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  1. I'm curious if you've reviewed your rationale recently now that the waters have temporarily calmed. Do you still think you were thinking clearly or do you recognize a little bit of the recency bias and nihilism that drove the choices you made here? I'm speaking with regards to: 1. Cashing out your pension (!) 2. Panic selling from a passively managed portfolio (As an aside, who exactly was "trying to take your money"? 3. Staying invested (due to admin inertia) in the RA while thinking there was no way it could recover (I'm curious to know if it did and if so/not what exactly is your RA invested in and have you looked to tighten up there?) 4. Not wanting to add more to your RA while everything was on sale For the sake of fairness, I'll be transparent that I did nothing during the crash. Literally nothing. Everyone around me was tinkering and saying that I was crazy continuing with business as usual but I just couldn't understand why an investment plan that I made when I was calm and rational, specifically to whether the longterm (a longterm that EXPECTED crashes and "once in a lifetime" global events) needed to suddenly be abandoned. I don't regret that decision. A part of me wishes I'd taken on more shifts so that I could buy more during the dip, but again that wasn't part of my longterm plan so I felt silly even considering it. Even excluding rand weakness, my portfolio is essentially where it was precrash. My RA is shining too... with its 70% local. I think the financial consequences of the last 9 months are far from over but my plan remains the same. If there's anything this storm taught me it's that you have to build a plan that matches your risk tolerance or you'll be prone to making decisions in the heat of the moment that contradict that plan. I'm curious if yours has changed at all with a bit of the tailwinds behind us and a bit more perspective? I think it would be a useful update.
    3 points
  2. Hi all, I recently wanted to compare fixed deposit rates across different banks. I realised that there is no such thing as a quick comparison of the fixed deposit rates. Sites like mytreasury.co.za and hippo.co.za require contact details (& they ended up sales calling me - arghh) & only give a partial view. So I ended up going to each banking website. Some banks quote nominal rates. Others effective (yay for effective annual rates), others simple interest and then others come up with their own terminology. Frustrating. Anyway, it took me a while, but I ended up understanding what the banks are quoting on their website & converted all the rates to effective rates. Here are the results of my findings, which have been made public at www.ratecompare.co.za. Best 3 month rates - African Bank & Discovery Best 6 month rates - African Bank, Discovery, Capitec Best 12 month - African Bank, Sasfin, Discovery Best 2 year - African Bank & SA Retail Bonds Best 3 year Sasfin & SA Retail, Capitec Best 5 year - African Bank, SA Retail and Capitec
    3 points
  3. So I recently found myself doing a fee comparison between 10x (I am currently with 10x), Outvest, EasyEquities and Sygnia. Results: The cheapest platform depends on your RA value. Outvest is cheapest once you hit +/- R450k Below that Sygnia is typically cheapest. I made my research results freely available in the form of an interactive calculator. Here it is. https://mymoneytree.co.za/calculator/ra/
    3 points
  4. Black Friday will take place Friday, 29 November 2019. When you come accross good Black Friday deals please post them there I will keep a list in the OP with all the good deals and participating stores. Please post what items you are looking for then we can all look around for deals on the day. Personally I would like to buy a 55" to 65" TV and whatever MTN deal is good this year. Companies participating in Black Friday 2019: Takealot: https://www.takealot.com/promotion/bluedotsale OneDayOnly: https://www.onedayonly.co.za/ Wootware: https://www.wootware.co.za/black-friday/ Makro: https://www.makro.co.za/black-friday MTN: URL to be confirmed AC Direct: https://acdirect.co.za/product-category/black-friday/ CellC: URL to be confirmed Pick n Pay: https://www.pnp.co.za/pnpstorefront/pnp/en/blackfriday HiFi Corporation: URL to be confirmed Checkers: URL to be confirmed BidorBuy: @Bandit https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/blackfriday The Pro Shop: https://www.theproshop.co.za/promotion/black-friday Cybercellar: URL to be confirmed Game: https://www.game.co.za/game-za/en/black-friday-2019 Dion Wired: URL to be confirmed Woolworths: https://www.woolworths.co.za/dept/_/N-1gdu29e Clicks: https://clicks.co.za/brands/blackfriday Digicape: https://www.digicape.co.za/black-friday Dial-a-Bed: URL to be confirmed PiShop: URL to be confirmed DIY Electronics: https://www.diyelectronics.co.za/store/304-black-friday RSA WEB: https://www.rsaweb.co.za/ftth-black-friday-cyber-monday/ Dion-Wired-Black-Friday.pdf CNA-Black-Friday.pdf MICA-Black-Friday.pdf Dischem.pdf Vodacom Black-Friday_7.pdf Game-black-friday-book1.pdf game-black-friday-book2.pdf Samsung Black Friday Specials 2019.pdf Mitabyte Black Friday 2019.pdf Pick-n-Pay-Black-Friday.pdf Neon Sales Black Friday Catalog 2019.pdf checkers-black-friday.pdf MSC-Black-Friday.pdf Adidas_BlackFriday_Franchise_Store.pdf Samsung_Black_Friday_Catalogue.pdf Hirschs BF 2019.pdf Baby City Black Friday.pdf Cell C Black Friday.pdf MTN Black Friday 2019.pdf MTN Business 2019 Black Friday Deals Flyer.pdf Malls Tiles Black Friday.pdf Telkom Black Friday Deals.pdf
    3 points
  5. It was a tough choice between Discovery Bank and FNB, because I have posted before asking about ebucks and we have quite a few threads about it. I did set out to open an FNB account, but had endless hassles online and it ultimately required me to go into a branch so they are out - I do not want to rely on a branch in 2020 for banking. I then decided oh well let's give Discovery Bank a try, maybe I get a good deal from Virgin Active from this exercise, because make no mistake they (Discovery) are the most expensive bank in SA. Here is a link to all the accounts available on Discovery. If you read this thread, pop over to this FNB vs Discovery Bank thread first to see some of the pros and cons of each and whilst you are at it there is a great thread about FNB's Ebucks as well to give further insight in what is available in the South African banking landscape today in terms of rewards and loyalty programs. Anyway to get back to the point I'll try to write this the same as I did for the How to open a TymeBank Bank Account thread. Speaking of Tymebank to open a Discovery Bank account was relatively straight forward, but nothing compares to Tymebank that process is smooth and quick it took me less than 5 minutes to open a Tymebank account, it took about an hour fiddling with files and setting up syncing etc to get everything ready for the FICA process of Discovery, I will get to that in a moment. How to open a Discovery Bank Account Step 1: Register on this page (it won't work if you go straight to the app, you'll