personal finance Archives

Retire: Retirement myth-busters

Carina Jooste 13 Jul Latest, Retire

The phrase ‘Saving Towards Retirement’ is loaded. There’s loads of information to wade through, and an undercurrent of fear that you don’t have enough. In my conversations I’ve started to pick up on some personal money myths that might be hijacking our reason.

Wealthy Maths: The cost of your car

Kristia van Heerden 24 Nov Latest, Wealthy Maths

A very generous friend recently lent me his car for a road trip. It’s a thing of true beauty, with whistles on top of the bells. By the time I headed back from my holiday, I was looking at car prices online and trying to justify the purchase. For someone with a 17-year-old car, the ...

Tax Tuesday: Your tax check-list

Kristia van Heerden 3 Nov Latest, Tax Tuesday

When it comes to filing tax returns, preparation is key. While tax season is only for a few months in the year, there are steps you can take throughout the year to make your tax submission as smooth as possible. So says De Wet de Villiers of AJM Tax in this episode of The Fat Wallet ...

Wealthy Maths: Calculate a medical aid penalty

Kristia van Heerden 27 Oct Latest, Wealthy Maths

If you join a medical aid after age 35, you’re subject to penalties. The good news is these penalties are applied only to the risk portion of your medical aid, not to your medical savings account. The bad news is once the penalty applies, you can’t get rid of it. Top tip: If you’re approaching ...

Retire: Two-stage FIRE spreadsheet

Carina Jooste 13 Oct Latest, Retire

Over the last few months, we've been discussing what early retirement would look like to those who have Regulation 28-compliant pension funds or other retirement products. Our friend Kris Naidoo came up with a strategy that would help him utilise the funds he amassed during his working life to fund an early retirement, even though ...

Tax Tuesday: Your effective tax rate

De Wet De Villiers 1 Sep Latest, Tax Tuesday

Being in the middle of the 2020 tax filing season and halfway through the 2021 tax year, we wanted to clarify how the SARS tax brackets work and what your effective tax rate is for each. South Africa applies a sliding scale to determine the relevant tax rate. This isn’t the case in some other ...

Cash Club: Shopping for medical aid

Njabulo Nsibande 19 May Cash Club, Latest

Identifying the right medical aid for your needs can be as frustrating as trying to solve a Rubik's cube for the first time. It's never clear exactly what is covered in a particular plan - at least not in plain English. This blog post takes a closer look at the important things one needs to ...

Wealthy Maths: COVID-19 action plan

Kristia van Heerden 28 Apr Latest, Wealthy Maths

Many of our best-laid financial plans got wrecked by COVID-19. Not achieving our financial goals or facing financial insecurity during this period is extremely stressful, but a good financial plan can be adapted to all circumstances. Since each situation is different, this Wealthy Maths post won’t include a calculation per se. Instead, we’ll be sharing ...

Cash Club: When an emergency hits

Njabulo Nsibande 21 Apr Cash Club, Latest

Any financially savvy person will tell you that an emergency fund is the most important piece of your portfolio, and that you should have enough cash to cover your living expenses for three to six months. When it comes to emergency funds, I realised two things: 1. When I'm in an emergency, I'm not saving ...

Cash Club: How I use debt

Njabulo Nsibande 17 Mar Cash Club, Latest

Anyone that knows me knows I don’t like being in debt. Thanks to the Fat Wallet I cringe every time I have to take on debt. The problem is not earning a lot makes it very difficult no to take some debt. The only debt I have at any given moment apart for my cellphone ...