Three Books for the Holidays
With the festive season around the corner, it’s time to think about taking a rest, putting your feet up, and perhaps spending some quiet time with a good book. There are many really useful books about personal finance available. Here are three recommendations to keep you engaged during the holidays, or that might even make […]
6 Ways to Achieve Financial Freedom
Let’s be honest, we all desire financial freedom. Who doesn’t dream of retiring early, travelling the world and indulging your hobbies, all the while knowing your loved ones are taken care of? While this may seem like some far-off pipedream, the heart-warming truth is that achieving financial freedom is within your grasp … Provided you […]
What is This Volatility Risk People are Always Talking About?
In the Covid crash, from 20 February to 23 March 2020, the S&P 500 fell 34%. This was the fastest 30% decline in stock market history, and it was caused by the massive uncertainty of what would happen as governments started to impose lockdowns. As the market dropped, the volatility index (VIX) spiked upwards. It […]
Put Stocks, Rather Than Socks, Under the Tree This Christmas
These days, we are all under more financial pressure than usual. Inflation and a weaker rand are taking their toll. Use your 13th cheque So, if you are lucky enough to be getting a 13th cheque this year, you might want to think about the most meaningful things you can do with it – […]
Why do we Even Have Bull and Bear Markets?
Last year, shares in the company that owns Facebook – Meta Platforms – were up over 23%. So far in 2022, they have lost more than 60%. This is just one extreme example of how market conditions have changed. Last year, almost everything seemed to be going up. This year, it’s difficult to find a […]
The Question of Loyalty
“Incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty” (Lord Varys, Game of Thrones) Loyalty is a powerful concept that elicits an emotional response. If you’re ‘loyal’, it means that you believe in trust and the idea of building and maintaining a long-term relationship. It’s a good thing, right? It’s complicated In the world of financial […]
8 Mistakes Wealthy People Never Make
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] “Many folks think they aren’t good at earning money, when what they don’t know is how to use it.” (Frank A. Clark) Accumulating wealth isn’t as hard as it sounds. Years of consistent, calculated investing are almost guaranteed to fill up your coffers. For many, the trickier challenge is maintaining their wealth. Luckily, it’s […]
Loss Aversion and Lifestyle Creep – How Behaviour Influences Saving
“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Don’t be biased towards short term loss ‘Loss aversion’, from an investment perspective, refers to our tendency to avoid losses over acquiring gains. For example, we all know that sinking feeling when the market isn’t performing – it’s so tempting to cash out […]
How To Grow Your Finances [A Gardening Analogy]
We planted the garden a few weeks ago and one vegetable we like to grow is corn. I noticed as I was watering that something had bit off the top of some of the corn plants that were started to grow. It almost looked like something had eaten it. The same day we planted our […]
The Risk That Many Investors Don’t Think About
‘Liquidity risk’ probably sounds like something technical that most investors don’t need to worry about. In reality, however it is something that is likely to affect everybody at some point. The liquidity of an investment refers to how quickly it can be sold. Shares in Apple or Amazon are highly liquid because hundreds of thousands […]
