Financially unprepared: The unintended burden of inheritance:
As a financial planner, I’ve seen clients struggle with the responsibilities that come with inheritance. Often, beneficiaries are unprepared, lacking what I call “financial maturity” – the understanding and experience needed to manage inherited wealth effectively. Financial maturity means understanding the value of money, making informed decisions and feeling comfortable with financial responsibilities.
Emotional complexities of inheritance
Inheritance can come with emotional baggage. Some clients receive money from relatives with whom they had strained relationships, leading to feelings of guilt or reckless spending. Younger beneficiaries, in particular, may feel disconnected from the inheritance, viewing it as not truly theirs. This emotional complexity can significantly impact how they handle the money.
Importance of financial maturity
The biggest burden arises when the inheritor lacks financial maturity. For instance, I’ve encountered spouses overwhelmed by financial management after the death of their partner, simply because they were never involved in the financial planning. This fear and anxiety can persist even when significant funds are available, leading to a life lived in unnecessary scarcity.
Financial maturity is crucial when one partner has always controlled the finances. On their passing, the surviving spouse can feel overwhelmed and anxious about managing the money. This scenario is all too common and highlights the need for both partners to be involved in financial planning. Without this involvement, the remaining partner may live in fear and scarcity, despite having adequate funds.
Strategies for leaving a legacy without burden
1. Open communication
Discussing financial plans with your spouse and beneficiaries ensures they understand the purpose of the inheritance and are prepared to manage it. No matter how uncomfortable, these conversations can prevent future financial difficulties.
2. Involve loved ones in planning
Regularly involve your spouse in financial decisions and planning to build their confidence and knowledge. This shared responsibility ensures that both partners are prepared for any eventuality.
3. Educate and prepare children
Share your will and estate plan with your children. Allow them to ask questions and understand your intentions to prevent future mismanagement of funds. Involving them early helps build their financial maturity and ensures they are ready to handle the inheritance responsibly.
4. Address emotional complexities
Acknowledge the emotional aspects of inheritance and provide support to help beneficiaries deal with these feelings. This can prevent emotional decisions that might negatively impact their financial future.
Inheriting should be seen as a gift and a legacy to be honoured, not a burden. Proper preparation and communication can empower beneficiaries to manage their inheritance confidently, turning potential burdens into lasting legacies. By fostering financial maturity and involving loved ones in financial planning, you can ensure that your legacy is managed wisely and fulfils your intentions.
Ultimately, the best way to honour the legacy of a loved one is by being prepared and empowered to manage the inheritance with confidence. This approach transforms potential burdens into lasting legacies, ensuring the inheritance serves its intended purpose and supports the beneficiaries’ financial well-being. For more information, visit www.charteredwealth.co.za.
Upgrade your TV to watch the shows you desire:
The Xiaomi TV Box S (2nd Gen) and Xiaomi TV Stick are versatile, safe and won’t break your bank
Are you looking forward to watching the Paris Olympics, but you’re worried that your old TV won’t be able to stream this and other eye-popping events? The Xiaomi TV Box S (2nd Gen) and the Xiaomi TV Stick are the best buys for all your streaming needs — using them, you can upgrade your old television and stream all your favourite shows, events, music and more — all with complete confidence.
The Xiaomi TV Box S (2nd Gen) has tons of supported apps, including: YouTube, Amazon Prime, Showmax, Netflix, Disney+, Spotify and many more. The Xiaomi TV Stick comes pre-installed with Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Google Play Store, Google Play Music and Google Play Games. Use Google Play Store to download your favourite streaming and gaming apps and stay entertained for hours. And you can seamlessly integrate these devices into your smart home.
Both of these Xiaomi devices are ideal for when your smart or legacy TVs start showing signs of slow performance as they age, but you can’t afford to upgrade right now. For a fraction of the cost, you can gain support for the latest streaming apps, a host of great features such as voice control and the functionality you require as technology advances.
When you buy either of these products, you can rest assured that they will not lose their Google certification, which ensures they are secure and ready to run Android apps from Google and the Play Store. Devices that aren’t Play Protect certified may not be secure, and may not get system and app updates. Some cheap boxes out there on the market not only battle to stream properly, they also have “back doors” that may steal your data and allow you to be hacked.
Which device is better for you? It all depends on your needs. The Xiaomi TV Box S (2nd Gen) is 4k supported, is generally fixed in your entertainment area near your TV, and features multiple ports and enhanced features. It comes at a slightly higher price than the Xiaomi TV Stick. South Africans have high consumer confidence in the Xiaomi TV Box S (2nd Gen), which has a 4.8 average rating on Takealot after 2 170 reviews.
