RETIREMENT PART 5: What’s the difference between retirement products?
Nazia Khalon Official retirement products have great tax benefits but come with some restrictions. Understand your options before you commit. Making the decision to start investing for retirement is the first step. The next step is to decide on what tools to use. This means figuring out the difference between retirement products and other products on offer. The range of options to consider can leave you flattened even before you’ve made a start, but the best way to approach these options is to think about your needs and your level of self-control. Some options will give you freedom and flexibility, which may tempt you to withdraw prematurely and lose the benefits of compounding over time. Others will lock you in, but give you great tax deductions in return. Decide on what works for yo
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Important changes to Keycare plans for 2019
In 2019, DHMS will balance the increasing demand for supply of healthcare services against the need to maintain competitive contributions and enhance benefits for members. The scheme will also expand access to private healthcare and enhance the digital healthcare experience for members. KEYCARE SERIES 2019 The KeyCare Series has been restructured for 2019 Changes have been made to maintain benefits for members with significant healthcare needs on KeyCare Plus and KeyCare Core, while retaining affordable access to private healthcare through KeyCare Start Funding of all endoscopes on KeyCare will be limited to PMB cover KeyCare Access has been renamed KeyCare Start with a redesigned benefit structure The 2018 income bands below R13,050 on KeyCare Plus and KeyCare Core have
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Discovery Health Medical Aid summarized benefits for 2019
In 2019, DHMS will balance the increasing demand for supply of healthcare services against the need to maintain competitive contributions and enhance benefits for members. The scheme will also expand access to private healthcare and enhance the digital healthcare experience for members. Key themes: Contribution sustainability Enhanced benefits Greater access to healthcare 2019 Contribution Increase: Medical inflation for 2018 is expected to be between 11.2% - 12.2%, with the variation due to plan-specific utilisation effects Risk management interventions by Discovery Health & ongoing positive impact of Vitality on members’ health is expected to reduce medical inflation by 2% The resulting medical inflation is therefore between 9.2% - 10.2%, which is 3% to 4%
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RETIREMENT PART 4: How to save for retirement: Tips to get you started
By Jeanette Marais Some simple steps to follow to get your retirement savings started. Don’t despair - while saving for retirement may seem tough at first, it gets easier once you are in the habit. And the good news is you won’t regret it: the decisions you make today will have the greatest impact on the quality of your lifestyle once you retire. While you may feel you don’t have room in your current budget to accommodate saving for retirement, small financial sacrifices can help. It may be easier to make space for retirement savings than you have anticipated. 1. Assess your spending habits Start with a reality check: keep a running total of everything you spend in a given month. Write down every item from your morning coffee to that late-night takeaway. You may find you
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RETIREMENT PART 4: How to achieve a sustainable retirement income
By Shaun Duddy Retirees drawing an income face three key risks: Longevity risk, i.e. the risk of living longer than expected; inflation risk, i.e. the risk that the rising cost of living eats away at their investment and investment risk, i.e. the risk of their investment return not being high enough to compensate for the other two risks. With the first two risks being largely outside of your control, it’s crucial to focus on the third. To do this, you are advised to: Plan for a long lifespan Structure your retirement portfolios for growth Make sure you draw a sustainable level of income These are explained in more detail below 1. Plan for a long lifespan Improved medical technologies and lifestyle have seen life expectancies increase, and they are likely to increa
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2018 Budget Speech:
10 things you need to know VAT increased from 14% to 15% Government will raise the lion’s share of the R36 billion in additional taxes in 2018/19 through a one percentage point hike in the VAT rate. This is expected to contribute roughly R23 billion to the fiscus. To limit the impact on poor households, the current zero-rating on basic foodstuffs such as maize meal, brown bread and rice will remain in place. Vulnerable households will also be compensated through an above average increase in social grants, while some relief will be provided for lower-income individuals through an increase in the bottom three personal income tax brackets and the rebates, finance minister Malusi Gigaba said during his budget speech this afternoon. The increase will take effect on April 1 2018. No inflat
