Some years ago I invested my extra cash in some high yield investment plans. Needless many of them failed. In my opinion two of them were forced to fail because they became a too big thread to the big banks and in South Africa the banks’ monopoly are protected by the bank law.

So after loosing close to a million in some of these ventures I decided to look for a more secure option. I’ve been investing with Satrix for about 2 years now and my returns are very good. Satrix is wonderful because their fees are very low, almost nothing compared to unit trust and even direct share investments. With Satrix you do not need a broker, you can register directly and you can even do it online.

You can find them at http://www.satrix.co.za/

I pasted the contents of this month’s Satrix newsletter below:

SATRIX INVESTMENT PLAN CLIENT LETTER – APRIL 2011
EVENTS OF Q1 2011
The first quarter of 2011 was an eventful and volatile period, with the popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle
East and the deadly earthquake and tsunami that battered Japan. When events like this occur, they inevitably have a
negative impact on the investment markets and the global economy. Despite the aforesaid impact, over the one year
period to 31 March 2011 the JSE All Share Index (ALSI), commonly referred to as “the market”, produced a 15% return
in Rand terms. Over five years to 31 March 2011 the ALSI delivered a solid 81%. From its daily low of 18,121 during
the midst of the financial crisis in March 2009, the ALSI found its way back up to a level of 32 204 on 31 March 2011.
This level is close to the ALSI’s all time high in May 2008 of 32 959. Read more »

The BMT Smile

I remember not long after I started with BMT a lady asked me how much I was earning with BMT. That is one of the most difficult questions to answer when you just start with a new business. You do not want to lie to your potential client, but if you tell them what you are earning they might not sign up.

So I answered her with “About R280 per month, but you know what, this is just the beginning, BMT are going to do well and soon we will earn much more”

She never signed up.

I wonder what she would say if she sees this month’s earnings.

I think most of the existing members will know that last month Arnfried re-activated lots of accounts since they were commission earners but did not realise it. He also implemented the depth builder strategy and I gave him permission to apply that to my downline as well.

The result……. Read more »

Earlier this year I stopped selling my eBook on “How to make money on the Internet” because the constant inflow of emails kept me too busy. Now I get a constant inflow of people who ask for help and where they can get some more information.

It break my heart to see how many desperately need help. Over the past 4 months I gave away many copies of my eBook.

So I decided to put it back on the market as I can see people desperately need the information in my book.

I did not only put it back in the market, I even lowered the price dramatically so that more people can afford it.

my eBook is now only R80.00 and you can buy it directly on this web site at http://pietpetoors.com/blog/my-products/

PLEASE NOTE: I use PayFast as payment processor and PayFast does have an EFT option, so please do not email me asking me for my banking details  because you do not want to use your credit card on the Internet, You can go through the whole process with PayFast and then just select the EFT option.

Received this by email

S.A Government makes huge profits from crime.

Question: “What is the influence of crime on the S.A. Govt?”

Answer: Crime generates millions and millions of Rand’s for the SA Government Here are the facts….

Example 1: Take just one million home owners in Gauteng who pay for “armed crime reaction” (not crime prevention) where private security companies react AFTER the crime has taken place – no wonder they never make any arrests!

This service costs on average R250 p.m.

Therefore 1,000,000 x R240.00 x 12 months x 14% VAT, generates R403 million in tax revenue for the SA Govt!…. Read more »

After yesterday’s budget speech the whole South Africa is talking Budget today.

It is sad to say that although the ANC have this vision of jobs and riches for everybody they managed to push SOuth Africa up the ladder to one of the countries with the highest unemployment rate in the world. After 16 years of ANC rule most people are worst off financially than with the previous government.

I see one of Mr Gordhan’s main concerns are job creation. They think they can flash money around and create jobs with money.

I wonder if Mr Gordhan realise that his employer created such ridiculous labour laws that is is very hard for employers to hire or fire anybody. Because of this (an minimum wages) it just makes sense for a business to have as little employees as possible and use automation as far as possible. So where the government thought they will force businesses to pay people more and not fire them so easily, all they did was to put millions of people out of jobs.

Read more »

South Africa’s politics is probably in the worst state it has been in history. We are ruled by a bunch of greedy clowns who’s only concern is to line their pockets with gold at the cost of their own people. That might not be news to Africa, it is very much Mugabe style.

I received the article below which was written by former Pres. Mbeki’s brother Moeletsi Mbeki. I always wonder why our country can’t be run by wise men like him. Why must we have a guy who was charged with rape and fraud in charge of our lovely country?

If you read the article below it makes you think that there might be a sparkle of light somewhere in the tunnel.

It all boils down to “If you give a man fish, you feed hom for a day, if you teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”. I agree with Mr Mbeki that this whole BEE and affirmative action idea created a lazy society who feel that they are entitled to everything without having to think or work.

I can predict when SA’s “Tunisia Day” will arrive. Tunisia Day is when the masses rise against the powers that be, as happened recently in Tunisia. The year will be 2020, give or take a couple of years. The year 2020 is when China estimates that its current minerals-intensive industrialisation phase will be concluded.

Moeletsi Mbeki

For SA, this will mean the African National Congress (ANC) government will have to cut back on social grants, which it uses to placate the black poor and to get their votes. China’s current industrialisation phase has forced up the prices of SA’s minerals, which has enabled the government to finance social welfare programmes.

The ANC inherited a flawed, complex society it barely understood; its tinkerings with it are turning it into an explosive cocktail. The ANC leaders are like a group of children playing with a hand grenade. One day one of them will figure out how to pull out the pin and everyone will be killed.

