We don’t like to talk about markets very often because what they do is beyond our control. Unlike others, we also do not claim to know where they will be in the following days, weeks, months, or years. Years, yes, in years, the markets will go up, but that’s another...

In many of our articles, I bang on about the importance of having a long-term financial plan. The simple reason for this is that most people don’t have a plan, even if they work with a financial planner. A survey in the USA revealed that although 75% of their citizens...

I recently spent some time in the bush with friends, a wonderful way to reset and feed the soul. These friends and I are all in the financial services industry so much of what we chat about, and debate is aspects of our work. A big focus for all of us is the various...

I write this while sitting on the lawns of the Lion and Elephant Motel in Zimbabwe, 76km from Beit Bridge. It’s time for the bush, some R&R and the odd Zambezi lager. The trip has been well planned ( I love the planning), in fact, so well that for the last two...

Today, we shed light on the often overlooked but immensely significant topic of qualifications in the realm of financial planning. Discover why choosing a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) can make a world of difference in your financial success. In various aspects of...

In life, it is natural for people to want certainty around various areas of their life. We don’t like surprises or change, so knowing the probable outcome of actions we may take gives us comfort. One way we do this is by using “rules of thumb” (ROT’s). We see this...

Nowhere in the bible is the word or concept of retirement mentioned. The first recorded use of a state pension was in 13 BC by Augustus Caesar for military veterans who had served at least 16 years in a legion and 4 years in the reserves. This was later increased to...

The financial services industry thrives in making simple things complex. This allows it to charge for solving the problems it creates. The biggest area where this happens is in asset management, where managers promise to outperform the market and deliver high returns....

Are you living your best life? If you’re not sure, think about it and find out. Most see retirement as a single event or milestone, and the biggest question they have is: “Am I going to be ok”? Or, put differently, “Do I have enough”? This week, among the meetings I...

We may think that being rich and being wealthy are really the same thing but in fact, they are miles apart. Morgan Housel author of “the psychology of money”, describes the highest form of wealth as “being able to do what you want, when you want for as long as you...