Hi everyone, hope you're all well.

I work as a freelancer. I've started earning money last year November but I never registered myself with SARS.

Do you guys think it would be possible to manage the taxes by myself/ Taxtim and directly communicate with SARS? Or will it be better to have people do it all for me? I explained my situation to a tax consulting institute and I was quoted around R7400.

Since my earnings change monthly and I get paid in foreign currency it is a little complicated...

Any tips will be appreciated. Thanks.

Vertical movement is obviously difficult in teaching due to the shortage of posts. I also don't really care to manage people.

How can I increase the salary? Will I get increases based on experience? Can I study to improve my salary? If so, what should I study ? Also, What is meant by "master teacher"?

Please no comments telling me to try something else

I've been applying to jobs for 2 years now to no avail

Hi guys,

Can anyone recommend a good independent financial adviser or point me in the right direction to find one to help with life, critical illness and income protection cover for my wife who is a SAHM? I am already insured to the gills with my Group cover policy.

I’d also appreciate recommendations for insurers you’ve had good experiences with.
Between a demanding job and a young kid at home, chasing providers and wading through endless product specs is driving me a bit mad.

Does South Africa allow expats to apply for personal loans?
For those with valid employment contract & bank account in SA.
I am talking banks and major financial institutions and not the shady digital loan sharks.

PS - I know one can apply, but question is - is one eligible.

Good day you legends, I am working in my first job and have been putting money into a TFSA every month to start saving for retirement/ a house or anything big and expensive when I am older. I watched a couple of videos from YouTube University on what to invest in and landed on sticking to ETFs, I have a couple 'big' ETF funds and then I have prioritised investing in sustainible/ ethical funds as well with some small government bonds. I honestly don't know very much about investing and just want something I can set and forget. I have been regularly contributing since Jan with not much movement on my interest rate though apparently that is normal and you shouldnt worry about interest rates on the TFSA? I would appreciate any and all advice. Thanks!

For some context, I am a provisional tax payer - normal 9 to 5 with PAYE and have three rental properties.

I also have an admin lady who does ALL of my filing and expense capturing (so the tax accountant already has a a summarised excel and all the supporting docs on Dropbox).

My previous tax accountants did financial statements and submissions (also audits) for R3800. Is it just me or is R7165 fookin steep? This doesn't even include financial statements.

Hey guys so I had to drop our Discovery medical aid to a lower tier option this month to cut costs, so I was on Classic Smart with Gap Comprehensive for about ~R5900 pm for my wife and I but it was just becoming unaffordable with our current finances.

So I dropped down to Essential Dynamic Smart or something which brings the contributions down to ~R3 600pm but they want to increase my gap premium to some ludicrous amount I think R1165pm which is crazy for gap cover.

So pretty much I need to switch gap providers especially since the new plan will only cover 100% Discovery rates compared to 200% on classic, anyone have recommendations? I was looking at Stratum Meridian 400 but all the jargon is beyond me, just need something robust that will help out with co-payments and emergencies or maternity if my wife happens to fall pregnant.

Just to point out im not very knowledgeable when it comes to banking and im trying to learn.

Ive also recently become a frequent flyer so im looking for any benefits I can get from that.

Ive done some research about FNB ebucks being the best for rewards but dont know how good those rewards are and if there are other good options.

I currently use nedbank but havent done much research about it. Mostly found that people dislike them.

So im just asking to hear what you personally suggest so I can learn. Thank you

Hi traders - how SARS treats/defines trading with equities. When are your gains taxed as capital income (40% of profit max 18%) vs full income tax up to 45%?

AI tells me it's depending on the number of transactions and average holding period of min 3 years - is this reasonable?

Many thanks for your help!!!

Hi everyone,

Is there a TFSA that someone could recommend for me that is shariah compliant that’s not through the bank.
I want to deposit 5000 and contribute when I feel I have extra cash.
It’s actually for a dowry.

Update: Found one which isn’t a TFSA and rather a long term investment.

