As the old saying goes: “There are only two certainties in life, death and taxes.” So, when you can avoid either, you should take it. Just as you'd grab hold of a lifesaving medical treatment, so you should jump on any opportunity to reduce your tax burden.
The South African government gives you very few opportunities to reduce your tax burden compared to other countries. But two of the sim... ››› more
This is probably the most important question in finance, yet most people don't have a clue how to answer it.
Today, I'll walk you through how to answer this question. As you will see, there is no complicated maths involved, and once you know what you need, you will be able to better plan your future.
You can find the full Article here:... ››› more
Odds are you have a pension fund, or money invested in a retirement annuity.
For good reason - we all need to prepare for retirement. And the tax benefits are a great benefit to these retirement funds.
But if you're planning on emigrating - even if it is something you've got planned for your distant future, you should listen up…
Come March 2021 and your plans could become considerabl... ››› more
Meet Joe - a 60 year old man with pension savings of R3 million.
Like most pensioners, Joe's greatest fear is he'll run out of money before he dies.
After all, most retirement products only plan to look after you for 20 years.
Since South African men and women have a 50% chance of living beyond 83 and 87 respectively (the age most retirement plans work on for each gender), running out of... ››› more
If you're approaching retirement, it's likely this question is keeping you up at night.
It doesn't really matter if you're wealthy, comfortable or just making ends meet. When you get to retirement age the world changes.
In the course of my life I've worked with high-flying executives living what can only be described as “the dream”. Owners of multiple businesses, in multiple countries.... ››› more
Almost everyone dreams of retirement as a time of peace and relaxation but, in reality, the retirement process is probably the riskiest financial event in your life.
There are two main reasons for this.
Firstly, the decisions you make today will decide the quality of the rest of your life.
Secondly, it is virtually impossible to recover if you make a mistake. By definition this is as r... ››› more
If you're in your 50's you might have heard of ‘prescribed assets' before - for millennials this term might be ‘foreign'.
But it is very actual - in fact it's from the 1980's and it was part of the Apartheid government playbook.
In short - the government back then forced pension funds through legislation to invest up to 77.5% of their funds into parastatals and government bonds.
No... ››› more
I'm only 28 but I'm not like most under 30s…
I constantly think about my future retirement nest egg. And its most likely because I've worked in the investment industry for eight years and surrounded by a lot older colleagues.
I've also been lucky enough to attend a lot of our global investor conferences where I got to chat to people a lot older than me… People either preparing to retir... ››› more
Let me ask you a serious question…
How many of you believe you have enough money to last your retirement?
Well when you consider that over 50% of South Africans aren't confident they will be able to draw an income in retirement, I'm going to assume not many of you.
You see, a standard retirement annuity is simply not enough to generate the income you need, for the retirement you want... ››› more
According to a retirement round table hosted by the CFA Society and the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa, only about 6% of South Africans can maintain their standards of living when they retire.
And, based on the Global Retirement Index, South Africa is among the worst 8% of countries in the world to retire in. That's because state healthcare, social security and a number of oth... ››› more
A week ago I was nearly convinced low-cost RA's are the way to go. I read a well written article on the web, promoting the virtues of low-cost RA's.
The article uses the following example:
Someone has saved R3 000 every month for 40 years into a retirement annuity (RA), and earns a return of 6.5% above inflation.
If you pay an investment fee of 3% you'd end up with R3 million at the end ... ››› more
It's never too early to start planning for retirement. And this means thinking somewhat differently about retirement planning for your later years.
Have you ever stopped and asked yourself these questions?
1. How much will I need to save for retirement in order to live comfortably?
2. What are my retirement goals?
3. When should I start?
4. What should I do?
5. What costs might I... ››› more
I probably learned more from my mother's retirement experience than anyone else's. When she retired, she wanted security, lived austerely, but had no idea whatsoever of enhancing value.
And therein lay the disaster. My mother sold her home, moved into a seemingly more secure rented complex, and placed all financial resources into a low interest bearing building society account in an extremely h... ››› more
You won't have enough money to retire.
I know I sound like the harbinger of doom, but it's a reality that you and most South Africans need to face up to.
Now you might be asking, why am I saying this about you? Well, I am only looking at the statistics.
The Financial Planning Institute of South Africa says less than a quarter of South Africans can afford to retire. If you think that's ... ››› more
According to biomedical gerontologist, Dr Aubrey De Grey, the next person to live to the ripe old age of 150 has already been born.
What if that's you?
What if you live till 80 or 100? Will you have enough money to last you that long after you retire?
Ten or twenty years ago, collecting your last paycheque at the age of 65 was a reasonable expectation. But as life expectancy and the co... ››› more
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