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A moral dilemma?

A moral dilemma? Consider the following: A very old man dies, he had a unit trust investment of R300k that he used to support himself and his wife –

As human beings, emotions often dictate our behaviour. One of our dominating emotions (if we are honest with ourselves) is fear. Fear of loss, fear of being hurt, fear of being poor, fear of missing out, fear of being sick, fear of clowns, fear of needles…and probably most significantly, for most of us; the fear …

Executors fees

Not sure what happened this past weekend but I received 2 emailed questions (from unconnected clients) about executors fees this morning. Seems the discussion has been around the quantum of the fee and how much the traditional executors (banks, trust companies and attorneys) charge. The maximum fee in law is 3.5%+VAT plus 6% on interest …

SARS speaking with forked tongue (again)

SARS speaking with forked tongue (again) Filing season for the 2015 tax year opens today and SARS have been sending out plenty of emails about this. One of them is titled “BE TAX SMART – Check if you need to submit an income tax return!” which implies that some people might not need to submit …

The role of the financial planner…

Have been busy with a death claim on a retirement annuity and have managed to get an extra 50% added to the payout value…read on for the details that once again highlight the value that a financial planner can add to a client’s portfolio. About a month before our client died we sat with him …

Interesting

Was at a workshop hosted by Investec Asset Management this am and heard these rather interesting stats… 23% of US homeowners are in negative equity (they owe more on their house than their house is worth) At the current growth rate, India will have more people than China by 2030 99% of the world’s fastest …

Moving forward…

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 …

RSA Retail Bonds

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 …

What’s worse?

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” …

Dilbert on Finance

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 …

The Financial Coach

A moral dilemma?

Fear of dying

Executors fees

SARS speaking with forked tongue (again)

The role of the financial planner…

Interesting

Moving forward…

RSA Retail Bonds

What’s worse?

Dilbert on Finance