December 2012
Editorial
Everywhere we see Christmas approaching. Some are excited whilst others are concerned. Some look forward to the presents they are going to receive. Some dads and moms are worried however. How are they going to get their children something to eat this Christmas?
I trust that all of you will be bless and that you will enjoy the season ahead of you. Enjoy the time with your family because it is precious. Life is sometimes short but life is also long.
Life is short when some-one is taken form us and we just wanted to do or say something to them. We dearly miss them.
Life is long when you have no-one to share it with. My prayers are that this festive season might bring you peace and good times with your family.
It is important that we regularly have a look at our finances. We need to do a regular need analysis to enable you to manage your financial wellness plan. Families, who plan together, will stay together when tragedy strikes. I have seen so many people this year who need financial assistance after a major setback or tragedy, because they did not plan ahead. They kept on postponing until it was too late. Now there families are struggling to stay abreast.
On the other hand, I had some clients who were prepared and were thankful that they listened and stuck to their plan despite the difficulty, because when the unexpected happen, they were prepared and there family were looked after.
I recently saw people negatively affected, including the most vulnerable in our society, the children, because a major donor to these projects passed away. Now these children must find another save haven or go without food.
Let us pray for those in need and let us take the initiative to make a difference.
May God bless you richly and give you wisdom.
Wynand Louw
Who do I trust?
This is one of the questions that I am often asked by clients. It is not an easy one to answer but a very important one though.
I always answer them as follow:
1. Ensure that your advisor is registered with the Financial Services Board (FSB). You can go to the FSB website and search for the advisor to ensure that they are registered and that no investigation or complaints was made against them.
2. Builds up a trust relationship with your financial advisor. Any relationship takes time to build.
3. Most advisors will belong to a professional industry body like the Financial Planning Institute (FPI); Insurance Institute of SA (IISA); Financial Intermediaries Association (FIA) to mention but a few.
4. Ask for references from satisfied customers.
5. All advisors have to supply you with a Statutory Notice of registration. This document should contain all the information of the Company the advisors work for, contact details, License categories, Products that the advisors is allowed to sell as well as the contact information for the different Ombudsman's that is available should you require to make a complaint.
Next month I will elaborate more on this document and what to look out for.
Medical Scheme Option Changes
All Medical Schemes have options changes this time of the year. If you want to change the option of your medical scheme, you have to hurry up and do it before next week otherwise you have to wait until next year this time.
Option changes are only aloud once a year.