Long-Term Gain over Short-Term Pain: Lessons from life and investing

Geo Botha • December 3, 2024

"I'm never doing this again"

This is what I said last Saturday afternoon as we started to climb the last 5 hills in the last 30 of the 200km cycle race called the Double Century.

 

It was the 3rd time I have said it, in 3 consecutive years

Only to come back and compete again the next year.

 

Challenging ourselves physically is about a lot more than just pushing to what we think our physical limits are.

It's about creating the discipline to train, the perseverance to push through and silencing those inner voices when you want to quit.

It's also strange how we quickly forget about the pain and suffering and only remember the positive accomplishment and memories.

 

I’d like to share an article I recently read from Siobhan Simpson, Head of SA Unit Trusts at Ninety one, who shared a similar experience this year. 

She went through the exciting yet uncertain phase of giving birth to her daughter and shared the lessons she learned throughout and how we can apply these insights into managing our own investment portfolio.

 

She also shares some interesting stats on how investing over different time periods can greatly influence the outcome and why it’s never a good idea to wait for the right moments

Read the article here

 

Enjoy the festive season with your loved ones and stay safe out there.

Geo Botha

Marketing Director

Invest Globally, Prosper Locally: Offshore Strategies for SA Investors

By Ruvan J Grobler • July 1, 2025
In an increasingly interconnected global economy, South African investors are finding compelling reasons to look beyond local borders when building long-term wealth. Offshore investing offers access to broader, more resilient markets, particularly in developed economies with stronger currencies and more stable political environments. Given South Africa’s constrained economic growth, fiscal uncertainty, and the rand’s vulnerability as an emerging market currency, allocating a portion of your portfolio offshore can serve as both a growth engine and a hedge. Investing offshore provides exposure to world-leading companies, industries, and fund managers that are often unavailable in the local market. It allows investors to participate in innovation-led growth in sectors like technology, healthcare, and clean energy, which are typically underrepresented on the JSE. Most importantly, it supports diversification—not just across asset classes, but across geographies, currencies, and economic cycles—reducing concentration risk tied to the South African economy. Key Reasons to Invest Offshore: Diversification: Reduce reliance on South African markets and benefit from a broader global opportunity set. Currency Hedge: Protect your wealth against rand depreciation by investing in hard currencies. Global Access: Gain exposure to top-tier international asset managers and world-class investments. Growth Potential: Participate in faster-growing economies and industries driving global expansion. Important Considerations for South African Tax Residents Before investing offshore, it’s essential to evaluate how your investment aligns with your broader financial planning, particularly around access, succession, taxation, and estate planning: Flexibility: Will you have access to your funds when needed? What types of investments can you hold? Succession Planning: Can your investment be transferred to your heirs? Will Capital Gains Tax (CGT) apply? Tax Compliance: Is the structure tax-efficient, and what must be declared on your tax return? Estate Structuring: Will your investment attract foreign estate duties? Is an offshore executor required? An Efficient Offshore Solution: The Offshore Wrapper A tailored offshore wrapper can simplify many of these complexities, offering a cost-effective and administratively streamlined solution. Key benefits include: No exposure to offshore estate duties No South African executor fees on death No inheritance tax in the offshore jurisdiction Ability to nominate beneficiaries directly for smooth succession Creditor protection for assets held within the structure Consolidation of various investments (e.g., share portfolios, funds) under one structure Minimum investment from $25,000 Tax Treatment The offshore wrapper also provides significant tax efficiency: Taxes are calculated and settled annually by the platform—no action required by the investor CGT is capped at 12%, and income tax at 30% Taxes are applied to USD returns, meaning rand depreciation is not taxed Reach out to me at ruvan@bovest.co.za for more information. Ruvan J Grobler RFP™ (PGDip Financial Planning) 

Should you withdraw your Pension and pay off your home?

By Francois Le Clus • May 28, 2025
Should you withdraw your Pension and pay off your home? It's perfectly normal to ask whether you should use your pension to pay off your home when leaving an employer. This decision involves weighing the tax on the withdrawal, the interest saved on your bond, the future growth of your pension fund, and the contributions needed to catch up. Example: Anne is 40 years old with a pension fund worth R3,500,000. She bought a home 10 years ago for R3,000,000 and bonded it over 20 years at an 11% interest rate, with monthly repayments of R30,965. After 10 years, her outstanding bond is R2,258,225. If she withdraws her pension, she’ll receive R2,408,300 after tax—enough to settle the bond and have some cash left over. By paying off the bond early: She saves R1,467,919 in interest. She frees up R30,965 in monthly cash flow. However, if she keeps the money invested, her pension could grow to R37,921,470 by age 65 (assuming 10% annual growth). To match this value after using her pension to pay off the bond, she’d need to invest R28,580 per month for the next 25 years. That’s R2,385 less than her current bond repayment, so she does save monthly—but only for the next 10 years. After that, she’s committed to investing R28,580/month for 25 years to break even.  Not everyone’s calculation is the same and there are endless amounts of permutations to this calculation, but it’s important to note that you need to consider all of these factors when making these crucial decisions.