how to do your taxes

When I was a kid I used to envy adults. I thought they had the coolest lives with their permed hair and court shoes. I used to promise myself that when I grew up I'd only wear heels, drive a fancy car and eat Froot Loops 24/7.Then I grew up.My dreams of eating Froot Loops were shattered when a bald old dude at Kelloggs decided to pull the plug on it, and I realised that in order to drive a fancy car you have to sell your soul to the devil.I only found out about tax in standard 9, and yet I still didn't realise that it meant that a moerse part of my salary would be taken away to sustain politicians the country.When I got my first paycheck I nearly threw up all over my pumps (turns out courtshoes are kak uncomfortable) when I saw the amount that was deducted for taxes. Then, later that week when I got an envelope from the receptionist, I thought that it was extra money cover the wound the tax deduction had left.It turned out to be a cruel piece of paper that listed my tax deductions. Oh nice hey, throw some salt on my wounds. Thanks.I later found out that it's called a payslip. Huh?I also found out that that little piece of paper lists the amount of days I have freedom, aka leave.Leave was another ball game for me. Coming from Red & Yellow meant that I was used to having fewer and shorter holidays than universities. I thought that I was prepared for the "real world".Hahahahahahaha. I was wrong.I soon found myself getting super jealous and bitchy towards people who had more leave than me.Colleague: I want to go to Thailand for ten days.Me: Die.Then along came Sanlam with their sensible pension and annuity plans.I DON'T WANT TO SPEND MY MONEY ON SENSIBLE THINGS.I WANT TO BUY A BEDAZZLED CAR WITH LEOPARD PRINT CAR SEATS.And so the debit order game started. I don't know why I'm calling it a game, because I always lose. I also found out that if I ever want to buy a bitching car, I have to have a credit record. So I needed to open a clothing account.

To summarise: You need to have debt to buy a car.

Don't even ask me how that works. It still melts my brain.

Growing up is super confusing and I often find myself feeling like a baby in adult clothes.But it's not all bad. Even though the tax man sucks all the happiness from my body like a dementor, I still have some extra tjing tjing to YOLO.So I often buy myself the things I dreamt of as a child. Pink heels, pretty dresses, sweets (they know me by name at Sweets from Heaven) and glitter EVERYTHING.I also bought myself a phone that makes me look super professional even though I use it to take selfies.And have I mentioned that the tax man regurgitates some of your money once a year? Yeah, you can claim some money back. Not a lot, but just enough to stop you from throwing up on SARS' stoep.I'm also fortunate enough to have a job that would make little Anja proud.This whole growing up business is terrifying, yet awesome at the same time.(Until I get my next bill)Follow Women24on Twitter or like us on .

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White, SEC Look At Improving Investor Protection

By Cyril Tuohy

InsuranceNewsNet

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Jo White was sworn into office a year ago and over the past several weeks she's made no secret of her desire to protect the retail investor.

The SEC, White said in a speech to the Consumer Federation of America, plays an advocacy role with regard to retail investors, she said. "Protecting investors underlies everything we do," White said.

To protect investors, the agency sees its role as one of educating investors, enforcing laws designed to protect investors and coming up with new rules governing the duties and behavior of financial advisors and broker/dealers, she said.

In February, for example, the SEC named Rick A. Fleming as the first head of the agency's Office of the Investor Advocate.

Fleming's role is to help retail investors deal with the SEC and self-regulatory organizations, and find areas where investors could benefit from changes to rules and regulations. Between 1996 and 2011, Fleming represented Kansas in proceedings against broker/dealers and financial advisors, and testified before state lawmakers on matters of investor protection.

The SEC has also taken a special interest in educating investors about variable annuities (VAs), in an investor bulletin titled "Variable Annuities-An Introduction," issued in February by the agency's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.

VAs, defined as an "investment product with insurance features," have become more popular among financial advisors seeking higher returns from their client portfolios at a time when interest rates are low, but stock market returns are soaring.

A week before White delivered her talk to the Consumer Federation, the SEC announced charges against brokers and financial advisors in connection with a variable annuities scheme to profit from the imminent death of terminally ill patients in nursing homes and hospice care.

The SEC named seven people and an advisory firm, BDL Manager, as part of a scheme to sell VA contracts from which investors, not the contract holder, could receive death benefit payouts and other credits upon the death of the annuitant.

Settlements are expected to exceed $4.5 million in the case, the SEC said.

White, considered one of the best lawyers in the securities business, has come under some criticism for representing Wall Street executives while she was a securities litigator with the prestigious law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton.

Critics say she's yet another example of the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street, and that she's even used her influence to protect CEOs from prosecution.



In the broader context of protecting retail investors, though, few would question White's resolve as the SEC looks to implement key aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The sweeping law, passed in the wake of the financial crisis, is aimed at protecting Main Street investors by curbing the huge risks that Wall Street seems all too willing to take - often with other people's money.

In the rule-making department, for instance, White announced that uniform fiduciary standards for broker-dealers and investment advisors were "an immediate and high priority," as outlined under Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

"I have made this a priority because it is very important and we need to move forward to a decision," she said.