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Gigaba gives us a reality check
The one thing Finance Minister Malusi “Gigabyte” Gigaba cannot be accused of is giving off a false pretence that all is going smoothly on the fiscal front. Presenting his maiden budget speech (in an uncharacteristically boring suit), Gigaba departed from tradition and laid out the full extent of the state of South Africa’s fiscal position. And while this may not be welcome news to us all, it is far better to acknowledge one’s problems than pretend that they do not exist. Only seven months into the job, the old cliché of “do not shoot the messenger” may be apt. Focusing on the numbers, a couple of statistics presented in the Medium-Term Budget Speech immediately stand out. The fiscal revenue shortfall for 2017/2018 is an eye-watering R50bn, due to a lack of economic grow
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The key to a successful relationship with a financial advisor
The biggest risk to any investor’s money is often their own behaviour. Many studies have shown that, on average, investors receive lower returns than the funds they are invested in because they chop and change instead of sticking to a plan. “Investors know they should hold diversified portfolios, but many chase past performance and end up buying funds too late or selling too soon,” research house Morningstar noted in a recent study. “As a result they suffer from poor timing and poor planning.” Mostly this is a result of making emotional decisions or succumbing to personal biases. When the market falls, for instance, investors may panic and sell out at the bottom, locking in their losses. They then sit out until the market is up again, and only buy at the top. In
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What compounding can do for you
By Wanita Isaacs 'Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. Those who understand it, earn it... those who don't, pay it.' – Albert Einstein Compounding is when the interest on a sum of money, either a deposit or loan, is added to the original amount so that the interest also earns interest. Albert Einstein's popular quote highlights the impact compounding can have over time, and also cautions that it can work either for or against you. Wanita Isaacs explains. When you invest, time allows your invested money to grow and compounding makes your money work harder for you. Given a long enough period to work, compounding can dramatically multiply the value of your investment so that less of your total investment will be from your contributions and more from growth. On
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It is worthwhile starting to save early – a little can go a long way
By Jeanette Marais You can substantially improve your financial situation if you start saving sooner rather than later and you will be a step closer to being financially independent when you retire. A little really can go a long way. It is interesting how most of us are reluctant or unable to make the sacrifices needed to save more than 10% of our salaries towards retirement, yet we expect the amount we save to be able to pay us 75% of our final salaries – often for as many years as our saving years. Sadly there are no genies waiting in lamps in this lifetime; the only way we can hope to achieve this replacement ratio is through long-term commitment, decent returns and sensible investor behaviour. Time and commitment If you start early and save consistently over long pe
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RETIREMENT PART 3: When to start saving for retirement
By Jeanette Marais The accepted wisdom is that you need to start saving for retirement as soon as you are employed, but if you are late it is worthwhile to start as soon as possible. A century ago Albert Einstein shook the foundations of our understanding of the universe when his theories of relativity changed the way we think about space and time. His theories reframed time as a relative and subjective experience. Although science may now think differently about time, our everyday experience continues to tick over in a clock-like fashion. And it is this constant stream of future becoming present becoming past that gives time its economic value. Time is an irreplaceable resource You can’t buy or sell it. And nowhere is this more apparent than when you need to make a lon
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Discovery Health Key highlights 2018
Please find below some key highlights from the 2018 Discovery product update. High level summary of key updates: Weighted average contribution increase of 7.9% Enhancements to our Executive Plan and Smart Plans Introduction of the Young Families Offering, with significant risk benefits for pregnant moms and their babies for the first 2 years of life Day-to-day Extender Benefit Updates Updates to our HIVCare Programme Introduction of an Industry leading digital health technology platform - DrConnect Significant enhancements to Healthy Company and Discovery PrimaryCare Introduction of Discovery Gap Core Additional detail regarding key updates: 2018 Increase Weighted average contribution increase of 7.9% for 2018 Plan specific increases range
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Let SARS help you pay for retirement