The Xiaomi TV Stick is much smaller, so it’s more discrete and great for setups that have limited space. The other advantage is that it’s lightweight, so when you’re travelling, you don’t need to log in to your accounts — just plug straight into the HDMI port and power socket and play.
The Xiaomi TV Box S (2nd Gen) sells for R1 299, and the Xiaomi TV Stick Media Player for just R949.
Available at:
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IIA South Africa wins bid to host AFIIA Week 2026:
AFIIA was created in May 2009 to provide a unified voice of the members of the African continent on common issues, to collaborate in a manner which will best serve the interest of all African IIA members, and to promote and develop an effective internal audit profession supported by strong, recognised institutes.
The mission of AFIIA is to promote the internal audit profession in Africa by building relationships with relevant stakeholders, providing platforms for collaboration, providing support to member institutes and assist in ensuring the growth of the local institutes in each of the African countries. The key objectives of AFIIA are:
- To assist in the development of strong, well-recognised and self-sufficient institutes, under the IIA banner, in each of the countries on the continent.
- To promote internal audit to be recognised as an indispensable profession by key stakeholders on the continent.
- To facilitate collaboration and joint projects among member institutes that would benefit all African IIA institutes.
- To ensure the long-term sustainability of AFIIA.
The events of AFIIA Week play a pivotal role in shaping the future of internal audit on the African continent and on a global scale. Every year, an IIA affiliate in Africa hosts AFIIA week and this year was hosted by IIA Tanzania. Accordingly, the 10 African Federation of Institutes of Internal Auditors (AFIIA) conference was hosted from 15 to 19 April 2024 at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) in Tanzania. Themed: “Beyond Boundaries, Make the Difference”, the conference was attended by more than 1 000 internal audit leaders and professionals representing 27 countries across Africa and from various other parts of the world.
The main conference was preceded by the two-day AFIIA Governance Forum attended by over 800 internal audit leaders from all parts of the Africa region: concurrently with the AFIIA university/workshop two-day programme. On the day before the Governance Forum, the leaders meeting was also hosted by a large delegation from the IIA Global Affiliate Relations team and IIA Board of Directors with AFIIA leaders, including presidents (chairpersons), board members and CEOs, to discuss key topics of interest and hear feedback on the IIA Global Strategy.
The AFIIA Week events 2024 were inaugurated by the Honourable Saada Mkuya Salum – Minister of Finance in Zanzibar. The 10 AFIIA conference was officiated by His Excellence Vice-President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr Phillip Isidor Mpango. The AFIIA Week Events 2024 were graced by several renowned speakers including Sally Anne Pitt, Chairman of the IIA Global; Anthony Pugliese, CEO and President of the IIA Global; Prof PLO Lumumba; Abdulqader Obaid Ali, UAE IAA Board Chairman; Prof Mohamed Janabi, Executive Director, Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania, and many others.
The IIA South Africa (IIA SA) delegation included Tshepo Mofokeng, IIA SA Board Chair; James J Gourrah, IIA SA Past Chair and AFIIA Governing Council Member – Large Affiliates, South Africa; Arlene-Lynn Volmink, IIA SA CEO; and Henriette Kido, IIA Namibia Governor.
Following the 2024 conference closing, an AGM of the members was led by the AFIIA Governing Council (GC). The proceedings were chaired by AFIIA Chairperson, Ruth-Doreen Mutebe.
In pursuit of its mission and objectives, AFIIA Week 2024 proved to be successful, with Mutebe commenting that it was a demonstration of the powerful unity that the community possesses as an internal audit fraternity.
As part of the AFIIA AGM, it was announced that the bid to host the AFIIA conference week for 2026 was awarded to IIA South Africa. Volmink stated: “This is a significant achievement and will be the first time that South Africa has been afforded the opportunity to host the AFIIA week in AFIIA’s 10-year history of hosting this series of events. We understand that the planning will take a tremendous effort on an international scale, and we are both delighted and ready. We will lean on the successes and lessons of our long history of hosting large successful conference events, and trust in the support and leverage of key relationships and business partners across South Africa. We humbly request for members’ support and collaboration as we work together to make this momentous occasion a resounding success to catapult the amazing potential and opportunities of Africa and for Africa across the continent into the world.”
For more information on what transpired during the AFIIA Week Events 2024 in Arusha, Tanzania, please see event photos at: https://iiatanzania.or.tz/gallery/afiia-2024-pictures.
The AFIIA Week Events 2025 will be held in May 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda.
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