The personal finance lessons we can all learn from 2023

CatalystInvestment, Lifestyle, Planning, Retirement

As the year hurtles towards its close, signs of the festive season are emerging – Christmas decorations adorning storefronts, and the cheerful melodies of holiday tunes resonating through retail spaces. Despite the hustle and bustle of the approaching “silly season”, the end of the year is a good time to reflect on the financial journey of the past year and …

Rental property vs investing

CatalystInvesting, Lifestyle, Planning, Property, Retirement

Stacking one investment type up against the other In this precarious investment climate it is always important to do the necessary research to determine the best strategy for you. Each person’s investment plan should be tailored to their circumstances and all aspects should be considered before investing. This is according to Lana Visser, financial planner at Fiscal Private Client Services. …

DIY Investing and the value of financial advice

CatalystInvesting, Lifestyle, Planning

Do-it-yourself (DIY) investing in South Africa has surged in popularity – especially over the last 12 months. Cost-effective online trading and investment platforms, like EasyEquities, is one of the key-drivers behind this trend.  According to the interim results published by Purple Group, the owner of EasyEquities, platform assets grew to R26.9 billion – a year-on-year increase of 70.3%. EasyEquities now …

With the world on fast-forward we cannot afford to be left behind. We need new social contracts that bring new options and better solutions

CatalystInvestment, Lifestyle, Planning

When will our lives get back to normal? They won’t, because normal was the problem. Our lives function on social contracts between citizens and their government. These are broken. They have been for a while. It has nothing to do with the coronavirus. This has been developing for a few years. The world needed change on many fronts. The pandemic …

Old-gen vs new-gen RAs, and why they matter

CatalystInvestment, Lifestyle, Planning

An old-generation retirement annuity fund (RA), which is policy based, is vastly different from a new-generation unit-trust based RA. Abdallah Moosa, a planner and actuary at Cape Town-based wealth management company Fiscal Private Client Services, says RAs fall under the category of retirement funds (including pension and provident funds).https://6b793fb1412da224cba5baa6a5972065.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html “They are essentially a ‘personal retirement fund’, and contributions are typically …

Take control of your finances in uncertain times

CatalystInvestment, Planning

American professor of mathematics, John Allen Paulos is attributed with saying ‘uncertainty is the only certainty’. This is true for job security, future working environments, and even if Manchester United really are title contenders again! If uncertainty teaches us one thing, it is that we can control only what is within our control. Duann Cronje, a Certified Financial Planner at …