The bruising drought and the stifling heatwaves that swept through South Africa during this summer have brought the issues of climate change to the fore.
Three years ago, flooding and severe hail storms...
Trustees and individuals using trusts as financial and tax planning tools may be forgiven for thinking that they have the Sword of Damocles hanging over them as far as the future of trusts is concerned.
...
The South African healthcare industry has been experiencing rapid and varied changes over the last decade or so and the last year in particular has seen a number of issues coming to a head. Healthcare is a major...
Fraud is one of the greatest threats to businesses, and alarmingly, it is not only on the rise, but also increasingly going unnoticed thanks to current economic conditions which have seen many organisations downsizing...
The 2016 Budget proposed the withdrawal of the withholding taxes on service fees paid to foreign persons before it could take effect on 1 January 2017.
As this withholding tax introduced unforeseen issues...
Despite wide speculation about potential increases in the maximum marginal tax rate for individuals and the introduction of a new wealth tax, the honourable Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, delivered a budget...
Research has shown that weight loss alone improves markers of heart disease such as high blood pressure. Losing weight also helps in reducing the risk for a range of other diseases such as cancer and diabetes. With...
The new retirement reforms should be viewed positively rather than with suspicion. They are aimed at promoting retirement saving in South Africa and ensuring that people who invest in the various types of funds are...
Following the highly anticipated National Budget Speech, it is important that those entering the job market for the first time pay close attention to changes that affect how one starts to save. According to Sue McLennan, Financial Planner at BDO...
Money decisions are never easy and often come down to personal circumstance and choice. If you are lucky enough to receive a windfall, should you spend it or save it? Should you buy a home or rent one? Should you save for retirement now, or...
February is an important month for us from a financial planning perspective because it is the last month of the tax year and it represents the last opportunity for us to do certain things from a financial planning...
It has been a bear market for most major world indices for some time and added volatility has sent stock markets tumbling. With increased geopolitical events impacting the world, Kokkie Kooyman, portfolio manager at...
South Africa stands on the brink of recession, with rising interest rates taking the consumer lending rate up to 10.25% up from a low of 8.5% in July 2012. This year is shaping up to be a tough one, with not only...
The introduction of the compulsory annuitisation of two-thirds of provident fund savings on retirement will no longer be going ahead on 1st March 2016 according to National Treasury. This was the date a number of retirement and tax reforms would...
The tax treatment of retirement funding will change with effect 1st March 2016. These changes intend to harmonise the tax treatment of the various retirement funding vehicles used in South Africa and increase savings...
The United Kingdom has had a National Health service since the late 1940s. At a time when the South African government is calling for comment on its White Paper concerning the introduction of the countriy's own National Health Insurance system,...
Over half of patients will need new batteries, but there are no incentives to develop longer life devices. The battery life of implantable heart monitors must be improved to reduce the need for replacement and the risks this carries for...
It’s 10pm at night and you’re driving on the freeway when you suddenly hear a loud bang, followed by your car pulling to the left. You stop at the side of the road to investigate the damage and find that you have a...
Transfer pricing documentation for large taxpayers will soon be compulsory, rather than simply preferred best practice. However, the additional record-keeping requirements proposed by the South African Revenue Service (SARS), relating to cross-...
The message at the Coface annual Country Risk Conference in Paris is that cautious approach to evolving country risks will be necessary in 2016.
“In an environment of soft global growth, forecast by...
The Sanlam Umbrella Fund has become the first major commercial umbrella fund in South Africa to allow members to stay in the fund into retirement, removing the need to exit the fund and purchase a living annuity. The...
A number of economists and commentators have expressed the belief that the global economy is on the brink of deflation, but Templeton Global Macro CIO Michael Hasenstab takes a contrarian view. He explains why he and his team think deflationary...
Understanding Dictionary Attacks
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All is quiet in the library. As sleepy hours of research linger on, suddenly, out of nowhere, a rabid librarian appears. With a blood curdling scream,...
Life cover is the simple answer to some difficult questions: How will my family survive if I’m not around to take care of them? How will my spouse settle the debts I leave behind like the mortgage on our home?...
Pregnant women travelling to a number of countries affected by the Zika virus, which has been linked to the development of microcephaly in unborn babies, are urged to discuss the risks with a healthcare professional...
The marine cargo industry in Africa is set to enter a boom period over the next few decades. South Africa’s ports showed steady growth of marine cargo over the past year. The marine cargo industry therefore...
South African roads are public spaces, and we have the right to ride our bicycles on them. But we need to become ambassadors for our sport and mode of transport. Most of the cyclists who are injured or killed on the roads in South Africa were...
A retirement fund has been rapped for paying out a death benefit relying only on affidavits without seeking proof of levels of dependency of the deceased.
The Pension Funds Adjudicator Muvhango Lukhaimane...
At home I can make six cups of filtered coffee in four minutes from scratch. Pick ‘n Pay catering take fifteen minutes to pour a coffee already made, and only then after the customer has gone to the counter to force service.
What is sad and...
Sunlight is composed of a number of types of radiation: ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared (IR). UV rays can be divided into three sub-types:
• UVA, which accounts for approximately 95% of all UV...
A National Savings Index has been launched to measure South Africa's state of savings against international counterparts, providing the real facts about savings. The structural decline of SA's national savings rate over the last two decades has...
During his Medium Term Budget Speech on 21 October 2015, the then Minister of Finance, Mr Nene, prepared us that government’s revenue shortfall will again be of paramount importance come the 2016 Budget Speech. "So it...
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