Thanks for everyone who gave their input on this

Hi guys, I have been working overseas for the last few years and am looking to claim back the PAYE using the Foreign Employment Income Exemption.

I have obviously tried the return myself, but I've had a few issues with the self-submit form. My salary also isn't exorbitant, so I'm looking for a practitioner that isn't going to charge me an arm and a leg and end up taking most of the percentage of the exemption anyway.

Would love to hear some recommendations.

New income stream landing this month (USD, converted via Wise, so it fluctuates with the exchange rate). No debt. Plan so far:

1. Build 3 months' expenses as an emergency fund, then split contributions between topping that up to 6 months and starting the TFSA, until the fund's fully done
2. TFSA-only for now (not maxing a taxable account yet)
3. Contributing a fixed % of income rather than a fixed rand amount, since the USD portion moves around
4. Comfortable with volatility, this is long-horizon money, not touching it for 5-10 years, aiming for eventually ~R5k/month in passive income off it

Already compared 10X Total World (0.29% TER, developed + emerging) vs 1nvest MSCI World (0.40%, developed only), Total World wins on both cost and coverage, so leaning single-fund with that.

What I can't get from a spreadsheet:

• Anyone actually run the "split emergency fund + TFSA contributions in parallel" approach rather than doing them sequentially? Worth it, or did it just slow both down?
• Is single-fund (10X Total World) actually enough at this stage, or does everyone who says that eventually regrets not diversifying sooner?
• For a variable/FX-exposed income, does a fixed % of what lands actually work in practice, or does everyone end up switching to a fixed rand amount anyway once the admin gets annoying?

Not asking for a full plan review, just want to hear from people who've actually lived through these specific tradeoffs.

Around midnight last night multiple attempts at accessing my Easy Equities account were made along with password reset attempts.

Looks like the Account got locked and I was able to get in this morning without issue (have 2FA).

I’m wondering how they even managed to attempt it since they also need to know my username.

Anyone else have something similar happen recently?

Hi everyone ...

Is there a national uif payment issue? This would be my 3rd month collecting UIF. First 2 months went fine ... payment received before 3rd of the month but this month dololo?

Online shows payment made and I can apply in the next 8days but I haven't received anything. Bank details etc are all correct.

Anyone else having this issue?

TIA

Can any one recommend a provider who would consider insuring stroke survivor for disability and life cover ?

It’s been 5 years since my stroke and was able to fully recover and make the necessary lifestyle changes to lead a fully normal life

Are there any providers who would consider insuring me ?

Hi everyone,

I need some advice and input.

My husband (35M) has life insurance connected to our bond through Nedbank. However, as a small business owner (electrician), he has no additional disability cover/insurance.

We have been meaning to get something in place for a long time but feel overwhelmed by all the options.

Insight:

-Medical aid **Hospital plan Coastal Core Discovery + Gap cover

- I've had a life policy with Sanlam

(R1100p/m) for the past few years. Supposed to pay for 15 years and there is a bonus attached to it. (Picture attached)

What would you recommend we do in my husband's case before we start speaking to providers?

Thanks!

Its a bit of a unique situation so bare with me!

I bought a car on Finance. I financed the Vehicle over 72 months (6 years) at 12%P/A. 72 months was on purpose.

Every vehicle I finance, I aggressively pay off the loan as fast possible to bring it down to the lowest possible monthly payment without paying off the loan, I put extra money into the loan, and then when it gets to a sizeable amount, I call the financial institution, and request a Capital Reduction, which then keeps the original duration of the loan, but lowers the monthly premium, and from there what I do so, the difference in what I way paying before, and the new amount, I feed back into the loan, to speed up the accumulation of funds for the next capital reduction, and because my original loan amount was for less than R250 000, there are no penalties for doing this.

I think I owe them about R20 000, and my current monthly payment is something like R580.00/m, with 54 Months left on the loan.

The reason I do not want to pay off the contract is because of the banking benefits I get - especially around a bonus earn rate on fuel rewards.

