It's very difficult to control your emotions when it comes to your money, but being aware of it might stop you from making bad decisions.

In this first part episode of our Behavioural Finance mini-series we discuss the 2 most dominant emotions in Investing: Fear and Greed. The markets move in cycles, it goes up and it goes down and we will all have to face the emotions of fear and greed at the various stages.

It's impossible to ignore these emotions, but being aware of them and using them to your advantage, can allow you to take advantage of the behavior of the crowd.

The markets are down, people are fearful, what will you do?

In this episode, we briefly look at how the Corona-virus is impacting markets globally and what we as investors should do.

This episode also leads us into our next 4 Part mini-series around Investor behavior and what we need to focus on.

Before we reach our final destination, we have to make sure that all the previous steps are working together and in unison towards achieving our financial goal.

In this step, we discuss how to incorporate Tax consulting, Estate planning and setting up your Will as part of your financial plan.

We also explain the importance of starting the process all over again- at least annually to ensure you regularly review and adapt your plan to your circumstances.

In the previous episode we made sure that our Wealth is protected should an unfortunate event occur. Now we can start our journey to aggressively build our wealth and increase our Net worth.

In this episode we discuss the different investment 'vehicles' :

-Retirement annuity,

-Endowments

-Flexible Investment &

-Tax-Free savings

We explain what they should be used for, how they should be implemented, what people might misunderstand as well as the pros and cons of each of these different structures.

Most people see it as a grudge purchase: To pay money towards a policy that will only pay out if something bad happens to you, it is not a topic most people are excited to discuss.

On top of that, it is often sold by greedy insurance salesmen who bombard you with jargon and 'what if' scenarios and scare tactics.

Medical aid, Insurance, Life Cover, Income Protection, Disability, Critical illness cover, etc..

In this episode, we discuss where these products fit in on our journey to financial freedom. We also discuss how they work, the difference between the insurance companies and how financial advisors get paid for selling these products.

We explain that they are very important, but that it only plays a small part in a comprehensive financial plan and should not be the plan itself.

For any questions or comments, reach out to us at [email protected]

Now that we have established where we are and where we want to go, we need the fuel, the money to get us there.

In step number 3 we look at creating a personalized Budget in order to organize our cashflow and work toward building our Nett worth.

We often have a very negative connotation when it comes to budgeting as it involves long term thinking and short term sacrifice. However, if we keep steps nr 1 and 2 in mind, we will see the bigger picture and see a budget as the means and not the end.

We also explain the 50/20/30 principle and how you can use it as a guideline when you create your budget.

Let us know if you have questions or comments by emailing us at [email protected]

In Step nr. 1 we discovered where we currently are by calculating our Net worth.

Now we want to know where we are going, what's our destination, our end game and we do this by "Setting Financial Goals" for ourselves.

Differentiate between short, medium and long term goals.

Be clear, realistic, write it down and have someone you trust to keep you accountable.

In this episode, we take the first step on our journey on becoming financially independent with our program the "6 Steps of a Financial Plan"

Before you start any journey, you have to know where you currently are.

In financial terms, you do this by calculating your Net Worth. You do this by simply taking your assets and subtracting your liabilities.

Take some alone time or discuss this with your life partner and write it down. Don't over-complicate it and don't worry if it is very low or even negative. The point is that you need to know where you are before you can move forward.

Any questions or comments? Let us know

In our very first episode, we explain why we started the F word and what we want to achieve with this Podcast.

We speak about life growing up in our parents' home, our educational background, practical experience as well as our journey to where we are now, as Wealth managers and business owners.

At the end, we also discuss the much-debated myth of having to be 'Born with a Passion' and how one can rather develop your interest and become passionate in your chosen field.