Expecting a large amount of money for months on end can only make you crazy. I’ve never been paid a bonus, so I’ve never had to endure months of spending and re-spending the same amount of money. Just thinking about it makes me antsy. Nothing sane can come of it.

This week, we talk about the dangers of spending money before you receive it. If you’re trapped in a debt-to-bonus loop, you want to listen to this episode.

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Win of the week: Denzil, who went to work on his financial situation.

Since we last chatted, my RA has been moved. I've opened TFSAs for both my kids and opened a TFSA for the wife. Can I contribute the full R33k per year into my wife’s TFSA on her behalf with no tax Implications? I assume I can as spousal contributions are exempt from tax implications, right?

My wife is a housewife and has no RA. She is 32 and I’d like to get this going for her.

However, I’d like to know if we can use this as a tax benefit on my side, or on her side even though she doesn’t earn an income?

She might start working part-time next year, so she will have some income. If she doesn’t have an income, how can we structure this to get the best tax benefit possible?

Sabrina

I am 32 with no pension fund, so where can I invest?

How much should I invest to retire comfortably?

What fund can give great returns?

WC wants us to discuss bonds.

Can you discuss bonds and bond ETFs? Although I have relatively ok knowledge on shares I am a total novice on bonds.

With the inverse correlation between price and yields, when is a good time to buy an ETF like BND? This is purely for diversifying my investments.

Bosman isn’t sure where his interest goes in the time it takes for transactions to clear.

I have an account with Standard Bank OST and transfer a chunk of my salary from my Capitec account every month.

From the time I make the payment from the Capitec account to the time the money appears in OST, who earns interest on that cash?

Also, if I do an instant payment with Capitec at say 13h00, do I earn interest for a part of the day from Capitec and then the rest of the day from OST?

Jan recently sold a rental property that earned him a nice chunk of rental income every month. He’d like the profits he made to cover his monthly expenses.

I used the money to pay for some monthly expenses. What is the best way to invest the capital to give me an income to pay for the ongoing expenses? And perhaps some growth? I sold the property for R1,5m and I can invest R1.4m. I have monthly expenses of R10,000 to cover.

Douglas wants to know where to grow money for other people.

We’ve been putting aside money for our house managers each month for a few years. We had intended putting the money into Satrix each month, but because of FICA and administrative issues we put the money in a savings account.

We have lump sums of about R7500 and R12500. I want to put these into investments that will pay out on their 60th birthdays - between 6 and 12 years from now. Where could I invest this money that will provide a secure return that won’t eliminate half the capital in commissions?

I’m sure there are parents saving for their kids, or other folk like us, who have the same problem.

Pat wants to know how to invest tax-free.

I hear you guys talking about ETFs, EasyEquities and tax free savings accounts.

I know I need to put R33,000 every year into a tax-free savings account, but I'm stuck on the next step. So I open a TFSA and then what's the next step?

I must open an EasyEquities account? I'm confused on how all that works. Mainly just the next step after opening a TFSA.

Garth wants to know if Simon is financially free.

Simon knows a lot of random things about finance and has been in the game almost as long as I have been alive. I keep on hearing him talk about buying shares when they were tiny, now have grown 300 and more %.

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