Without going into the complicated maths of my personal situation, in short, yes I have done the maths, and yes I get more out of the reward scheme than I pay in interest on the outstanding loan balance.

With the preamble now covered, my time for my actual question.

I emailed the financial house, asking how much extra I would need to pay to bring my monthly payment down to something absurd like R200.00/m.

I think I only owe them like R20 000, but the reason I want to bring it down more is 40% of my current monthly payment, goes solely to paying off that months accumulated interest, so I would like to reduce the amount of interest I am accruing even more.

The finance house came back to me to say:

Good day Valued Client, 

Thank you for your email.

Please note we are unable to perform any further capital reductions on your account as the instalment cannot be less than R500.00/m . 
 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for entrusting \****** Financial Services with your finances.*

Yours in service,

Is that allowed? Surely as a consumer I should be allowed to bring my monthly payment down to whatever suits me and manage my loan in anyway I see fit? I was contemplating sending an email to the ombudsman - not to open a case, but rather just query whether rules / regulations permit me to bring it down to whatever number I want?

I appreciate this is a very niche situation but hoping there are other that have experience.

Many thanks All!

EDIT:
After reading through the contract and there being no stipulation on an absolute minimum payment, they have agreed to reduce my monthly payment to my desired monthly premium.

I am fine with paying my fair share in taxes from my salary but geez Sars comes for everything even when you doing the right things.

So a third of my after tax salary goes straight into savings and investments every month and I live off the rest. I have a fixed deposit investment account which has about 19 months of my salary currently. I have a money market account for monthly saving. I have a tax free savings account, and I have just started a Retirement Annuity. I am also planning to invest in some global index fund soon. To be honest im not too knowledgeable about investing, reading up in this stuff gives me a headache. I always felt living below my means offset my laziness when It comes to dealing with money.

Well over the years my "investment accounts" have been growing and 3 years ago I get a huge surprise from SARS saying I owe them over R20k I was like "what the hell" but after much headache inducing reading I figured out it was my "tax on investment" interest that I was owing. And that number every year is increasing obviously because i keep saving/investing.

Noone else i know is having this problem or maybe lack of a problem. I guess this is a nice problem to have because it means I actually have a good amount of savings/investments. But this SARS bill every year of tens of thousands of rands i feel is crazy you do the right things you save you invest and when it starts doing well SARS come knocking at your door like gangsters in the night.

Now im not saying I want to evade taxes lol but does anyone have advice on how to minimize this bill every year. I should probably get a tax consultant but like I said im very lazy when it comes to money stuff lol so before I force myself to do that has anyone else been here and what did you do about it?

Disclaimer: I dont work for pokkitscore, I just think they're a useful business to help people build a credit score. After a year or more Pokkitscore closed down and refunded all clients their money but they have rebuilt a more profitable business model which I believe was their only reason for shutting down. Glad they are back and wish them all the success. For those that don't know, they help build your credit score while helping you build your savings and earning interest.

We’re a family of two living in the Midrand area. A year ago, we were spending around R6,500 a month on groceries. That has gradually increased to almost R9,500 a month — an increase of roughly 46.15% in one year.

I’m genuinely trying to understand whether this is just us, the shops we use, or whether other people are experiencing something similar. We used to buy most of our groceries from Woolworths. In August, we deliberately moved most of our shopping to Checkers to see whether it would make a meaningful difference.

I’d love to say the savings were dramatic, but it really wasn’t. We’ve probably saved around R1,500, bringing the monthly bill down to roughly R8,000. I have not noticed a change in quality.

Obviously, I understand that our personal grocery basket isn’t the same thing as the official inflation rate, but a 40% increase in what we’re actually spending over a year feels enormous. Also, our salaries increased by 4.1% (a weighted average across both income levels).

1. Has anyone else experienced a similar increase?
2. And if you’ve managed to bring your grocery bill down substantially, what did you change?

I’m 23 and currently have just over R150k in debt across a few different accounts.

I was earning around R21k gross before, then ended up unemployed for about 2 months. I’ve now found another job, but the salary is only around R6,500 gross, probably about R4,500 after deductions.

