No promises. Here's what we mean by that.

Who we are

MonMax is run by Marco and Brigette de Vries, two South Africans who moved to the UK in our fifties. We write about the pension, money and career rules that affect people who made the same move, and we recommend a small number of products from Launch You.

We don't create, run or deliver those products. Launch You does. When you buy from them, their own terms, refund policy and support apply, not ours.

How we're paid

Links to Launch You products on this site, and in our emails, are affiliate links. If you buy through one, Launch You pays us a commission. For the $6.99 book, that's about £3. You pay exactly the same price as you would without our link.

We only recommend products we've used ourselves, and we name the commission on every page that links to one. We're not paid for the free pension-gap checklist, or for anything we explain about pensions, tax or visas.

About income

We don't know what you'll earn, and neither does anyone else. So we don't make income claims, and we don't use anyone's earnings screenshots as proof.

What you get out of anything we recommend depends on things we can't see or control, including:

• the experience and skills you bring
• the time you can realistically give it
• the market for the problem you choose to solve
• whether your visa or employment contract allows you to trade

Many people who start a business earn little or nothing from it. Treat anything you spend as money you could lose.

What it can cost you

These are the prices of what we recommend, as we understand them today. Launch You sets its own prices and can change them, so check their page before you buy.

Launch You prices are in US dollars, so the cost in pounds changes with the exchange rate. You may also choose to spend money on things like advertising while testing an idea. None of these costs guarantee any return.

Other people's stories

Where we share another person's experience, we only do so with permission, and it describes what happened to them. It isn't typical, and it isn't a prediction of what will happen to you.

Not advice

We explain public rules about the UK State Pension, South African retirement funds, exchange rates and visas. That's general information, not advice about your situation. We aren't regulated financial, tax, pension or immigration advisers.

Before you act on anything you read here, check it with GOV.UK, the Future Pension Centre, or a regulated adviser. For money in South Africa, speak to a regulated cross-border specialist.

Accuracy and updates

We check our figures against official sources and say which tax year they apply to. Rules and rates change, though, and we can make mistakes. If you spot something wrong or out of date, please tell us and we'll correct it.

Last updated: 28 September 2026