Turn Silly Into Savvy This Festive Season

As we gear up for the festive season, approaching this celebratory period with financial acumen will ensure 2024 starts off well. Rather than falling into common spending traps, let's transform this season of cheer into a savvy opportunity to be mindful of our spending. Amidst the allure of holiday indulgences, it's a great time to stay on track, steer clear of financial pitfalls, and consider investing in generosity that yields long-term rewards.

Head of Brand at Satrix, René Basson, remarks, “The year-end often prompts a desire to splurge and share joy. While it's natural to reward ourselves and others, it's vital to maintain financial discipline by being savvy and maintaining a consistent strategic plan. Consider investing in gifts that offer enduring value for the future.”

Calculate the Real Numbers: Establish a budget aligned with your financial capabilities and determine realistic spending limits for gifts, entertainment, and food over the festive season. Prioritise understanding the opportunity cost: investing in something now versus potential long-term gains. For instance, rather than buying a R500 bag that immediately depreciates in value for a loved one, investing that amount for them is more likely to appreciate in value in just a few years.

Avoid Last-Minute Splurges: Plan your shopping to help you avoid panic-driven, expensive purchases that disrupt your budget. If you haven't saved consistently for the festive season, a well-defined budget will help you. Stick to predetermined limits and avoid leaving everything to the last minute, ensuring both peace of mind and financial stability. 

The same proactive approach applies to investing. Allocate funds for investment immediately upon receipt to minimise the temptation of spending impulsively during the holiday season.

Monitor Spending and Make Adjustments: Keep a vigilant eye on your expenses to help realign when you feel like you're veering off course. Even during challenging times, resist the urge to withdraw from investments. Remember, withdrawing funds may hinder the potential growth due to missed opportunities for compound interest.

Collaborative Gifting Strategies: Initiate a family or friend discussion to strategise gift-giving this year. Explore alternatives like 'Secret Santa' or focusing on children rather than adults. If considering an investment account as a gift, engage with the family, especially children, explaining the concept of compound interest to fuel their excitement about watching their investment grow.

Embrace Diverse Forms of Generosity: Remember, time and talent make valuable gifts. Consider offering quality time or personalised, homemade presents instead of conventional material items. Whether it's nurturing a plant, baking treats, creating artwork, or simply sharing meaningful moments, prioritise the joy of giving beyond material possessions.

Remember, the gift of time is especially important when it comes to investing! The longer you invest, the more time your investment has to compound and grow.  

Give the Gift that Keeps on Giving: You don’t have to spend a lot to give the gift that keeps on giving. Open an investment account – for yourself, your child (or send an investment voucher to someone special) and invest as little as just R10 to capitalise on compound interest. It’s a powerful way to build up a nest egg and teach children about investing from an early age. For example, if you gifted someone (or yourself) R50 in a SatrixNOW Account and they invested in the Satrix Top 40 ETF on 21 December 2016, their investment would have been worth R77.18 by 23 December 2022*. Be proud of the money you manage to invest. It’s the gift that grows from the day you start the journey. So, just start. 

Basson concludes, “There are so many beautiful ways to be generous that don’t have to cost a lot of money or anything at all, except your time. Be gentle with yourself and enjoy the festivities – you deserve it! Try and make this your savvy season and consider gifting yourself or a loved one the gift that'll keep on giving, for many years to come.”

_{*Satrix Top 40 ETF closing prices retrieved on 23 November 2023 based on the latest available numbers published by IRESS.}

CIS disclosure

Satrix Investments (Pty) Ltd is an approved financial service provider in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, No 37 of 2002 (“FAIS”). The information above does not constitute financial advice in terms of FAIS. Consult your financial adviser before making an investment decision. While every effort has been made to ensure the reasonableness and accuracy of the information contained in this document (“the information”), the FSP, its shareholders, subsidiaries, clients, agents, officers and employees do not make any representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or suitability of the information and shall not be held responsible and disclaim all liability for any loss, liability and damage whatsoever suffered as a result of or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to any use of or reliance upon the information. 

Satrix Managers (RF) (Pty) Ltd (Satrix) is a registered and approved Manager in Collective Investment Schemes in Securities. Collective investment schemes are generally medium- to long-term investments. With Unit Trusts and ETFs the investor essentially owns a “proportionate share” (in proportion to the participatory interest held in the fund) of the underlying investments held by the fund. With Unit Trusts, the investor holds participatory units issued by the fund while in the case of an ETF, the participatory interest, while issued by the fund, comprises a listed security traded on the stock exchange. ETFs are index tracking funds, registered as a Collective Investment and can be traded by any stockbroker on the stock exchange or via Investment Plans and online trading platforms. ETFs may incur additional costs due to being listed on the JSE. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of investments / units may go up or down. A schedule of fees and charges, and maximum commissions are available on the Minimum Disclosure Document or upon request from the Manager. Collective investments are traded at ruling prices and can engage in borrowing and scrip lending. Should the respective portfolio engage in scrip lending, the utility percentage and related counterparties can be viewed on the ETF Minimum Disclosure Document.

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