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Canva.comThis Rand report is brought to you by Sable InternationalThis was largely due to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) signalling that interest rates could remain at 6.5% until late next year, after keeping rates unchanged in November’s rate decision.The country’s state-owned South African Airways (SAA) agreed on a 5.9% wage agreement which put an end to the eight-day strike by SAA employees.In terms of local data this week, there are just a few lower tier reports out of South Africa. The fourth quarter business confidence will get things going on Wednesday. Expectations are that we will see a seven-index point…

PixabayOpposites often attract – so it’s well worth sitting down with your future Mr or Mrs and figuring out just how similar or different your money styles are. To help get the conversation going, here are four important finance- and investment-related questions you’ll need to ask before getting hitched.Should we do it together, or stay separate?First, get down to brass tacks. Every union has an aspect of ‘yours, mine, ours’ to it… and that will certainly apply to your money. Establish how much income each of you will bring into the relationship – and discuss debt as well. You don’t want…

PixabayThis report is brought to you by Sable InternationalThe rand consolidated within the R19.05 and R19.04 to the pound range. The immediate impact of last week’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) statement started wearing off on Tuesday.The South African Reserve Bank last Wednesday released the business confidence data, which surprisingly rose for the first time since 2018. The rand consequently displayed some upward momentum for most of the day, breaking the R18.91 against the pound mark before retracing back to R18.98 on the day.Some volatility was noted at the end of Wednesday with the rand opening at R19.09/ to the Pound on…

Photo: Adobe Stock President Cyril Ramaphosa has suffered another blow in his bid to get the economy on track. Despite an improved performance in Q2, the past three months have not been kind to the economy, with GDP contracting by 0.6% and the mining industry taking the biggest hit of the lot.South Africa’s economy contracted by 0,6% in Q3:2019.#StatsSA #GDP pic.twitter.com/NLQkMnJtGL— Stats SA (@StatsSA) December 3, 2019 Ramaphosa’s food for thought: GDP for SA in 2019Previously, Stats SA had revealed that the GDP, in Q1:2019, had dropped by 3.1% and stood at R1.20-trillion, after a sluggish start to the year.…

Photo: PexelsTo chase and reach your personal wealth goals in 2020, you’ll need to invest in your financial literacy. Get a head-start for 2020 by reading one of these books before year-end.You’re Not Broke, You’re Pre-Rich by Mapalo MakhuDriven by a strong passion help professionals and entrepreneurs bring their financial dreams to reality, Makhu has been working as a personal finance coach for several years.She is the founder of financial consulting firm Women & Finance and also blogged about money management tips. It’s this ability to make money conversational that makes her debut book noteworthy.Even though she has a BCom…

AdobeStats SA’s announcement on Tuesday of a 0.6% contraction in GDP in the third quarter of 2019 has confounded most economic experts, who had predicted a much smaller decline in economic activity, and perhaps even a small rise.It is also a notable reversal of the 3.2% GDP growth experienced in the second quarter.The key reason was the low levels of business confidence, the London-based Financial Times reported. It said this resulted from increasing government debt, failure to reform struggling state-owned entities such as Eskom and SAA, and infighting within the ruling ANC. Annual GDP growth under 1%The FT predicted a growth…

Canva.comIf you were fortunate enough to receive a bonus in 2019, you may be wondering how best to use your new-found cash injection. But with so many options (and distractions) vying for your attention, it can be difficult to know exactly what to do. So to help you out, we’ve put together a list of five pointers to help you navigate your way to spending your bonus in a smart and effective way.1. Don’t give in to temptationThe temptation to splurge on that fancy new mountain bike or latest cell phone you so desperately want (but don’t really need) becomes…

Image: Pixabay/stevepbSouth Africa’s banking sector looks set for further upheaval in 2020 following the announcement on Friday by TymeBank, which focuses on digital banking, that it already has a client base of one million people and expects to add a further million by the end of 2020. TymeBank’s parent company, African Rainbow Capital, claimed in its quarterly investment update that this growth rate makes it “one of the fastest-growing digital banks at this stage of its life cycle, when measured against the leading digital banks across the world”. It has a lower-income customer base, plus an older-than anticipated client demographic. African Rainbow…

Photo: Adobe StockAt a briefing on Monday afternoon, Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu told the parliamentary press corps that austerity measures had been implemented for members of cabinet, in the interest of fiscal prudence.Have a look at new ‘austerity measures’ for cabinet The cost of official vehicles will in future be capped at R700 000, inclusive of VAT, maintenance plans and security extras.Ministers and their spouses travelling by air transport must travel in economy class for all officiaal domestic travel as well as for international travel where the travel time is less than two hours.The state will in future…

PixabayYou are growing out of your start-up boots, staff numbers are rising, the client base is expanding, revenue is increasing and the business has established itself in the market. The signs are there that the company is ready to scale up. New challenges started to rise which means that the demands in terms of mindsets and actions are different. In a world littered with small business failures, it helps to be well-prepared for scaling up using a proven methodology. We started to notice a pattern when entrepreneurs reach this stage in their business and therefore can share a few factors that leads to…