"A better mouse trap
exists. Go and find it."

This was my father's core belief that I grew up with.

Later I added my own core belief — “If you cannot find it, then design it.”

Throughout my entire career of more than 40 (…as long as the Jews spent in the wilderness before entering their promised land…) I was intrigued by ideas, with a futurist view of making the future better. Finding that a better mousetrap does indeed exist, even in my complex field of financial services.

Let us teach you these new and fresh solutions to reach a self-insured status/financial freedom. Fortunately, they do not take 40 years to implement but disciplined work is required of you to reach your new promised land. You can choose only to reach the first one-year reward or stay in for five to ten years. The longer you persist, the greater the reward will be!

Begin Your Journey Explore Solutions

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I could reduce one of these lines to a cost of R nil?”

Yes, you can. Read on.

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Section 01

House & Car Insurance

This is the area of easiest attack for reducing the cost to R-nil if purposefully implemented.

The failures we see in this sector are (as with others) mostly structural and circumstantial. Insurers are required to balance their expenditure with their income. The regulator helps us as consumers when they impose a reserve, of say 25%, to enable payment of future claims and promises. Cash back reward is such a cost and will thus be added into premiums — this means you pay for it…

Insurers must then charge enough premiums to make sure all this balances. They do not reserve for future increases as SARS do not incentivize this. But we can reserve in our personal capacity, as we do throughout our programs.

Year 1 — Rewire Your Thinking

We start in year one by rewiring your thinking with real insights and can save you between 20% and 30% on monthly House and Car Insurance premiums!

Years 2–9 — Accumulate & Grow

You are advised on how to accumulate these savings and when growth is clear, we progress to the next level in the program.

Year 10 — The Goal: R Nil Premium

When you reach fulfilment of the plan after 10 years, you may well be in a position where a drawdown from your accumulated reserves pays for the reduced balance of premium — effectively reducing your cost to nil.

Get a Solution Programme

Section 02

Life, Dread Disease & Disability Cover

There is no greater way to protect your wealth than comprehensive life cover. Dread disease, income protection, and life insurance work together to keep you and your family secure through any event.

The hidden risk: Cover increases at CPI (±6% per year), but premiums must increase at ±10% to cover insurer costs. Over time, premiums double every 7 years while your cover only doubles every 12 years.

If you are still in good health you can switch to a lesser Life Insurance premium, if somewhere between the 7th and 12th year.

Check Your Cover Now

My friend John was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His dread disease cover responded immediately with cash for procedural costs. His income protector paid his salary each month while he couldn't work. When he later passed, his life insurance cleared all his debts and left a portion for his partner.

John had to continue paying the increases as he had become ‘uninsurable’.

These increases cause premiums to double every 7 years while the cover will only double every 12 years.

7 yrs

Premiums double

12 yrs

Cover doubles

Section 03

Savings & Investments

Every spend model recommends that 20% of income go into savings. In South Africa, the average is less than 5%. Through our various programmes, we find ways to help you bridge that gap towards 20%.

Do not be blinded by impressive buildings and performances insurers claim. Test them regularly and demand real returns over prolonged periods.

About 5 years ago I tested the returns rendered by insurers on a client’s saving investments and found returns on three, varying from 3% down to -1%, all with the same big-name insurer. This will indicate that some clients were putting in more than the amount returned. Fortunately, they were invested in retirement annuities and would remain worthwhile if considered over net spending, after SARS tax relief of up to 40%. Remember, they do not work for you but their shareholders. Also, the ombud does not regulate on investment returns. We are on our own here…

20%

Target savings rate

<5%

SA average savings rate

40%

SARS tax relief on RA

Fortunately, investments are no longer restricted to insurers and banks only. I personally like investing in property, the actual brick and mortar type and not on stock market only and find that in spite the many headaches to overcome, the revenue returns are most pleasing. But it is not for everyone.

Other investments exist outside of stocks and shares and outside of the allure of crypto (which I personally do not like even if there is a role to play in restricted volumes).

Everything in life should be kept in balance and each investment vehicle has a role to play in your mix. Do not invest in one only and consider adding tax free savings to your portfolio — do not consider life insurers only (who often perform poorly), before comparing to bank solutions. Even if they may appear lower than the inflated promises of the others.

GET A BALANCED INVESTMENT SAVINGS PORTFOLIO

Section 04

Health Insurance & Medical Aid

This has become the most impactful expense in your budget, if you are of the 15% of South African population that can afford it. The other 85% of the population rely on the much-maligned public facilities.

It started from a lowly cost of 10% of your income and now often exceeds 30%. It will, within the next decade or two, consume all your income if it goes unchecked. Serious reviews and forward funding is required sooner than later.

All the promises of driving costs down have not come to fruition. In the last year alone, the increases were three times higher at over 10% than the CPI at 3.3%. If this continues, a 30-year-old will require 250% of their then income, just to pay for medical aid. Absolutely Impossible!

