“No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manner of thine own Or of thine friend’s were. Each man’s death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.” * I was reminded again this week of...

My grandfather taught me that if ever I needed to write a letter in anger that it was better to write it and then wait until the next day to send it – just to check that I still felt that way and that I still wanted to say the same things when the heat of the moment had passed. It was good advice…and so it is with this post… We currently complete and submit about 130 tax returns for clients and started submitting them as...

I enjoy using lines from movies when talking to clients about investing and financial planning. For example there is the classic line by Jack Nicolson’s character from “A few good men” when he is on the witness stand and being asked about the truth of an investigation to which he replies…”You want the truth? You cant handle the truth”. Sadly we get to use this when telling clients the truth about being...

About 5-6 years ago the Life Offices Association (now ASISA) made the claim that up to 35% of the cost of new business was due to the commission paid on the products (http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=2627965&fSectionId=552&nld=2005-07-18&t=html&f=d) and that was one of the reasons life insurance products were “expensive” and heavy penalties were levied when these were cancelled before maturity. As a...

Anyone living in Cape Town and with a bit of spare cash and a pre-paid electricity meter would probably do well to buy electricity before the 25% increase on the 1st July. By doing this you will effectively be buying electricity at a 25% discount to the new price…a tidy return on your money indeed. A couple of caveats first though: You need to make sure that you remember to at least “top-up” your account each month to pay...

I was chatting with a friend this morning about finances and budgetting and all that goes with that and it struck me again that there is no magic formula when it comes to money! It is just good old common sense. And in the case of bugetting, often a bit of hard work and discipline (not necessarily things we like to hear). Most people who battle to keep their income greater than their spending seem to be looking for a magic wand to wave that...