by SFT | Oct 25, 2026 | Financial Planning, St Francis
As a financial planner, one of the questions I’m asked most often is, “How much do I need to retire?” Its close cousin is, “What is a decent income in retirement?” Both are really the same question, and on the surface, they make perfect sense. Unfortunately, this is how most people approach retirement.
But what if I told you that starting here may lead to a retirement far less fun and memorable than it could be?
Many of my friends have been hugely successful, some in the corporate world and others building their own empires, yet this is often exactly where they start too. To be fair, our industry hasn’t done a great job of helping the man in the street ask the right questions. The fear-based approach has certainly encouraged people to save diligently their whole working lives. But living a fulfilling, meaningful retirement takes a very different mindset.
Think of it as a horse and cart. The horse is your savings, the assets you’ve spent years building and protecting to fund your retirement. The cart is the lifestyle you want to live. Looking at the horse first seems sensible, but it tends to lead to a limited and, dare I say, boring plan for what should be our glory years.
After 35 years in this work, I know that retirement spending doesn’t happen in a straight line. Retirement can easily last 35 to 40 years (yes, that’s a lifetime!), and spending naturally rises and falls through its different phases.
So what do I mean by putting the cart first? First, start by imagining your perfect retirement. What do you want to experience? Who would you like to help? Where do you want to travel, and who do you want to spend your time with? Write it all down, and for now, ignore the size of the horse. Go wild, be exuberant, think big. Life is not a rehearsal.
This is exactly what we do with our clients, both when we first meet and at every review. We cost each of these dreams and plug them into a robust cashflow planning tool alongside their assets. Very quickly, we can see whether that ideal life is possible. If it isn’t, or it looks a little too tight for comfort, we look at which levers can be pulled. In any plan, there are always four to consider.
What happens next is wonderful to watch. Clients start making thoughtful trade-offs so that the goals that matter most to them can be met, while securing their long term security. Rather than feeling restricted, they feel empowered to live the best life they can with what they have, and as life happens we adjust these goals to whatever their new situation may be.
Don’t run with the herd and settle for a retirement less exciting than it could be. Take control of your glory years and reward yourself for a lifetime of feeding the horse!
If this has got you thinking about your own retirement, pop in for coffee and a chat
Dirk Groeneveld, Certified Financial Planner
t. 083 261 9287
e. dirk@clientcare.co.za
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Disclaimer:
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice in any way or form. It is important to consult a financial planner to receive financial advice before acting on any information contained herein. Client Care and PWM and its directors, officers, and employees shall not be responsible and disclaim all liability for any loss, damage (whether direct, indirect, special or consequential) and/or expense of any nature whatsoever, which may be suffered as a result of, or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to the use of, or reliance upon any information contained in this article.
by SFT | Oct 25, 2026 | St Francis
Memory Monday
A lookback at the Kouga storms and how the St Francis Bay Groyne Project stood its ground against the destructive forces of a once-in-200-years storm
Video by Brad Peens – Down The Line Surf
Read more:
Newsflash From St Francis Property Owners NPC (SRA) -Groyne Project Update: Storm Impact, Repairs And Dredging Progress
by SFT | Oct 25, 2026 | St Francis
December in St Francis means boats on the canals, trips up the Kromme and families making the most of summer. However, a good day on the water starts before anyone turns the key.
St Francis Yamaha’s boating safety reminders offer a useful refresher for the holiday season. From paperwork to passing other vessels, a little preparation helps keep everyone smiling.
Get Sorted Before Launching
First, check that your Certificate of Fitness, buoyancy certificate and skipper’s licence are aboard and available for inspection.
Then work through the practical checks. Fit the plugs, test the motors and steering, inspect safety equipment and stow loose gear securely. Carry enough fuel for your trip, plus the extra 25% reserve recommended in the guide.
Also, make sure everyone has a lifejacket. Wear yours when launching or beaching at the mouth, and keep one aboard for every person.
Give passengers a quick briefing before departure, too. Show them where the lifejackets and safety equipment live, and explain your plans for the outing.
Read The Water Before You Go
Check tides for both departure and return. Conditions around the Kromme River mouth and canals deserve careful attention, particularly where changing water levels affect passage.
Meanwhile, keep watching other vessels and leave yourself room to manoeuvre. A familiar stretch of water still needs your full attention.
Give Other Boats Some Space
When two powerboats meet head-on, both should turn to starboard, passing port to port.
When overtaking, pass only when safe and keep well clear. In a crossing situation between powerboats, give way when the other vessel is on your starboard side.
Above all, keep the skipper sober. Alcohol and drugs have no place at the helm, especially when overtaking.
