Financial Planning

Another legal requirement for the validity of your will is that you must sign in full at the bottom of each page, while your witnesses must sign in full at the bottom of the last page as close to your
Once you make contact with the executor, be prepared for a preliminary meeting with her as she will be required to prepare a rudimentary list of your spouse’s assets and liabilities for submission to the Master, which must be accompanied
To determine the dutiable value of your estate, keep in mind that certain assets, such as bequests to your surviving spouse, bequests to PBOs, and the proceeds of life policies payable to your spouse, and business assurance polices, are excluded.
For a donation mortis causa to be effective, the donation must be in writing and must be signed by the donor, donee and two witnesses before the donor’s death. Being contingent on a future event, the donor is free to
Unlike a life annuity (which is an insurance policy designed to provide a guaranteed income for life), a living annuity is an investment held in the investor’s name which is generally linked to an underlying investment on a LISP platform
As draw-downs from a living annuity are limited to between 2.5% and 17.5% of the value of the investment per year, many investors use the one-third withdrawal option strategically to ensure that they don’t run into cashflow problems later in
Your future self will thank you for beginning your investment journey early in your career even if your retirement plans are unclear. The most tax-efficient way to achieve this is by investing towards an approved retirement fund and claiming the
As legislation currently stands, you can invest a maximum of R36 000 per year towards tax-free savings with a lifetime contribution maximum of R500 000 which, while not sufficient as a retirement funding vehicle, can be used to supplement one’s
Despite what many investors believe, there is no correlation between investment fees and returns, so don’t fall into the trap of thinking that by paying more, you’re guaranteed higher rates of return.