Due to Simon’s travels we recorded this episode a few short hours before news of the S&P ratings downgrade reached us. I was depressed about the state of affairs even then. I don’t know if I would have been able to get out of bed for a recording after the downgrade. #investing in troubled times. ...

Long-time listeners of The Fat Wallet Show might not be surprised that I find questions around credit records distressing. My dubious credit history makes me wary of debt billed as anything but an expensive and stressful parting from my money. We look very mischievous in this picture, but we actually talk about how to build ...

A letter from Carel Nel reminded me how utterly irrational I used to be about money. My irrationality manifested in two ways: avoidance and minimising. In an attempt to feel more in control of my chaotic financial life, I organised all my bills into folders by month. Sometimes I would spend whole days easing my ...

I like the concept of dividends: companies that do well share the love and the profit with their investors. Because my investment portfolio is small, however, the dividends I receive are often an inconvenience. While I’d never turn down free money, a R300 dividend payment isn’t exactly changing my life. That’s why I find the ...

Last week Simon and I discussed how much I save. We also marvelled at Conrad Loots, who manages to save 69% of his salary. Over the weekend I thought about our conversation and how far I’ve come financially. Six years ago I had ten times more debt than income. Back then I would have taken ...

I’ve been so excited about my tax-free investments. I was going to transfer my tax-free allocation on the 28th, then got paranoid that Capitec would transfer my money on the same day and cost me 40% in tax. I decided to wait until 1 March. The wait frustrated me, but I’m an adult. I know ...

I recently attended an Investec event where they introduced a structured product that piqued my interest. Simon and I have discussed structured products before, so I was expecting a hugely complicated bullshit product with massive fees. I was wrong (again). One entire hour, especially for Jo who wants out #podcasts to be longer. We create ...