By Carrie Furman Allan Gray The South African Revenue Service (SARS) wants to help you pay for your retirement. The way in which they do this is by offering generous tax deductions when you make contributions to your retirement annuity (RA), pension or provident fund. On 1 March 2016, the tax deductions for retirement savings increased from 15% to 27.5% - which means you can now save more for retirement and get back more from SARS. What else has changed? You are now able to deduct your contributions to all retirement funds, with the maximum tax deduction you may make in a tax year limited to the greater of 27.5% of taxable income or remuneration, subject to an annual ceiling of R350 000. Contributions above this limit made directly by your employer are also now taxable as a fri
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RETIREMENT PART 2: Why saving for retirement makes sense
By Jeanette Marais Starting your retirement savings is as much a mental battle as it is a financial one. Whatever your excuse is for not saving for retirement, you may very well find that you are stuck in a self-fulfilling belief: I think it’s true, therefore it is true. Confronting your mental barriers to saving for retirement is your first (and most difficult) investment. To help you take the first steps towards making your future a priority it helps to understand why saving for retirement makes sense – even when you think you can’t. You may not be in a position to start saving immediately, but mentally preparing yourself can make the process easier when you have the income to save. …the future needs to look after itself; I’ll cross that bridge when I come
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Rudi Bouwer joins The Wealth Room
Over the past 2 years I have been on a journey of discovering my purpose. Not the easiest of tasks I must say, but certainly a journey that has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done. In this journey, I have discovered that our greatest gift in life is our relationships: our relationship with God, our families, our friends and our acquaintances. It is in these relationships that we discover our purpose. I firmly believe that the birthplace of opportunity lies within relationships. I say this because a true relationship is never one sided, it will always be a two-way streak, meaning that one party should never benefit from the relationship more than the other. Now this may seem obvious but putting it into practice may prove far more challenging then you may think. You see, I have co
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RETIREMENT PART 1: Why save for retirement?
By JEANETTE MARAIS from Allan Gray Step into the future to find out why you should save for retirement. The South African government’s old age grant is R1500 per month. Could you live on that? This amount is less than many of us currently pay towards our cars, or a monthly grocery shop, or a weekend getaway. Unless you think you can survive on this meagre amount, there is no time like the present to start saving for your retirement. While retirement may seem like a goal too far in the future to affect you if you are under 30, or you may feel like you have missed the boat if you are over 40, our 10-part retirement savings series will answer the question of why you should save for retirement and aims to help you to get started – regardless of your age and life stage.
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RETIREMENT – The trick to retiring with enough
By THANDI NGWANE from Allan Gray When magicians perform they often draw your eyes away from the simple sleight of hand or hidden trapdoor that makes the trick. This skill is called the prestige: without it, tricks often fail to captivate. Tricks can be entertaining but in the world of investing it is much better to rely on the mundane. Thandi Ngwane explains the wonderful but boring ‘magic’ of investing. We are often asked by clients and prospective clients what the magic trick is that can turn a portion of your income into a comfortable retirement. It is hard to accept an extraordinary result by ordinary means. This desire is a fault in human behaviour that can have devastating consequences when it comes to saving for retirement: we rely too strongly on a ‘wing and a prayer’
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PLANNING: THE KEY TO WEALTH
Advice you were never given at school By Rudi Bouwer, The Wealth Room There’s a simple principle at play when it comes to saving and investing: the more you plan your finances, the greater your chances of being wealthy are. Now basic financial planning is not as complicated as it seems. If you start with a simple budget and stick to it, you will eventually get to the point where you are building up savings. You can then use these savings to build your cash safety net (usually 3-6 month’s salary) and once that is established, start your investment planning. Like your budget, your investment plan can be very simple, such as a monthly investment into an ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund), shares or money market. However, once you have some money to invest, deciding on an investment ca
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How do I help my clients navigate turbulent markets?
