“Oh, the shock and horror”, laments the social media darling to her gasping social media audience. “If you die without a Will, the big-bad-wolf Government will take all you have, including your children”. Hurry to the business I am promoting so selflessly to you and save your wealth and save your children.”
Countless articles have been written, videos made, lectures and talks given on succession, succession in the context of estate planning, Wills, and the administration of deceased estates, but many people still do not know what they need to plan for.
For many people, love, laughter and happily ever after can exist without the big white dress and the church bells ringing. In fact, for many modern couples, living together as man and wife no longer requires a formal marriage being entered.
A perceived honest commitment to pursue fairness plays a massive role in the acceptance of the outcome. Even unpopular decisions would survive a fairness test when there was an intellectually honest commitment to fairness.
Circular 2/2020 published on the 27th of February 2020 by the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank, caused a ripple of excitement for those of us who have been working under the confines of Exchange Control for our entire professional lives.
South Africans have had a love-hate relationship with Trusts for the longest time. We love the protection it provides against the wrath of a spouse, the greed of SARS and the persecution of creditors. But we hate the costs and admin associated with it, the loss of control and erosion of the tax benefits we enjoyed in the recent past.
Financial advisors mostly take the lead on the client engagement in the financial services industry and are therefore at the very forefront of the client experience. They determine whether a client is experiencing a single-minded sale or an emotionally intelligent service.
Bungy jumping is fun and scary at the same time. Some people would simply ignore any notion of risk and just go for it. Then you have those who will ponder the idea and watch the others do it…
Oh my word, I need to write an article on the theory of the financial planning process and describe a step by step process to achieve financial nirvana.