sit in a queue) - where the button says leave your details, fill that in. You will then receive instructions with a formatting issue telling you to go login on the app. Step 2: Download the Discovery Bank app and then login using the ID Number you registered with in Step 1. Step 3: Follow the instructions to FICA your account and you are done. When you do Step 3 they will ask you for various documents which you need to upload from your phone (there is no website just an app) this means you need to make sure those files are on your phone. In my case I logged on to Rawson on the PC and downloaded my latest Invoice and Lease Agreement. I then uploaded that to dropbox and I then downloaded and synced dropbox with my phone, but the Discovery App cannot access dropbox, so you need to go to dropbox on your phone and then "export" the pdfs to your phone (save it to the device) then it should sit in your phone's download folder, you can then through the Discovery Bank app navigate to your downloads folder and upload the files. I did the same for my Capitec bank statements. I logged into Capitec on the website and then downloaded the last 3 months worth of bank statements and then synced it to my phone through dropbox and exported it to enable Discovery's app to access it. Once that schlep is done you should get an SMS and E-mail to welcome you. I received a call from the courier company about 3 hours later confirming my delivery address, because they will deliver your Discovery Credit Card to you. There is the option for you to collect it as well, but I am paying them R400 per month so I ticked the "deliver it" option even though the bank's office is down the road - sorry, not sorry. Notes: There is ZERO website - I do not know what on earth they are thinking and I am not a predictions man, but I am fairly sure South Africa is not ready for a "App only" bank not in Infrastructure to make that happen and most certainly not in education and access (expensive data, limited coverage and cost of beefy "capable of driving a bloated banking app" phones.) Besides the "infrastructure" shortfall there is also the compromise angle - Alternatives exist so why would I want to use the app to pull and print statements when I can log onto Capitec or FNB on the website and do a lot more administrative tasks more efficiently. This comes back to earlier about Tymebank, they are an App based bank, but when you want to make use of power features and do administrative tasks the website is there and your PC is connected to the printer and have excel on it to pull your CSVs into - Goodluck trying to do that with discovery without going through a whole process between devices and using third party apps to sync it all. Like @SimonPB would say "make no bones about it" this app only approach will make it more difficult for less technologically-adept customers to print out bank statements and facilitate transactions. Concerns: I found quite a few formatting issues and some bugs (screen would freeze if you navigate between transactions and pay) I reported this to them, but have not gotten anything back and they don't respond to it on twitter either. Normally that won't bother me, but if you are going to be an expensive bank without any physical presence then I expect you to be around 24 / 7. The app is also sluggish, but I suspect that is due to latency since it appears they use AWS as well. Overall my entire experience with Discovery Banking so far is perfectly summed up by @Bandit With that said one thing I am excited about (as a Discovery shareholder) is the fact that Discovery (JSE DSY) now have a key insight into all aspects of our lives from health and insurance all the way to banking. This should in theory put Discovery in a position to do incredibly advance psychometric analysis on its users and map psychological traits for risk evaluation. As someone with a very keen interest in behavioral psychology this aspect fascinates me especially when it comes to credit facilities because with the transactional banking data Discovery can now create a far more accurate risk assessment based on who you really are not what you have done in the past. Bonus: Here's some screenshots of the app
    3 points
  6. STXEMG + STXWDM = ASHGEQ Well more or less...
    3 points
  7. Great to see forum members discuss DCX10 here - we are honoured! Owning the market weighted index of the top 10 Crypto's is not the holy grail of Crypto investing, but historically it has outperformed Bitcoin by a margin of roughly 50%. Past performance is of course no guarantee of future returns, but we think the index will beat Bitcoin again. The timeframe is uncertain though. If you're comfortable with this position, 1% per annum fee for the convenience of managing the composition of the index, fades into insignificance compared to the outperformance. Happy to discuss more...
    3 points
  8. Haven’t seen a post under here for a while nor have I said anything for a while... Anyways- I’ve decided to give my ETFs some serious thought and this is what I’ve come up with (I’m open to all suggestions). I want my overall exposure to be 70% local and 30% offshore. Then, under both local and international holdings I was thinking about having 70% equities, 20% property and 10% dividends. Or not including the dividends because most of these would be under equities anyways and then having maybe a 80/20 split? For local: Satrix Top 40 and maybe the Coreshares Smart (equally weighted) - I know these are basically the same, but I don’t want over exposure to one share nor do I just want equally weighted, so I thought that mixing the two would give a bit of a better mix. Then for local property Coreshares PropTrax10 And if dividends perhaps Coreshares Aristocrats? International I’m a bit confused about because I’d still like a bit of emerging markets as well. So maybe: 1) Ashburton global 1200 2) Sygnia S&P 500 (I know Ashburton would have quite a few American companies in it already) For international property I’m thinking about Coreshares S&P Global And dividends would be Coreshares again or maybe an ETF from Satrix. Is this too complicated of a mix and should I rather just aim for 1 or 2 ETFs for local and international? I am trying to keep the portfolio moderately simple!
    3 points
  9. So I have been planning my Tax Free Investment Account portfolio for 2021 and this is what I've decided to buy in the year ahead in terms of my ETF picks: Composition: 70% Offshore Equities 20% Local Equities 10% Local Property My portfolio will then look as follows: Offshore (70%): ASHEQF: 25% STXEMG: 25% STXNDQ: 10% SYG4IR: 10% Local (30%): STX40: 7% NFEMOM: 7% STXQUA: 7% CSPROP: 10% The local picks may seem strange at 7% each, but I cannot decide between the three local equity ETFs. NFEMOM has done very well in terms of local ETFs and will probably continue to shine. STX40 contains the more resilient stocks that are most likely do perform best in difficult times. And STXQUA, well, I just love the composition of shares in the basket. My TFIA already contains ETFs in the composition above, so I'll just continue to buy in the same ratio.
