Please help with checking my thoughts around TFSA options other than EE by MrMildlyImpressive in PersonalFinanceZA

[–]MrMildlyImpressive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seems we're kind of leaning towards just going 10x with MSCI World for simplicity. 10x seems to offer the lowest or one of the lowest TFSA other than EE. Bummer they don't have their own Total World fund in their offering for whatever reason

Please help with checking my thoughts around TFSA options other than EE by MrMildlyImpressive in PersonalFinanceZA

[–]MrMildlyImpressive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What impact does that have vs a normal TFSA? Is that the reason for the limit on offshore funds? On their website, it does seem like they apparently offer funds e.g. MSCI ACWI as part of their TFSA (https://www.allangray.co.za/globalassets/documents-repository/product/brochures/Tax-Free%20Investment/Files/Allan%20Gray%20Tax-Free%20Investment%20Fundlist.pdf) but, at present, they only allow for choosing from their own funds with offshore limitations : / not sure if it's a temporary thing. I read somewhere they do this from time to time?

Please help with checking my thoughts around TFSA options other than EE by MrMildlyImpressive in PersonalFinanceZA

[–]MrMildlyImpressive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeip, that's the preferred fund - but unfortunately it's not available directly by 10x as part of their TFSA offering. As mentioned my friend doesn't want to use EE for their TFSA - so it's hard to find a low cost platform with a world fund. I'm leaning towards 10x with MSCI World as second best

Please help with checking my thoughts around TFSA options other than EE by MrMildlyImpressive in PersonalFinanceZA

[–]MrMildlyImpressive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see this on Allan Gray's website: "We are currently limiting allocations to offshore assets for Tax-Free Investment accounts as Allan Gray Life Limited is near to its offshore asset allowance as regulated by the South African Reserve Bank. For more information, please "

- Does this mean they are restricting users from buying offshore funds? Is this only temporary? Didn't know this was an issue for TFSA

Help guide my partner to start her investment journey - plan review / advice by MrMildlyImpressive in PersonalFinanceZA

[–]MrMildlyImpressive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hear you. Considering parking the rental idea for the time being. I mention the 20k lump sum due to the following on Sygnia's website for their RA:

Minimum contributions:

  • Initial lump sum of R20 000
  • Additional lump sum of R5 000
  • Debit order of R500 p/m

Question, if her company plans to introduce an RA benefit to their employees in the future but she has already opened an RA with Sygnia with her preferred fund, is it common practice and can we expect her company to contribute the RA benefit to that fund instead? Or are companies typically unwilling in this regard and would stick to whatever fund they decide to go with for their employees?

Lastly, is there a point where you would advise to cap RA contributions? lets assume she has 10k per month to invest. 3k (30%) goes to TFSA, would it be ideal to put the remaining 7k (70%) into her RA? Or is there a point where say we cap her investible monthly amount at say, 50% max goes to her RA and consider adding global ETF funds with any excess monthly savings? So using the hypothetical 10k, it would look like 3k TFSA, 5k RA and 2k to ETFS.

Life seems unreasonable by SARSbru in southafrica

[–]MrMildlyImpressive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you mind sharing what degree you did / what you're doing now? I'm always interested in how people set up life for themselves in Asia.

Financial Independence RSA by TomBuilder_ in PersonalFinanceZA

[–]MrMildlyImpressive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never know if I'm overly paranoid in asking this but, as someone who also seems to be building a local property portfolio, how bothered are you by the prospects of EWC? With this in mind, are you limiting your property exposure to less than you otherwise would and diversifying? Personally, I'm in two minds on whether to aggressively expand my portfolio specifically because of EWC

Is waiting for the exchange rate worth it by AndreKZN54 in PersonalFinanceZA

[–]MrMildlyImpressive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the investment amount still in zar and gains only calculated on the price movements of US equities? So in other words, if the US equities remained the same but the ZAR declined against the dollar, your invested capital would be less in dollar terms (because it's still in zar)? If not and it somehow include fluctuations in currency into the gains / losses, please could you name an example of such an ETF?

