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Why do Some People Have a Problem Spending Money? While most advice about budgeting concentrates on trying to find ways of helping people not to spend too much, there is another group of people that has the opposite problem. These “tightwads” find it very hard to spend at all. This can be debilitating in many…

Should you pay off your home loan? The time may come when you can cover your monthly expenses, including your home loan, and have money left over once all the debit orders have come off. The question is, what should you do with the excess? Should you use it to lower your mortgage debt or…

What’s Cooking with the Three-Pot System? The much talked about two pot system for retirement savings hasn’t even come into being. And now government’s proposing a three-pot system (although they’re still calling it a two-pot system). National Treasury and SARS have recently revised the draft bills and are awaiting feedback from industry bodies. But is…

How to Invest When There’s So Much Bad News South Africa has some serious problems, and there’s little sign of them getting better. Loadshedding, water shortages, unhelpful politics, poverty and unemployment are making it very difficult for the local economy to grow at any meaningful rate. There is clearly a sense of dread around the…

Don’t let Money Ruin Your Relationship Money can be one of the biggest sources of conflict in a relationship. When partners disagree about how to manage their finances, what to spend on, and how to save, it can create tension that is very difficult to resolve. Being able to communicate honestly and openly about money…

What is True Wealth? When people talk about wealth, they tend to think of material possessions. But true wealth requires a mindset that goes beyond just accumulating money. People who are really wealthy, don’t necessarily have the biggest incomes or the fattest balance sheets. Rather, they understand that money is merely an enabler that helps…

Compound Interest: The Eighth Wonder of the World Albert Einstein called the magic of compound interest, “the eighth wonder of the world”. He famously stated that “he who understands it, earns it, and he who doesn’t, pays it.” In other words, compound interest is great when you’re investing and terrible when you’re borrowing. This article…

Santam Clarifies Grid Failure Exclusion Over the past year there have been unprecedented levels of loadshedding due to unexpected breakdowns and planned maintenance at Eskom to prevent the failure of the larger electricity grid. This has led to Santam no longer covering many incidents caused by such outages – see the links below to learn…

Invest With FIRE and Never Look Back What do you think of when you hear the word ‘fire’? Smoke and helicopters, the sound of a gun? The feeling in the back of your throat when you take a sip of whisky? Maybe even being fired in a recessionary economy? All pretty negative stuff, apart from…

Four Simple Steps to Start the Year on the Right Financial Foot A new year brings the opportunity to take a fresh look at your finances, and to take some steps that will put yourself in a position to save money and grow your wealth. This doesn’t need to mean making big changes. Just a…