“When we all think alike, we don’t think very much.” Albert Einstein Countless studies in Social Psychology demonstrate the influence of groups on the decisions we as human beings make. It is virtually impossible for a decision made as a group to be in alignment with the potential decisions each individual within the group would have made independently. In The Little Book of Behavioral Investing, expert James Montier explains: “Groups have powerful self-reinforcing mechanisms at work. […]
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Our oft-told money stories
Money isn’t real. It’s just an agreed-upon system of exchange. Have you ever heard that? This is the realisation that many reach when feeling frustrated with tax systems, witnessing social injustice or experiencing the unfairness of life. While money and currency systems may not be real, they represent value and help us form and communicate meaning. Money is interwoven with our stories of life and meaning. “We tell ourselves a story about how we got that […]
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Becoming an impartial investor
“Wall Street has a few prudent principles; the trouble is that they are always forgotten when they are most needed.” – Benjamin Graham The study of behavioural finance, a sub-field of behavioural economics, arose in the 1980s. Since then, we have been learning more and more about how our emotions, biases, and blindspots affect our money-making choices and can hinder our investing outcomes. This is contrary to traditional financial theories, which failed to take human behaviour […]
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Win back your weekend
“Where did our weekend go?” Have you ever found yourself asking this question on a Sunday night or a few minutes after hitting snooze for the third time on a Monday morning? If you do – you’re not alone! Studies show that many people struggle with Weekend Anxiety Syndrome (WAS) or the Sunday Scaries… there are a couple of reasons that can contribute to our stress and anxiety over weekends, and these are generally linked to […]
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Why do you make money?
“We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” – Walt Disney With a robust wealth strategy, you will see your money grow and become an asset that will allow you to achieve more over time. It’s easy to look at the people that the world holds up as successful and see the people they have become today and ignore where they started. Walt Disney is a great example and is […]
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Protecting your income for a better outcome
A few short decades ago, we lived in a world that seemed to have far more security and certainty. The rate of change was slower, and many assumed that if you stuck to the system, the system would look after you. Social security, income security and good health were taken for granted in developed countries. The chance of losing one or all of the above didn’t feature too highly in financial plans. As you’re reading this, […]
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It begins with managing expectations
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” – Jim Carrey Managing money doesn’t begin with how much money we have or earn, it starts with managing our expectations. The important thing to look at is how realistic our expectations are and what motivates us to this end. Regarding Jim Carrey’s above quote, if we aspire towards something merely for […]
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Plan to fail
It doesn’t make sense, but we need to have a plan for when things go wrong. People love to say that Benjamin Franklin once said that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. It’s not a bad quote, but as the world experiences some of the most significant disruptions in recent history, we know it’s only part of the picture. This means: we need to plan to fail. Or rather, we need to […]
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Offshore shouldn’t be off-putting
“… your money deserves to go places,” Ninety One (dual-listed on both the South African and London Stock Exchanges). Many people who choose to stay in a country feel a sense of pride and patriotism for their local residence. Whether it’s a native birth-right or an adopted sense of nationalism, buying, supporting and investing local is an important priority. So much so that the thought of moving money offshore can be off-putting. But when it comes […]
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Make connections; make money
“If you make meaning, you’ll make money.” – Guy Kawasaki Let’s take this a step further and look at how we can make meaningful connections to increase profitability. Networking is an important marketing tool for building a business and creating opportunities. The definition of networking by Merriam-Webster is: “the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions – specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.” In order to cultivate a productive […]
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