Money on Monday: How insurance works when natural disasters strike and what it actually covers

Lester Kiewit speaks to insurance expert and CEO at AMI Underwriting Managers, Christelle Coleman, about what kind of protection people and businesses really have in the face of natural disasters, and how far that cover actually stretches when extreme weather hits at this scale. Lester Kiewit brin…

Money on a Monday: Safeguards against coerced transactions

Banks are constantly having to evolve their security measures in a bid to stay one step ahead of criminals who are intent on gaining access to bank accounts of their victims. Lester Kiewit speaks to Andre Wentzel, CEO of the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), to unpack a recen…

Money on a Monday: Do you remember the One Rand Man?

Back in 2014, as part of Savings Month Awareness, Sanlam arranged for Werner Oelofse, then a 32-year-old architectural consultant, to receive his entire month’s salary in R1 coins, and that is all he could use to make his payments. Did it experiment with his approach to budgeting? Lester Kiewit tr…

Money on a Monday: Why are banks rewarding us for spending more?

Many banks are now offering rewards to incentivise clients for spending, rather than saving. Does this mean that banks are discouraging people from saving their money? John Maytham, standing in for Lester Kiewit, speaks to finance journalist Maya Fisher-French to make some sense of it all. Lester…

Money on a Monday: How deep in debt are South Africans?

When it comes to living on credit, how are we doing as a nation, and which segment of the population is heavily reliant on credit? Where are South Africans spending, and how frivolously are they doing it?  Lester Kiewit speaks to Jaco van Jaarsveldt, the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer in Af…

Money on a Monday: Why paying cash isn’t always the best car deal

Did you know that you can’t simply walk into a car dealership and ask for a cash discount if you want to buy a vehicle outright, without taking out bank finance? Lester Kiewit speaks to Michael Pashut, founder of changecars.co.za, about dealer incentive commissions, also known as kickbacks, and ho…

Money on a Monday: How to negotiate your salary with confidence

How should you handle the salary question in a job interview: play it safe and risk underselling yourself, or aim high and negotiate with confidence? Lester Kiewit speaks to Advaita Naidoo, Africa MD at Jack Hammer Global, about why this question should be treated as a strategic opportunity, backe…

Money on a Monday: Changing how young people think about money and financial freedom

In a world where financial stress is on the rise, especially among young people, social enterprise Lucha Lunako is helping youth rethink their relationship with money.  Rather than focusing only on budgeting, the eight-week Foundations for Financial Freedom course draws on behavioural science to u…

Money on a Monday: From debt traps to purpose — Changing how we think about credit

Modern‑day society largely runs on credit in one form or another, and this is often linked to negative ideas such as indebtedness and ongoing debt spirals. But what if we could change our mindset and behaviour, using credit in a more controlled and purposeful way? Lester Kiewit speaks to Wiehahn K…

Money on a Monday: How scrapping the prime rate could affect your bond and the rand

The South African Reserve Bank has proposed doing away with the prime lending rate, which has been the benchmark for decades for home loans, business loans, and overdrafts. Lester Kiewit speaks to Harry Scherzer, CEO and founder of Future Forex, about how this move will impact households.    Les…