The Differences Between Life and Living Annuities
New beginnings After working for forty years, the time has come to make really important decisions about how you’ll manage your retirement funds to ensure that your golden years are all you’d hoped for. When you retire, you must transfer two-thirds of your retirement...
How to Give Meaningful Gifts This Festive Season
“We are living in a material world, and I am a material girl.” (Madonna) Why not take this festive season as an opportunity to begin a tradition of truly meaningful gifting in your family? In today’s world, more and more people are realising that things bring only...
Retirement Planning: The ins and Outs of Nominating Beneficiaries
“Two main categories of people are needed in your circle; those who give you the necessary support to accomplish your dreams and those who become beneficiaries of what you achieve.” (Unattributed) Pension and provident funds and retirement annuities All retirement...
Why do People Invest in Property?
Wealth buckets Property is one of several asset classes, the others being equity (shares or unit trusts), cash-related products (like money market products), and bonds. Here are some of the most important benefits of investing in property: It can provide a passive...
A Costly Case of Buyer’s Remorse
“Caveat subscriptor” – old legal maxim meaning “Let the signer beware!’ A recent High Court decision once again highlights the dangers of signing anything without reading, understanding and fully considering it. A “Renovator’s Dream” and a case of buyer’s remorse A...
Selling Your House to a Non-Resident
“Oh, I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien” (Sting’s ‘Englishman in New York’) South Africa is attractive to overseas property buyers with our world-class lifestyle, depreciated Rand, strong property registration and legal systems, and minimal restrictions against...
Security Warning: Property Sale Cybercrime Surges, and a New AI Danger
“The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague” (Napoleon Bonaparte) This October marks the 20th anniversary of the globally observed “Cyber Security Awareness Month”, and with cybercrime continuing to surge, here’s a cautionary tale to bear in mind. You buy...
Dementia: Understanding Your Legal Options
“Dementia is the plague of our time, the disease of the century” (Unattributed) Dementia is a widespread medical condition that affects people of all ages but particularly the elderly, and includes conditions like Alzheimer's. One of the most significant challenges of...
Can a Video Call be a Valid Will?
“Death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate.” (Ambrose Bierce) It may well be that in the future, we will be able to make a perfectly valid will (“Last Will and Testament”) by way of a video recording or other electronic means, but that day has...
Why Your Marital Contract Really Matters
"Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again." (William Shakespeare) Marital contracts 101 There are various types of marital contracts, including: In community of property. This is the default position in South Africa. The couple share all their assets in a single...
How to Protect Your Children’s Inheritances from Ending Up in the Guardian’s Fund
“Live each day as if it were your last… because one day, you’ll be right.” (Benny Hill) It’s always tempting to procrastinate about decisions that force us to address the inevitability of our own mortality. But we have no choice when it comes to protecting our loved...
Should You Pay Off Your Home Loan?
Good reasons to pay off your home loan The most compelling reason to accelerate the payment of your home loan is the savings you’ll make on the interest component of the repayments. South African mortgage rates are currently high, with the average rate at...