    2 points
  10. Today marks 422 days approximately until the next bitcoin 'halving', where the amount of bitcoin that is able to be mined every day is cut in half forever. The approximate date will be 24 May 2020. After previous bitcoin booms and busts in the hype cycle the uptick in the price has started to show improvement around 500 days before the halving. We are past that point, so I am hoping that there will start to be a slow steady increase in price again like there has been before. Lets see if history will repeat itself once again. The Bitcoin block mining reward halves every 210,000 blocks, and this time the coin reward will decrease from 12.5 to 6.25 coins approximately every 10min in May 2020. Usually there are guys who anticipate the increased demand and the price increase that responds to the demand, who buy in advance so that they can sell when the real frenzy starts at a great profit. I would bet that if things go like they have gone in the past, people will buy up bitcoin leading up to the halving, and might even dump a bunch before the actual date, before other guys get a chance to do the same thing. Lets see how it all plays out...The price of bitcoin on 28 March 2019: $4098 (according to coin market cap) EDIT:
    2 points
  11. It's that time of year again - albeit a very unusual year! So my personal top five stock pics for next year are as follows (in order): #1) DGH (Distell) - This one's share price has been hammered by the lockdowns and stocks are dirt cheap. But drinking never stops and eventually, sales and profits always return. This company is also huge and very resilient. If I had to choose just one stock for the coming year, it would be this one. #2) APN (Aspen) - With an agreement to produce a COVID vaccine, the exposure to this company should be massive once they begin production. #3) PPC (PPC Cement) - This one is tricky, because they have a significant debt problem to solve. If they fix their debt problem, they could be at R6.00 by the end of 2021. If they don't, they could be at 60c. But this year has been fantastic for the company. They have increased profits and reduced debt considerably. If they keep it up, good things are in store for this company. #4) DCP (Dischem) - Dis-Chem has launched it's new innovative Clinic Connect - a nurse-led healthcare system where nurses take your vitals and symptoms etc., and can video-chat a Doctor for a script should one be required, with clinic visits being substantially cheaper than Doctor visits, and you can still get a prescription. If this takes off, this could do wonders for the group. #5) SSS (Store-Age) - Largely unaffected by COVID, because people who rent storage keep renting the storage, even during tough times. With a dividend yield at over 8% and good financials, this one is bread and butter, even through terrible times. Other notable mentions: CML - Coronation L4L - Long4Life CPI - Capitec DSY - Discovery SRE - Sirius
    2 points
  12. For cellphones, you can download the free version of the TrueCaller App (from Google Play Store) that has very effective spam and advertising blocking capabilities. I've been using it for a few months now and I hardly get spam calls anymore on my cell phone.
    2 points
  13. So ASHGEQ will suspend trading on 9 September and the ETF will be replaced with the Ashburton Global 1200 Equity Fund of Funds ETF (ASHEQF) (also launched on 9 September). This is the new feeder fund discussed in the previous post. (Source: ASHGEQ SENS announcement 1 September 2020) We shouldn't notice any immediate difference in our portfolios, I guess, except the change of code from ASHGEQ to ASHEQF.
    2 points
  14. Just a update on ASHGEQ: The proposed restructuring was approved by the majority of shareholders.This means that ASHGEQ will now become a feeder fund (owning the ETFs that make up the index rather than owning the individual companies). So while the index will remain exactly the same, the management costs and TER for ASHGEQ should now come down significantly. The individual constituents comprising the S&P Global 1200 Index are: iShares Core S&P 500 ETF iShares MSCI Europe UCITS ETF EUR Dist iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF iShares Core TOPIX ETF iShares Asia 50 ETF iShares Latin America 40 ETF SPDR S&P/ASX 50 Fund (Source: ASHGEQ SENS announcement 11 August 2020)
    2 points
  15. So let's see: TFSA +28% ETF5IT (42%) ASHGEQ (55%) STXEMG (3%) The growth here was helped by timing the crash and dip earlier this year and time. Portfolio #1 +8% SYGWD (27%) SYG4IR (42%) STXCHN (31%) Portfolio was started after the crash, so gains are partly due to the recovery (maybe?) and the recent growth we've seen over the last week. Portfolio #2 +77% ETFRHO (95%) DCX10 (5%) Ah yes, portfolio 2. Otherwise known as my **** around portfolio. Growth is largely from past performance of ETFRHO and it's been stuck in the +70 range for a while. I reckon the party is over but scared of capital gains.
    2 points
  16. So this year, the markets have gone crazy, but not altogether bad from an ETF point of view. However, the more the markets do wild things, the more I've been inclined to go for vanilla ETFs. I think I've only made one or two big changes since last year, namely selling my Coreshare's SMART ETF in favour of the Satrix Top 40, and then reducing my allocation of property (CSPROP) from 25% to 15% (I didn't sell - I'm just not buying at the moment until it's less than 15% of my total portfolio.) I used the extra 10% allocation from property to buy Satrix Nasdaq (STXNDQ). So at the moment, most ETFs are doing really well, especially the foreign ones. My Tax Free investment portfolio and it's performance (total return) looks as follows: Local ETFs (Total 45%): 10% Satrix Top 40 (STX40) - Performance in my portfolio: +0% 10% Newfunds Momentum (NFEMOM) - Performance: +7% 10% Satrix Quality (STXQUA) - Performance: -10% (Even though this is currently down, I don't want to sell this because I love the shares in this basket and see long term potential.) 15% Coreshares Property (CSPROP) - Performance: -22% (Would be much worse if not for the massive dividends). Foreign ETFs (Total 55%): 25% Ashburton Global 1200 (ASHGEQ) - Performance: +22% 10% Satrix Emerging Markets (STXEMG) - Performance: +27% 10% Satrix Nasdaq (STXNDQ) - Performance: +44% 10% Sygnia 4th Industrial Revolution (SYG4IR) - Performance: +51% ( I know Simon Brown always slams this one as just being popular rather than having actual merit, but it's been my best performing ETF and continues to perform, despite the measly dividends. I don't think I'd be comfortable with it being more than 10% of my portfolio though.) Things that I've noticed that have happened in my portfolio this year: Foreign markets have vastly outperformed local markets this year. Emerging market are outperforming developed markets this year, despite COVID (to be expected in the long term, but surprising given the current pandemic.) Tech ETFs are outperforming everything else by far. Changes that I'm going to make: I'm going to buy some Satrix China (STXCHN) after its launch tomorrow, but I don't think I'll put it in my TFIA, as it would go against my diversification policy within my TFIA. But I'm definitely going to buy a fair amount of this ETF outside of my TFIA.
