Retirement is an important phase of life that requires careful financial planning to ensure a comfortable and secure future.

For South Africans, it’s essential to consider the unique challenges and opportunities specific to retirement planning.

In this article, we discuss seven crucial financial planning tips customised for people nearing retirement.

The Rand has once again blown out to a historical high of 19.9 to the US Dollar. As before, we believe this collapse has been an overreaction to many negative factors, and we anticipate a short-term strengthening of the Rand.

In this article, we analyse previous Rand spikes, its performance compared with other emerging market currencies, what we believe the fundamental value of the Rand is, and its projected future trajectory.

We all want some advanced vision of our lifestyle in retirement. A comprehensive financial plan provides a roadmap to achieving your life goals and long-term financial security. We set out the 10 key areas to be included in your financial plan and how to compose one.

When you retire, you have two important choices to make with your retirement savings. These decisions, which require careful thought and planning, could have a material impact on your retirement lifestyle.

Offshore investing provides South Africans a far broader choice of opportunities with the benefits of more diversification and exposure to different foreign economies and markets. While there are risks associated with investing offshore, the potential rewards outweigh the risks.
In this newsletter, we explore the benefits of offshore investing, compare the performance of local and offshore investments, and consider whether there is any benefit in trying to time the volatile Rand exchange rate.

Global and local investment markets are providing attractive entry points for long-term investments. Despite numerous uncertainties that are reflected by the bumpy start to the investment year, specific market areas are over discounting the negative effects of inflation and high interest rates.

Trusts can add enormous value when structured correctly and used in the right circumstances. However, changes to legislation have made trusts less advantageous over recent years. Also, offshore restrictions for SA trusts present a conundrum for families wanting to invest directly offshore to protect against SA specific risks.

In this article, we set out what a trust is and its purpose and discuss the methods of transferring assets to a trust.  We identify its advantages and disadvantages and suggest specific scenarios where trusts are a valuable tool to be used.

When approaching retirement, it’s critical to consider some key risks to protect your purchasing power and provide a sustainable income over the long term. These are sequence, inflation, liquidity, and longevity risks.

The biggest risk to your savings is not taking on any risk. To prevent your wealth declining in real terms (after inflation), your investments need to grow above inflation after deducting tax.
In this article, we’ll explore the importance of understanding risk, finding the right risk strategy, and why taking no risk is the biggest risk of all.

Most of us don’t enjoy paying tax, especially capital gains tax (CGT). But this tax cannot be avoided, and given its likely future increase, the sooner you pay it, the better.
We review the best ways to address CGT, its inclusions, and exclusions, and how to structure your investments to minimize your taxes.