Whilst it’s good to have someone on your team (your financial adviser) who knows what’s happening in the markets, it’s not always helpful to relay all that information to you and have you make decisions about it. We can’t control the markets, but we can control our conversations about money. That’s why it’s not always helpful to ask what is happening in the markets; it’s more beneficial to ask what problems we can work on in […]
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Inflation & Interest Rates
Typically, inflation and interest rates are in an “inverse” relationship: When rates are low, inflation tends to rise. And when rates are high, inflation tends to fall. Moneyweb recently wrote “increasing the cost of credit will reduce the demand for it and therefore slow down the pace of ‘new money’ entering the economy via credit channels. This slowdown of funds entering the economy via credit channels will slow down the inflation rate as less money chases […]
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Crypto can be taxing
One of the early appeals for cryptocurrencies was that they would not be taxed as they are not fiat currencies (yet), in that they are not owned by a country or used for trade inside of geographical tender regulations. However, as these platforms grow and develop, we are seeing that this is most likely not the case. According to several governments, cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are classified as “intangible assets” – as opposed to, say, property […]
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Avoid these investment decisions
Do you know what’s going to happen in the markets tomorrow? Neither do we! All we know is that the markets are an opportunity to invest our money in helping the economy grow, and watching our money grow with it. That’s a really simplistic view, but it helps us extract our emotional reactions from the final decisions that we make. Should we ignore fear? Absolutely not – we should talk about it lots! That’s one of […]
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What you need to know to set yourself up for offshore
Beginning to invest offshore is increasingly looking good for worried South Africans amidst geopolitical turmoil. Depending on your risk appetite investment expectations, it can work for you and need not be an overwhelming or intimidating experience. Here’s what you need to know: Professional help is essential Everyone can invest offshore, it’s not only for the Oppenheimers… That being said, you cannot go it alone. Every country has its own nuanced rules and best practices; did you […]
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Inflation Illusion
Old Mutual Balanced Fund manager, Graham Tucker, explains in an article published on Fin24 how many investors suffer from something he calls ‘inflation illusion’. This essentially means that many people aren’t completely aware about the effects of inflation or how much it will impact their savings over time. For example, the average inflation rate of vehicles since 1990 has been 5.8%. This means that a medium-sized sedan that cost ZAR260,000 in 2016 will likely cost ZAR1.05m […]
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Lessons Learnt from Investing in 2016
Having recently read a report from the CEO of PSG Asset Management, Anet Ahern, here are a few key pointers that our top minds in the investment sector will be carrying with them as we start 2017. 1. The best investment decisions aren’t always the most comfortable During the first two weeks of 2016, a few of the top investment vehicles were down between 8% and 10% – the worst start to a year ever. All […]
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Characteristics of a canny investor – Part 2
Just because you don’t have an ultimate financial gambit to sell a business or inherit funds, it doesn’t mean you will never become wealthy. The important thing is to know yourself – in particular, your financial behaviour. Modeling your behaviour after successful investors is already a step in the right direction. Let’s look at some more of the behavioural traits of an astute investor: 1. They get pleasure out of saving, not spending Buying things releases […]
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Investment insights – diversifying your portfolio
Investment diversification is not a new concept. I’m sure that we all know the old saying that you should not put all your eggs in one basket. If a “basket” drops, you don’t want all of your investments to break. Diversification reduces risk, making the uncertain journey to your financial end-goal significantly smoother. Investing is an art form, not a knee-jerk reaction. The best time to practice disciplined investing with a diversified portfolio is before diversification […]
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Investing in your fifties
Many young people neglect to plan for their retirement during their early working lives, arguing that they will take care of it later in life when they are earning a bigger salary. However, on the flip side of the coin, as people get older they assume that they must rebalance their portfolios into more conservative investments. Luckily, most people are choosing to retire later in life. If you have left investing in your retirement until later […]
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