I recently attended a Financial Services Board workshop on the FAIS Act (Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services). FAIS is big on putting consumer interests first and on making sure that consumers get appropriate advice. Despite the legislation there are still many instances of investors getting bad advice and being ripped off – this is partly due to the way that advisors are remunerated and partly due to the fact that the...

I recently read an article where the person was writing about how to choose a financial planner/advisor…some of what he said made absolute sense. Such as, asking for references from existing clients and checking that they are in fact registered with the Financial Services Board. But then, I am afraid, he lost all credibility when he suggested that you should “ask the advisor for a free review of your position and some ideas on...

So it looks like the “fuss” is all over and the equity market is set to run even further…I guess it is at times like these that you need to make sure you are “in for the ride” and not sitting on the sidelines watching it all go by. But it is also important that investors do a little “stock take” (pun intended) and understand/remember the following…afterall, has anyone seen the fat lady sing yet? Investing ...

Been investigating buying a new car. Why? Because the old one is a 13 year old Isuzu double cab KB260 with 206000 km on the clock and it has an 85 litre petrol tank that will do about 650km in town. It’s old and it’s not very fuel efficient. In fact, last month it consumed about R1300’s worth of petrol…and the clutch packed in which cost me a futher R1500 but other than that, it is great, it is paid for and it allows us to get to...

A wealthy businessman was horrified to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child. “Why aren’t you out fishing?” asked the businessman. “Because I caught enough fish for one day, “replied the fisherman. “Why don’t you catch some more?” “What would I do with them?” “You could earn more money,” said the businessman. “Then with the extra...