Tag: estate duty

When we think about estate planning, we think of a plan outlining a tax-efficient way to deal with our assets when we pass away. Instead of viewing this as a ‘death plan’, try to think of it as a ‘life plan’ – a strategy created during your lifetime to ensure that your wishes are fulfilled, and that your loved ones benefit as intended after you pass away.

Get Your Will Right is a practical guide on what you should consider when drawing up your Will to reduce the cost of managing your estate. The book will guide you on how to structure your assets to minimise estate duty and will help your family with the process of finalising your estate, while highlighting the problems that could occur should your will be lost or incorrectly completed.

Structured products enable diversification into offshore markets while controlling risk. Any investor worth their salt understands the importance of diversification, particularly in a contemporary economic environment characterised by such volatility and uncertainty.

The recent announcement of South Africa’s grey listing has compounded an already volatile market and has introduced more administrative complexity when investing offshore. Onerous due diligence processes and verifiable information may be required creating delays with offshore investments.

Inflation is the increase in prices over a specific period and which leads to a reduction in the purchasing power of money. The correlation between inflation and purchasing power is important because sometimes we are fooled into thinking that just because an amount increased, like your salary, your purchasing power remains the same.

Estate planning involves structuring and managing your assets while you are alive, and putting measures in place to ensure your wishes are carried out after you pass away. It also ensures that there are no unexpected surprises your family will have to deal with.

Following the death of a loved one, those left behind are often distressed to learn that the administration of the deceased estate will take quite some time to finalise.