B2B Central

Financial Planning

31 Mar 2015

Are you fully aware of the costs associated with fire damage?

By Janice Roberts

The recent fires across the South Peninsula in March have highlighted the extreme damage which a fire can cause. The seven-day fire in Cape Town resulted in the damage of 13 houses and 500 people having to be evacuated from their homes. A total area of 6900 hectares of land was also effected, which is...
31 Mar 2015

Top 10 tips on managing your personal budgets – how to become financially savvy

By Janice Roberts

By David Crossley, Practice Manager at BDO Wealth For many people, the gentle art of actually budgeting for income and expenditure is something that is scorned at or only for “nerdy” people. These same people will generally lurch from one payday to the next with little regard for what they are spending their hard-earned money...
31 Mar 2015

A volatile rand

By Janice Roberts

The rand has seen marked volatility this year, starting 2014 at R11.55/USD and weakening to R12.49/USD, with retracement to R11.35/USD in Q1 2015, but mainly recording losses against the US dollar. This is according to Investec economist Annabel Bishop. The weakest rand/US dollar exchange rate was reached in 2001 – R13.75. Bishop says that investors...
30 Mar 2015

South African Investment Panorama study launched

By Janice Roberts

Major investment institutions and leading asset managers have welcomed the recent launch of the South African Investment Panorama survey. The study, which is a project spearheaded by international strategic research company Insight Discovery, is designed to identify the issues that have an impact on South Africa’s Independent Financial Advisors. Nigel Sillitoe, CEO of Insight Discovery,...
30 Mar 2015

SA retirement funds ‘tax effective and well run’

By Janice Roberts

By Kobus Hanekom, head of strategy, governance and compliance at Simeka Consultants and Actuaries (pictured) In contrast to previous years, the 2015 budget speech by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene did not reveal any fresh retirement reform initiatives or general retirement industry proposals. While there is much room for improvement of our retirement funds, they are...
27 Mar 2015

Japan: building momentum – is this time different?

By Janice Roberts

Tristan Hanson, head of asset allocation at Ashburton Investments  recently attended the CLSA Japan Forum in Tokyo where a number of companies and keynote speakers presented, including Prime Minister Abe, as well as meeting journalists, analysts and economists. He returned with the following conclusions: The Japanese equity market looks relatively attractive for the next 18-24...
27 Mar 2015

Late-starters guide to saving for your child’s education

By Janice Roberts

Life happens. Before you know it, your child is six years old and ready to start Grade R…and you realise you haven’t put a cent away for their education. “We sometimes find it difficult to prioritise education savings because of urgent financial commitments. Very often paying off a mortgage bond, utility bills, medical and grocery...
27 Mar 2015

No silver bullet

By Janice Roberts

Beware of too high cash allocations in post retirement savings. This can be a problem for an investor who needs growth and doesn’t take a holistic view of their investment portfolio. Saving for retirement and managing wealth in retirement requires specific objectives and skills. Business development manager at Grindrod Asset Management, Marc Thomas, says that...
25 Mar 2015

Don't wipe out your wealth in an uncertain environment

By Janice Roberts

Preserving one’s wealth for current and future generations is a constantly changing ballgame – particularly now as more and more global investment opportunities present themselves. Derek Alton, Portfolio Manager at Old Mutual Wealth Private Client Securities, says it is more important than ever for high net wealth individuals to ensure they have strong legal structures...
25 Mar 2015

Am I saving or investing?

By Janice Roberts

Frank Magwegwe – Segment CEO: Momentum Retail has provides an easy to understand explanation of saving and investing This post was inspired by recent conversations with clients who came to me for financial advice. Most of them used ‘saving’ and ‘investing’ interchangeably. After these conversations I found myself thinking about one of my favourite chapters...
25 Mar 2015

Understanding your Estate, Estate Duty and taxes

By Janice Roberts

There is sometimes confusion as to what will actually constitute your estate for Estate Duty purposes after your death. How and on what amount will Estate Duty be calculated and how quickly after your death must this tax on capital be settled? David Knott of Private Client Trust, the fiduciary services division of Private Client...
23 Mar 2015

Gap cover – A few questions answered

By Janice Roberts

By Anthea Towert, CFP®| Financial Planning Institute’s Healthcare Competency Committee Chairperson Introduction The public has a constitutional right to insure themselves against any financial risk, but often they are unaware of the subtle differences between a health insurance product and a medical scheme. The belief is that a health insurance policy offers the same protection...