Living annuities have long posed a challenge in South African divorce proceedings. Unlike pension interests in retirement funds, which are clearly regulated under the Divorce Act and the Pension Funds Act, living annuities occupy a grey area -neither fully...
As a financial planner you can be certain that by the time your clients engage with you to structure their financial future, they have done the Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform round. Tools like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Grok and Gemini would have been...
The first half of 2025 was one of the more volatile periods in recent market history, reminding investors just how uncomfortable it can be to be invested in equity markets. And ironically, even rising markets don't always equate to rising investor...
In the world of finance, risk is often portrayed as a mathematical beast, tamed by sophisticated metrics like volatility, beta, or Value at Risk (VaR). These tools measure how much an investment's price swings or the potential for extreme losses in a...
As we celebrate Savings Month in South Africa this July 2025, I am thrilled to announce the launch of EBnet's innovative Kids Menu – a dedicated online resource designed to foster a culture of saving among families. This new initiative, accessible at...
In South Africa, many families work tirelessly just to survive. With immediate needs pressing, thinking about the future feels like a luxury, one that many simply cannot afford. The harsh truth is that in many households, the idea of planning for retirement is...
When it comes to retirement planning, many rely on 'rule of thumb' calculations and assumptions; the likes of which we often see dotted across retirement fund communications or in financial services awareness campaigns. These rules of thumb, such as how many multiples...
The South African rand is one of the most volatile currencies in the world, more so than many of its emerging market peers. In fact, over the past decade, only the Russian rouble and Argentinian peso have been more volatile. The currency's movements are often driven...
As a wealth manager, one of the key principles to understand is that while we can't control everything, like market performance, we can control strategic decisions that impact a client's financial future. One such controllable factor is the timing of retirement. Your...
Retirement funds, whether a pension, provident or retirement annuity before retirement and living annuities after retirement, have a general lack of appeal due to their perceived complex nature and inflexibility. However, the advantages can often far...
