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SIMON BROWN: I’m chatting with Dr Thomas Brennan, founder and CEO at Franc. Thomas, appreciate the time today. Your Franc Wealth Index report 2026 just came out. Give us some of the details around the report before we dig into some of the findings.
DR THOMAS BRENNAN: Simon, thanks very much. We thought it really important to get a measure of where financial well-being is at in the country. We were able to survey nearly 4 000 individuals, and we measured financial well-being in a very holistic way.
So we covered just the basics – obviously resilience like emergency savings, what you’re doing with your money, what is your investing behaviour, and lastly your mindset. How are you feeling? How confident are you? Are you planning for the future?
It is the largest survey done in South Africa which we are very proud of. Obviously we want to continue going forward to look at some of the longitudinal trends that we hopefully can see – about which behaviours are driving financial well-being in the country.
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SIMON BROWN: I read through it and there’s a bunch I want to touch on. For you, what would be a key finding that came out of the report?
DR THOMAS BRENNAN: For me, what was really dramatic was how significant behaviours are compared to things like income. For the longest time, I think, people think if I just earn more, I’ll be better off.
But what we see in the data is that it’s actually what you do with the money that you have. That actually is a far greater predictor of improved financial well-being.
Those are sort of those daily money habits that are easy for one to think about. They are not complex, but they do require building up and having that discipline to nurture those habits.
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SIMON BROWN: It’s actually interesting, because I had a conversation with a certified financial planner earlier in the week, and that’s exactly what we were talking about, but without the data so much to back it up.
It really is a case, as you say, around sort of the doing more than the earning. It’s the holistic nature of it. It’s the regularity. It’s the consistency. It’s the reviewing. It’s things which are kind of intangible, but have a real impact.
DR THOMAS BRENNAN: Without a doubt. And I think if people were to be honest, as asking where do my money habits come from, people would realise that there’s a lot that’s probably inherited, if you will, from your upbringing, which you’re bringing from your parents or your family – and so actually being honest about, well, what is my relationship with money, what are my habits?
And then obviously what we identified is that having a couple of just key changes – like something as simple as like saving for emergencies and having sufficient liquid savings to cover three months of expenses – has a cascading consequence.
So not only do you feel less stress, but you also are then able to start thinking for the future and start planning and start taking on investment risk. We see some of these keystone behaviours.
Paying yourself first is another clear example. Just by setting up – it doesn’t matter how small it is, but the fact that you do that on a regular basis and you try to sort of automate it, if you will, as much as possible.
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You don’t have to rely on kind of willpower every month at the end of the month, obviously, when there’s pressure for any cash.
Paying yourself first is such a simple thing to say, but very hard to do.
SIMON BROWN: I like what you said there about pressure, because that comes to mindset. One of the things that stood out for me – it’s intuitive – is that the two behaviours particularly significant were having debts and not having emergency funding. And that’s a financial challenge in both examples.
But it’s also a psychological challenge at the same time. Debt can overwhelm us. Not having an emergency fund can make a lot of what would otherwise perhaps be minor things a lot scarier.
DR THOMAS BRENNAN: Without a doubt. I think attacking the debt first is obviously the right place to start, because you are overwhelmed and you’re running months and months.
I do think, though, that there is an opportunity, even if it is just setting up that behaviour of putting aside some money for emergencies. That will undoubtedly help you and, indeed, if an emergency does come along, you don’t have to go into yet more debt to cover the expenses – you can kind of lessen the burden.
So I think there is an opportunity for people to just realise if you get on top of your debt and you’re able to put some money aside for emergencies, you are far and away doing more than the average Joe in terms of enabling better financial futures.
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SIMON BROWN: The other thing that stood out for me is, as you said, financial well-being doesn’t improve with more income. That I got. It doesn’t improve with age. I would have said it did – but actually, in hindsight, not necessarily.
Again, being older doesn’t necessarily make one smarter or anything, but it can become a significant challenge if we’re not getting smarter as we age and, I suppose, in a sense maybe learning from our mistakes.
DR THOMAS BRENNAN: Yes, we saw two clear distinct personas. We called them the ‘disciplined builders’. So these were younger people starting off in their career. Definitely less income and less total net worth. But what they did have were very good habits.
They had the same financial well-being score as what we call the ‘stalled professionals’. These are people that are 10 years older, probably earning significantly more, but their lifestyle has crept in. They’re not managing their expenses. They’re not saving appropriately.
Although they are probably older, probably a little bit wiser, they haven’t been able to kind of manage their personal finances in a way that leads to better financial well-being.
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SIMON BROWN: Yes. Another data point that stood out for me, although it’s something about which I’ve long seen evidence and I’ve certainly thought – women are ahead.
DR THOMAS BRENNAN: They are. And I think what’s really positive to see is that the way in which women are investing is actually where the secret sauce is.
Traditionally they also tend to be, I think we see in the data, less risk averse. They don’t think they’re cowboys. They’re not trying to climb the markets and get lucky.
There’s far less sort of trading activity, but they are very consistent.
So there’s that sort of regular debit order that money is going in into the investments. Once they’ve set up that strategy, they keep on executing on that. And then simply by doing that and leaving that investment over time, they’re enjoying the compound-growth benefits that come with that.
But what’s interesting in the data – I’m sure you saw – the women at the same time also expressed higher financial anxiety. I think there we have sort of a historical trend, if you will. A lot of women are maybe for the first time taking control of their finances, and are maybe a little more unsure. Am I doing the right thing?
So for the same sort of level of personal finances, I think the women are probably carrying a little more anxiety into that situation.
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SIMON BROWN: That could also be related to the risk, because my anecdotal experience is that men take the risk, women don’t. And therefore maybe it’s that lower risk level which makes them a little more anxious.
The other big one that came out was education – not that education is the bullet which solves everything, but that education creates a strong foundation. You still need the patterns, the behaviours on top.
Here we’re not talking around a fancy varsity degree. It’s just like going and finding out, I don’t know, what a tax-free account is. That really is not surprising, but it is creating a strong base.
DR THOMAS BRENNAN: Yes, without a doubt. And obviously for those listeners who want to improve their financial well-being, I would encourage them to read the report, developing knowledge about which behaviours can lead to the biggest sort of material gains.
That’s not knowing the details of capital gains tax, for example, but it’s financial knowledge in the sense that it can help you improve your financial well-being.
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SIMON BROWN: Actually, that’s a great point. It’s where it helps, which is also fundamentally important.
We’ll leave it there. That’s the Franc Wealth Index report 2026. Dr Thomas Brennan, founder and CEO, I appreciate the time.
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