The true cost of a dollar, Rand or pound (or whatever you’re earning in) is not just what you earn. It’s what you give up to earn it. On paper, your salary might seem straightforward. $75,000 a year. £5,000 a month. R250 an hour. But those figures don’t tell the full story. What if the number you think you earn is hiding the real cost of how you earn it? This is the idea behind a […]
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When there is no hurry
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” — A.A. Milne It’s all too easy to find ourselves wrapped up in a lifestyle centred around urgency, always looking for quick wins, instant gratification, same-day delivery etc. In this space, patience can feel like an old-fashioned virtue. But when it comes to building a life of meaning and financial resilience, patience is not just a virtue. It is power. One of the […]
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An overlooked planning tool?
Meaning starts with hope, and hope begins with action. Many of the challenges we face today, such as financial stress, burnout, and indecision, don’t just come from a lack of time or money. They can very often stem from something deeper: a subtle loss of meaning. We don’t intend to lose meaning in what we’re doing and who we are; life simply happens, and if we’re not aware, our meaning evaporates. And meaning doesn’t magically appear. […]
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Dream big, plan better, live fully
Financial freedom quickly become reduced to a number, a target income, a certain lifestyle, or a retirement account that signals “you’ve made it.” But in reality, it’s more nuanced than that. It’s not just about what you have, it’s about how you feel. It’s about the sense of control, clarity, and calm that comes from knowing your money is working for you, not the other way around. Step 1: Dream big Financial freedom begins with imagination. […]
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Feelings aren’t failures
“The goal is not to be emotionless. The goal is to be emotionally aware.” — Brené Brown If you’ve ever felt the urge to “keep a level head” or “leave emotions out of it” when making a financial decision… you’re not alone. The financial world has long prized rationality above all else, casting emotion as the enemy of good investing. But the truth is: your emotions are not the problem. In fact, they might be part […]
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When your body says no
(Inspired by Gabor Mate’s book: When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress) Learning to listen to your intuition in money matters, matters. Have you ever agreed to something that felt wrong in your gut, only to regret it later? Maybe it was spending more than you intended, investing in something you didn’t quite understand, or lending money you didn’t really have. The head said yes, the mouth followed, but the body whispered no. […]
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Guided or manipulated?
Good advice has always been about helping people make wise choices. But in the age of behavioural finance, there’s a new layer to consider: how we help people make those choices. Enter the concept of “nudging.” A nudge is a subtle prompt designed to steer someone toward a better decision, without removing their freedom to choose. It might be as simple as asking, “Would you like to set up an automated savings plan while we’re here?” […]
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Building wealth that lasts
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin Life is rarely a straight line. It’s a terrain of peaks and valleys; exhilarating highs, humbling lows, and more than a few unexpected detours. Wealth, like life, follows the same unpredictable rhythm. At WellsFaber, we believe that true success is not about avoiding the dips; it’s about developing the resilience to walk […]
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Engaging with your financial plan
Financial planning, like therapy or coaching, isn’t just about solving a problem. It’s about holding a safe space where real change can happen. That space might be a spreadsheet, a conversation, or a long-term plan, but for the work to go deep and stick, it must feel grounded, steady, and secure. As clinical psychologist Jonathan Shedler once said, “The paradox of psychotherapy is that the more secure the boundaries, the more freedom there is within them, […]
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A life well lived
“Money is not the goal. Time is not the goal. The goal is a life well lived.” — Brian Portnoy, The Geometry of Wealth Most of us believe we’re working toward freedom. But whose version of freedom? Too often, financial planning becomes a pursuit of “more” — more growth, more options, more accumulation — without a clear understanding of why. What are you building toward? And how will you know when you’ve arrived? In The Geometry […]
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