WEALTH WATCH
STEPHEN CRANSTON: Unisa survey marks true financial state
SOMETIMES it is important to get back to basics and to remember how fragile material prosperity can be.The Momentum Unisa Household Financial Wellness survey obviously ties with the theme of Momentum’s marketing. The life and investments juggernaut was there to create financial wellness, we are told. But this survey, conducted by Unisa’s Bureau of Market Research, is very useful as it does not divide the population by income or even by living standards measures but into four categories: financially well, exposed, unstable and distressed.Unisa’s Prof Carel van Aardt tells me that the categories cut across factors such as income and the urban-rural divide. An urban, white-collar worker on, say, R750,000 a year, could be in the distressed category if he cannot service his debt and is going through a debt spiral as he gets out a new credit card to pay back other debts. Equally, a rural woman on R5,000 a month who is good at budgeting and manages to save steadily could end up in the fina...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.