Retirement Archives -

Are Passives really that cheap?

I got really excited recently when I noted the addition of some of the CoreShares funds to the list of funds on one of the LISP platforms that we use… And then I started doing some quotes to see what the effect the addition the CoreSharesTop50 would have on the fees on the client’s portfolio. …

Marcus Jooste’s school-boy error

Much has been written and much will still be written about the Steinhoff saga but after listening to some of the testimony and reading the bit below…there is only one conclusion that can be made and that is this: Ethics aside, Marcus Jooste’s biggest mistake was failure to diversify. It’s a classic school-boy error of …

It’s time to do the Mickey Blue (again)

I recently watched someone using a leaf blower to clear their pavement. As I watched, it struck me what a pointless exercise it was and it crossed my mind that the leaf blower must be one of the most senseless machines yet invented.

It’s time that treasury stopped being short-sighted when it comes to the wealthy!

A few years ago, during the National Budget Speech, government put a cap of R350k pa on retirement contributions. It appears that no one at treasury has given this much thought

The great Tax Free Savings Account con!

Am I the only one who dislikes Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) and all the hype that goes with them? Let’s take a step back before getting all excited about TFSA’s. They were introduced (by Government) to encourage non-savers to save and unfortunately,

It’s time we had different conversations with our clients…

I recently had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine (we don’t do her financial planning). The conversation turned to money

A case for higher offshore weighting within a living annuity?

There is this strange phenomenon in SA called Regulation 28 that is applied to retirement funds. It stipulates that retirement fund members may not have more than 75% of their funds in equities and no more than 25% of the fund invested offshore

8.5% per month in fees?

Am I reading this incorrectly or can it be that the monthly fee on this pension fund contribution is 8.5%? Can it be that R240 of every R2808 in contributions is being eaten up by costs? Every month? And this is before the fund fees? In 2017 with all the legislation that we have – …

UT or share portfolio

There are many with strong opinions about the merits of a share portfolio versus a unit trust portfolio. Here’s another one (strong opinion) in favour of a unit trust portfolio.

Emotional beings

Let’s face it, we’re emotional beings (thankfully). We laugh at comedy and cry at tragedy. We give money more easily to beggars on cold and rainy days, or to mothers with young children than to single men on the side of the road. We buy things on sale (with money we don’t have) even though …

The Financial Coach