Tag: emergency fund

Whether through resignation, retirement or retrenchment, people change jobs all the time. Unfortunately, most of them cash out their pension funds when they do – and it’s one of the biggest reasons why only 6 out of every 100 South Africans end up with enough money to retire, according to the South African Treasury.

There are tens of thousands of financial advisors in South Africa, but there is considerable variability in the quality of advice they offer. Many will focus on investments and other financial products you may need, but a good advisor’s role is a more demanding one.

Taking control of your financial health through effective budgeting can be beneficial and liberating. By creating a budget and smartly managing your expenses, you can ensure that your hard-earned money lasts longer and works towards securing a prosperous future.

South Africa commemorates Youth Day on 16 June 2023. With this in mind, we thought it prudent to tackle the importance of establishing good financial habits from an early age. The Oxford Dictionary defines the word habit as “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up”.

Despite getting a bad rap in the past, millennials – defined as those born between 1981 – 1986 – are now all grown up. And, for an age group that was once unfairly dubbed the most narcissistic generation of all time, they’re actually pretty good parents.

A question that’s not asked often enough is whether the way we go about retirement planning is necessarily the best way. All too often, this milestone is overshadowed by the pressure of whether we’ve saved enough to see us through our next life stage: a new stage in which our future is directly correlated to how well we’ve managed to plan in the past.

With the cost of living increasingly expensive, it is important to know how and where to save money. In this way, you can get a handle on your finances and feel more in control. We all have different money management styles. Along the way can find ourselves making mistakes, which can cost us a lot and possibly set us back on our money saving quest.

The year 2020 came about with a great amount of hardships and offered critical financial lessons such as, having an emergency fund; the importance of budgeting and having sufficient insurance cover to protect yourself and your loved ones. The New Year provides an opportune time for one to reflect, take stock and review their insurance covers to ensure that they are financially prepared to handle any unexpected turns this year.

On Wednesday, 24 June, Minister Mboweni will table a Special Adjustment Budget. This is an extraordinary event, precipitated by the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak that has caused so many deaths and ravaged great parts of the economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the global economy to its knees, and inevitably many employers will need to contain costs by cutting salaries. Being hit with a salary cut or a retrenchment is something every employee dreads, but it’s important not to panic and to manage the situation as responsibly as possible.