By Youth Hub Africa
As young people, we often complain our parents didn’t make good financial decisions, but we’re in that age now; do you think you’re making a good financial decision for yourself?
Do you think your finances are on the right track?
Do you think you have ample knowledge about saving and investing? Do you think you’re making better choices than your parents did?
Now let’s talk about savings.
Before I dive into the ocean of what saving means, let me tell you a short story of what happened to me during my NYSC service year.
Before I went to serve my nation, I had always boasted that I would save as much as I could. I had plans to save up to 30% of my allowance because then the government had just increased the allowance given to corps members by almost 100%, so I thought to myself, I will save so much, but guess what? I couldn’t save a dime!!
The only thing I saved throughout was people’s contact, despite receiving an extra 30% from my Place of Primary Assignment (PPA), which means that was about a 130% increase for me. But the day I collected my certificate of completion; I had a ridiculous amount of 8000 naira left in my account.
A sad story, right? Yeah, it was a story, but I told you that story because discipline is key when it comes to matters of finances.
There was an opportunity to save, but I didn’t because I didn’t have the discipline. There’s no point talking about savings if we won’t talk about discipline; discipline is the door into savings; without it, savings and financial prosperity remain a house without a door, which means “NO ENTRANCE.
But do you know in today’s world there are several digital banking platforms you can not only save but also get interest on your savings? Such as;
Piggyvest: Offers up to 12%- 22% annual interest on savings depending on the savings plan.
Cowrywise: Provides interest rates ranging from 10% to 15% per annum, depending on the savings plan.
TymeBank’s GoalSave Account (South Africa): Offers up to 10% annual interest when you save for 90 days or more.
African Bank Fixed Deposit Account (South Africa): Provides a fixed interest rate of up to 10.5% per annum for a 60-month term.
As we round off our exploration of savings, let me add this: when people who earn, low income begin to earn high income and life starts getting comfortable, they usually make three mistakes.
Firstly, they maintain the low percentage they’ve always saved instead of increasing it a bit.
Secondly, they increase their spending without increasing their savings
Lastly, the ones that don’t save at all while receiving a low income still don’t save at all; they just increase their spending!
