Nature

The ability to manage money competently is especially valuable quality in the conditions of financial crisis, when the purchasing power of the population is shrinking, inflation is rising, and currency exchange rates are completely unpredictable. Below are the common mistakes related to money affairs along with financial planning advice to help manage your own finances properly.

  • Bird flu is having a devastating effect on the endangered Cape Cormorants. It is estimated that more than 500 of these endangered sea birds are dying daily killing as much as 5% of the world’s remaining population along the coastline from South Africa right up to Angola, according to reports.

    This outbreak of bird flu has been compounded by a lack of food (fish) due to climate change and high commercial fishing pressures. The lack of food has weakened the birds' defences. 

    Since the flu outbreak in October 2021, 18,388 birds have died of which 17,926 were Cape Cormorants according to Local Government, Environmental Affairs Planning MEC Anton Bredell. 

    We all want to help but what role can we play as concerned citizens…


  • The African Jacana is a colourful wader bird that forages on floating swamp-like vegetation in shallow water. The male prepares a nest and once a female has laid her eggs, it’s over to the male to do all the rest.

     

    The male incubates and protects the eggs and once they hatch, he spends several months tending the young, shepherding the chicks as they grow to full independence. Wow a perfect father indeed.

     

    Take a closer look at the care this male Jacana exhibits over the eggs and watch how he protects the eggs from a master egg thief.


  • A pair of Pied Kingfishers scuffle over a small fish along the Gariep River in the Richtersveld. One Pied masterfully caught its dinner and another Pied tried to steal it. Watch in this series of photos, how this drama unfolds and who will win in the end


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The budget is the most basic thing in financial planning. It is therefore especially important to be careful when compiling the budget. To start you have to draw up your own budget for the next month and only after it you may make a yearly budget.

 

As the basis takes your monthly income, subtract from it such regular expenses as the cost of housing, transportation, and then select 20-30% on savings or mortgage loan payment.

The rest can be spent on living: restaurants, entertainment, etc. If you are afraid of spending too much, limit yourself in weekly expenses by having a certain amount of ready cash.

 

"When people borrow, they think that they should return it as soon as possible," said Sofia Bera, a certified financial planner and founder of Gen Y Planning company. And at its repayment spend all that earn. But it's not quite rationally ".

 

If you don't have money on a rainy day, in case of an emergency (e.g. emergency of car repairs) you have to pay by credit card or get into new debts. Keep on account of at least $1000 in case of unexpected expenses. And gradually increase the "airbag" to an amount equal to your income for up to three-six months.

 

"Usually when people plan to invest, they only think about profit and they don't think that loss's possible", says Harold Evensky, the President of the financial management company Evensky & Katz. He said that sometimes people do not do basic mathematical calculations.

For example, forgetting that if in one year they lost 50%, and the following year they received 50% of the profits, they did not return to the starting point, and lost 25% savings. Therefore, think about the consequences. Get ready to any options. And of course, it would be wiser to invest in several different investment objects.