There’s plenty of summer ahead. Take your time out there.
by SFT | Oct 25, 2026 | Notes From The Editor, St Francis
Suddenly, it’s nearly November, and St Francis is coming alive. The surf is packed at seven on a Tuesday morning. There’s a tussle for parking on pensioners’ day at Spar. The restaurants are filling up, and the contractor you finally remembered to phone can fit you in after Easter 2027.
Everyone seems to be in a hurry, and it’s starting to rub off. You leave home feeling perfectly relaxed and return twenty minutes later, annoyed with someone who took too long to turn.
A few weeks ago, you could pull up outside wherever you were going. Now you might have to park a little further away. We’ve gone from quiet to fairly busy by St Francis standards, and we’re already behaving as though we need an evacuation plan.
We know how this goes
The summer crowds haven’t properly arrived yet. its still just us locals at the moment, pretty much.
They’re still coming, 6 weeks. They’ve booked their accommodation, packed their beach umbrellas, and promised the children a holiday. Our feelings about the traffic at the three-way stop will have very little bearing on their plans.
We have some nice new beaches waiting for them. The restaurants will be pleased to fill their tables. Plenty of people who live here will finally have the chance to make some decent money.
There’ll also be queues. Someone will park badly. Someone will stop to look at a house while you’re behind them. This will add several seconds to your journey, during which you can decide how much of your afternoon you’d like to spend being furious.
Builders’ holiday will take some construction traffic off the roads. Holidaymakers will take their place. We’ll muddle through, as we do every year, and somehow everyone will get their rolls.
Prepare, then relax
There are things we can sort out now.
Plan your shopping runs. If pensioners’ day annoys you, shop on another day and leave the bullets alone. You have the whole week.
Stock up on liquor before the rush. This doesn’t mean you must drink more because the cabinet is full. Some of it can stay there. It keeps.
Get your diesel. Find comfortable noise-cancelling earplugs for Billy’s week. Make whatever arrangements you need to make, then carry on with your life.
We still have time. Spending it telling everyone how stressed we are seems a poor use of a perfectly good November.
Make a plan for summer
Once the visitors arrive, we could try enjoying the place with them. Go to the beach. Book a table. See friends who only come down once a year. Allow a bit longer for the shopping and accept that other people also like being here.
If you really can’t bear a full St Francis, go away for the summer. Rent out your house, visit somewhere quiet, and come back when you can park outside the Spar again.
Either is a reasonable plan.
Staying here to complain on Facebook for six weeks seems less rewarding. The other misanthropes will agree with you, of course. Then you can all sit indoors, agreeing about how dreadful it is outside.
Meanwhile, everyone else will be having a holiday.
Or go outside, breathe deeply, and wave at the sun. You live here. You don’t even have to pack.
the editor.
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Read more:
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by SFT | Oct 25, 2026 | St Francis
A crowded groyne lineup in St Francis Bay, with heavy machinery continuing the work on the groynes in the background.
The full St Francis Bay Groyne Project video from Down The Line can be found here
by SFT | Oct 22, 2026 | St Francis
By Richard Arderne
Following in the footsteps of a successful property family legacy in St Francis, Dean Fox is now making his own mark on our local property scene.
After four successful years with Pam Golding Properties, Dean Fox continues to build on his track record in the local property market. In just the seven months from 1 March to the end of September this year, he concluded 20 property sales with a combined value of R84 million, a strong achievement in a competitive market.
Twelve of these sales were through sole mandates, demonstrating the value of this approach. Even more impressive, nine of the 20 properties were sold either before marketing began or within the first two weeks of being marketed.
His sales included 10 houses in the R4 million to R12 million range, nine vacant plots and one apartment.
But beyond the figures, what has been particularly pleasing for me as franchisee and principal has been the positive feedback Dean has received from his clients.
We would like to acknowledge the sellers who entrusted Dean with their properties and the buyers who placed their confidence in him to help them find the right property. Their trust is an important part of every successful transaction, and we value the relationships that continue beyond the sale.
Among these transactions were several where sellers were moving to our Grand Comoros Retirement Village, making way for younger buyers to move into the area. It is a reminder of how the local property market continues to evolve as people’s needs change.
Understanding what buyers are looking for, how to position a property and when an opportunity may suit a particular buyer can make a meaningful difference. This knowledge, combined with consistent effort and commitment, is an important part of achieving results in a competitive market.
Dean’s recent performance has also been recognised within Pam Golding Properties. He is currently ranked among the top 35 agents nationally out of more than 1,200, and among the top five in our Eastern Cape and Garden Route region.
With five months remaining in the financial year, he has already qualified for the company’s all-expenses-paid incentive conference in Vietnam in May next year, awarded to agents in the top 10% nationally.
But property is about more than numbers. It is about people, trust and finding the right fit between a property and the person looking for it.
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