Plain-English guides on compound interest, bond repayment, personal loans, debt payoff strategies, take-home salary, and the two-pot retirement system — with worked examples and real South African numbers.
08 Aug 2026
A better rate at a different bank looks like free money on paper. Whether it is worth the switch depends on the size of the gap, the size of your balance, and what you give up by moving.
Read more →26 Jul 2026
Under the two-pot system you get a real choice every year: take money out of your savings pot now, or leave it to keep growing. Both paths have consequences that only show up properly over a decade or two.
Read more →17 Jul 2026
There is a version of your financial life where the rate goes up, the income drops, or the job disappears. Running those scenarios now costs you nothing. Not running them can cost you everything.
Read more →12 Jul 2026
Every debt you clear is a recurring thought you stop having. The mental load of owing money is real, and it lifts, piece by piece, as the accounts close.
Read more →05 Jul 2026
Most people use a financial calculator once, get a number, and move on. The ones who get the most out of them never stop at the first answer, they ask what happens if everything changes.
Read more →17 Jun 2026
Since 1 September 2024, South Africa's retirement funds are split into two pots. One you can dip into before retirement. The other you cannot. Here is how both work.
Read more →09 Jun 2026
A gross salary is not what lands in your bank account. SARS income tax, UIF, and pension contributions all come off first. Here is how to work out the real number.
Read more →27 May 2026
A bond repayment calculator turns a purchase price into a monthly instalment, and shows you exactly how much of that instalment is interest. Here is what each input does.
Read more →20 May 2026
When you've got more than one debt, the order you attack them in changes how much total interest you pay, and how it feels along the way. Here's how the two main strategies compare.
Read more →13 May 2026
Over a standard 20-year term, the bank can end up charging close to as much interest as you borrowed. Extra monthly payments and lump sums are the two levers that change that.
Read more →06 May 2026
A personal loan is a fixed monthly instalment until you change something. Paying extra each month, or dropping in a lump sum, changes the amount of interest the lender ever gets to charge.
Read more →28 Apr 2026
Daily compounding adds interest to your balance every single day instead of once a month or once a year. The effect is real, but smaller than most people assume.
Read more →21 Apr 2026
Compound interest means earning interest on your interest, not just on your original deposit. That one distinction is responsible for almost all long-term wealth growth.
Read more →14 Apr 2026
A compound interest calculator answers one question fast: how big does this get if I leave it alone? Here is how to read the inputs and the result.
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