All sorts of sentimental reasons may be offered for women to manage their own financial affairs. At Mindfulmoney® we buy into none of these…simply because we believe it to be no less than rational for women to strive for their own financial independence. Yet, if the results of a survey conducted by VISA in 2012 are anything to go by, the facts tell an altogether different story. For example, less than 2% of South African women surveyed, invested directly into shares listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange.

We all know the meaning of the idiom "Shooting oneself in the foot." This is exactly what the insurance industry has done to itself with old generation retirement annuities! Prohibitive initial and ongoing fees coupled with disappointing investment returns have put many people off this product. And so - to use another idiom - the baby is being thrown out with the bath water. This is a great shame for retirement annuities (RA's) have plenty of merits for any investment portfolio:

What would you answer if you were asked this question: "How much would you want to gain from an investment to compensate you for a potential loss of R 100?" Put differently: "If there is a chance that investment X would cause you a loss of R 100, what would investment X's upside have to be for you to consider putting any of your money into it?" If you are like most people, the answer is around R 250.