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Single women and property investments

Single women in South Africa were the biggest group of property buyers in the last year, according to the latest Lightstone property report. This trend has been gaining momentum since 2012 and can be attributed to a few factors such as higher education levels which have led to better paying jobs. The gender pay gap, however, is still a concern.  Women in South Africa earn approximately two thirds of what their male counterparts earn.  It then […]

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Home ownership versus your ability to accumulate wealth

Owning your own home, whether it’s a bachelor pad or five-bedroomed mansion, is a deeply personal and emotional attachment we have to a space that transcends rationality. It is bigger and more important than just being about bricks and mortar. For many, home represents a great sense of achievement, independence, protection, love, a refuge and so many other intangibles. In South Africa, the vast majority of the population was restricted from owning their homes and from […]

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Winter is here

It has become evident that burning excess energy unnecessarily is a no-no (in my world anyway). I’ve hung up my running shoes and have given my gym ensembles a break for now because winter is here. And yes, I am well aware that summer bodies are made in winter ???? I’m looking to buy a few good books over the next couple of weeks to keep me occupied while sitting snuggly near the heater. And I’m […]

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The results are in!

Today, we close off financial literacy month with the results from the test some of our readers took a few weeks ago. We appreciate everyone taking the time to do the test. The financial literacy rate of our readers is 80%! I’m thoroughly impressed and pleasantly surprised. The question that some of our respondents struggled with was the last question which tests your understanding of diversification. 3) “Do you think the following statement is true or […]

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Effective ways to improve your financial literacy

Personal financial management concepts are fairly easy to grasp. Often, it’s the lack willingness to do the work that holds people back. Improving your financial literacy level does not have to break the bank or consume a lot of time. We have summarized a few easy ways to get financially fit in no time. READ/GOOGLE The world wide web is your gold mine. Just google ‘financial literacy’ and almost everything you need relating to this subject comes […]

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A test for you

Director Annamaria Lusardi and Professor Olivia S. Mitchell developed 3 questions that test an individual’s financial literacy. In their paper, “Financial Literacy Around the World: An Overview”, they found that the lack of financial literacy was a global problem, and that women consistently scored lower than men. In South Africa, roughly 4/10 of our adult population surveyed were considered financially literate. Since April is financial literacy month, we’re conducting our own survey to see if our […]

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A grim picture

In simple terms, financial literacy is the ability to make sound decisions regarding saving, borrowing and investing. It is the basic comprehension of the principles of personal financial management. April is world financial literacy month and a time to highlight and reflect on the importance of financial education and its effects on the citizenry as it is widely accepted as one of the biggest contributors to the inequality gap. The less an individual knows about the […]

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Finding balance while being self-employed

Load-shedding. Unemployment. Uncertainty. Fear. Things are looking bleak and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to the bad news. Self employed individuals will probably feel the pinch the most during this period and many businesses may not survive the crippling effects of intermittent power supply, among other things. There are many challenges facing self-employed individuals but two of them are of interest to me – how to manage personal finances, particularly during this […]

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For better or worse: The financial impact of divorce (part 3)

Bontle admits that finances were the undoing of her marriage. ‘The strain of our finances weighed heavily on us for 11 years. Throughout our marriage, we had financial peace for about 3 years.  We even started entertaining buying our first house together, but that idea was short lived.’ They fought about money all the time.  This is what led to their divorce.  Neither of them had the money for a protracted divorce battle so they went […]

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For better or worse: The financial impact of divorce (part 2)

Bontle completed her matric with average marks and could not get into varsity.  She went to KellyGreenoaks for a 1-year course in Public Relations.  It took her 6 months to find her first job which paid R1500 per month as a Secretary / Receptionist for a new firm of attorneys. She started studying part time through Unisa for a BA HR degree and her career in HR was born.  In 2004, she met a nice guy […]

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