Step 4:

1. Situation based help:
   • Go back to the section we did on help available.
   • See what can work for you in your particular situation by having a look at the offerings.
   • Do not get hung up on political jargon. You cannot get any assistance if you do not even try.
   • Take action. Now!
   • Keep on writing in your gratitude journal
   • Stick to the contract that you have signed with yourselves earlier in this training.
      
2. Retirement:
   • If you have to retire in this time, unless you are a government employee, try to postpone, since investments in your retirement fund might have reduced the amount of available investments drastically.
   • The funds will not be able to generate enough investment income to sustain you.
   • Ask for a part time employment if you have to retire. Leave the money in the fund; do not take it out now. Wait until the markets recover.
   • DO NOT retire early!

If you have no other option, think of what you want to do for the rest of your life. You can start a completely new career, live, and work for another 20 to 40 years.

Subscribe to our newsletter AFS Informer.

Go to Step 5

Step3:

1. Get an Emergency loan :
   • This is last resort, not I want to go on holiday money.
   • This sound drastic if you do not have an income, but if you can get this at a lower fixed interest rate, you will at least be sure that you can pay the essentials like your home loan, medical aid, water and lights, etc.
   • Some of the banks provide Cash flow Relief that is repayable at no charges and prime interest rate. Check with your bank.You have to have a good credit score though and your accounts should be paid up to date.
   •  
   • Two warnings:
     • This is a last resort emergency fund and you should live within your means, otherwise you will just worsen your situation and face repossession.You should cut your expenses (PERK)
     • You should not touch this money for anything other than paying rent or bond, food or utilities.
2. Submit your income tax:
   • If you expect a refund from SARS, submit your tax return as soon as possible. It seems like it would be in June or July this year.

If you have to pay in on your tax return, wait until the last date before submitting preventing additional burden on your already stretched finances.

Subscribe to our newsletter AFS Informer.

Go to Step 4

The quickest way to go from Safe Zone to Danger Zone is to lose your job or get a huge salary cut. Now you need to save your cash to buy food later.

 Therefore, what can we possibly do?

Read Step 1

Step 2:

1. Do not settle your credit or shopping card debt or any line of credit that you have:
   • Just pay the minimum amount per month.
   • Try to renegotiate your credit cards and shopping cards:
     • Call the company/ies and ask for an interest rate reduction.
     • Ask for restructuring of your facility.
   • Apply for Cash flow Relief to pay your instalments (Different banks have different agreements for up to 3 months and repayable over 5 years.
   • If you have lost your job and you are now unemployed find out if you have insurance on your cards that will pay your premiums for 6 or 12 months.
   • It might also be an idea to close the credit card facility and ask for a repayment plant of 3 or 5 years.
2. Discuss your Life Insurance and Insurance Savings options with your Advisor:
   • If you have an endowment plan, see if you can have a contribution holiday or make it paid up for now. You need to save whatever cash you can.
   • If you are really hard press for money, reduce your Retirement Annuity contributions or make them paid up on the older annuities.
   • Find out if you can accelerate your cashback payments? Some short-term insurers have that option depending on your contract.
   • Last resort would be to reduce your life cover payments.
   • Make sure your will is up to date and that your estate will still have enough cash to pay for all the costs if something happens to you or your spouse.
   • Make sure your funeral covers remains intact.

Subscribe to our newsletter AFS Informer.

Go to Step 3

We are in unprecedented times. Unprecedented times call for immediate action. Here are several unusual tips to survive the COVID-19 environment. Some ideas will be different from what is considered “normal”.

We have to find a new normal during these unprecedented times.   

Save whatever cash you have, do not spend it on the credit as far as possible. This is completely opposite of what is recommended in “normal times”. 

We do not know where these things are going, and with much higher unemployment and scarcity of work, you have to save as much as you can.

The quickest way to go from Safe Zone to Danger Zone is to lose your job or get a huge salary cut. Now you need to save your cash to buy food later.

 Therefore, what can we possibly do?

1. Relook at your budget for ways where you can take to save money:
   • It is all about conservation! Conservation of your cash.
   • If you do not have a budget, then create one by using the PERK system to cut expenses (This needs an aggressive approach):
     • Postpone expenses that you can put off for a while. For example, a house renovation, holiday, new car, washing machine or dishwasher.
     • Eliminate expenses you can eliminate completely, such as a gym membership you never use, DSTV premium, you never watch, or newspapers you're subscribed to, but never read.
     • Reduce any expense that you are willing to cut back on qualifies for reduce. For example, if you order out lunch every day but are open to cooking lunch twice a week, mark the expense reduce. In this case, you are reducing the frequency of the expense. Likewise, you could continue to order out lunch every day, but choose less expensive restaurants. Both situations reduce your expenses.
     • Keep fixed expenses such as rent, home loan, insurance, and food are necessary and should be marked keep.
   • The PERK system consists of two simple steps (Use a spreadsheet, but piece of paper will also work):
     • List all of your expenses individually and then add them together. This must include recurring expenses like rent, car payments and municipal fees. This must include annual payments like TV License or other fees payable.
     • Next to each expense write the letter P,E,R or K.

If you cannot save much on expenses it means that you are overextended because your whole income goes for necessities. You will have to find additional sources of income.

Subscribe to our newsletter AFS Informer.

Go to Step 2