CAPITAL SEASONS · LYDIA’S JOURNEY · LESSON 1
From Careful and Stuck…
to Careful and Growing.
Last week I told you about a woman who runs her own business. She had been saving diligently for years — doing everything right. Then she discovered that high annual investment fees had quietly eaten into her returns for years.
Nobody had explained it to her. Not her bank. Not her advisor. Nobody.
She is not alone. And if you read that story and felt a flicker of recognition — this lesson is for you.
“I’ve always tried to be responsible — saving here and there — but it feels like I’ve been walking on a treadmill rather than moving forward. The effort is there, but the progress doesn’t match.”
That feeling has a name. And more importantly, it has a reason — and a solution.
The treadmill problem
Saving and growing are not the same thing.
Saving means putting money aside and keeping it safe. It is essential. It is the foundation. But if your savings are sitting in a bank account earning 4% interest while inflation runs at 5%, you are losing purchasing power every single year — even though your balance looks fine.
| A simple example: You save R100,000 in a bank account at 4% interest. After one year you have R104,000. But inflation was 5.5%. The things you could buy for R100,000 last year now cost R105,500. You have more rands — but less buying power. That is the treadmill. |
Growing means putting your money to work in assets that, over time, outpace inflation. Shares. ETFs. A Tax-Free Savings Account invested in an index fund. These are not complicated. They are just not what banks talk about when you walk through the door.
The silent leak: fees
This is the part nobody explains — and it may be the most important thing in this lesson.
Every investment product has a cost. Some costs are visible. Most are not. They come off your return before you ever see it, which means you never notice them — until years later, when you compare what you have to what you could have had.
| Fee type | Typical range (SA) | What it means |
| Annual fee | 1.5% – 2.5% on a unit trust | Silent. Taken before you see it. |
| TER (Total Expense Ratio) | 0.1% – 0.5% on a low-cost ETF | The true cost of running the fund. |
| Brokerage fee | 0.25% per trade (e.g. EasyEquities) | Charged when you buy or sell. |
| Platform fee | R0 – R50/month depending on size | What the account provider charges. |
| Advisor fee | 0.5% – 1% of your portfolio p.a. | Ongoing, even if nothing changes. |
The difference between paying 2% per year and 0.25% per year sounds small. Over 20 years on a R200,000 investment, it can mean the difference of hundreds of thousands of rands in your final balance.
What to do: Ask any advisor or platform for their Total Expense Ratio (TER). This is the true all-in cost of an investment product. A low-cost ETF on EasyEquities or Satrix typically has a TER of 0.1% to 0.5%. A traditional unit trust via a bank can easily be 1.5% to 2.5% — or more.
Your first small, sensible step
You do not need a large sum to start. You do not need to understand every market concept. You need one account, one product, and one small habit.
Here is what that looks like for someone starting from where you are:
| Step 1 — Open a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) Every South African gets one. You can invest up to R46,000 per year (from 1 March 2026), up to a lifetime limit of R500,000. All returns — dividends, interest, capital growth — are completely tax-free. Forever. Step 2 — Choose a low-cost platform EasyEquities, Satrix, 10X, and Sygnia all offer low-cost TFSA accounts with no minimum balance requirements. You can start with R500 a month. The fees are low and the process is straightforward. Step 3 — Choose one simple ETF An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a basket of shares in one affordable product. A JSE Top 40 ETF, for example, gives you a small slice of the 40 largest companies in South Africa in one purchase. You do not pick individual companies. You buy the basket. It is simple, low-cost, and diversified. |
You do not need to be perfect. You need to start.
Are you in a Winter, Lydia?
You asked me that question — and it stopped me, because you arrived at it yourself.
The Capital Seasons framework uses seasons as a way of reading where the market is — and where you are. Winter is not a disaster. It is a rest. A time when the ground looks bare but the roots are doing important work underground.
Most people who feel stuck with money are not in trouble. They are in a financial Winter — careful, protective, but not yet growing. And the shift from Winter to Spring does not require a perfect moment or a large sum. It requires a decision.
“There must be a more grounded way to do this. One that fits someone like me.”
There is. And you are already on it.
The first green shoots of Spring are not dramatic. They are small and deliberate. One account opened. One ETF purchased. One month’s contribution made — and then another.
That is how a financial Winter ends. Not with a headline. With a small, quiet decision to grow.
| Before the next lesson — one question to sit with: Do you know what fees you are currently paying on any savings or investment products you hold? If the answer is no — that is your starting point. Ask for it in writing. |
Capital Seasons · capitalseasons.co.za · Lesson 1 of Lydia’s Journey
This lesson is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Careful and Stuck — The Money Trap Nobody Warns You About