News

Recently, a few of our retired and elderly clients became victims of a new fraudulent scheme, targeting their bank accounts.

In this article, Nokwanda Msimang explains how the scheme works and encourages our clients to stay informed and vigilant to protect themselves from fraudulent schemes.

An early inheritance is typically a one-time or infrequent financial gift meant to be part of the child's eventual inheritance. Its purpose is to make a substantial impact, such as buying a home, starting a business, or funding education. This differs from ongoing financial assistance for daily needs.   Both are forms of wealth transfer, but the intent is different.

How can giving and receiving money be joyous and meaningful, yet it can also harm financial well-being and relationships?

Financial fitness goes beyond merely having a stable income. It also encompasses the ability to manage money wisely, make informed financial decisions, and build a secure future. It allows you to feel confident, comfortable and in control – both now and with what life might throw your way in the future.

Finding purpose in retirement is as necessary as it is rewarding. While retirement offers more free time, filling that time with activities that give your life meaning and satisfaction is critical.

What can you do to help you discover how you should direct your time and energy once you retire?

In financial planning, there are hidden, yet prevalent, enemies that can undermine our financial goals and well-being. You might think these enemies are volatile markets, economic growth, or inflation, but it's actually far more subtle than this. The enemy is, more often us, specifically, the financial behaviours we practice without even realising it. 

This may seem obvious, but undergraduate studies are not just to prepare you for a career or to provide you with a means to an end. Undergraduate studies should be the beginning of lifelong learning. Over their lifetimes, current students are likely to need to continue their studies in many fields across many different careers. So rather than think about a first career choice as the ultimate choice, consider it the first of many choices to secure and further your career.

The odds are, your health will change, sometimes unexpectedly. And if current research is anything to go by, protecting your health is more important than ever – especially as we are likely to live longer than before. 

Technology has made the world a smaller place. But with enhanced accessibility comes increased risk. 

How can you protect yourself against cybercrime?

The option to nominate a beneficiary is dependent on the type of investment you choose. Understanding the implications of your decision is central to looking after your loved ones financially.

The first quarter of 2023 kept us on the edge of our seats. Globally, tight monetary conditions are starting to impact the stability of the banking sector. Locally, it was shades of grey. First a grey-listing and then more darkness for the country.

At the start of every year, forecasters cannot help themselves. Forecasts for inflation rounded to a decimal, appear like clockwork. We should know to ignore them by now. 

However, and somewhat surprisingly, longer-term trend forecasts are often more accurate.

As the world continues to evolve, so should we. And this includes how we invest.

What is sustainable investing, and are you happy with the choices you've made?

Holistic financial planning, specific to an entrepreneur’s circumstances, provides better results for a client. Even simple organisation, like having the correct documentation in place, can mean the difference between deriving value from your entrepreneurial effort or not.

What happens to your inherited assets in the case of a certain event, particularly death or divorce? As with any family law matter, the way you were married sets many of the rules that will apply. 

We have written various articles on wills and death before.  Why?  Because, as we have seen over the years, it is complex, especially when winding up estates. It is not enough to draw up a will and take out life cover. 

Estate planning requires thought and careful consideration because every family is unique, and each has its own complexities and challenges to address. 

An endowment policy is not a one-size fits all approach. It should be carefully considered, taking your specific needs and circumstances into account.

What is an endowment, and does it make sense for your investment portfolio?

Who gets the precious family heirloom, or the offshore investment that you worked so hard to protect and grow? How do you ensure that it ends up where you intended?

Let’s take a deeper dive into this practical element of estate planning, namely having an offshore will.

In the past financial planning has focussed on helping people protect and save their income or investments. We assumed a steady inflation tracking income in our retirement models and insured against disasters. However, we can no longer assume straight-line careers that will produce steady incomes. We must start to plan for frequent career changes, much longer working years and include discussions about career planning in our financial planning.

10 years ago, Elke and I launched Foundation Family Wealth.  It was a summer morning, and we had two laptops, a license, and a dream. Read more here.

For a while now, we have been reading with great interest about how the government wants to be able to control how our retirement savings are invested. This is usually referred to by its short name, “prescribed assets”, and advocates on either side of the argument have been keeping us glued to...

If your future depends on it, you should know about it. The lockdown has probably challenged most marriages. Some have been broken. Divorce attorneys are already dealing with the fall out as they report up to a 20% rise in divorce applications. The current economic climate will make these divorce...

“As investors, we often try to limit the taxes paid and look for products and opportunities that are less tax intensive. Although this is a major part of investing, it is not the only thing to consider."

Risk is something that can be measured, and we, regardless of understanding the measurements, use it to make investment decisions. The problem is, we think we are concerned about risk, but we are not. Humans are much more concerned about uncertainty!

Is it still worthwhile to invest in a retirement annuity, pension or provident fund with Prescribed Assets on the cards? Our numbers conclude that the tax benefit outweighs the negatives, even taking a big capital loss into account.

-By Thiart van Der Merwe - A prolonged, low-growth environment and no real returns from our market were the main talking points as we entered 2017. With constant negative press on corruption and a deteriorating political landscape, one can understand the inclination to be pessimistic. Up to the midway point the pessimists were right. The stock market surprised ...

-By Sunél Veldtman - Recently, I have noticed how many conversations about the world lead to a conclusion that the world is a mess. We seem anxious and insecure about the future. If I look at my social media feed, it is no wonder. Bad news abounds. Korea is angling for war. Trump plans to block immigration. ...

We haven’t paid much attention to US elections in the past…Democrats, Republicans, Bush, Clinton or Obama – there has been a broad acceptance of neo-liberal capitalist policies supported by globalisation. Yesterday, that changed.

Despite years of unprecedented stimulus from authorities all over the world, the global economy is sluggish. Global growth expectations are continually adjusted downwards and are still well below long-term averages. This year the World Bank adjusted its global growth forecast downwards to 2,4% from 2,9% in January. So, what’s happening with economic growth and why is ...

PortfolioMetrix’s Brandon Zietsman wrote an interesting piece on the possible shift of power away from America to the likes of China, and whether you should look at size in isolation or is there more to a power shift than just the production numbers of a country. An interesting read. American exceptionalism has defined the way Americans ...

Earlier this month, the Taxation Laws Amendment Act was passed in parliament. The Act included significant retirement reforms. Although these reforms follow years of negotiations, it has still been met with resistance especially by labour unions. What do these reforms mean for high net worth individuals and families? We believe these changes go some way to simplify ... Read more