    2 points
  17. Nothing with regards to their product offering. Biggest mistake I ever made though was "upgrade" to their Private Client suite which is a bunch of bs. Most of the time you have to phone the relevant department anyway. Bigger deposit can potentially mean better interest rate. If we put the interest rate aside, there should be no difference in repayments between having a R1 000 000 bond with R200 000 in an access facility vs a bond with R800 000 outstanding. The fundamental differences (and take it with a pinch of salt): Access facility means just that, you have access to any extra funds you put in your account. Great for an emergency fund, but easy to spend if you are "bad" with money Extra money in the access facility returns at the rate of your home loan interest but tax free. You pay tax on interest you gain but not on interest you save. Down side obviously is that the rate of return is pretty low compared to what equities are returning, so having too much in the access facility is potentially bad given the low interest rates. You cannot fix the interest rate on a bond with an access facility which is something people may want to do in a year or so's time Personally - I took the access facility to keep my options and access to funds open.
    2 points
  18. A market maker pays us to send them an order for shares. In return they guarantee execution at the current best price. The market maker can then use the order to get a competitive edge.
    2 points
  19. 1. See my post above. 2. The NFTRACI should be fairly constant over the short term since it consists of mixed term fixed deposits with predetermined interest rates. However, with the costs, it really isn't any better than a money market account. 3. Tyme bank offers excellent interest rates depending on how long you keep your money there: 6% interest from day 1, 7% after 30 days, 9% after 90 days. 10% if you give 10 days' notice after 90 days. (According to their website. I have some savings money there and have received these rates too.)
    2 points
  20. Here is a helpful interactive calculator which shows the cheapest RAs in SA for different RA values. Calculate here.
    2 points
  21. Greetings Money has been a cause of concern and i really want to do away with all this anxiety it brings to my day to day. Am always worried of running out but well am not here to vent. Moving on. From my research there are a couple of things i have to get right before i can ensure my finance future. Bank account Savings (Emergency Fund usually then merely savings[a quicker and more accessible sum]) investing The list might not be in its best order nor most detailed form but thats what i know for now(for the sake of this post). Would anyone please assist me with either information and or guidance with these three aspects and also help me on the right path. Tyme Bank would have been my go to bank. Its rates seem lovely. I understand that all the figures advertised may come to change sometime soon and what not but as for now and making a pick, the rate are a good enough starting point. Unfortunately i am not a South African citizen and have even considered other online banks but have not been too luckily finding one that is laid back on the fees and requires to open an account. Any ideas ? I have resorted to FNB EasyAccount(PAYU) and Standard bank(Student Achiever)(am currently a student doing my 3rd year and fear i might not be in South Africa for as much longer to build my savings in a South African bank to then take it out and perhaps suffer hefty fees. Am not sure how this all works but thats why i would like to get an international online bank where that concern is cancelled out) I hope to have my an FNB account forever and hope to bank from wherever in the world with then even later on and hence settled for them and my current EasyAccount before an upgrade to an different account. In the event i save with them(hopefully i do), i feel i have reason to foresee a longterm relationship. Investing, i want to use EasyEquities to make all my investments. They were suggested by Platinum Wealth and hey, i like them. I do not know if its better to have all i save and invest with them or not. Assuming there is a manner of saving i can do with tem in a TFSA. i really dont know how the platform works but i am dabbling in and with information to see what and how far we can go together. i trust that i can get some scrutiny here and get some answers as well. Dont take too long i dont have time. I want to spend it all on the market, i hear thats how you earn anything in the long run Regards PS:I understand it depends on what i dash dash dash lol. Please throw me in the deep end and give me a broad response lol assume everything
    2 points
  22. I'm no expert but assuming you are far away from retirement age and as per user name you intend to be financially free by 2029, do you really want your money locked away in an RA? Anyway, what I do is this: Max out TFSA first Contribute a percentage to pension (15%) because I can get this money out if we immigrate. Point is: I'll not be force to by an annuity one day and won't be subject to whatever unknown tax regulation there will be one day I contribute a small amount to an RA every month to 1) offset any monies I might owe SARS come tax season and 2) just in case... Once I leave my current job I'm still in two minds on what I'm planning to do with my pension. Currently I'm leaning towards taking the tax hit, cashing it out and investing it offshore. I trust this SA government and pension/RA money exactly f**ol.
    2 points
  23. Desperately looking for a pair of Galaxy buds. Hauwei Freebuds Lite are on sale but would prefer Galaxy Buds if there is a good deal.
