OPINION – Dating someone out of your financial league – is there a happy ending?

Loading player...
GUEST - Queen Malobane, Provincial General Manager: Gauteng at Metropolitan.

It’s a tale that’s old as time: penniless woman meets wealthy man, they fall in love, and the rest, as they say, is history. In fact, it’s the very premise of rags-to-riches stories such as Pretty Woman, Maid in Manhattan, even Cinderella…and the list goes on.

While these storylines have been traditionally rooted in a ‘white knight’ dynamic with a happy ending, what they never show are the inevitable complications and hard conversations that arise when dating someone who is out of your financial league.

What happens when it comes to dividing up the household expenses? Or when one person in the relationship is expected to support the other’s financially challenged family members or dependents? “In real life, these are the kinds of situations that arise if one person in a relationship earns significantly more than the other,” says Queen Malobane, Provincial General Manager: Gauteng at Metropolitan.
12 Mar 2024 3PM English South Africa Business News · Investing

Other recent episodes

Rustenburg mayor raises alarm over rise in illegal mining

Rustenburg Executive Mayor Sheila Mabale-Huma has raised concerns over the growing threat of illegal mining in the North West town. Her warning follows the deaths of 14 illegal miners and injuries to scores of others at a disused mine in Nkaneng near Rustenburg. The incident has again highlighted the dangerous…
19 Aug 2PM 10 min

South Africans Under Pressure: Inside the Q2 2026 Debt Index

DebtBusters’ Benay Sager breaks down the latest Debt Index, revealing consumers still using 64% of their income to service debt, with high earners needing 103% just to stay afloat. We unpack the surge in unsecured credit, cost‑of‑living shocks, multi‑lender borrowing, and why debt counselling outcomes are improving despite rising financial…
19 Aug 1PM 8 min

DRDGOLD’s Big Year: Earnings Surge & Vision 2028 Takes Shape

DRDGOLD CEO Niël Pretorius unpacks a standout FY2026 performance, with revenue up 42%, operating profit up 83%, and major Vision 2028 infrastructure coming online. We explore production stability, the company’s debt‑free position, dividend uplift, and how new assets like the Daggafontein TSF and DP2 expansion reshape future output.
19 Aug 1PM 15 min

SA Consumer Price Inflation slows to 4.3% in July

Nedbank Economist Isaac Matshego breaks down South Africa’s July CPI print, which eased to 4.3% as fuel prices softened and goods inflation cooled. We unpack the drivers behind the slowdown, the stubborn pressure from housing and utilities, and what this means for consumer wallets heading into the September MPC meeting…
19 Aug 12PM 16 min

Leaky Pipelines & Broken Rungs: Fixing Gender Gaps in Investments

PPS Investments’ Fran Troskie breaks down why asset management still struggles with gender parity — from caregiving burdens to promotion barriers, wage gaps, and murky leadership pathways. A candid Women’s Month conversation on redesigning the industry for true inclusion.
18 Aug 1PM 16 min