Know Your Money with Bronwyn Waner and Craig Finch

Know Your Money

Welcome to Know your money, where we will explore our relationship with money and how the psychology of it impacts our financial decisions as everyone thinks about money differently. In our podcasts we will be presenting a variety of financial topics in an easy-to-understand way which, we hope, will assist you with managing your money.Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website www.growthfp.co.za

  1. 2D AGO

    176. Defining Your Enough To Build Real Wealth

    Send us Fan Mail One of the most dangerous money problems is also the most normal: hitting a goal and immediately needing a bigger one. That “never enough” feeling can look like ambition on the outside, but inside it often brings anxiety, comparison, and decisions you would not normally make. We sit down and unpack Chapter 3 of The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, using real stories to show how success without contentment can spiral.    We talk about Bernie Madoff as an extreme example of what happens when more is never more, and how the chase can skew your morals and cloud your judgement. From there we shift into a simple but life-changing idea for personal finance and financial planning: define your enough. We explore why goals like becoming a millionaire or building investment wealth are not wrong, but they become hollow if you cannot explain what the money is meant to do for your life.    We also bring in a deeper layer: the enoughness wound. Many of us carry an old belief that we are not good enough or do not have enough, and it can drive overwork, overspending, lifestyle inflation, and constant goalpost-shifting. We share how tools like the Wheel of Life and our Wheel of Wealth help you build a balanced plan across retirement, savings, family time, health, and purpose, so you can “have it all” over time, not all at once. If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review, then tell us: what does “enough” mean to you? Support the show Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website  www.growthfp.co.za

    10 min

  2. MAY 18

    175. The Hidden Role Of Chance In Money Decisions

    Send us Fan Mail One random event can separate two people’s futures by millions and it can happen with money too. We’re Bronwyn Wayner and Craig Finch from Growth Financial Planning, and we’re back on our bookstall with The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, focusing on Chapter 2: luck and risk. We start with the Bill Gates story and the uncomfortable takeaway that timing, access, and chance matter more than most of us want to admit. From there we bring it home to everyday financial planning in South Africa: the career turns that feel like luck, the risks that can pay off, and the risks that can break you if you stake everything on one outcome. We talk about treating setbacks as feedback, keeping perspective when plans change, and why smart people still need a plan that survives bad breaks. Then we get practical. We unpack why we don’t believe in “only property” thinking, why diversification across asset classes matters, and why your retirement savings should be protected and prioritised from your first pay cheque. We also touch on the Australian superannuation model, and we discuss how the South African two-pot retirement system helps preserve a portion of retirement money for future you while still allowing limited access in extreme situations. If you want to dream bigger without putting your whole life on the line, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend who is taking a big financial leap, and leave a review so more people can find Know Your Money. Support the show Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website  www.growthfp.co.za

    7 min

  3. MAY 11

    174. How Life Experience Shapes Your Financial Choices

    Send us Fan Mail The most frustrating money argument is the one where both people are “right”. We dig into a core idea from Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money: no one is crazy, we all make decisions based on the tiny slice of the world we have personally lived through. That slice might be small, but it shapes our spending, saving, investing, and risk choices more than any spreadsheet ever will. We get practical with real-world financial planning examples. Bronwyn shares a scary medical aid moment that instantly changes how you think about premiums, private healthcare costs, and what “risk” feels like when it is no longer theoretical. Then we move into retirement planning and how one defined benefit story can set a family’s beliefs for decades, whether that story ends in security or disappointment. We also unpack why people judge lotto tickets, and why that judgement often misses the emotional truth behind the purchase. Along the way we connect the dots to South African saving and investing tools like retirement annuities and tax-free savings accounts, and why these relatively modern vehicles still need time and behaviour change to work. If you want a clearer lens on money psychology, compounding, and building a plan that can handle both luck and bad luck, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more South Africans can learn to know their money. Support the show Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website  www.growthfp.co.za

