However you decide to handle your money, having a wide-ranging frame of reference will help you define and refine your investment strategy. Here is a selection of useful platforms, podcasts, mailers and channels that can provide insight and entertainment in the finance space.
For a wholesome start to the day
For daily updates on top financial stories (including a very handy “term of the day”), sign up to Investopedia mailers.
Designed for digesting on the go, these five-minute daily updates by the excellent Finimize app will get you up to speed ASAP.
And Morning Brew makes reading the daily news fun, with some GIFs thrown into the mix.
For local disruptive thinking
BankerX is a SA-based tech-focused platform that presents alternative strategies to career development, financial education, and access to capital. Conversational blog posts cover everything from tax tips for small businesses to the benefits of ETFs.
For life-changing tactics
A must for self-starters and entrepreneurs, The Tim Ferriss Show regularly ranks in the world’s top business podcasts, and has now surpassed 600 million downloads. Ferris, who also happens to be the author of bestselling The 4-Hour Workweek, has been dubbed the “Oprah of audio” due to his wide-ranging influence and appeal. In this podcast, he looks at world-class performers in investing, sports, business, art and more, and shares their tactics, tools, time-management tricks and more.
For economics in understandable terms
Hosted by economist and Stanford research fellow Russell Roberts, EconTalk is a long-running podcast with over 600 episodes on markets, history, culture and more. It features a wide range of guests who can talk about big ideas in accessible ways.
For accessible personal-finance content
Financial Feminist is Apple and Spotify’s #1 business podcast, hosted by money expert Tori Dunlap. She provides resources on how to get, save, and grow money to gain financial freedom, covering topics such as financial self care and sustainable investing – all while dismantling the patriarchy.
The Balance is home to more than 50 qualified experts who write in a straightforward way on investing, home ownership, saving for retirement, managing credit and more. While some of it is U.S. specific, much of the 9 000 pieces of content is applicable to anyone with a financial goal – whatever it may be.
For powerful (and shareable) infographics
Statista on Instagram covers everything from tech to industry data to pop-culture trivia, aiming to drive your daily business decisions with facts from over 150 countries.
For a staple diet of finance news
For excellent general coverage there’s Bloomberg, Forbes and The Economist, and SA-based Business Insiderdelivers a (sometimes clickbaity) snapshot of top local business, tech and money news.
Finally, for a long read (or listen)
This popular personal finance book by South African Sam Beckbessinger, Manage Your Money Like A F*cking Grownup, tells it to you straight in an entertaining and irreverent read that will change the way you see money, and your relationship with it.
But, if you’re after a more traditional but very comprehensive book, Warren Ingram's How to Make Your First Million details how various successful people have made money in their own unique way. There is also an audible version that you can listen to while doing the other things in your mission to get the world.