    2 points
  24. 2 points
  25. A thread on the The money challenge #2019MoneyChallenge Here’s how it works Months are assigned a number from 1-12 Jan = 1 Feb= 2 Mar= 3 And so on to Dec = 12 We then have a multiplier lets 2 and an example. how this then works is you multiply the multiplier by the months’s respective value i.e 2 in the case of Feb. So Feb would be 2 * 2, then you multiply the results by Rands you want to start with, could be for now lets use R100. So in total you would have Jan = (1 * 2) * R100= R200 Feb = (2*2) * R100 = R400 Mar = (3*2)* R100 = 600 And so on till Dec = (12*2)*R100= R2400 In total you would then save R15600 over the 12 months Whats cool about this is you can change the “Rands” value and the “multiplier” value to suit your goals and afffordability Examples Multiplier = 0.5 Rands= 50 Jan = (1 * 0.5) *R50 = 25 Feb = (2 * 0.5) *R50 = R50 Mar = (3 * 0.5) * R50 = R75 …… Dec (12 * 0.5) *R50 Total = 1950 Last example Multiplier =3 Rands= 200 Jan = (1 * 3) * R200 = R600 Feb = (2 * 3) * R200 = R1200 Mar = (3 * 3) * R200 = R1800 … Dec = (12 * 3 ) * R200= R7200 So depending on where you are in life financially you can start snow balling into higher savings rate. From small amounts to big amounts.
    2 points
  26. @Njabulo Nsibande @Spreadsheet Ranger @Groovy @SaurusDNA
    2 points
  27. /does happy dance: https://www.sharenet.co.za/free/sens/disp_news.phtml?tdate=20191031100000&seq=22&scheme=default
    2 points
  28. Ok so I had some spare time. Browsed through all the SA banks' websites, scraped their fixed deposit rates, read the fine print and converted them to effective annual rates. I have made this research public & now you can see all of SA's fixed deposit rates on offer at https://www.ratecompare.co.za . I plan to update the rates on a monthly basis. Comments welcome for other banks to add or any feedback in general. I hope someone can draw value from this!
    2 points
  29. @Bandit - thanks . Jack has been addressed & now features a light colour.
    2 points
  30. ASHGEQ or STXWDM - 65% SMART or CTOP50 - 35% That's if I had to have local exposure. Else I would just go 100% ASHGEQ. That's very simple.
    2 points
  31. You as an individual cannot open a pension fund. The company you work for can. As an individual, you can open an RA. RA - matures at retirement age. You'll then be able to buy an annuity with it which will provide you with income. Other than that, the only way to get money out of an RA is to formally emigrate or you have to prove that you'll basically die if that money doesn't become available (I've only heard of this, can imagine that it is borderline impossible). Pension - when you leave your current place of employment you'll have four options: Take the Pension money and move it into an RA Move the pension money to your new employer's pension fund Take the money and run (you'll pay tax on it) Move it to a preservation fund Preservation fund uses the same type of funds (regulation 28) as your pension and RA does, however you have the option of withdrawing from the fund once before retirement. Not sure if that restriction is per fund or per tax entity (you). Personally, I have a pension fund at 10x and an RA at Allan Gray. When I leave my current place of employment I will move my pension to a preservation fund. If I had to start an RA and only have one - 10x.
    2 points
  32. For RA's, I'd go for a company like Allan Gray or Alexander Forbes. Companies like Old Mutual , Sanlam and Liberty Life are also reputable, but their fees tend to be higher and their returns lower in my experience (although you should do some research first to verify the facts.) I think Bandit has hit on something very, very important. If you see a financial adviser, the first thing they will try and do is sell you life insurance, because the commission on that is huge compared to the commission on an RA. Don't give in - tell them you want an RA and nothing else at this stage.
    2 points
  33. Hey guys, This thread also got me looking at my tfsa. Would it be advisable to get rid of either my coreshares top50 or satrix divi plus, and use that to invest in ptxten ? I currently have 11K in each. Top50 is currently 3.9% down (- R470) Divi plus is currently 1.2% down (-149) Or would it be better to start from scratch with ptxten ? Thanks.
    2 points
  34. If I were to choose just one ETF to invest in, without a doubt in my mind, it would be the Ashburton Global 1200 Equity ETF (ASHGEQ). If I had to choose just one, I would never go country specific like US or Japan - this just has too much concentration risk - get a bad president or a war in that country and might just lose all your money - I'd definitely go for a world index. Therefore, from your list, I'd immediately disqualify SYGJP and SYGUS. From the two world ETFs on your list, both STXWDM and SYGWD track the same index but Sygnia charges double the fees. Therefore it gets disqualified too. So we are left with STXWDM, which is an excellent ETF and would be my second choice after ASHGEQ. There are two reasons why I prefer ASHGEQ over STXWDM: 1) ASHGEQ has some emerging market exposure, which traditionally provides better growth than developed markets over long periods, whereas STXWDM is only developed markets (safer, but less growth). 2) ASHGEQ is more diversified than STXWDM, lowering the downside risk. ASHGEQ is slightly more expensive than STXWDM in terms of fees, but I still think the possibility of better returns from ASHGEQ, as well as the better diversification, do justify the fees and will be worth it in the long run. So for your second question - what would be a good first ETF? Either Satrix MSCI World (STXWDM) or Ashburton Global 1200 (ASHGEQ) would be excellent choices, in my opinion.
    2 points
  35. I love my PTXTEN ETF! The dividends are fantastic at 9.4% per annum (currently), and with the new changes, I'm hoping for excellent growth as well. I wouldn't be surprised in this one gives the best total return of all over the next few years. Plus, it has never been this cheap to invest in property! On top of that, the massive dividends are completely tax free, making this particular ETF one of the best ETFs on the market in terms of tax savings. GLODIV is a really nice ETF too, but i think it is better outside of a TFIA as the foreign dividends are not tax exempt. If it were up to me me, I'd stick with STXWDM.
    2 points
  36. Hi janvdwest I'm not a tax expert, but the way I understand the tax on trading is as follows: When buying or selling a share, you first pay brokerage and Strate fees (which are not taxes), and VAT is levied on these costs. The first direct tax you pay is the securities transfer tax of 0.25% which is levied on every transfer of a security. When you sell a share at a higher price that you bought it for, only the profit is considered to be capital gains (not the whole proceeds of the sale). The first R40,000 of capital gains you make per year is exempt from tax. Any capital gains above R40,000 is taxed at 18% p.a. for individuals and 22.4% p.a. for companies. When a South African company pays a dividend, it withholds tax of 20% on the dividend that it pays (not 15% as you mentioned in your post - that was increased in 2017). When an individual receives the dividend from a South African company, it is exempt from tax, because the tax has already been withheld and paid over to SARS by the company paying the dividend. There is no VAT on dividend income. Income earned from REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) is not considered as dividends and there is no withholding tax on these. However, this income should be declared as income on your annual income tax return and will be taxed along with your overall assessment according to your normal tax bracket in the same way as if you rented a property out yourself. When you finally dispose of your REITs, then any profit made from the difference between the selling and buying price of the REITs is considered a capital gain, taxed at 18% p.a. for individuals and 22.4% p.a. for companies (also subject to the R40,000 exemption for total capital gains per year). Then, finally, dividends, income and capital gains earned within a tax free investment account are exempt from all of the above taxes (except for VAT on brokerage and strate fees, of course).
