There are always bills to pay and money needed for something or another, and few things seem as boring and unnecessary than an emergency fund. While you can enjoy the rewards of spending on, say, a good winter coat, or can see the benefits of saving for something like university for the kids, emergency funds are, by nature, never seen.
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Is your portfolio overly concentrated?
A well-balanced, diversified portfolio is a joy for all seasons, giving something no matter what various markets or asset classes are doing. An overly concentrated portfolio is the opposite, a ticking time bomb volatile to fluctuations in macroeconomics and other influencers of the share price.
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Tips for a less taxing tax season
‘Tax season’ elicits in most people the kind of shudder you’d imagine ‘open season’ to elicit in hunted animals. We all hate doing our taxes and, because of this, we often postpone the inevitable, sometimes with horrible consequences like penalties and waiting hours at SARS.
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Explaining credit risk
Last month we talked about interest rate risk – the risk of your investment devaluing and you losing money due to changes in interest rate. In a sense, this is about an investment’s possibility of flailing due to macroeconomic conditions. This month, we’re going to look at credit risk.
Continue readingSoil is not enough – what does it mean to be truly rich?
Coco Chanel, a woman who overcame her fair share of financial difficulties to become one of the most successful women of all time, said: ‘there are people who have money and people who are rich.’
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5 ways to keep you and your money warm this winter
It’s a cold world out there this June. As the thermometer temperature drops, the price of fuel and cost of living keep rising… but it’s not all doom and gloom.
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Taking an interest in interest rate risk
Education around the basics of wealth creation and preservation is like a good, solid diet packed with healthy food staples, it can help you enjoy healthy finances for years and create a strong foundation for building your future.
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Betting on cars – how to invest in motor innovation without getting a flat
“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way,” Henry David Thoreau once said. Investing in the future is an exciting prospect, but a daunting one as well. And what could be more of a ride than investing in motor vehicles?
But the road can be a bumpy one, even if it is a fast ride, so prudence is paramount when investing in all things motor.
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A shout out to dads
It’s Father’s Day time, and we would like to honour the men, and the women too, who have been parents to us. Our dads.
… And by ‘Dad’ we don’t necessarily mean our fathers. Ever seen the Omo Father’s Day advert that went viral on YouTube? It showed a little boy reading a Father’s Day card, with all the important things dads do listed in it like providing financially and teaching right from wrong, to his grandmother. She was his ‘Dad’.
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The retirement you know will be gone by the time you retire
One of the most important reasons to save throughout our working life remains retirement. It’s shocking how few people afford themselves the ability to live with dignity and independence, without sacrificing a huge drop in standard of living.
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