A famous African liberation movement, the National Liberation Front of Algeria, after tinkering for 30 years, pulled the grenade pin by cancelling an election in 1991 that was won by the opposition Islamic Salvation Front. In the civil war that ensued, 200000 people were killed. … Read more »

Most of my regular readers noticed that my last post was on 8 November 2010 and that was where I said I will stop selling my eBook

I received numerous requests for my eBook and some concerned readers asked why I stopped posting on my blog.

The reason is that I decided to take some time off. To rethink the whole work from home concept.

I received many emails asking if it is possible to earn money online or if it is just a pie in the sky concept.
I received many emails of people who desperately need an income. I think it is mostly these emails that made me decide to stop selling my eBook. There are people in great need out there and I cannot supply them with a quick solution.

You see, that is it with everything I do, it makes me money but it takes time to get there. Unfortunately 99% of the people wait until they are in trouble before they start looking for a way to make money. They then look for the quick fix and that is the BIGGEST mistake you can ever make.

The moment you become a quick fix seeker you become vulnerable to all scams and empty promises. Besides getting ripped of you sometimes also loose out on good opportunities because you are looking for a quick fix. Sometimes you subscribe to a very good opportunity, but you are a quick fix seeker and because you do not see results within a month or to you quit. You become a quitter. Unfortunately many quitters also bad mouth the opportunity which did not bring them instant riches.

The biggest problem with all of this is because people wait until it is too late. While they are earning an income they do not even think about starting something on the sideline for in case something happens to their salary. They just go along, happy in their comfort zone until the day the brown stuff hit the fan. But before that they just go with the flow, like dead fish.

LESSON  – DO NOT wait until it is too late. Start something NOW, whether you need the money or not.

The next question I often receive is “Is this stuff really working?”

Well the answer to above question depends 100% on yourself…. Read more »

Many people would like to know what is the latest on ShareMax. Below is the latest statement i received from the board of Sharemax directors:

Statement from the board of directors of the companies in the Sharemax promoted portfolio of companies.

The board of the Sharemax related companies currently operating under the directive of the South African Reserve Bank (the SARB), is pleased to announce that good progress is being made with the proposed Schemes of Arrangement Process. The board remains convinced that this Process provides the best solution and protection to investors and other interested parties.

In previous press releases the board reported that the relationships between the various entities related to the Sharemax promoted portfolio of companies (the companies), are complex and in some instances uncertain. Due to these complexities, the board has decided to propose Schemes of Arrangement in respect of the companies, in order to restructure the financial affairs of the companies to the best benefit of investors and other interested parties (“the Schemes”).

A likely alternative to the proposal of the Schemes may be the liquidation of some or all of the companies, which will inevitably result in significant losses to investors and other interested parties. It is commonly known that a liquidation process has no result, other than causing substantial losses, as a result of the very process of liquidation, and the forced sale scenarios, inevitably associated with a liquidation process… Read more »

There is huge debate on Passive vs Active managed share portfolios.

While the general tren of a share might be upwards, it has the uos and downs along the way.

The Passive trader buys shares and leave it to ride the wave. The active trader tries to predict when the price will go up or when it will go down and then “Buy low and sell hig” There are people making millions selling your software which they claim can predict on your behalf when the price will be high or low.

Besides the risk of making the wrong prediction and buying or selling at the wrong time, another huge disadvantage of an active managed fund is the high cost.

With a Passive managed fund the cost is often much lower. In South Africa we have the Satrix Fund which is a Passive managed fund and the cost of this fund is very low.

I paste an excerpt of the last newsletter I received from them which explains more about Passive and Active managed funds:

LOOK MOM, NO ACTIVE MANAGEMENT…

To many investors passive investing implies average returns. An index that is a proxy for the market will deliver the
average return of the market. However, the majority of active managers underperform the market after costs so getting
the market average is in fact above average performance. Secondly, not all indices are equal; some indices are
designed to outperform the market or sector of the market… Read more »

Not now!

If you look at the comments below you will see that there are lots of people who are not happy with DTN. Unfortunately I must agree with some of the comments. The program and the rules keep on changing. They do not keep to promises. Even if they sort out their mess I doubt that I will get involved again. I prefer a simple and affordable business. So for now I would flag DTN as a “Not now”

So many people asked me about the Dynamic Travel Network that I decided to investigate.

My view about DTN 6 months ago was:

Dynamic Travel Network is an exciting new MLM business created by one of the most experienced network marketers in the country. Stefan Pienaar has been part of many MLM businesses in the country, and internationally. He did not only join them, but also became one of the top earners in some of these MLM companies………

Sorry, I was wrong, my latest view is that you should stay away

How to be Happy

Times are tough! All over the Internet I read how companies close down, how people loose their jobs and how people suffer to stay ahead of things.

How do one cope with this? Its been 10 years since I last worked for a boss, so I can really not think how it must feel if you all of the sudden loose your job. But I can just imagine that it must be a fearful moment.

How to you cope? How to you keep your head high?

I do not know either, BUT I can suggest that you read a little eBook which will surely help.  I hope that by telling you to read the eBook “How to be Happy” that it will help you to get hope and to stay focused on your goals.

I received this eBook from a friend two weeks ago and it meant so much to me that I  decided that I will go out of my way to get as much people as possible to read it.  I think that every person on this planet should read this eBook and apply its principles. It will make the world a better place and it will certainly make all of us happier, friendlier and more helpful human beings.

What I also like about this eBook is that it is not selling anything. So many times you get a so called free eBook just to find that it is a marketing tool that is promoting something, well, this eBook is not that.

You can find it at http://www.howtobehappy.org or Click Here to download it directly

and make sure YOU ACTUALLY READ it

I would like to add an excerpt of page 39 and 40. I think lots of people today suffer with the problem of using outside things to try and keep us happy.: Read more »