Tag: financialliteracy

Nearly half of under-60s with retirement products have dipped into their savings pots, mostly to get through the month. Our 2026 Retirement Insights Survey suggests the right response is empathy and better design. Nobody raids their retirement savings unless they are facing difficult economic pressure today. That is worth saying upfront. The two-pot retirement system has become one of the most moralised subjects in South African money conversations, and the moralising has taught us very little.

As a 25-year-old professional starting in my career, investing in shares felt unfamiliar and intimidating. I considered it a market for the wealthy, and certainly not a place that I could leverage for my own personal and professional benefit. I had a savings mindset, not an investing mindset. Therefore, I invested any surplus cash in a bank account earning interest.

In August I returned to East London for the 40th reunion of my class at Clarendon Girls’ High School. There is something wonderfully strange about seeing people again after four decades. Careers have been built, businesses started, families raised, countries crossed, and lives have taken turns none of us could possibly have predicted when we walked out of those school gates. And yet, within minutes, forty years seem to disappear.

Most parents spend decades building generational wealth, but few spend the time preparing the next generation to manage it. That is often where things fall apart. We are very good at transferring assets, but we are not good at transferring judgment.

We live in a world of information overload, and it can be challenging to know what is real and what is not. When it comes to money, social media is littered with "finfluencers" who present information and share "secrets" about managing and growing money. Some of it is real, while much of it is fake. As a result, it can be very difficult to know the difference.

Preparing your children for wealth starts long before an actual inheritance. You need to prepare them to manage it with responsibility and perspective. As financial advisers, we spend a great deal of time helping people build and preserve wealth. I have worked with numerous clients who have spent decades building businesses from scratch and managing investment portfolios.

The book arrives at a time when many women are seeking ways to strengthen their financial independence and build a more secure future. Financial Confidence for Her Wellbeing is a practical guide that helps women build a stronger relationship with money. It also gives them the confidence they need to make informed financial decisions.

When two architects design the same house independently, they do not create a stronger house. Instead, they create misaligned foundations. Every now and then, a client tells me they use two financial advisers. The explanation is almost always the same. They value a variety of opinions and feel more comfortable knowing multiple professionals oversee their wealth.

April’s Financial Literacy Month provides an opportunity to reflect on progress. It also highlights where the next phase of financial inclusion must focus. While access remains foundational, the real challenge lies in outcomes. Specifically, credit must deliver sustainable and positive results for consumers. Over the past decade, South Africa has expanded access to financial services. This progress has strengthened financial inclusion across the country.

For years, a familiar narrative has shaped our understanding of South African consumers. It suggests they are over-indebted, under-saving and prone to conspicuous consumption. Statistics often reinforce this view. These include low household savings rates, rising unsecured lending and high levels of personal debt. On the surface, the conclusion seems obvious. However, it remains incomplete.