Transfers of Tax Free Savings Accounts from 1 March 2018

From 1 March 2018, Section 12T(8) of the Income Tax Act will allow for transfers of Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) between product providers, in part or full, without incurring a reduction of your annual (ZAR33,000) and lifetime (ZAR500,000) limits. Previously, if you wanted to transfer your TFSA from one provider to another, it would […]

Tax Free Savings Accounts – Why TFSAs are a no-brainer for kids

Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) have been part of the investment landscape in South Africa for a few years now, and while they can be a powerful savings tool, they don’t always make sense for adult investors. For minors however, investment options are limited, especially those offering tax benefits to parents. Traditionally these would take the […]

SARB allowances: Don’t be caught napping!

Exchange Control Regulations dictate how much an individual may transfer out of South Africa each calendar year via a system of allowances.  The year end is fast approaching and we are now in the final weeks of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) annual allowances for 2017 which will expire on 31 December: Single Discretionary […]

The cappuccino effect

Wednesday, 8th November is National Cappuccino Day in the United States of America. Although this is commonly a time to celebrate the frothy goodness of this popular drink (whose name was interestingly inspired by the colour of the hooded robes of the Capuchin friars in Italy), it’s also an occasion to become aware of our […]

The Bitcoin Bubble

Cryptocurrency: “A digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.” For example, Bitcoin. It was in May 2014 that Oxford Dictionaries Online (distinct from the Oxford English Dictionary) added the relatively unknown word ‘cryptocurrency’ to […]

TCF: Treating Customers Fantastically

I received a gift from a client today, a bottle of delicious Meerlust Rubicon wine. As a Financial Adviser it’s obviously great when the value of your clients’ investment portfolios goes up, or you help someone plan for their kid’s education, or you legitimately help reduce a client’s tax bill. These are all justifiably rewarding […]

To Airbnb or not to Airbnb?

According to a 2016 Fin24 interview, Nicola D’Elia, the managing director for Airbnb Africa and Middle East, noted that Airbnb hosts in South Africa earn on average ZARR28,000 a month by letting their property on a short-term basis through this popular rental website. Furthermore, Nested released an encouraging report that found that South Africans could […]

Slow Down. Appreciate.

If you’re anything like me, you may find that after you’ve had a holiday… you feel like you need a holiday! Our pace of life is currently so fast that even when we’re on holiday, or trying to take things a little slower, we don’t actually get to relax or rest as much as we […]

New Year Spending Tips

If you want to change the way you’re doing something, if you want to improve or adjust or if you simply want to bring about a new direction – changing the way you think about something is the first step! Many of us begin our new-year-financials with a hope to saving more money – and […]

Rest. Relax. It’s all in the mind.

Experts say that you need at least 14 days of leave from work in order to begin to properly relax. But often that is a luxury few of us get to enjoy. I’m not referring to leave where we still have access to our emails and check them once a day or have a phone […]