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Author: Kim Potgieter

It’s Not Too Late to Build Your Retirement in Your 50s

Do you ever find yourself doing quiet mental calculations about your future? Adding up what you’ve saved. Estimating how many working years may still lie ahead. Wondering whether you started soon enough and what retirement will really mean for you. In your 50s, retirement is no longer a distant idea. It’s a date on the calendar. And when you look at your retirement investments, they may not quite match the life you imagined. It’s a familiar story. For years, contributions were something to increase “later”. Once school fees were done, university was paid for, and life felt less...

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If you don’t plan your life, someone else will

And the same is true for your money Here I am with my daughter Gabi and my vision board. I’m so excited to gift you my new Vision & Money Journal, so you can design your year with intention. Every year, I ask myself the same slightly uncomfortable question: Am I living my ideal life? Or am I living a life shaped by other people’s expectations? I was talking about this recently on the Life Chapters, Money Choices podcast with Michael Avery. We were discussing vision boards and why I take them so seriously. Because this question sits at the heart of it. “If you...

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Kim Potgieter gazing into the distance smiling

Four Money Questions Worth Asking Right Now

“Don’t leave your life to chance – you’ll end up living a life someone else plans for you.” That’s a reminder I come back to often, especially at the start of a new year. It’s a good time to pause and ask yourself a simple but important question: Are you still writing the life and money story you want to live? These four questions are an invitation to reflect, to notice what’s changed, and to consider whether your money is still supporting the life you want going forward. 1. Is my money still aligned with the life I want to live? Life changes us. What mattered to you ten...

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Always Under Construction

The foundations I trusted shifted. Plans I held for years suddenly didn’t fit anymore. And parts of my life — marriage, work, and family rhythms — all needed reinforcing, rethinking, and rebuilding. But the cracks taught me something unexpected:Life can hold the hardest and happiest moments at the same time — and we can hold both. Unexpected Detours While I’m still adjusting to life as an empty nester, this year also brought a new role as Managing Director at Chartered. It asked me to move from focusing on my own career to creating space for my team to flourish in theirs. It...

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When you don’t have enough at 50 to retire

Midlife is often the moment we start connecting who we’ve been with who we’re becoming. It’s a time to draw on your wisdom, experience, and courage to recalibrate your money with what brings you meaning. Defining what “enough” means to you I always tell clients that enough is not a number. Enough is when your life and money are aligned with your biggest dreams, your vision for the future, and your idea of what a fulfilling and meaningful life looks like. Every person’s definition of enough is unique. Lynda Smith’s story reminds us of this beautifully. At fifty, she didn’t have...

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From “Not Enough” at 50 to Freedom at 70

So Lynda set herself a new goal: to keep working and earning until seventy. She needed to give her investments time to grow – and to create income that was both sustainable and fulfilling. Today, almost twenty years later – with just fourteen months to go – Lynda can look back and see how that one decision changed everything. It secured her financial future and allowed her to build something extraordinary. Lynda founded 50Plus-Skills, a vibrant community helping people across South Africa shape meaningful pathways into their next chapter – earning, serving, and learning together. A...

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Talking to your children about money: Lessons worth sharing

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the wisdom to see money for what it truly is: a tool, not a measure of worth. Teenagers and young adults often view money as a ticket to independence, but without guidance, that independence can quickly turn into a cycle of debt, stress, and missed opportunities. Teach them to live within their means It’s easy to get carried away with a first paycheque: new clothes, nights out, gadgets. But overspending builds a lifestyle on debt. Encourage your children to track their spending and stick to a realistic budget. Saving with a goal...

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Money is the Fuel, Purpose is the Map

Money lessons from watching his parents lose everything Michael grew up in a home where money meant survival. He remembers his mother counting every cent, stretching groceries to the end of the month, and sometimes relying on the church to cover gaps. “The message was clear: money isn’t just numbers on a bank statement. It’s the difference between dignity and dependence. It made me hyper-aware, from a young age, of both the fragility and the power of money.” His father, a talented mechanic who once worked on Jody Scheckter’s Renault R8 Gordini, lost everything, including his...

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“Me first” also means “Paying yourself first”

This principle is as much about mindset as it is about money. In this month’s client story, Cheryl Jones speaks about her popular Me First talk – a reminder that you can only truly help others if you’ve taken care of yourself first. Financially, it’s exactly the same. The stronger your own foundation, the more capacity you have to support the people and causes you care about. What “Paying yourself first” really means The idea behind “paying yourself first” is simple: before you pay bills, make purchases, or help others, set aside a portion of your income for your savings and...

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Redefining success and purpose at 56

Cheryl had already achieved so much. She’d built a successful wellness business, travelled the world learning from top nutrition experts, and inspired hundreds of clients to take better care of their health. But in midlife, Cheryl felt a nudge she couldn’t ignore. There was more she wanted to learn, more impact she wanted to make – and it meant stepping into an entirely new space. “It’s now or never. Why not me? Why not now?” That one question became the turning point. The nudge to recalibrate Cheryl’s work had always been about helping people live healthier, more...

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