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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
According to the latest report from the Pension Fund Adjudicator, there are currently about 14900 unresolved cases (complaints) that they are still dealing with and this is on top of the 8275 cases that they have resolved this year.
The Financial Services Board is also struggling with a significant backlog in their case loads and are [...]
There is an old song where the lyrics went something like this “the chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, but still they come!”
At least the odds were better than the chance of you winning the lotto in SA where your odds are one in 13 983 816 (or 0.000000072%)*.
Let’s put this [...]
Continue reading about Lotto – even if you are in you probably wont win!
Results from the American Demographics poll showed that retirement is more difficult than becoming a parent or than getting married*. Those that felt retirement was the most difficult adjustment said that they struggle with the monotony, boredom, lack of purpose and lack of intellectual stimulation that traditional retirement offers. So if this is the case, [...]
Continue reading about Retirement – life event, not just a financial event!
After having been a client of Std Bank for 19 years I finally had enough of the ridiculous bank fees that I was paying (R185 flat fee) and moved to Nedbank (R65 for the same thing and an annual saving of R1440!). The process was a lot easier than I had anticipated and is something [...]
I have recently received quite a few “phishing” emails (i.e. emails from people trying to get info they are not entitled to and usually involving internet banking). This is nothing new and has been happening for ages, but what is incredible is how “legitimate” these emails now appear.
Somehow, they have now managed to get it [...]
I came across a 76 year old lady this morning who was sold a 10 year endowment at the age of 71 (through Old Mutual Horizons) for R10000 per month (yes, ten thousand rand!). 5 years later her situation has changed, she cant afford the premium anymore and needs to make a change…surprise, surprise, she [...]
