NewsWrap: Becoming more mindful of our money

Abba definitely coined it well in that song (Money-Money-Money) and it reminds me about that saying which says ‘money makes the world go round’, but how do we become more mindful of money especially in our current South African economic climate which is hard hit by high inflation, fuel price increases, electricity hikes, and the ever increasing cost of everything else? Well according to financial planner and author Sylvia Walker, she told us that to become smarter about our money, we need to be more mindful of our spending habits….

In her conversation with us, Sylvia said that the starting point to deal with money and finance issues, we need to sit down and look at what we earn and what we can afford and how much of that we can budget toward our savings. Soon we will be able to access large parts of our pensions well before retirement after several changes were made by National Treasury and the Standing Committee on finance which plans on launching the two pot retirement systems by the 1st of September. This idea is said to ensure that South Africans can access liquidity in an emergency, with the Covid pandemic showing that immediate needs can sometimes outweigh longer term goals.

At the same time, Sylvia says that its important to set money aside for tomorrow and not to solely focus on retirement, but to also have what she calls ‘fun money’ aside to play with.

But budgeting financially can often not be that easy as the monthly deductions just shows SMSes flying in

Showing debit orders going to various things such as investments, savings, retirement, medical aid and many others. Walker says that when planning to pay one self it is also important to be realistic about the goal and not to work with an amount which you can’t afford

And finally in your international news….

A new study has found that nine out of 10 women are experiencing stress when it comes to managing money. The study which was conducted by Fidelity Investments in the UK surveyed a diverse range of women, with many of the women said that even though women are making smart financial choices they continue to doubt themselves. Positively though the study had found that parents are engaging IN frequent discussions abut money and finances with their children, compared to previous generations.