I was chatting with a friend of mine last night who was relating a phone call he had received from his bank who were encouraging him to “move forward” to their prestige banking account and all that comes with it for just R199 per month…55 “free” transactions, help with forex, 12 free cheques (does any one still use these?) blah, blah, blah,etc, etc, etc… What amazes me is how easily people buy the...

Much was made about the RSA Retail Bond when it was launched and about how it would provide a safe and cheap investment with a reasonable returns to the “man-in-the-street”. Well, I have been trying to buy some of these for a “man-in-the-street” using the RSA Retail Bond website – what a nightmare. There is an application form online but no details where to submit it or how to pay the funds into an account. So...

When you finally get to retire from your pension fund or retirement annuity you are faced with a significant (and very important) choice about what kind of annuity you will purchase (with the compulsory portion of your fund). Simply put, there are 2 choices: a conventional life annuity (through an insurance company) or a “newer” Living Annuity (usually through a unit trust company). The differences are explained...

The Dilbert cartoonist, Scott Adams, earned a MBA from Berkeley, worked at a bank (got held up twice at gunpoint), and is worth millions. So we presume he knows a thing or two about money. In an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal, Adams says he read about a dozen personal finance books and began working on one himself. However, he found it all boiled down to these nine points and he “couldn’t figure out how to fluff...

I attended a refresher workshop for CFP® Professionals hosted by the Centre for Financial Planning Law (UOFS) on Friday. This is part of the continuing education that Certified Financial Planners are required to do in order to maintain their CFP® status.  One of the interesting things from the workshop was to learn that Financial Planning only started as a career in 1969 when 12 people got together to establish the profession in the USA....

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...