When advising retail investors, broker/dealers are only required to meet a "suitability" threshold as a standard. Investment advisors are required to meet a fiduciary standard, which is considered a higher standard of care.

Investors, though, often don't know the difference between suitability and a fiduciary standard, much less that such a distinction even exists. Critics of the financial advisory industry point to the conflicts of interest inherent in the lower suitability standards threshold.

Last year, White also announced that the agency was raising the bar on which defendants would be allowed to settle cases "without admitting or denying what they did wrong or admitting to facts that showed that they broke the law."

Known as the "no admit/no deny" settlement protocol, the enforcement strategy has for years allowed the SEC to speed up the return of ill-gotten gains. It has even allowed the SEC to obtain the equivalent or higher penalties through the settlement than if the matter had been brought to court.

But under White, the SEC last summer toughened the no admit/no deny standard. Accused parties are required to admit fault in cases where violations are "particularly egregious," or where many investors were harmed or placed at high risk.

White said the change was necessary to "achieve greater public accountability and bolster the public's confidence in the safety of our markets."

In 2013, the SEC's Enforcement Division obtained orders to return $3.4 billion in penalties, the highest level in the agency's history, the SEC said.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril may be reached at cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.

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Neptune's Mark Martin: Four reasons to buy more mid caps

The UK mid cap sector has done extremely well over the past three years as the UK domestic economy has slowly improved.

Many UK mid-caps sell into the domestic market and have recovered as the latter has too, while there are a number of high-end engineering, technology and industrial stocks which are doing well in globalised industries.

However, some investors worry that it is yesterday's story, and that investors buying into the sector now are paying too much. Performance of indices over 3yrs



FE Alpha Manager Mark Martin, who runs the five FE-crowned Neptune UK Mid Cap fund says they are wrong to be concerned. Here are his top four reasons to believe mid caps are going to continue to make investors a lot of money. M&A activity can make you a lot of money

Martin points out that there has been a large uptick in the amount of mergers and acquisitions in the UK mid cap space, and this looks likely to be a theme of the coming year.

Companies that are taken over are done so at a premium to their market price, giving investors an immediate boost to their returns.

"We are expecting a pickup in M&A, We are seeing it on a fairly regular basis, just recently there was Weir Group talking about tying up with Metso," Martin said.

"We have had a lot of success with M&A in the past [in the fund], eight companies being taken over for a significant premium."

"I think when I look at the fund it's possible that just about every single company could be taken over, although it's never a primary reason to buy a company."

One major reason to expect M&A to pick up is the rise in interest rates that is foreseen for the end of this year or the beginning of the next one.

"In this environment in which we are just starting to see interest rates increase a lot of companies will be thinking that it could be a good time to lock in cheap financing," Martin said.

"If they believe rates will be higher in a year or two they will be wanting to lock in low rates now." It's a way to avoid political risk

Martin has recently opened a position in TalkTalk, and says he wouldn't be surprised to see Vodafone show some interest in it in the future as it looks to enlarge and avoid becoming a target for a larger US firm.

"M&A is a speculative reason to hold mid-caps, but an interesting area for me is political risk, which is on the increase," Martin said.

"The general election is coming up and Ed Miliband has been talking about utility companies, while we have seen what has happened to life insurance companies recently." Performance of sector and market since Budget

Martin is referring to the reforms announced to pensions last month in the budget, which are widely expected to see a massive reduction in the number of savers purchasing annuities.

Although FTSE 250 company Just Retirement was among the companies hit by the news, Martin admits, most of the pain was felt by the large cap life insurers which have become a popular way for managers to get financial exposure in a world with dodgy UK retail banks.



"Political risk in the mid caps and the small caps is less than in the FTSE 100," he said.

In fact, the political pressure is behind some of the sectors in which the mid-cap sector is strong, Martin adds.

"The wider sector, the make up of the 250, you have lots of housebuilders who have been getting political help, industrial engineering companies and high tech exporters," he said. The UK economy is genuinely improving - and outside London too

"The government is quite keen, particularly Vince Cable, on incentivising exporters and talking up the importance of exporters to the UK."

Martin cites the "patent box" policy, which seeks to encourage companies to develop and produce ideas in the UK. The scheme sees companies pay a lower rate of tax on patented inventions. Qinetiq, the defence company, and Vectura are two stocks he owns which he says are set up to benefit from this.

"What we are seeing in the market isn't a distortion of reality, it reflects the fact that economic outlook right now in the UK is really quite exciting," Martin said.

"It has been a really long, slow recovery from the 2008/2009 downturn, but we are just starting to see signs the recovery is taking root and that the recovery is starting to extend geographically, not just in London and the South-East."

Martin says that he has been buying baker Greggs, which does a large part of its business in the Midlands and the north East. Performance of stock vs index over 2yrs



"It's an interesting self-help story," he said. "They have been closing down underperforming stores."

"They are also geared to the economic recovery in the construction sector because of the demographics of the people who go to Greggs."

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