How do we streamline financial management at municipal level so that we address the problem of qualified audits? We simple answer is to provide chartered accountants to serve these municipalities – to grow one’s own timber so to speak. By Yuven Gounden When the then KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Finance, Ina Cronjé, entered into a partnership…
Self-awareness plays a key role if you want to advance your career and in terms of what you want to achieve in life, says Nickolette Assy Self-awareness is about knowing who you are: becoming clear about what you are good at; understanding what you can do and what you need to work at; and what…
This article is the fifth in a series of six that explore common mistakes that can negatively impact on one’s personal financial situation. MISTAKE NUMBER 5: NOT HAVING INCOME PROTECTION COVER One of the common misperceptions among professionals about insurance cover is that a comprehensive medical scheme will be enough to meet their needs should…
A 2013 study by the University of Oxford predicts that there is a 94% chance that accountants and auditors will no longer be needed less than 20 years from now … With the change in economics, more profit is needed in less time. To allow for this, productivity has to reach unparalleled levels. Unfortunately you…
It seems the typical South African unit trust investor, like Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day, is condemned to underperform the market year after year. According to DALBAR 2014, in general, investors make money when the ‘guess right ratio’ exceeds 50%. Following on last month’s overview of the 2014 DALBAR’s Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior…
Living and working in the centre of the raging Cape fires in March was like being inside a Laphroaig whisky bottle on an airfield in a war zone; the air was thick, smoky and peaty, and there was the constant roar of choppers overhead as they collected water from community pools to try to douse…
I know I opened a can of worms last month when I said ‘Banting’, so I might as well address a behavioural bias that is well affiliated: confirmation bias. We’ve touched on it before, but time to unpack. It refers to one’s tendency to seek evidence confirming an already held opinion whilst avoiding anything which…
Regardless of whether you are speaking to inform, persuade, sell, or motivate, your primary objective as a speaker is to instil change. Consequently you need to focus more on changing the mindset of your audience rather than providing them with a skill set. Listed below are six factors that you should address in your talk.…
Nelson Mandela once said, ’What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.’ This observation led me to contemplate what kind of leader I am, above and beyond the…
Life abounds with opportunities that generally light up when we least expect it. For Ryno Viljoen, CEO and founder of cashkows.com, the light bulb moment came at a tax seminar as part of CPD requirements. Lynn Grala spoke to him At school, in a career guidance class, a brochure with a man dressed in a…