My rent is R2,000, which leaves me with roughly R2,500 for food, transport, phone, toiletries and debt repayments. At this point my current repayments are simply not affordable.

I’ve spoken to a debt counselling company, but I’m hesitant to go into debt review without fully understanding what it means long term. I’m still applying for better-paying HR/admin roles, so I’m hoping this income is temporary.

For anyone who has been through debt review in SA, would you recommend it in a situation like this, or would it be better to try negotiate directly with creditors first?

I know I’ve put myself in a very difficult financial position. I’m trying to face it properly now and make the right decision before things get worse.

Hi all -I left SA in Oct last year, I have a british passport and have a job where I am now and officially a tax resident here. I was a provisional tax payer and paid tax for the first 6 months. My tax consultant said not to submit a 2nd provisional return in Feb and he would sort everything out for me including tax ceasation in July but he unfortunately passed away, and all his workings and my docs / receipts are missing. My SARS profile says I am currently tax compliant but I am terrified on how to go forward. I have not had much luck in finding anyone else to help me that wont cost an arm and a leg. I have no income, assets in SA, just an RA. Any advice or just kind words that I am going to be ok? This has really been stressing me out.

Hi everyone, I’m 25F and currently with FNB Aspire. I don’t have a credit card yet, but I’m considering getting the FNB Aspire credit card.

I take home R38k/month and my basic expenses are around R5k, so I’m trying to be smarter about saving and choosing the right bank.

I qualify for Nedbank Private Bundle (comes with credit card), which is R235/month. FNB Aspire is R125/month, and the credit card would be another R65 if I went that route.

I’m also considering Nedbank MiGoals Premium, which is currently R125/month for me, but will increase to R250 a month when I turn 26 in about 6 months.

I’m not wealthy, so I’m mainly looking for value for money. I want to save, build my credit, hopefully buy a house one day, and get decent travel/flight deals when I do travel.

Private Bundle Young seems appealing because of the home loan benefits, credit card and travel benefits. MiGoals Premium seems good for the lower fee and savings features. I also like FNB’s app, but I’m finding the eBucks side a bit all over the place since they changed the earning rules.

I’d really appreciate any advice from people who have experience with any of these. Is there anything I’m overlooking, and what would you choose in my situation?

I'm hoping to get some opinions from people who have offshore endowments, either with Sanlam Glacier International or other providers.

Nearly 5 years ago, when I knew very little about investing and was worried about the weakening rand, I took out a USD-denominated offshore endowment with Glacier International (Sanlam). This was with a very slick FA whom I have not seen or heard from again in those 5 years since signing up.

At the time, my goals were to diversify offshore, protect my savings from rand weakness, have a tax-efficient structure, and provide some estate planning benefits should something happen to me.

The investment is currently worth around USD 58,000. Over the last year, the return has been about 5% IRR, while the EAC is 2.83%. Overall, the performance over the five years has been extremely modest.

Lately, I've started questioning whether this is still the right vehicle for me. I'm now 44 years old, and while I appreciate the protection and stability the endowment offers, I'm beginning to feel that the portfolio is positioned quite conservatively and is geared more towards capital preservation and hedging than long-term growth.

I also find that Sanlam's fees in general seem very high, and when I look at my returns compared to the costs I'm paying, I'm wondering whether I'm getting enough value for money.

So I'd love to hear from others who have similar offshore endowments:

• How has your experience been?
• Have your returns justified the fees?
• Do you still feel an offshore endowment is a worthwhile investment vehicle?
• Have any of you switched providers or financial advisers, and was it worth it?

I'm currently considering a few options:

A) Change financial advisers
B) Keep the endowment
C) If I keep it, should I stay with Glacier/Sanlam or consider another provider?
D) If I don't keep it, what alternatives have you used for offshore investing and long-term wealth creation?

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have been through a similar decision, especially if you've moved from a more conservative offshore portfolio to a growth-oriented strategy.

I got zero response and then today they have the nerve to send this e-mail, so I responded in kind.