    2 points
  37. I'll bite, and answer the questions as my first post here. First and foremost, all information is available on the ebucks website, its not a secret, just take some reading time. https://www.ebucks.com/web/eBucks/earn/earn-from-the-bank-2019.jsp #1 Does the bank account type make a difference? It does.There are certain caps on the earning. Gold for example is capped on earning ebucks on a maximum spend of R7500 in-store and online. Earn rules @ https://www.ebucks.com/web/eBucks/earn/fnb-gold-2019.jsp Premier for example is capped on earning ebucks on a maximum spend of R10000 in-store and R2500 online. Earn rules @ https://www.ebucks.com/web/eBucks/earn/fnb-gold-2019.jsp For both, your checkers earn is capped at 20% of total monthly spend and R1750 for gold or R2000 for Checkers. To get to that 15% earn for checkers, you need to be on ebucks reward level 5. To understand this, you need to look at "Maximise your points to reward level 5" on https://www.ebucks.com/web/eBucks/earn/fnb-gold-2019.jsp or https://www.ebucks.com/web/eBucks/earn/fnb-premier-2019.jsp #2 FNB Fusion Gold VS FNB Fusion Premier – Which is best for ebucks? The level account you go for, depends on both how big your income is and more importantly, how much you spend each month. The spend caps for in-store spend is a good indicator. R10k a month or less spend, then go Gold. If your spend is closer to R15-20k a month then go Premier. If your spend is less than R5k a month skip fnb/ebucks altogether. #3 Does your ebucks cover your monthly bank account fee?For me, it far exceeds my monthly account fees! I am on Private Clients which costs R390 a month (with no additional fees). I earn R2000 worth of ebucks a month, and spend it only on 40% discounted items/vouchers which means that R2000 become an effective R3334. Then there are other benefits like free lounge visits at airports, avis free point-2-point, R100 Kauai voucher each month, FNB on the wimpy voucher, 500MB data free on the FNB sim ect. I use most of those benefits, its insane to turn it down...if you spend enough each month on your card. #4 Will ebucks benefit me? You will need to make changes to your payments to make ebucks benefit you. EFTs count for 0 ebucks. You need at least 3-4 debit orders on your account to help you gain reward levels, so I would keep those as is mostly. Municipal account, instead of EFT, I would pay into the account using credit card. Even if you pay part of it, and let the co-owner pay the other part whichever way he want, or EFT to you and let you pay with card. Fuel, keep as is on card. Paypal, keep as is, its online spend. Airtime, buy with card at a retailer or online. I do online. Electricity is easy to buy online, even possible on snapscan app now, which is what I use, its conveniant. That said, its difficult to say without actual values. Anyways, you need to do some homework to really know. I do this once a year, takes me 30 minutes then I am done for the year. Thats quicker than my e-filing takes. Read through the rules on: https://www.ebucks.com/web/eBucks/earn/fnb-gold-2019.jsp or https://www.ebucks.com/web/eBucks/earn/fnb-premier-2019.jsp Then use the calculator to work out what you can do to get to level 5 and then what you can earn with your expenses: https://www.ebucks.com/web/calculator/rewardsCalculatorAction.do At a minimum, play with the calculator. Hope that helps.
    2 points
  38. I have both although I may not have given Discovery a fair chance with regards to rewards so far. But that doesn't matter because their service just isn't even close to FNB. I'm sure they'll get there in time but so far Discovery Bank has been a massive waste of time for me. It's funny because people used to say eBucks is complicated - wait until you try Vitality Money. It's all relative to spend etc. but I'm on level 5 eBucks and get about R500 worth of it back every month without doing anything special. I can more than likely maximise it and get exponentially more every month but I don't go chasing rewards for the sake of good financial habits (overdrafts, revolving loans etc). Anyway, I can tell you this: If you don't fully commit to Discovery then don't bother. FNB's app and integrated services are light year's ahead. FNB's support is better I'm more than likely cancelling my Discovery card as soon as I can figure out how... So my vote is FNB + Tyme over any other banks in South Africa.
    2 points
  39. Didn't think about that... ok fine, you'll do
    2 points
  40. Ouch, that's 2 against 1
    2 points
  41. Timing the market is near impossible. The Rand could go up or down, and the index could go up or down. There are two trains of thought:- the momentum methodology (employed by ETFs like NFEMOM, for example) is based on the premise that shares that are going up strongly will continue to go up. The momentum methodology says now is an excellent time to buy. On the other hand, the value methodology (employed by ETFs like NFEVAL for example) say you should buy when prices are cheap. This methodology says you should wait. I personally do Dollar-cost averaging by buying an equal amount monthly. This way, you get the best of both worlds. It might be something for you to consider (ie. buy R2k per month for three months). This way, whatever happens, you minimize downside risk. But otherwise, as for your question, with all short-term decisions in the market, you may as well roll a dice.
