If our feelings could talk

Epictetus, the Greek Stoic philosopher, was the first to say it. “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” But listening is not always about what we hear; it’s what we can begin to intuit. When it comes to our feelings, we have to learn […]

Me, myself and Ikigai

From the stoics to the sentimentalists, most have one question in common: What is the meaning of it all? Searching for purpose and meaning helps us come up with a reason for living. As Aristotle always said, our ability to reason is what makes us different to other animals. This sits at the core of […]

Avoid these investment decisions

Do you know what’s going to happen in the markets tomorrow? Neither do we! All we know is that the markets are an opportunity to invest our money in helping the economy grow, and watching our money grow with it. That’s a really simplistic view, but it helps us extract our emotional reactions from the […]

Don’t sabotage your future self

Bad market performance, government lockdowns, global epidemics and loadshedding aren’t what threaten our investing and financial behaviour. Our biggest threat is ourselves. Studies have shown that people improve substantially in financial and investment decisions as they get older. When we are young — and perhaps less secure in our financial situation — we have a […]

Fight the fear

When life doesn’t go according to plan, our first response will often be one of fear. Unfortunately, life generally never goes according to plan – so we encounter fear a lot! Since fear cannot be avoided, we need to develop tools to cope with it so that we can allow it a constructive space in […]

Make your life easier – Part 3

Don’t avoid digital help. Whilst there are many dystopian stories about how robots will take over the world, those projected realities are highly unlikely to ever manifest. AI, big data and cloud storage can be our friend in making our life easier – which is what technology was always intended for! Granted, we can easily […]

Make your life easier – Part 2

Every time we say ‘YES’ to something new, it seems to just make our life more complicated down the line; more events to attend, increased responsibilities and less time to relax and do what we really want to do. Finding just the right amount of order in your life is one of the secrets to […]

Make your life easier – Part 1

Every day our lives get a little more complicated. That’s the reality of the world that we’re currently living in. It’s not easy to keep order in your life – even if you’re one of the few who excel in keeping things in line! Finding just the right amount of order in your life is […]

Coffee, makes you think

After owing its name to the mindful Fransciscan monks, the Capuchin friars, many of us overlook our daily cappuccino (or other frothy delight) and how much we spend on these little luxuries in life. One of the best ways to add meaning to our money is to be mindful about how we spend it, and […]

The RA-minder

For many, the way in which we save and invest is not a daily conversation, so it’s easy to forget what we have in place AND WHY we have it in place. Here’s a quick reminder! An RA… or Retirement Annuity is one such product that can often confuse many. RAs have been around for […]