I learned of a new scam this past week – a stokvel administered via social media. A mere week into the scam and already people were complaining that they’d been swindled! It is understandable why people fall for these scams – times are tough, and people are having to make-do with very little. In the same breath, a lot of people are tempted due to ignorance and plain greed. When deciding to commit your hard-earned cash […]
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When bigger isn’t necessarily better
My mother is considering down-scaling her home as it’s becoming too big and impractical for her to keep. This poses quite an interesting challenge – she loves to entertain and will now be giving up a big yard and a few bedrooms which have allowed her to do what she loves over the years. She’s approaching this very practically and with little emotions which is so admirable. During our conversation about her imminent downscale, I tried […]
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The effect of your emotions
“DALBAR’s Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behaviour Study (“QAIB”) has been analysing investor returns since 1994 and has consistently found that the average investor earns much less than market indices would suggest. “ This has everything to do with emotions – investors, with the best of intentions are their own worst enemies when it comes to managing money. they get excited when the markets are positive, greed kicks in and there is an expectation that markets will […]
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Goal setting
In the past two blog posts, we dealt with budgeting and risk-profiling – two very important initial steps to take when formulating a financial plan. Goal setting is the third vital step. During this process, it’s important to figure out what you need and what you want and to prioritize the former over the latter. Often, the lines are blurred, and clients need to be reminded of the difference. ‘I need that sports car’, a client […]
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Risk profiling
We’re spring cleaning our finances this month. Once your budgeting process is sorted, you need to consider getting profiled in terms of risk. A client’s risk profile is one of the first and most important things we try to understand during the financial planning process. There are many methods and as many outcomes to risk profiling but the ultimate point of it is the following: To try and understand how an investor feels about risk To […]
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Start anew
Most people would agree that spring is the best time of year. Temperatures are moderate, it rains, and the greenery starts growing back everywhere – nature’s own ‘restart button’. It’s my favourite time of the year and I know many people who feel the same way. Psychologically, it would be a lot easier for you to get started on spring cleaning your finances – if you feel good, are more energetic and inspired, it could be […]
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Happy spring!
Winter is finally over and you can now go back to being the social butterflies you were born to be! But, before you bring out your bright coloured spring clothes and summer hats, be sure to watch how quickly you part with your hard-earned cash in this glorious weather. There are several research papers that show how weather has an impact on consumer spending habits and retailors are now using it to their advantage. In warmer […]
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Women and risk
Women are accumulating less funds in their lifetime and many are retiring financially insecure, as compared to their male counterparts. A major contributor to this is low levels of financial literacy which has a negative impact risk perception. Risk perception refers to how an individual makes a personal judgement about the likelihood of a negative outcome. This extract from The Influence of financial literacy and risk perception on investment on choice of investment by Aren et […]
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Longevity advantage in women
Humans are living longer than ever before. Globally, even though there may be some differences in longevity statistics between countries, women are living longer than men, and this has been the trend since the 20th century. This report by Our World in Data states the following: ‘Males tend to have more fat surrounding the organs whereas women tend to have more fat sitting directly under the skin. This difference is determined both by oestrogen and the […]
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Financial implication of relationships on women
Women do not accumulate sufficient funds in their retirement as men do and one of the factors affecting this is relationships. Motherhood If a woman chooses to have children during her lifetime, this has been seen to negatively impact the growth of future earnings. We already know about the gender pay gap but what is even more worrying are the findings in a study conducted by Joya Misra, Professor of Sociology & Public Policy, University of […]
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