In this podcast Maya speaks to Louis van der Merwe about the biggest transition – death. Whether it is the death of a loved one or contemplating our own mortality, death is a part of life. Maya and Louis discuss how to manage both the fears and practical side of mortality. How to have these conversations with family, how to manage an unexpected death of a loved one or steps to take when you or a loved one is diagnosed with a terminal illness. The conversation covers various aspects from dealing with the estate to what happens to your social media accounts. 

The covid pandemic saw many people reflect on their lives. Not only did we stand still for a moment to take stock, but it opened new possibilities, especially with remote working. As result some people made major lifestyle changes. In the second part of a series of conversations around life transitions, Maya (@mayaonmoney) speaks to financial planner Louis van der Merwe of WealthUp on how to approach significant changes to your lifestyle. Even when it’s a choice, transitions can be traumatic. It is important to be prepared and to understand the emotional process you will be undergoing.

Is this really what you want, or is it a short-term reaction to current circumstances? How do you manage your finances in this transition? Is your partner and your family on board? All choices and decisions have pros and cons.

As part of a series of conversations around life transitions, Maya speaks to financial planner Louis van der Merwe of WealthUp about how adult children can support their ageing parents.  Whether you are the adult child of an elderly parent, or even if you are getting older and  starting to think about your future, we need to plan for the reality that as we get older, we become less able. Decisions need to be made about how we want to live this part of our lives. Louis discusses how to have the difficult conversations, how to ensure the person you are supporting retains their sense of agency and independence, as well as the more practical issues around money management and protecting yourself or loved one from financial abuse.

Good financial advice is worth paying for. But do we know how much it is really costing and how do we know we are getting good advice? For years advice was wrapped up into sales commission creating the impression of “free advice” along with a general distrust in the process. The industry is changing with the separation of sales and advice fees. 

In this podcast Maya speaks to Rory Brachner founder of DoshGuide.co and financial planner Marc Sydow about a further evolution where financial planners no longer charge for assets under management, but are paid for work actually done.

DoshGuide a platform that connects investors with fee based financial planners. 

It is a whole new world and with the flexibility around the working environment, many people are looking at either moving or upgrading their spaces. 

How do you decide on the right property for your family? If you want to expand your space, how do you finance a renovation and what about the danger of over-capitalization? If you are renovating to sell, what should you be spending your money on? 

In this podcast Maya speaks to Andrea Tucker, director home loan originator MortgageMe about the pros and cons of building, renovating or buying. 

Stokvels are a truly African solution helping people manage their cashflow and achieve their goals, but are we doing enough to harness the power of group savings? Could stokvels be used to build wealth, fund children’s education and even leave an asset to provide intergenerational wealth?

In this podcast Maya speaks to Busi Skenjana about how stokvels can leverage their true power.

Skenjana has been running BSK Marketing for 25 years, focusing on stokvels throughout South Africa. She is also founder of the Stokvel Academy an education platform for the stokvel community.

Maya speaks to financial planner Terence Tobin of Rich Ideas about ways to cut your tax bill whilst growing your investments. They unpack the pros and cons of retirement annuities, how to use a Tax-Free Savings Account for tax planning in retirement and what products to stay clear of. 

Globally stock markets have been on a roller coaster ride, and those who thought crypto assets would offer a safer alternative, well they have been along for the same ride. There are many factors driving this volatility and these are going to be the main themes for 2022. To discuss what you should be doing with your investments, Maya is joined by Kunal Sawhney CEO of independent equity research firm Kalkine.

“It is not only a crowd funding platform, but a crowd value creation platform - an eco-system of partners rather than a conglomerate owning everything”

Farming is becoming an increasingly popular asset class. Crowd-funding for farming ticks many boxes as a “good” investment - providing market related returns, increasing food security, allowing for skills transfer and improving farming methods for better environmental outcomes. 

In previous podcasts Maya has spoken about cattle farming and in this interview, she speaks to Grant Field, CEO of Fedgroup about investing in bees, blueberries, macadamia nut trees and even lettuce.

Are you the victim of financial abuse or are you perhaps unwittingly the abuser? And how would you even know?

In this podcast we discuss a very sensitive topic - financial abuse and how money is often used to control people in relationships. In this podcast Maya speaks to financial planner and founder of Foundation Family Wealth Sunel Veldtman who writes that “the definition of financial abuse includes controlling how all the money is spent, not allowing the victim access to bank accounts, withholding money, giving an ‘allowance’, or not including the victim in banking or investment decisions”. Sunel says that while the term abuse sounds harsh, money in these relationships is typically used to control a partner, to the extent that it is detrimental to them; it is not used to convey love.