Yvonne Kilian, Financial Planning Coach at Old Mutual Wealth South Africa has experienced good returns across nearly all asset classes for some time. Currently, investors are faced with the reality that we are now entering a difficult (normal) time, in which targeted returns are under performing relative to their average over the long term. Clients who have expectations(substantiated by good returns and even periods of above-average returns) of consistent positive performance may feel uncomfortable by the current situation. During periods of uncertainty, many clients panic and question whether they should remain invested or switch to a better-performing fund. This reactive behaviour is emotionally charged. Your role as financial planner is to manage your clients’ expectations to help
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South Africa back in junk territory
Dave Mohr & Izak Odendaal, Old Mutual Multi-Managers Following last week’s dismissal of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy, S&P Global Ratings downgraded South Africa’s foreign currency credit rating to BB+, into speculative grade or so- called junk territory. The local currency rating was also downgraded but remains investment grade at BBB-. Around 90% of government borrowing is in local currency and there is little risk that the government will be shut out of capital markets, unable to borrow or maintain interest payments. Risks to fiscal and growth outlook S&P noted that President Zuma’s Cabinet reshuffle put South Africa’s fiscal and growth outlook at risk. It is particularly concerned
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Tax implications for 2017
Using a mobile device? Click on the image to view in its entirety: Content sourced from PSG: https://www.psg.co.za/news/Budget-Speech-2017
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Budget 2017: What you need to know
Significant announcements New 45% tax rate for those earning more than R1.5 million per annum (around 100 000 taxpayers are affected) Dividend withholding tax increased from 15% to 20% No increases in VAT or Capital Gains Tax No new allocation for nuclear Budget deficit to decline from 3.4% in 2016/17 to 3.1% in 2017/18. For the first time since 2010, tax revenue growth did not match economic growth Tax changes Government will raise an additional R28 billion during the new tax year New 45% marginal tax rate for those earning more than R1.5 million per annum Other taxpayers will not receive full relief from fiscal drag – the impact of inflation on tax brackets Tax on dividends increase from 15% to 20% Taxes on fuel to rise by 39c a litre. (Fuel levy
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Let SARS help you pay for retirement
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) wants to help you pay for your retirement. The way in which they do this is by offering generous tax deductions when you make contributions to your retirement annuity (RA), pension or provident fund. On 1 March 2016, the tax deductions for retirement savings increased from 15% to 27.5% - which means you can now save more for retirement and get back more from SARS. What else has changed? You are now able to deduct your contributions to all retirement funds, with the maximum tax deduction you may make in a tax year limited to the greater of 27.5% of taxable income or remuneration (see Definitions), subject to an annual ceiling of R350 000. Contributions above this limit made directly by your employer are also now taxable as a fringe benefit
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Retirement Annuities VS Tax-Free Investments
Access to your cash Your investments in an RA cannot be accessed before the age of 55, except in very specific circumstances. You can access your TFI at any time. However, withdrawing from a TFI account impacts negatively on your lifetime investment limit of R500 000 – you cannot replace money that you have withdrawn. Tax savings The main difference between the two products is when you get the tax benefit. An RA offers tax savings now, i.e. you pay less tax now because you make contributions with earnings on which you have not paid tax, but you will pay tax later, i.e. you defer paying tax. Apart from deferring tax in an RA, a further tax saving may come from paying a lower average tax rate on the benefits withdrawn from the RA at and after retirement, v
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Another shock political event as Trump sweeps US election
2016 has turned out to be the year when politics shook markets, both domestically and globally. In many ways, Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election is a repeat of the “Brexit” shock, when the UK voted in a June referendum to leave the European Union. As with Brexit, markets were volatile in the weeks leading up to the vote, but surged prior to voting day as the final opinion polls indicated that Hillary Clinton would win. Despite a decades-old tradition of fairly accurate polling in the US, the polls were wrong, and markets sold off – - The Mexican peso was hit hardest, falling to a record low against the US dollar. - Asian equity markets closed sharply lower, with the Japanese market worst hit. - The US dollar weakened against other developed m
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LIVE ON EXPRESSO: Economy Update
Part 1 [embed]https://youtu.be/xFqMlql1wGo[/embed] Part 2 [embed]https://youtu.be/2p91nRRN_u4 [/embed]
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Gap Cover has become a non-negotiable
Increasingly we are experiencing gaps between what doctors charge and what medical aids are prepared to pay, with some doctors charging up to 600% (or 6x) the medical aid rates. The last thing you need is to get caught off guard with a bill your medical aid is not prepared to pay in full. Fortunately Gap Cover offers a solution to this problem, regardless of the medical aid you belong to. The product does exactly what the name implies: it covers the gap between the doctor's fees and medical aid rates. Gap Cover only comes into play when you go for a planned procedure (elective operation). In an emergency, you should be fully covered by your medical aid. After a planned procedure, you will receive three bills. The first bill will be approximately 60%-70% of the total amount and wil
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How important is medical aid?