    2 points
  42. The 70% equities, 20% property and 10% interest bearing is the classic split. But yes, I suppose 10% dividends would make it 80% equities. But there's certainly nothing wrong with 80% equities! I'm torn between STX40 and SMART. I really like a 50/50 split between these two. PTXTEN is now merging with PTXSPY to create a new ETF (tentatively coming into effect from end July 2019). The new one is pretty much the same index as the Satrix STXPRO. Coreshares has promised to lower the relatively high TER with the merge (probably to compete with STXPRO). But you may as well flip a coin here between PTXTEN or STXPRO or watch the TERs once the new Coreshares ETF has settled in. For the dividend ETF, both DIVTRX and STXDIV are decent choices. DIVTRX targets more consistent yields in the longer term whereas STXDIV targets higher yields in the shorter term. And then again, although STXQUA is not strictly a dividend ETF, it's dividends are usually excellent. In my opinion, STXEMG has the most long term potential (although high risk), possibly even more so than tech shares. If you have a bit of appetite for risk, why not do 10% STXEMG, and then leave the ASHGEQ and go for STXWDM and/or S&P500. GLODIV has been doing really well lately and is likely to continue. Not so great in a TFIA though as the unpleasantly high foreign withholding tax on dividends negates a large chunk of the tax benefits though, but it still does have excellent capital gains, so maybe still even worth having in a TFIA. I personally like having a bit of a mix in my ETF portfolio. If I were you, I'd mix it up a little and make it a bit more exciting. What about something like: Local equities: 20% STX40 and 20% SMART Local property: 20% PTXTEN Emerging markets: 10% STXEMG Offshore: 15% CSP500 and 15% STXWDM (or alternatively 10% CSP500, 10% STXWDM and 10% GLODIV) Or if you don't like STXEMG but prefer slightly less emerging markets exposure, but still want some: Local equities: 20% STX40 and 20% SMART Local property: 20% PTXTEN Local dividends: 10% DIVTRX Offshore: 30% ASHGEQ
    2 points
  43. Welcome to Volatility in Crypto buy and hold long term.
    2 points
  44. I wouldn't say there are too many duplicates, just looks like a shotgun approach. PTXTEN and GLPROP gives you worldwide property exposure - shap! SYG4IR and STXNDQ are "niche" funds with very good potential - shap! The Top40 and Quality SA ones are somewhat of a duplication. Global DivTrax is a subset of the S&P 500. MSCI World Already contains a lot of the top US stocks (S&P500) as well. Not saying you should but you could combine all three of those into the MSCI World OR combine those three and the Emerging Markets one into ASHGEQ which contains developed and emerging market shares from around the world. You also may want to consider the cost of rebalancing your portfolio. Unless you have a real need it is probably better to just stop funding some of them and carry on funding just the select few you wish to carry on with. But there are various factors like the amount of funds allocated to the ETF, the TER of those extra ETFs, the transaction costs involved, potential tax implications etc. That said, I've done it a couple of times when I started out and lost a couple of Rand in the short term Disclaimer: Personally I hold the following in two investment accounts: Regular ETF Portfolio Global Divtrax (stopped funding in favour of CSP500) Global Property S&P 500 and TFSA S&P 500 (stopped funding in favour of MSCI) MSCI World Nasdaq 100 So I carry duplications myself but in my case I don't think it is worth selling off the one just to move it to the other. I'll take another look at it again the end of the year (or if Trump does something stupid even by his very low standards). You may (or may not, probably not) note that I do not carry any SA shares in either of these, that's because I have an RA, Pension and a bond all heavily exposed to South Africa. I do hold a bit of funds in a Rhodium ETF and a bit of crypto but these are very small amounts, which sucks since Rhodium is up 47%
    2 points
  45. We actually wrote an article about this a few months ago. https://platinumwealth.co.za/insights/finance/building-an-emergency-fund/ One thing I would add is to look at Tymebank (we have them online if you have questions @TymeBank Team) If you use them as an emergency fund you will be earning more interest than any other bank in South Africa. With that said, personally, I do a 32-day notice account + credit card (if the funds need to be accessed right now) and then can be paid back from the notice account.
    2 points
  46. Nice. Do we have any PW Telegram groups btw?
    2 points
  47. Any business with a concern about efficient and costs effective telecommunications should investigate porting over to a VOIP solution. If you have a reliable internet connection such as ADSL/VDSL, 3G/4G or Fibre, you can get a phone service delivered through your internet connection at a fraction of the cost compared to using a traditional Telkom landline. The most important takeaway from this article is that a VoIP system reduce costs, dramatically. Why will a VoIP system reduce my costs of my Telkom bill? A VoIP service provider does not require its own separate infrastructure like the PSTN of Telkom. Voice calls are simply transmitted over the same networks that power the Internet. This means that the ISP does not have to invest significant capital in laying phone lines to each and every house and business. VoIP is essentially piggybacking on the existing broadband network throughout South Africa. So, voice is treated exactly the same as normal data and media such as text and images on the Internet (like a Whatsapp). Just like sending email and pictures is practically free, voice calls also become extremely cheap. Can I move my telephone number if we change offices? Anyone who has moved a landline from one home to another knows the pain of dealing with Telkom. With VoIP, the phone number is no longer associated with a single device, residence or physical line, instead the VoIP phone number is associated with you and your account. This enables you to take the number with anywhere you go, and you can even use it to link your cell phone to your business or office – it’s a virtual number. Who is the cheapest VoIP provider in South Africa for my business? Skype has three packages For R57 per month you get 100 minutes to any South African mobile or landline number (effectively R 0.57 per minute) For R99 per month you get 400 minutes to any South African mobile or landline number (effectively R 0.24 per minute.) Then for R285 per month you get unlimited calls to any network and landline. Vox Telecom Costs between R234 and R762 per month and calls are charged at R0.46 per minute. (The monthly payment includes money for the calls.) FreshPHONE Zero sign up costs, Zero monthly costs, Zero cancellation costs. The call rates for FreshPHONE is R0.39 per min to Telkom local and national numbers and R0.69 per min to all cellular networks. MWEB Mweb have two VOIP packages a Starter package with 100 minutes at R59 per month, and a Lite package with 250 minutes at R99 per month. (59c per minute and 39.6c per minute respectively) Assuming you want a more business specific setup (multiple staff members or a call center) then a PBX system will be required. The cheapest hosted PBX solutions in South Africa IS (Internet Solutions) Ignite have a hosted PBX solution for R111 per extension (month to month) or R90 per extension (24 month contract) this gives you Ring groups, Voicemail to email, Call waiting (press 1 for sales) the full monty) and then you have to pay the per minute rates for calls you make which is R0.30 to Telkom landline calls and R0.74 to mobile numbers. Euphoria Telecom is R65 – R125 per user(extension) per month depending on features. Then their call rates are R0.34 per min to Telkom landlines and R0.79 per min to all South African mobile networks. Use VoIP for your startup business Launching your own business is not an easy task. Entrepreneurs soon find that their landline is not enough to handle the needs of the business, no matter how small. This is where VoIP comes in handy. VoIP service can provide much-needed features like auto attendant, group voicemail, multi device ring, automatic call routing etc. which normally requires an expensive building specific business line(s) setup with golden numbers and special hunting group landlines.
