Recently, an interesting cartoon of a man camping at an ATM machine waiting for the month to end so that he could withdraw his salary made exciting rounds on Facebook. This cartoon, though hilarious, perfectly depicted the current salary earners’ situation.
This is because many of today’s employees live from paycheck to paycheck, in fact 90% of their earned income is spent within the first 2 weeks of the next month and are often seen asking for salary advances.
Unfortunately, unless an employee decides to tie up their boot strings and consider stringent financial education, money woes will still happen throughout one’s salary earning career.
Barclays is currently running a money skills course that is equipping young people with the fundamental money management skills they need. Barclays Bank through its ReadytoWork imitative offers a free online Do It Yourself (DIY) course linked at ReadytoWork. Along with other modules, this course teaches a subject named ‘MoneySkills’, which is offering content on managing your money, dealing with credit and debt, managing your financial future, among others.
For those that prefer the face-to-face version, ReadytoWork created by Barclays Bank and implemented by BrighterMonday Uganda together with DigiCon Mini – Created by Google and implemented by Blu Flamingo will soon provide face-to-face free training sessions from 5th to 16th December 2016 at The Hub during which more engagements on Money skills will be attained. Register for free here.
Below are a few top money questions that you should ask yourself:
• Have you figured out a practical budget?
Writing a practical budget and sticking to it is one of the first steps to controlling your expenditure. Think about drawing up a budget that controls and schedules how you spend your money. Regarding budgeting, Robert Kiyosaki notes that budgeting isn’t only about paying the bills. It’s also about paying yourself first by socking away money routinely.
• What are your spending priorities?
Most people buy what they want not what they need. It’s vital to figure out your wants vis a vis your needs so that you don’t get the two different items mixed up
• How do you save?
There are so many creative saving methods these days that will grow your savings over a certain period of time. The important thing while saving is to save towards attaining a certain amount of money or at least saving towards achieving a set goal.
• Do you know about taxes?
As a salary earner, you need to know about taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT), income tax and retirement tax such that you are not caught unawares. Find out beforehand what kind of taxes your organization pays so that you can ably calculate your net salary vis a vis your gross
• What are your retirement plans?
The truth is you will have to stop working at a certain point in your life, so it’s wise to start planning for your retirement while you still can. Jack Ma, Founder of China’s popular e-commerce site called Alibaba radically suggests that “If you are not rich by the time you are 35, then you have wasted the opportunities of your youth. Capitalize upon these young years, with their energy and imagination, by giving in to your ambition and the pursuit of it.”
• When to and when not to take a loan?
Taking salary loans may came easy to employees but before proceeding with the process ask yourself whether the issue you’re taking a loan for is really worth it. Ask yourself whether you will ably live on what remains of your salary once the bank or your employer takes their cut.
Be wise, and guard your money jealously!
