I remember reading earlier this week that people are now spending 78% of their disposable income on servicing debt…apparently these are record numbers for SA and this in a record low interest rate environment. Also forgot to mention that I was talking to someone who has connections with one of the large loans companies in SA – they are currently writing over R400million worth of loans each month! There has been much speculation...

Imagine that the body that regulates medical doctors (or any other profession) went to the doctors and said something like this to them: “We are terribly sorry but (due to a whole lot of reasons) we have let a whole lot of people who have not been suitably qualified as doctors, practice as doctors. And now as a result of this we need all of you to write (more) exams so that we can try to ensure at least some minimum kind of...

The recent changes to Regulation 28 rules around retirement funds has caused a bit of “excitement” in the asset management industry and I have seen at least 2 articles making a case that the stricter enforcement of the Reg 28 rules make Retirement Annuities  unattractive investments, especially for younger investors (see the article by Jan Mouton of PSG Asset Management –...

I have come across a few situations recently where we have had to help people who are in major life transitions – retrenchment and retirement – and it amazes me that most of the people we have been asked to help have no idea of their income needs (budget). I was also chatting with a group of business people recently who have all been running businesses for over 15 years and yet a common theme seemed to be that they...

Not for the first time, I received an email from a client whose domestic worker is close to retirement and who is concerned about having “too much money” and that this will impact on her ability to qualify for an old age pension. She has been told (via the grapevine) that when she applies for a pension the government will investigate her personal circumstances and if she is “rich” she will not qualify for a pension. There are...

Was chatting with a friend who used to run quite a successful events company…I say used to because he has been directly impacted by the “conflicts of interest” legislation in the financial services industry. As a result of the legislation, companies can no longer “wine and dine” their clients (that is the financial advisors and brokers who represent them). I understand that the intention behind the legislation is to attempt to...