Some of the greatest success stories all have one thing in common, and that is that hardship isn’t used as an excuse, but as motivation – the motivation not to focus so much on current circumstances, but rather on the opportunities that tomorrow may bring. Famous sports stars like Mohammed Ali (boxing), Nikki Lauda (Formula […]
As I was writing this, we were just entering the month of March, following a February filled with so much negativity that I’m sure we would all just like to forget it as soon as possible. They say that it is always darkest before the dawn, and although this may not be the answer that […]
In their book, The Enigma of Reason, Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber writes: “Two major features of the production of reasons: it is biased – people overwhelmingly find reasons that support their previous beliefs – and it is lazy–people do not carefully scrutinize their own reasons. Combined, these two traits spell disaster for the lone […]
I have made reference to the phrase, “swimming upstream” before, and mentioned how it always reminds me of the joke about the man who was travelling on the N1-highway when he got a phone call from his panicked wife. She had heard on the radio that on the same highway, a vehicle was travelling in […]
For the first January in years, the Western Cape is not facing another day zero to prepare for, and this whole drought situation also taught me one of my greatest life lessons. Like most Capetonians, I followed the standard water storage route by installing both a rain water tank and a grey water tank. Trying […]
Investors who have followed my reports over the years, would know that I like to use well-known sayings to either point out or describe a variety of terms or market movements. But there is one saying that regularly makes its appearance in the investment world: “High risk, high reward.” Without wanting to offend thrill seekers, […]
With the Rugby World Cup (RWC) behind us, we can proudly say that we are the world champions. Not only did we win the final against England, we just about destroyed them in dominating fashion. What makes this achievement even greater, is the fact that in March last year (2018), there was absolutely no excitement […]
We have all been invited to a function, party, wedding or braai that we just didn’t look forward to, only to be surprised with a very pleasant event. Before you knew it, you were socialising like pro, and by the time midnight struck, you were the one proudly showing off your best dance moves to […]
A few of you might point out that my message this week directly contradicts what I said a few weeks ago. “Don’t bet on last year’s star performers” was right there in the title in September after all, and I pointed out that betting on last year’s winning shares may not always be the best […]
I recently got home from work, only to find my eldest daughter in tears. Upon enquiry as to why she was so sad, she told me that she had a massive university assignment due and that this particular assignment was so huge, that with the time she had left and the quantity of work that […]
We live in an era dominated by superheroes, and when I say this, I’m not referring to the real brave man climbing up the side of some building to rescue a child that’s hanging by a nail. No, I’m talking about comic book characters that usually find themselves on the big screen in a wonderfully […]
Those of you who follow my reports on a regular basis, will know that I often use the analogy of the water skier to illustrate how share prices (and ultimately, indices) sometimes find themselves in front of the proverbial boat, or earnings. Without the pulling action from the boat, the skier will lose momentum, but […]
Until fairly recently, my youngest daughter competed in the South African XC mountain bike race series. For those of you who are not too familiar with the sport, the easiest way to describe this particular type of race, would be to refer to it as a mountain bike race that takes place on a track […]
I recently co-consulted a client with another adviser with the aim of addressing the client’s retirement needs. The adviser recommended that the client invests in a retirement annuity (RA). Without a moment’s hesitation, the client said, “I’m not interested. I invested in a retirement annuity 30 years ago and it hasn’t grown in value since. […]
Click here to see this most recent updated version of the Fear & Greed South Africa Index. Warren Buffet remains one of the most famous investors out there, so it’s no coincidence that his sayings are equally famous. One of my favourite Warren Buffett sayings has to do with two key emotions in the investment […]
At the time of writing, the Springboks were getting ready for their first test match against one of the northern hemisphere’s teams: England. As they were announcing the South African team, I couldn’t help but think that this actually presented the perfect opportunity to explain how factor investments work. Although Faf de Klerk may be […]
Flying back home recently from OR Tambo international airport, I couldn’t help but notice that by putting some distance between myself and the earth below, we get to see things from a completely different perspective. On the ground, everything seems to be moving constantly, but as the airplane goes higher and higher, the movement and […]
Humanity has always looked for some way to beat the system and has not been afraid to take the risks that are so often associated with it, whether those risks are similar to playing the lotto, or taking on the vast oceans in search of new continents. It has just never been part of the […]
I’m sure that most readers are familiar with the term ‘danger pay’. For many years, it was a term that was associated mainly with soldiers that had to do service in very dangerous areas. These days it can even include extra insurance benefits against events like kidnappings for families whose occupations require them to relocate […]
South Africans like to consider their homes as investments. As with all investments, it is worth revisiting your assumptions from time to time. Currently, there’s a lot of debate surrounding the prices of especially residential properties. The FNB South African House Price Index shows us that house prices have declined by 21% in real terms […]
