Not to be confused with the EFF (the South African political party or the lesser-known Electronic Frontier Foundation…), ETFs have been gaining popularity in investment portfolios for about a decade. ETFs (exchange-traded funds) were first developed in the early 1990s by Nathan Most, they offer both retail and institutional investors a great passive investment option. Nathan initially started thinking about the ETF option in this way: “I started thinking about a warehouse receipt holding the shares […]
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How we create more meaningful conversations
Over the last few years my personal journey has become both a guide and a ‘testing ground’ for how I help my clients bring the human side to their financial planning. Recently, I spoke with Kate Holmes about some of the tools and qualifications that I have explored and obtained in order to do this. In a nutshell, it’s focussed on the human side of money (without side-lining or devaluing the qualifications that make me professionally […]
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Stay abreast of your healthcare cover
Whilst October is Breast Cancer awareness month, cancer has become a disease that was touted in 2018 as the second leading cause of death. It’s a tragedy that has most likely affected your family, and the families of your friends, colleagues and neighbours. The World Health Organization claims that between 30-50% of cancers can currently be prevented by avoiding risk factors and implementing evidence-based prevention strategies. Firstly, we should consider the categories of external agents that […]
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Markets don’t make you money
Markets don’t make you money; your habits… make you money. As creatures of habit, we ultimately become our own best friend, or our own worst enemy. This is why it’s important to be mindful of how our emotions affect our choices and influence our behaviour. We can remind ourselves of this time and time again, but still we might find ourselves slipping into old habits and allowing emotional decisions to vilify our investment strategies. This is […]
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Why hobbies help
Time is our greatest investment opportunity – we should invest the time that we have in a diverse portfolio of activities that will provide us with positive returns. Having a solid routine helps us to squeeze utility out of our time. However, if we get stuck in the same routine for too long it can start to feel monotonous and laborious. Especially so if we are spending our down time on low value activities such as […]
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Sage advice for financial planners when dealing with woman entrepreneurs
Women entrepreneurs are creative, focused and driven individuals, whether in the corporate world or when running their businesses. Most women in business do not only fulfil this role but have many other roles such as mother, wife, community leader and activist that take up time and energy. Statistics show that women must work harder in a male-dominated world and they earn, on average, 30% less in the same positions. As a Financial Transitionist Planner, I have […]
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The impact of the economy on small businesses
In a 2018 article, Tim Davis (President of The UPS Store) said this of small businesses: “Small business is the backbone of the economy. … It’s these businesses that are driving local economies, providing jobs for local residents and impacting key community organizations, through charity and service.” Whilst small businesses are crucial to the infrastructure of a robust economy, they are equally affected by the health of that very same economy that they drive. If we […]
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Liberty Blue Table Sessions | Episode 3
One of the hardest lessons that I’ve had to learn in life is that I need to learn to become comfortable with loving myself first. After putting my family, colleagues and clients ahead of my own needs for so long, I have found that I burn out and I’m left standing with very little to offer in the way of comfort, guidance, advice and support. I’ve also learnt that I’m not alone. Women tend to fill […]
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What did you do with your first paycheck?
One thing we can always know for certain is the past; but with far less certainty, the future, and even ‘later today’… eludes us. Despite knowing this, we often fall into the trap of thinking that we should have done certain things better, because we can see (looking back…) what a difference it would have made in our lives today. Some of the lingo we repeatedly hear says: “Do something today that your future self will […]
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Crack the ice ahead of you
Spring is around the corner – bringing newness, freshness and invigoration. After a long winter, it’s easy to find your attitude has iced-over! Here’s how to crack the ice going forward… Remind yourself of the plan and direction you have Without a plan, we are completely lost. Having a solid strategy in place establishes our priorities. Having a plan makes the decision-making process so much easier. If all we have to do is ask ourselves, “Does […]
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