Save by paying extra taxes

Andre Willers

1 Feb 2014

Hi

Things are getting a bit hairy.
Overpaying on future obligations is very safe .

In South Africa

You can get a guaranteed 4.5% from SARS . 

Better than most saving accounts .

State backed .

 Can you think of a better guardian ?

Of course , they can change it any time . But so can the banks .

And notice the lack of fees .

See http://www.sars.gov.za/AllDocs/LegalDoclib/Rates/LAPD-Pub-IRT-2012-02%20-%20Interest%20Rate%20Table%202.pdf

Overpaying on taxes was not exactly my idea of saving , but that's the way the numbers go .

If everything is going pearshaped , saving with SARS might be the safest .

Go figure !

Andre

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PS

This guy below was not so fortunate .

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See http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-31/why-harvard-economist-pulling-all-his-money-bank-america

But if Bank of America is not safe, you must be wondering, where can you and I put our money? No path is without risk, but here are a few options.

1. Keep some cash at home, though admittedly this runs the risk of loss or setting yourself up as a target for criminals.
2. Put some cash in a safety box. There is an urban myth that this is illegal; my understanding is that cash in a safety box is legal. However, I can imagine scenarios where capital controls are placed on safety deposit box withdrawals. And suppose the bank is shut down and you can’t get to the box?
3. Pay your debts. You don’t need to be Suze Orman to know that you need liquidity, so do not use all your cash to pay debts. However, you can use some surplus, should you have any.
4. Prepay your taxes and some other obligations. Subject to the same caveat about liquidity, pay ahead. Make sure you only pay safe entities. Your local government is not going away, even in a depression, so, for example, you can prepay property taxes. (I would check with a tax accountant on the implications, however.)
5. Find a safer bank. Some local, smaller banks are much safer than the “too-big-to-fail banks.” After its mistake of letting Lehman fail, the government has learned that it must try to save giant institutions. However, the government may not be able to save all failing institutions immediately and simultaneously in a crisis. Thus, depositors in big banks face delays and defaults in the event of a true crisis. (It is important to find the right small bank; I believe all big banks are fragile, while some small banks are robust.)

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