    2 points
  48. ABSA gives you access to all the ETFs. Their platform is a full on trading platform where you specify the price you'd wish to buy at etc. More control but more involved than EE.
    2 points
  49. Weakening economic conditions, increased debt repayment burden, rising consumer inflation and stricter lending criteria have seen 100% bonds, especially to first-time buyers, become much harder to get, but it has also placed many potential buyers firmly between a rock and a hard place. “Not only do banks require bigger deposits than before, it has also become more difficult to put money aside in today’s economic climate, as growing financial pressure is forcing consumers to tighten belts even further just to make ends meet,” says JP van der Bergh, founder of Propscan. "However, a sizeable deposit has several significant benefits in addition to increasing your chance of bond approval - it also gives you a jumpstart on the financial process, makes your offer more appealing to sellers as it bumps up the chance of bond approval, naturally decreases your monthly bond repayments, and saves you a considerable amount in interest over the long term.” Kay Geldenhuys from ooba, national mortgage originator, illustrates how a deposit can reduce the overall and monthly costs of buying property: “A home buyer who purchases a house for R1 million with no deposit at a 10.25% interest rate will pay approximately R9 816 per month over 20 years. At the end of the home loan term, the total amount repaid will be R2 355 944. “On the other hand, with a R100 000 deposit, the monthly repayments will be approximately R8 835, and the total repayment will be around R2 120 350. Add the deposit to this and the total comes to R2 220 350 - making the total repayments some R135 594 cheaper than buying without a deposit.” She says it also stands to reason that the smaller the risk for the bank, the more negotiable they will be on the interest rate charged. “Right from the beginning of the home-buying process, it is important to ensure that you know what you can afford to buy and how much deposit you will need,” says Van der Bergh. “Once you have established how much you need to save, the next step is to figure out how to do so as quickly as possible, and in order to do so, you must analyse your spending habits. On a spreadsheet, list all your fixed monthly expenses including existing debts you are currently servicing and make a note of all other regular expenses like the daily cappuccino at the café near work. “Next, go through it with a fine-tooth comb to see where you can cut down on monthly expenditure and determine how much you can realistically afford to save, and then shop around for a high-interest savings or money market account in which to save your money.” Sandy Geffen, Executive Director of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty in South Africa, says saving a substantial amount of money may seem like a daunting task, but don’t be discouraged. “At first glance, the cutbacks you are able to make may seem to be small amounts, but you will be surprised at how quickly they can add up to a sizeable sum, and you could own your first home sooner than you think,” says Geffen. She offers the following creative tips for saving towards your deposit: 1. Stop smoking. This could add at least R1 000 a month to your deposit fund. 2. Instead of buying takeaways every day, rather spend the extra 10 minutes packing lunch in the morning as it will end up saving you more than pennies at the end of the day, and it’s far healthier. 3. Ask for an insurance re-evaluation because while your insurance premiums probably go up every year, the value of a lot of insured items actually goes down as they age. 4. Cut back on credit and try to pay off and close store cards, especially if you find temptation hard to resist. Remember that when you do eventually apply for a loan, the bank will ask for an income and expenditure statement to prove that you will have sufficient surplus income for the home loan instalment once all household and contractual debt expenses have been met. 5. Before you run out to buy a new seasonal wardrobe, spring clean your closet and unearth the older items of good quality that can be reinvented with accessories or by mixing and matching; 6. If you can’t remember what the inside of your gym looks like and can’t motivate yourself to go, cancel that gym contract and find ways to exercise for free. It might help you to start exercising more regularly, especially now that summer is here. 7. Consider scaling down on your car if a large portion of your monthly income is going towards paying off a car loan; 8. Always go grocery shopping with a list and stick to it - and never go on an empty stomach. Also try and stick to food stores and avoid the hypermarkets where you might be tempted to buy other things you don’t need. Geldenhuys cautions that this savings mindset should not be abandoned once the goal has been met. “Many people throw caution to the wind and shop around for a home that costs the maximum amount the bank has approved, however, given current economic conditions, buyers should rather consider buying for a little less,” says Geldenhuys. “The extra cash can be used to pay off the bond more quickly or saved as a rainy-day fund so that they are prepared for the unforeseen expenses which arise when you own property.” “It’s true that our parents had it much easier in that most were able to afford their first home long before the current average age of first-time buyers which has risen to 34, but what hasn’t changed is the investment value of owning a home,” says Van der Bergh. “It is also one of the most exciting and rewarding purchases you will ever make, so even though it may take a little longer, it’s always worth the effort.” Source: Property24
    2 points
  50. I have ordered single units as replacements which came without having to pay extra duties. Buying bulk means you definitely have to pay the duties, and also the fee to the courier company to 'process' your order and delivery. I am out of stock of Ledger Nano S devices and most likely not ordering bulk again, unless I can make it worth while. Bulk orders are not priority to them, so they sometimes take months to arrive, while the price of bitcoin changes drastically during that time period, which means your profit can disappear completely. For the end user, its faster and cheaper to just order directly from Ledger now, especially since they added free shipping for small orders to South Africa, and you might not need to pay duties. Bulk orders you still need to pay for shipping, so that is additional cost for resellers too. The time, expenses, and possibility of losing money means its just better to refer customers to them directly.
    2 points
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