The past advice of “buy the best you can afford” is unnecessary and causes the massive bill you are paying currently.

If it is a new mousetrap that we require, it is here, more than in any other area of finance.

Buy for This Year Only

What you need to do is to “buy an option that will suit your needs for the next year”. The reason is because you can upgrade or downgrade each year based on your utilization. By doing this it is mostly possible to downgrade and pay less for your Health Insurance and Medical Aid.

Add a GAP Cover

By doing this it is mostly possible to downgrade and pay less for your Health Insurance and Medical Aid. Use some of the savings to buy a GAP cover and bank the rest for future increases, as they occur.

Find A Good Advisor

A good adviser will obtain your utilization stats for you and recommend any feasible changes that you can make. By using some of your banked savings, you may overcome short- and medium-term shortfalls, pay for co-payments and afford the GAP cover.

Blended Solutions

New opportunities combine medical aid with health insurance elements into a blended, less expensive solution — often at higher service and benefit levels. Adviser cost is already included in the premium.

Request an Advisor Referral

Section 05

Financial & Estate Planning

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

Whether you do your own or get a professional planner involved, you need to plan. This plan must include providing sufficiently to cater for family needs now, after death and after retirement. The level of adequacy is often defined by capital preservation when taking a 5% drawdown.

In plain English this means that you need to provide 20 times the amount of income required at each of these events.

When the total value of your assets and cover exceeds R3.5 million, estate planning becomes essential to cater for estate duties, taxes, and capital gains.

Consult a Qualified Financial Planner

Capital Preservation Rule

At a 5% annual drawdown, you need assets equal to 20× the annual income you require. Plan for this at every stage: now, after death, and at retirement.

Estate Duty Threshold — R3.5 Million

Once your combined asset value (including cover) exceeds this figure, you need additional provisions for duties, taxes, and capital gains tax. Incorporate investment plans to complete interim and long-term savings targets.

Wills & Trusts

Once plans are established, writing a will and establishing trusts becomes critical — to dispense assets and investments precisely according to your wishes. Do not delay this step.

Review My Will

Section 06

Budget, Debt & Wealth

Every government and large corporation is required to keep a budget to report on their results, recording all income and expenditure. This creates their value and progress.

Yet only one out of 20 private citizens keep a budget. It is this same 5% that become the most successful and wealthiest in each community, who can afford to retire one day.

The only way to create wealth starts with keeping a budget. This budget will deal with how you get rid of debts and create wealth. When asking Google “how to budget” they come up with a formula that advises the reader to spend 50% on needs, 30% on wants and 20% on savings. Without budget control, a single need can take up the entire 50%, and all other needs suffer…

In real life, if you do not know how much you can spend on each item, you listen and react to what others say. We react to their advice on how much is permitted from an affordability perspective: With a Home loan at 30%; car loan at 25% it adds up to 45% — this, without the insurance, levies, rates, balloon payments, fuel and maintenance costs that adds another 10% — Suddenly 55% of your budget is spent on just two items. From evidence, it is savings that will suffer first. When this happens, we need to stretch our budgets and mostly with no other option but to obtain relief through debt: personal loans, credit cards, revolving credit and overdrafts.

The Five Point Rule

Each of life's five important areas is awarded 20% of your budget. These percentages flex to fit your style, stage of life, and age — but always add up to 100%.

Roof Over Your Head

Home loan, levies, rates, insurance, maintenance — capped at 20%.

Travel & Transport

Car repayment, insurance, fuel, maintenance — your full mobility cost at 20%.

Sustaining the Household

Food, groceries, utilities, and all running costs — 20%.

Family

Education, health, clothing, recreation, and family commitments — 20%.

Savings

The non-negotiable 20% that creates wealth — never sacrificed for the other four.

Why Budgets Fail

Without budget control, home and car alone consume 55% or more of income once insurance, levies, fuel, and maintenance are included — leaving nothing for savings. We rebalance this to 20% each.

Getting Out of Debt

My Fair Share programmes supply templates and webinar or video guidance on how to correct your budget, get out of debt, and build wealth — all from the same budget from which it currently appears impossible.

Book a Complimentary Discussion

Section 07

Balanced Life

Life is more than just money. Here we pursue a journey to balance all sectors of life with finances, drawing on the wisdom of Solomon — widely acknowledged as the wisest person who ever lived.

These principles create longevity of life, better relationships, stronger bodies, healthy minds, generosity, and much more.

This will be a journey of discovery — and it will vary for each group in the various areas of life.

Book Your Space in the Next Group

My Life Wheel — balanced life across all areas

A balanced life wheel covers Career, Finances, Health, Family, Friends, Love, Self, Recreation, Contribution, and Spirituality — each area deserving intentional attention.

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"A better mouse trap exists. Go and find it."