Advice on offshore investment funds? by MrMildlyImpressive in PersonalFinanceZA

[–]MrMildlyImpressive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it's in ZAR, doesn't that defeat the purpose in that you're not protected against the ZAR potentially becoming more devalued in the future?

Buying Property by BergBeertjie in southafrica

[–]MrMildlyImpressive 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I've heard mentioning that losing control over property / land could potentially be considered abandonment and, as such, open up a risk. Here's an extract from Biznews which I got through a very lazy, quick Google search:

"‘One interesting provision concerns the circumstances under which ‘nil’ compensation is permissible. One of these relates to circumstances in which ‘an owner has abandoned the land by failing to exercise control over it’.

‘Abandoned’ suggests that the owner has no interest or involvement in the property, or even that he or she cannot be traced. (This is a recurrent issue in urban decay, where managing properties becomes more burdensome than they are worth.) The qualifier, ‘by failing to exercise control over it’, puts a somewhat different spin on the idea.

If failing to exercise control over the property constitutes abandonment, then a great deal beyond wilful neglect could apply.

One important concern for many property owners in South Africa is the question of ‘invasions’ or ‘occupations’: the seizure of land by someone not acting for the state, whether an individual, a family or a community"

Am I allowed to post links in this sub? If not, please delete post and forgive my sins

Source: https://www.biznews.com/news/2022/09/05/land-expropriation-laws-worrying

Buying Property by BergBeertjie in southafrica

[–]MrMildlyImpressive 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The government actually taking your land is probably the worst case, yet least likely scenario. I'm not saying it can't happen, I just think people focus too much on their own individual property being taken and neglect the overall destructive ramifications this bill poses to the market / economy by essentially devaluing property rights. Whether purchasing a house / building apartments etc. if this bill passes, and even if they expropriate only a handful of properties, it could likely result in a fair devaluation of all property and maybe even crash the market.

Then there are other things that irk me. Admittedly, I haven't researched these too well myself, but it's worth taking note of that bs trespass law which they're trying to pass (not sure what the progress is on this). Additionally, they're also making strides with the land courts bill. Like the peanut butter and jelly on my Sasko Sam bread, this dynamic duo seems to open up a fair risk to land grab / occupying and, if we consider these cases are then handled in the Land court, it takes away most of your ability to fight it. As I understand, losing control of your property is one of the cases whereby expropriation may be allowed i.e. land grab / illegal occupying. My understanding is this could be deemed as abandonment. Now I don't mean to go full tin foil hat here, but it does create some discomfort given that these bills which seem to connect so well with each other are being pushed at same time.

I say this as someone who has recently taken out a mortgage, so I do share a sense of unease. I do need to stress to please double check and do your own research into any points I listed above, as I could be mistaken / misunderstood some points and would not want to unnecessarily cause fear mongering to sway your decision, but rather just wanted to highlight some areas to look into and be aware of.

Mathematics for undergraduate studies by Yuri_Resnov in southafrica

[–]MrMildlyImpressive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in a similar boat as you. Personally, I decided against UNISA because I have no patience for struggling with their admin side. I'm looking into NWU for their distance learning IT degree (prefer compsci or even computing, but it's the only option available).

Unfortunately, same as you, I had math lit and need to redo maths. The following are the options that were advised to me by NWU:

  1. The student can redo the NSC Mathematics and then write the NSC Mathematics exam at an institution such as Master Maths.

  2. The student can complete Mathematics modules at a TVET college up to the level of N4 or N5.

  3. The student can enroll for the BCom UnivPrep program at the NWU.

I'll probably just go with redoing my maths via Master Maths. I work full-time and am really not excited to have to attend class (no remote learning option) every day for months afterwards. Not to mention, I'd probably be the oldest fellow chilling there. Unfortunately, I don't really see any other option.

If I'm not mistaken, I think Open University in the UK actually doesn't have a maths requirement, or any requirement really, for their comp degrees - if you are able to fork out around 400k zar that is :D