No one likes to think about their own death, which is why so many of us don’t revisit our Wills, or worse still, fail to have one. It‘s important to make sure that your financial plan and Will dovetail. If they don’t, it can lead to unintended consequences.

If the requirement for the investment is short term (less than 3 years) then yes, including equities could be too risky. However…

Think about the long-term opportunity cost lost when one invests in cash.

Over the long-term, cash is your riskiest investment because unlike equities, after tax it will not out-perform inflation (the long-term investors true nemesis).

Generally speaking, if you are satisfied that you have done a thorough needs analysis and you are confident that you won’t outlive your capital, then you could consider it.

The benefit of compounded, tax free growth is best illustrated by Nic Andrew.

Your Will should be reviewed whenever a major change happens in your life, for example, birth of a child, death of a loved one, divorce.

Think of it this way: How comfortable would you be if your doctor prescribed medication from a drug company that he owned or perhaps earned big commissions on, as opposed to prescribing the best medication out there for your needs?

Your retirement assets are one of the most important aspects of your life. Think about it, they dictate your and your family’s lifestyle going forward. Would you trust another professional who was not qualified?

Although there are many financial advisers in the industry, there are only a handful that have the unique skill set to engage in sophisticated high level planning that adds value across the spectrum of investments, tax and estate planning.

Have a good robust investment strategy in place and stick to it. Ignore the noise.

If you want to be a successful investor, you must have a good robust investment strategy in place and stick to it.

It’s a phrase used to describe sensational media coverage.

You don’t want to be unintentionally pulled in different directions by your accountant, your fiduciary attorney, your corporate attorney and your financial advisor.

The return has to be measured as a real return, which is a return after inflation.

Firstly, get your investment strategy right.

Currencies are unpredictable.
Although there are exceptions, generally, our view is that it doesn’t really matter where the rand is, it matters where your needs lie.

Your financial adviser needs to be conversant in the Income Tax Act, the Estate Duty Act, the Wills Act, the Pensions Fund act…

We are a financial planning practice focused on the high net worth individual who has investable assets of R10 million or more.

Human emotion is without a doubt the biggest destroyer of wealth.

Remember that human emotion is the biggest destroyer of wealth and in uncertain times, the best thing you can do, is nothing.

My advice to this group is to do absolutely nothing, simply stay the course.

The decision around your retirement assets will be one of the biggest decisions you will ever have to make. So why would you want to do it alone?