Can you afford it? Medical aids have changed over the years. Traditional schemes used to cost an arm and a leg and covered everything, but today you can select the cover you need or can afford. You can choose from hospital cover for planned procedures and emergencies to hospital cover with a small savings facility towards day-to-day costs. In my experience of helping clients select the right plan for their needs, I have seen far too much focus on day-to-day expenses and an ignorance of emergency costs. Worst case scenario your dentist bill will be a few thousand rand (and 90% of the time you can make a payment arrangement). However, the cost incurred in an emergency could set you back millions. In 2013, Discovery Health's biggest medical claim was over 6 million rand. On average, the
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Short-term insurance 101
The more you know about insurance and how the industry works, the better prepared you will be, and the more money you can save. The following are key factors that insurers use to determine the price of car insurance: • Age: If you’re young, your risk of being in a vehicle accident is statistically much higher. You can’t do anything about your age, but some insurers may penalise you less than others. • Claims history: Safe drivers are rewarded with lower insurance premiums. Your history of making claims will directly affect the cost of your insurance. The more you use insurance, the more your insurance will cost. • Credit history: Insurance companies have determined that there is a direct correlation between your credit history and your risk. • Use of vehicle: The
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Saving for something special?
With so many short-term investment options to choose from, saving for something special like a new car, dream wedding or overseas holiday can be daunting. Leaving your savings in a bank account may feel like the safest and easiest choice, but leaving it there for too long without earning any (or very little) interest can result in it losing its purchasing power over time. How can my savings lose its purchasing power? Each year the cost of goods and services increases by a certain rate, also referred to as inflation. For your money to retain its purchasing power, it will need to grow by inflation or more over the same period. To put this into perspective, if you are saving towards a 10% deposit on a car that costs R240 000, putting aside R2 000 a month over the next 12 months would
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LIVE ON EXPRESSO: How to Retire Wealthy
Part 1 [embed]https://youtu.be/027VAwuWzPg[/embed] Part 2 [embed]https://youtu.be/FXzoFF9NleM[/embed] Part 3 [embed]https://youtu.be/W8d2UhcVmzM[/embed]
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Awesome tips for effective and stress-free budgeting
We've hit the half-year mark and this is a good time to stop for a moment and reflect on your spending habits. Is your budgeting still on track? This article by Rob Berger shares five tips to keep that budget effective and stress-free. We've highlighted the key points. Spending less than we make is often cited as the most important personal finance goal. It helps us get out of debt, save for emergencies and stash money away for retirement. It’s the primary habit that enables us to achieve some level of financial freedom. It can also be really difficult to accomplish. In some cases, it’s lack of income that creates the financial strain. In many cases, however, the problem is overspending. With those who overspend in mind, here are some tips for more effective and stress-free bud
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LIVE ON EXPRESSO: How to Afford Children Part
Part 1 [embed]https://youtu.be/sYyDrtPQhgQ[/embed] Part 2 [embed]https://youtu.be/q_fRqO-EIOo[/embed] Part 3 [embed]https://youtu.be/0bBJsLNWV1c[/embed]
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How inflation affects your buying power
Let’s assume you are currently 35 years old and want to retire in 20 years time at the age of 55. You believe that, based on your monthly budget, you could easily survive on R10 000 per month. However, we understand that you will not 'buy' the same value for your R10 000 when you do retire in 20 years time, at age 55. Let’s assume that we have an average inflation rate of 8% per annum over the next 30 years. The million dollar question you need to ask yourself is: How much income will you need to maintain a reasonable standard of living in retirement? YEAR AGE TODAY'S INCOME REQUIRED INCOME 20 55 R10 000/m R47 000/m 30 65 R10 000/m R100 000/m 40 75 R10 000/m R218 000/m 45 80 R10 000/m R506 000/m To put the above
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