    12 min

  4. MAY 4

    173. Why Switching To Cash In A Crisis Often Costs You More

    Send us Fan Mail Markets shout; money grows quietly. We sat down with Tamryn, Head of Retail at Allan Gray, to unpack why investor behaviour often drifts with the news cycle and how to build a plan that outlasts the noise. Using platform data, we explore how starting point bias shapes equity exposure for years: investors who began during strong local markets still hold more equities than those who started after a weak stretch. Even when age and other factors are normalised, the human bias of focusing on what has just happened can continue to keep portfolios off plan.  Then we revisit March 2020. Some investors switched from balanced funds to cash as fear spiked, felt vindicated for a few weeks, and then watched the rebound sprint away before the world felt safe. Getting back in late turned a “defensive” move into the worst outcome versus staying invested. The takeaway is confronting but freeing: action often feels right, yet inaction can be the smarter move when your strategy is sound. You cannot time the turn, but you can own your process.    We also talk age and worldviews. Many younger South Africans have only known a weak rand, local equity underperformance, and steady low inflation, which can harden into belief. Older investors have seen cycles turn, high inflation cool, and markets recover after crises from Black Monday to pandemic panic. The constant through all of it is compounding. A long-run illustration shows how a small, persistent edge plus time dwarfs the index, turning steady decisions into extraordinary outcomes. Start where you are, automate contributions, resist switching, and let time work.    Great performers have coaches; investors should too. A skilled adviser keeps you anchored to goals, rebalances behaviour, and helps you stay in the game when headlines try to push you off court. If this conversation helped reframe your strategy, share it with a friend, subscribe for more grounded money talk, and leave a review telling us the habit that helps you stay the course. Support the show Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website  www.growthfp.co.za

    17 min

  5. APR 27

    172. Why Timing Fails And Diversification Wins

    Send us Fan Mail Markets roared when the headlines said retreat. We open the year by asking smarter questions than “what will 2026 do?” and dig into what last year’s outliers teach us about risk, patience, and building portfolios that don’t wobble every time the news does. With Tamryn Lamb from Allan Gray joining us in studio, we walk through why South African equities and bonds delivered standout returns, how currency moves amplified gains in dollars, and why gold topped leaderboards while Bitcoin slipped. The lesson isn’t to chase what just worked. It’s to separate noise from signal and design an approach that survives uncertainty.    We share our simple keep, save, grow framework to align money with time horizons so each “version of you” is protected and purposeful. Cash covers the near-term you. Diversified, goal-based portfolios serve the medium-term you. Growth assets power your future self decades out. That structure helps you ignore false urgency, rebalance with intent, and capture compounding even when sentiment turns negative. We also examine the outlook for South African assets: where precious metals drove index returns, how foreign buying supported bonds, and why moderating expectations while hunting for value in lagging areas makes sense after a strong run.    Globally, concentrated leadership is meeting reality. Extended US valuations, the rise of markets outside the US, and investor scrutiny of AI spending are nudging a shift from blanket bets to selective ownership. We talk through how to position without prediction—using diversification, valuation discipline, and rule-based reviews to counter bias. If you’re ready to embrace uncertainty, stay invested, and make better decisions across cycles, this conversation will give you practical guardrails and fresh context.    Enjoy the episode? Subscribe, share with a friend who’s sitting in cash, and leave a quick review to help more South African investors find the show. Support the show Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website  www.growthfp.co.za

    12 min

  6. APR 20

    171. Trust Is Built, Not Bought: The Allan Gray Way

    Send us Fan Mail What if the strongest investment edge isn’t a clever model, but a structure built to think in decades? We sit down with Tamryn Lamb, Head of Retail at Allan Gray, to unpack how a private, perpetual ownership model shapes behaviour, protects conviction through tough cycles, and keeps the focus squarely on client outcomes. From the origins of the firm’s valuation-led approach to the practical realities of running a platform that hosts multiple managers, we dig into the details that make investors more resilient and advisers more effective.    Tamryn traces the firm’s journey from its founding visionto pivotal stress tests like the late-90s tech boom, when avoiding fads meant underperformance and painful outflows before recovery. The difference, she explains, was not just philosophy but governance: an ownership structure and long-term orientation that is designed to absorb short-term pressure so investment and business teams can hold the line. We connect that lesson to today’s environment, where this organisational design empowers long-term decisions, improves service consistency, and avoids knee-jerk pivots that hurt clients.    We also explore the ultimate ownership structure of Allan Gray; namely the Allan and Gill Gray Foundation. This entity is the majority owner of the Allan Gray and Orbis asset management businesses, into perpetuity, directing the dividends it receives : to philanthropic purposes across the regions where it operates. It doesn’t soften commercial standards—performance, competition, and client service still drive the work—but it does expand the meaning of success. When clients prosper, communities benefit too. Along the way, we clarify a common misconception about the platform: it’s a single point of administration where clients can hold many managers’ funds, not just Allan Gray’s, giving advisers a simpler, more complete portfolio view.    Education runs through every theme here. Clear explanations, transparent reporting, and honest conversations reduce anxiety and build the trust needed to stay invested when markets are loud. That’s the quiet advantage: informed clients make calmer choices, and calmer choices let compounding do its job. If you care about governance, service, and the human side of investing, this conversation will sharpen how you evaluate managers and platforms alike.    Enjoyed the conversation? Subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.   Support the show Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website  www.growthfp.co.za

