to an economically productive unit? Why do others fret about the insufficient returns on their investments? Beyond providing for our basic needs, every additional hour worked, every sleepless ...
If you haven’t heard these words from your financial advisor, then you should seriously question their expertise, integrity, judgement, or knowledge. Being an expert is what a financial advisor used to be – the kind of person who knew everything and could share their opinions confidently. But in truth, it has never been about that; even ...
The cover of the 2021 Gender Budget document of the Indian government, is a vivid painting of a woman at work in rural India – cleaning, cooking, milking the cow and shopping at the food vendor. The artist is a young boy who honoured his mother’s work with his picture, because his father allegedly said ...
Tomorrow our daughter turns 21. A largely symbolic milestone because she has been regarded as an adult by the law since 18. But it is still a chance to celebrate (within the boundaries of COVID regulations of course), and we need opportunities to celebrate. We need to grab them with both hands and nurture them. ...
I recently worked my way through a practical and funny guide to falling in love with your job again. The Joy of Work, 30 Ways to Fix Your Work Culture and Fall In Love With Your Job Again, by Bruce Daisley was published in 2019 and became a No 1 Sunday Times Business Bestseller. The ...
The story of the week must be the army of small investors taking on the Wall Street professionals, and they seem to be winning. This story is so big that the weekend edition of the Financial Times in the UK covered it in no fewer than five articles, including the front page and the editorial.
For as long as I can remember, my dad has been an early riser. Even now, long after his retirement, he still rises naturally every morning long before everyone else in the household. I remember him, in his tartan, woolly winter gown taking tea to my mum in bed or waking me up for last-minute ...
Happy 2021. Have you noticed how the customary wish at the start of a New Year has fizzled out this year? It is as if we lack the courage to wish people well when the first few weeks of the year have already been so difficult. 2021 seems to have punched us in the gut ...