IN THE KNOW

It’s time to toss the outdated perception that wills are meant for older people that have fully established their lives, you know the idea.

While the side hustle may have found its place firmly in our pandemic-era lexicon, it has – in fact – been around a lot longer than you might think.

The pandemic has put death and our mortality at the front of our minds. Even before COVID-19 hit, convalescing and dying at home was tragically becoming more common.  Due to a lack of beds, hospitals tend to send terminally ill patients home to pass away there when there is nothing further they can do to care for them. 

One of the things that come with growing up is having to leave your parents’ house and move into your own. Many people tend to make a mistake of buying a house without doing any homework.

An interest rate is a cost of borrowing money. According to Bloomberg, 80% of South Africans use debt for monthly expenses and many are unaware of how much it really costs them.

Millennials are notoriously known for budgeting and saving behaviour that’s either lacking or non-existent, all the while grappling with high levels of debt. This is due to many contributing factors, some of which are not in our control such as the decline of our national economy.

We all want to be successful at any and everything we do, right? Saving is no different. When we start saving, we do so because we have financial goals we wish to achieve.

A lot of the times we hear that the sooner we start saving, the better. This rings true, especially when it comes to compound interest. The longer you save, the better your chances are at reaping compounding rewards. 

How many times have you read or heard that you should have at least 2 months of your salary saved up for emergencies? Countless times, right? While hearing it may be exhausting, it is a fact you can’t ignore.

The first step on your ‘savings journey’ is deciding what it is that you are saving for. Having an idea or a goal helps you decide on the amount and the estimated length of reaching it. 

Perhaps, the most difficult text message to process is a bank alert informing you of money that’s leaving your account. It’s never a pretty scene as it leads you closer to your worst nightmare; running out of money. 

Saving is important. We hear this a lot and in most cases, we don’t see this as a possibility in our financial lives. There’s a lot of bills to pay and rarely enough money to cover those expenses, let alone putting money away for a rainy day.

South Africans are used to hearing that they have a poor savings culture. This has become more evident as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.

Free Life Hacks helping clients take control of their finances and rewarding them for taking co-accountability.

South Africans are not saving enough. We often read about famous sportspeople who have retired poor because they could not understand the importance of saving when they were at the pinnacle of their careers.

The nature of jobs and job search is shifting at a rapid pace. More job titles that didn’t exist before are being created to keep up with the digital revolution. It’s important to acquire new skills to either learn new ways of working, keeping up with the current trends, or advancing in your chosen career.

Skills development is the process of identifying a person’s gaps in skills and finding resources to grow and sharpen those skills. This is important, as having access to a wide variety of skills can be what sets you apart from others in this highly competitive and multicultural era.

Skills are the expertise needed to perform a certain job or task. They are developed through a person’s everyday life and work experiences.

A high credit score is key to getting lower interest rates on your home loan, car loan, credit cards, and even lower insurance premiums.

So you’ve been brave enough to find out where you stand when it comes to your credit score and it’s looking a bit bleak? Don’t stress, a bit…