Top up your retirement annuity (RA) contributions before 28 February and get money back from SARS.

It is that time of the year where we would like to remind you to make the most of your available tax deductions. This can be done by means of contributions to a RA and/or investments in a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA).

Retirement Annuities

You can claim a portion of your contributions towards and RA back from SARS on an annual basis. The higher your annual contribution towards an RA in any given tax year (up to the specified limit) the higher your tax benefit will be.

• The maximum tax deduction for all contributions to retirement annuity funds, pension funds and provident funds, is 27.5% of remuneration or taxable income (whichever is the greater).
• The annual maximum tax deduction limit for any of these retirement vehicles is R350 000.

To take optimal advantage of this benefit, taxpayers need to calculate the maximum allowable deduction that they qualify for before the end of the tax year and top up their RA contributions to get as close to this amount as possible.

Tax-Free Savings Account

There is no taxation on the growth of your investment in a TFSA. A TFSA can take the form of a money market or fixed-term bank account, a unit trust investment or a JSE-listed exchange traded fund, amongst others. An investment in a TFSA is limited to a maximum amount of R33 000 per year and a lifetime limit of R500 000.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to take advantage of your available tax deductions before the end of the current tax year.

In this issue we highlight the importance of following a suitable investment strategy and investigate whether now is a good time to purchase a residential property. With February being Healthy Lifestyle Awareness Month, we bring you some pointers on getting in shape and living healthy.

Please be assured of our commitment to assisting you in achieving continued financial success and prosperity.

Enjoy this issue!

Best regards

Johann Joubert

Does your investment strategy cut the mustard?
Although it seems counterintuitive, following an investment strategy that is too risk-averse could cost you dearly in the long run. Read more

Is now a good time to buy a house?
With interest rates at a near 50-year low, there are many opportunities for first-time home buyers in South Africa at the moment. Read more

Getting in shape and living healthy
The good news is that, with a healthy diet, enough sleep and a simple exercise regime, healthy living is just a few steps away.  Read more

Head further north, and experience spring in the Cederberg in much greater comfort at Bushman’s Kloof Wilderness Reserve. Voted third in the 2016 Conde Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards — Top Resorts in Africa, you can experience luxury in a rocky landscape that, come spring, reveals swathes of colour. See animals endemic to the area, like Cape mountain zebra, bontebok and ostrich, wander through the flowers, and experience guided tours to magnificent San rock art sites.

Driving over mountain passes on the red earth roads of the Cederberg contrasts with the dusty plains of Namaqualand much further north. This semi-arid wilderness is where the real spring flower shows begin. Good rains transform the landscape into a rainbow of Namaqua daisies. The Namaqua region is a biodiversity hotspot, and boasts the richest succulent flora on earth, like vygies (mesembryanthemums) with their colourful luminosity. Namaqualand encompasses wide distances, from the breezy Atlantic Ocean all the way inland to Pofadder, and from the Orange River in the north to Garies in the south, and the Hantam Karoo around Calvinia. To ensure the best self-drive spring flower tour, steer a course around this Northern Cape region, also taking in Springbok, Kamieskroon and Port Nolloth.

Namaqua National Park is situated in a semi-desert area, and has some of the richest bulb flora on earth. Millions of years of adaptation have created unimaginable diversity and one of the most spectacular metamorphoses in the world, where the entire landscape bursts into bloom. Add to this some thousand plant species found only here, the distinctive silhouette of quiver trees, massive granite outcrops and snowfalls of quartz, and you have a landscape like no other. At night, the stars come out, and the lack of light pollution provides a stargazing extravaganza.

Included in the wildflower route is the remote Richtersveld National Park. It is a spellbinding mountain desert with a constantly changing landscape of boulders, dunes, rocky mountain peaks, hazy plateaux and the fast-flowing Orange River. Contrary to appearance, this region, dampened by far-reaching sea mists, has a recorded 300 different plant species in one square kilometre. Many reveal themselves in spring, and demonstrate in part why this has been declared a World Heritage Site. Campsites must be booked in advance, through SANParks.

Seeing flowers blooming across great expanses of the countryside depends, of course, on whether the right amounts of rain and sun have satisfied the thirsty earth and stimulated the sudden growth of some 3 500 different plant species, and whether you happen to be in the right place at the right time. Keeping in contact with local tourist offices is the best way to get your timing right.

The information contained in this article is of a general nature and intended for information purposes only.