Author: Kim Potgieter

What Your Lifeline Can Teach You About What Comes Next?

Written by Kim Potgieter on September 17, 2026. Posted in In Hindsight. No Comments on What Your Lifeline Can Teach You About What Comes Next?

When life changes unexpectedly, our instinct is often to look ahead and try to work out what happens next. Sometimes it helps to look back first. One of the exercises I return to often is the Lifeline. It’s a way of looking at the experiences that have shaped you, especially the times when life did not unfold the way you expected. Curveballs are a part of life: relationships change; we lose people we love; our health can surprise us; work changes; children need us in ways we never anticipated. Plans we thought were certain can change in an instant. In the middle of those...

What I Wish I had Known about Financial Planning for a Child with Special Needs

Written by Kim Potgieter on September 17, 2026. Posted in Midlife Money Reflections. No Comments on What I Wish I had Known about Financial Planning for a Child with Special Needs

If you are raising a child with special needs, there is so much you are asked to hold at once: the emotional, medical, schooling and practical day-to-day side, and somewhere in the middle, the financial side too. I know this both as Jade’s mom and as a financial planner. If I could sit across from another parent over a cup of coffee, I would not try to give them a perfect roadmap. There is no perfect roadmap. I would open up a few conversations that may help them feel more prepared, more supported, and able to make thoughtful choices over time. None of us can know exactly what our...

Why Your Plan Needs a Blank Corner

Written by Kim Potgieter on August 26, 2026. Posted in In Hindsight. No Comments on Why Your Plan Needs a Blank Corner

At nearly 92, Kate Turkington has just returned from Tunisia. She is off to Zambia next, and when Mongolia came up in our conversation, her response was immediate: “I’d go! I may be a bit creaky, but I’ll go!” That tells you quite a lot about Kate. She is one of South Africa’s best-known broadcasters and travel writers, and she has spent a lifetime following her curiosity from one opportunity to the next. Her career was never carefully mapped out. As Kate puts it, she has “ricocheted from one thing to another” all her life. Being in Kate’s presence can make the rest of us...

What Is Your Money Helping You Say Yes To?

Written by Kim Potgieter on August 26, 2026. Posted in Midlife Money Reflections. No Comments on What Is Your Money Helping You Say Yes To?

When Kate Turkington was a little girl growing up in England, she was given half a crown pocket money every week. She saved it all. Once a month, she would take the train into London and spend her savings on theatre tickets. Even as a child, Kate understood something that takes many of us years to work out: money has the most meaning when we use it for the things we value. For Kate, that was theatre, learning, curiosity and experience. If you don’t know Kate, she is one of South Africa’s best-known broadcasters and travel writers. Now nearly 92, very little has changed. Kate is...

The money lessons my children remember most

Written by Kim Potgieter on June 17, 2026. Posted in In Hindsight. No Comments on The money lessons my children remember most

Have you ever asked your children what you taught them about money? I asked my three children this question recently, and what they shared was funny, honest, and such a lovely reminder of the people they are becoming. Ryan is my eldest, 33, married, an entrepreneur and a new dad, which still feels quite surreal to say. Josh works in corporate and currently lives in London, far from home but making the most of a wonderful opportunity. Gabi is my youngest and in her third year of engineering at Stellenbosch. She is an artist at heart, and I am excited to see the creative approach she...

When does helping become too much?

Written by Kim Potgieter on June 17, 2026. Posted in Midlife Money Reflections. No Comments on When does helping become too much?

One of the most difficult money conversations many parents face is knowing how long to keep financially supporting their adult children. What begins as help through a difficult chapter can become part of family life. Before long, parents find themselves paying for rent, cars, debt, education fees, or helping adult children through financial challenges they are struggling to manage on their own. Some parents are supporting not just one generation, but several: adult children, grandchildren, and ageing parents. As parents, our instinct is to help, but that support can come at a cost....

What Losing our Parents Teaches us about Death – and Life

Written by Kim Potgieter on May 19, 2026. Posted in In Hindsight. No Comments on What Losing our Parents Teaches us about Death – and Life

The reality of grief in midlife It’s disorientating. Your parents are the people who knew you first. They hold your history and memories, and suddenly they’re no longer there in the same way. You may also be supporting your own children through the grief. In Lorna’s case, her daughter was only 12 years old. You are often trying to hold everyone else together while managing your own sorrow too. Grief cannot be rushed, but midlife often leaves very little space for it. “It’s hard because life just carries on like nothing happened. Work needs your attention, your family is still...

The conversations families need to have before it’s too late

Written by Kim Potgieter on May 19, 2026. Posted in Midlife Money Reflections. No Comments on The conversations families need to have before it’s too late

We spend so much time planning for life that we often avoid planning for death. None of us wants to imagine a future without the people we love most, but avoiding these conversations can leave families carrying confusion, hurt, and conflict at a time they are already grieving. One of the greatest gifts families can give one another is clarity, communication, and peace of mind. A legacy is never just financial; it’s also the emotional experience a family carries after a death. Here are some of the important conversations families should have while they still can. Make sure someone...

Why you feel stuck with money – and what may be causing it

Written by Kim Potgieter on April 21, 2026. Posted in In Hindsight, Midlife Money Reflections. No Comments on Why you feel stuck with money – and what may be causing it

After working with clients for many years, I’ve realised that the stories we tell ourselves about money are often like old songs we play on repeat. It’s almost like a radio station in your head, feeding you the same message over and over again, and most of the time you’re not even aware that it’s there. When your thinking feels scattered Have you ever noticed how your thinking changes when life feels stressful or uncertain? You may find yourself going around in circles, delaying decisions you know you need to make, or avoiding your finances altogether because it feels easier not...

Why a neurologist changed the way she helps people care for their brains

Written by Kim Potgieter on March 31, 2026. Posted in In Hindsight. No Comments on Why a neurologist changed the way she helps people care for their brains

There comes a point when the life you have built no longer fits in the same way. Dr Kirti Ranchod spent years helping patients as a neurologist in private practice. She could explain what needed to change for brain health, but she could also see how difficult that advice was to follow in real life. She treated patients with neurological conditions linked to stress and lifestyle, and she knew that good advice on its own was not enough. People needed support that felt practical, sustainable, and easier to follow. From the outside, her career looked established and successful. But...

Author: Kim Potgieter

When it comes to your money, Be inspired, Be brave, Be on purpose.

When it comes to your money,
Be inspired,
Be brave,
Be on purpose.