Expat Insights
Get news and useful articles for South Africans worldwide on our blog.
South African expats’ financial horizons expanded
For once the saying ‘it’s too good to be true’ need not be taken with a pinch of salt. South Africans living outside the country are fully entitled to transfer proceeds from their retirement annuities, pensions, preservation funds and other financial assets offshore....
South African mobile bank account – £6 a month
If you’re reading TheSouthAfrican.com, chances are you’re one the lucky fishes living and working in the UK who has yet to decide exactly where in the world you want to settle – London, New York, Sydney, Munich, Ottawa or Edinburgh? Which also means you’re not...
Is there sense in looking back?
South Africans are lekker people and they live and work in really lekker places – London, New York, Perth, Ontario to name but a few… Social media like Facebook, Skype, Google Plus and a myriad others has made life even more lekker given the capability to conduct...
The South African expat hassle…
When living abroad there are thousands of kilometers between you and your South African money. Because international money transfer from South Africa is subject to foreign exchange control when needing to convert Rand based investments to local currency to move...
4 Tips when emigrating from South Africa
It makes little sense to leave your retirement annuities in South Africa when considering emigration. 1. Move your South African retirement annuities offshore It makes little sense to leave your retirement annuities in South Africa when considering emigration. Amended...
Emigration – explained in simple English
There are tens of thousands of South Africans living abroad, gainfully employed, paying taxes, with social security numbers and other local benefits courtesy of their work permits, who have not emigrated from South Africa. People mistakenly believe they’ve gone...
Exercise your retirement annuity investment options
A fin24 report of 24 September 2006 quoted one million South Africans left the country “in the past ten years” – what the report failed to mention was the value in retirement annuities left behind. In those days there were no options … Two years after the report...
Retirement annuity transfer and Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City of London was first recorded in the year 1237 as the highest honour the City can bestow on any person. The vast majority of City Freemen were represented by a broad cross-section of the population. Whilst a Freeman no longer enjoys rights or...
Expats and South African retirement annuities – 5 options at retirement/maturity
By Mariette Janse van Rensburg A fin24 report of 24 September 2006 quoted one million South Africans left the country “in the past ten years” – what the report didn’t mention was the value in retirement annuities they left behind. In those days there were no options …...
South Africa’s PPS members share in R4 billion profit
PPS Group – the largest South African company operating under the mutual model – a business owned by its members – announced a record 42% year-on-year increase in profit to R4,2 billion for distribution to its member base living all over the world. Members, on...
South African pension transfers demystified
The word pension was first recorded in the 1520’s, meaning: a "regular payment in consideration of past service.” As a youngster I recall it was the older generation - people like my grandfather - who earned a pension. In the same way Hoover became the generic for a...
Do you know your South African tax status?
As an expat, still holding assets and other interests in South Africa, it’s in your interest to know your SARS tax status because you never know when you might need this information! The common ‘mistake’ people make when leaving the South Africa to go live abroad is...
What is financial emigration (formal emigration)?
By Mariette Janse van Rensburg Hundreds, if not thousands, of South Africans living abroad who are gainfully employed, paying their taxes, holding social security numbers and enjoying other local benefits courtesy of their work permits, have...
Financial emigration: will I lose my citizenship?
Is the fair, and generally first, question people want an answer to when financial emigration comes up for discussion… The answer is no - short and sweet. Allow us be the myth busters because this is a question we have to answer on a daily basis. Citizenship is a...
Budget Speech 2014: good news
South Africans living overseas pay less tax Finance Minister Pravin Gordon’s tax announcement gave back more than South African taxpayers living overseas expected … Effective 1 March 2014, expats will pay less tax when withdrawing the full value of their retirement...