    13 min

  7. APR 13

    170. How Discovery Links Better Sleep To Lower Health Costs

    Send us Fan Mail Sleep is quietly rewriting our health stories—and our medical bills. We sat down with Discovery’s head of technical marketing to unpack a striking trend: members are sleeping less and sleeping worse, and the fallout shows up everywhere from diabetes risk to casualty visits to a hefty R230 million paid out for sleep disorders in 2024. That data doesn’t just inform policy—it’s shaping a practical, member-first way to turn better nights into real rewards. We explore how Discovery is weaving sleep into Personal Health Pathways, standing alongside exercise and healthcare actions as a core pillar of prevention. You’ll hear exactly how the new sleep score works and why it’s different: it blends your duration, quality, and regularity with clinical context to set targets that feel achievable and relevant. Whether you wear an Oura Ring or a Garmin, track with your Apple or Samsung watch, or simply log your night on your phone, the program meets you where you are. Activate sleep tracking with permission in the app, work toward a personalised weekly goal, and unlock rewards every Wednesday—without needing Vitality. What surprised us most is the power of regularity. A steady bedtime window stabilises circadian rhythms that touch everything from mood and focus to glucose control. When timing, depth, and total hours move in sync, accidents drop, decisions improve, and long-run risks ease. We connect the dots between small, repeatable habits and big health outcomes, showing how better sleep can lower claims and raise quality of life at the same time. If you’re curious about the science, the incentives, or simply how to start getting paid to protect your bedtime, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs better sleep, and leave a review telling us your next step—more hours, deeper rest, or a steadier lights-out time? Support the show Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website  www.growthfp.co.za

    8 min

  8. APR 6

    169. Personal Health Pathways, Explained

    Send us Fan Mail What if your medical scheme could spot your risks early, guide your next best step, and reward you for taking it? We sit down with Aldu, an actuary from Discovery Health, to unpack Personal Health Pathways — a built‑in DHMS benefit designed to turn preventive care into simple weekly actions with real‑world rewards. No Vitality membership required, no extra cost to activate, just clear guidance via the Discovery Health app or WhatsApp and a smart way to turn healthy habits into Discovery Miles and a usable wallet for care. We break down the two action streams at the heart of the programme. On the exercise side, you get targets that match your current fitness, from steps to heart‑rate‑based sessions, plus a game board that pays out miles you can spend with Vitality partners. On the healthcare side, it starts with a fully funded wellness assessment to capture blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, BMI, and smoking status. From there, the app suggests practical next steps like a digital mental wellness assessment or nominating your primary care provider, so your care stays coordinated and nothing falls through the cracks. The conversation goes deep on money matters too. We explain the Personal Health Fund you build by completing actions, how claims are paid in a member‑friendly order, and why funds don’t roll over. You’ll also hear about a thoughtful boost: meet simple engagement criteria — activate Pathways, do your wellness check, enable sleep and exercise tracking — and you start the next year with R1,000 in your Personal Health Fund. It’s a timely kickstart when many of us book checkups in January. If you’ve wondered how data‑driven healthcare, preventive screenings, and behavioural rewards can work together, this is your field guide. Subscribe, share with someone who keeps postponing their checkup, and leave a review to tell us the first action you’re taking today. Support the show Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website  www.growthfp.co.za

    11 min
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About

Welcome to Know your money, where we will explore our relationship with money and how the psychology of it impacts our financial decisions as everyone thinks about money differently. In our podcasts we will be presenting a variety of financial topics in an easy-to-understand way which, we hope, will assist you with managing your money.Please subscribe to our podcast or have a look at our website www.growthfp.co.za

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