When you buy a locally-listed ETF based in another currency, two transactions happen in the background. First, your rands are converted to the other currency. The new currency is then used to buy the ETF units. Buying an ETF based in a different currency is therefore an easy way to introduce currency diversification into your ...

Under normal circumstances we would strongly caution against withdrawing from your pension fund. The reason is quite simple: the tax will make your eyes water. One decision can slash your hard-earned net worth by hundreds of thousands of rands. That’s not even factoring for opportunity cost. However, since we’re currently living through the apocalypse, we ...

Many of you come to us fresh as daisies. You start listening in anticipation of your first pay cheque. A clean slate means you can set your financial situation up in a way that makes sense to you at the outset. Those of us who aren’t so lucky have to turn our financial patchwork into ...

Financial planning isn’t just for people who earn money. In single-income households, it’s the responsibility of everyone in the household to work towards financial goals. It’s also everyone’s responsibility to protect those not earning an income. Naturally, dread disease and disability cover and life insurance are critical in these situations. A question from Denzil had ...

After two brutal years of obsessive debt repayments and a year of hard saving I finally made my first investment in March 2014. Six years of watching paint dry was followed, finally, by a stock market crash so brutal I’m still suffering a nosebleed. In my short investment career I’ve experienced every market condition but ...

We’ve all had a few weeks to come to terms with Reality: Version 2020. Those of us who had our sights set on financial independence have watched our independence day creep a few years further down the line.  The uncertainty we are currently facing has surely also made converts of those who didn’t know financial ...

With the markets in a flat spin, even the bond market is looking a bit peaky. How can it be when bonds are supposed to give us stability and predictable income? It turns out not all bonds are created equal. In this week’s episode we revisit how bonds work and what they’re supposed to do ...

It’s going to take more than a good plan and discipline to cope with the financial impact of this lockdown. Some of us are lucky to retain all or some of our income, but for many of us this period is a financial catastrophe. There is no good news, no upside, no silver lining. We ...

Isn’t it fascinating how quickly we adapt? When the market first started its epic nose dive, we were all ready to jump with it. However, over the past month or so we’ve become so accustomed to a crisis environment that we can almost forget about our investment accounts. The last lockdown challenge was initially scheduled ...