A few weeks ago, I received the following email from one of the subscribers to my articles. I couldn’t find a better article to write about now that we are in July, the month we focus on savings.

Dear Phumelele

I have been reading your articles and books over the years. I even bought copies of your first and your second book for my nieces and nephews so they would learn about money just when they are starting out and avoid the costly mistakes I made when I started working. After reading about your views on exchange traded funds, I decided to invest in Satrix 40 for my daughter in June 2009. Since I am self – employed and don’t have a steady income I decided to put a small lump-sum of R10 000 so I don’t have to put money every month. You know some months are difficult than others. I don’t really pay much attention to the statements they send every now and again because the money is for my daughter and she is still very young.

Today; May 2014 – I received a statement and the balance has more than doubled. It is R22 318.71 to be exact –  in exactly 5 years. I know It’s not something to write home about but it may just encourage someone out there.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

Veli

I suggest you read the following chapters in the book From Debt to Riches: Chapter 7 entitled The Best – Kept Secrets about Saving and the last chapter entitled “The beginner’s guide to investing in the stock exchange”. Also visit our website www.thuthuka-sa.co.za to read about all things money.

What the article above proves is what I always share with my customers i.e.

• You shouldn’t wait until you earn millions to start investing money.
• Start small and put in small amounts monthly.
• Don’t just put your money anywhere, check where CPI is and ensure your returns are higher than inflation and also keep an eye on the costs as well as the tax implications of the vehicle you use to invest your money.
• Veli’s daughter’s fund would have grown significantly more if she had put in R500 monthly over the 5 years. There are no penalties for skipping making contributions in some months.

Many of us easily blow away R500 monthly on hairstyles [a Brazilian weave costs over R2000 for instance], eating out, clothes, pedicures and manicures, cigarettes, etc…

SAVINGS MONTH CHALLENGE

In my job, I come across many people who earn good money but they just blow it away as if there is no tomorrow. The higher the income, the higher the wastage. Many people earn good money but they have nothing to show for it. Most are just a few days’ away or just one sad event away from a debt trap. One of the main reasons why most people are heavily indebted is that we don’t save at all. We spend every cent we earn and often even more than what we earn. Then one event e.g. a car packing up, hitting a pot hole or the death of a loved one sends us spinning into a debt hole. Such events happen to all of us so we should save a portion of what we earn so that we don’t end up in a debt hole just because life happened.

So if you are sick and tired of spending all the money you earn and you are prepared, willing and ready to start investing a % of what you earn, write to me at phumelele@thuthuka-sa.co.za. We should all be saving at least 10% of what we earn. Putting money away monthly will help us cope better with life’s unexpected events. So if you are ready to invest money and need guidance and assistance on where to save it, write to me. If you are heavily indebted, don’t waste your time and money saving or investing – clear your debts first. Debt is costly. Read the book on tips about getting out of debt and also visit our blog for articles on debt management. I don’t do debt consulting.

Some of the reasons why all of us should invest money:

• Investing money in equities and collective investments help us to earn returns above inflation.
• So we put a deposit for our first home – sometimes banks don’t give you 100% loan and many people are still renting today because they cannot raise 10% of the value of the home they want to buy.
• So you pay cash for transfer costs, bond registration fees and other costs of buying a home.
• So you use cash to travel – no one should travel on borrowed money.
• So you can put down a deposit on your car – buying a car on a balloon payment is the worst thing you can do to yourself. It means you are buying a car you cannot afford.
• So you have peace of mind knowing that you can cope with unexpected events.
• So you can pay lobola cash and also pay cash for your wedding. I honestly think that many people are not getting married today because they cannot afford the costs of getting married 🙂 .

Young, Black, Employed & Heavily Indebted: The only response I received – I must have hit a sore note 🙂

Good day Phume,

Thank you for these news letters that you send me, I have no idea why, but I receive them and read them. However today’s topic cut through me completely.

I am a young, divorced single mama, employed, very much white and heavily indebted.

I just can’t understand why these days we still separate ourselves by color. Debt is deb whether you are pink or green.

Have a good day!

DID YOU KNOW?

A certain bank still pays white male graduates three times the amount it pays Black graduates

Source: Article entitled “Successful businesswoman Wendy Luhabe will always be an activist, by Adele Shevel Sunday Times 6 July 2014

The book is available at R134 a copy from CNA, Exclusives and Adams bookshop near you. Struggling to get a copy? Phone the publishers Jacana Media Tel: +27 11 628 3238 or order through their website  www.jacana.co.za

Warm regards

Phume