Money Matters Workshop by Mrs Nimi Akinkugbe

Money Matters Workshop by Mrs Nimi Akinkugbe

Is there a “dysfunctional” relationship between women and their finances?

Far too many women achievers underachieve financially.

Traditional role / societal stereotyping of the woman being dependent and delegating all financial matters to partner / spouse

Women don’t fully engage with money until forced to in extreme situations (job loss, sickness, divorce, death).

Often, women are responsible for basic family finances but are not engaged with the real, big picture management of that money.

Personal finance in your 20s

  • Starting out
  • Living at home? Few responsibilities
  • Choice of spouse - Starting a family
  • Career growth
  • Time to establish a firm foundation for our financial future
  • Budget
  • Saving
  • Investing

The gift of TIME

Personal Finance in your 30s

  • In your 30s you should be focused on your goals and working hard to bring them to fruition.
  • Established in a job and in the midst of raising a young family.
  • Career growth
  • Child care and education
  • Property
  • Insurance

Personal finance in your 40s    

During this stage, even though you are likely to be in your prime earning years, your expenses tend to be rising almost as fast as your income.

  • School fees
  • Home ownership

This phase is critical to your long term investment success and what you save and invest now will have huge implications on the quality of life you will be able to experience during your retirement years.

Personal Finance in your 50s

  • At the peak of your career.
  • Own your home?
  • Children completing education.
  • Desire for change?
  • Thoughts of life after corporate world?
  • Thoughts of retirement ?
  • Concerns about maintaining  standard of living?
  • Caring for aging parents
  • Children's weddings.

Personal finance in your 60s

  • Investments you been making for decades should be providing you with the income you need now.
  • Interest income from bank deposits
  • Dividends from your equities portfolio
  • Rental income from real estate investments.
  • Income from business interests

IDEALLY your retirement planning should be paying off now and it should be a very enjoyable and fulfilling time. For many people retirement ushers in a period of new experiences, philanthropy, and a time to take an active interest in causes that are close to your heart.

Personal Finance in your 70s

  • If health is right and you are still engaged you will still be highly sought after for your experience and knowledge.
  • Leaving a legacy for your family or community.
  • Estate plan should have been in place long before now but must be a priority now.
  • After working so hard for so many years it is important that a plan is in place for the management, protection and distribution of your wealth after your lifetime in accordance with your wishes.

Personal Finance in your 80s and more

  • Enjoying your Children, Grandchildren
  • Engaging in philanthropy
  • Securing your legacy

Financial Planning Life Cycle

Women and Money

  • Women tend to be more tentative regarding their finances
  • Deep rooted concern for family
  • Extended family social system
  • Many women are the primary breadwinners
  • Remaining single for longer
  • Peer Pressure
  • Procrastination 
  • Live longer
  • Single Married Separated Divorced Widowed

Ten money tips

 

She plans ahead and is organized

"When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet." Prov 31,21

She plans ahead for a rainy day and is an organized and energetic woman who manages her time efficiently and can accomplish more by starting her day early and carries out her responsibilities with diligence and good cheer. 

1: Set SMART financial goals
Dream big – reach for the stars

What is Financial Planning? Why is it important?

Establish goals and priorities

Creates structure in your personal and business life

Empowers you to be in control of your financial life

Makes it possible for you to take responsibility for your dependents.

Helps you cope with economic shocks and uncertainty

Leads to long term financial stability and peace of mind

START NOW: The earlier the better

2. Review your financial situation

Goal:  A positive net worth that grows every year.


2. Review your financial situation.

Create a monthly personal income statement

  • List and add up your monthly income
  • List and add up your monthly expenses
  • Subtract income from expenses

Analyze your personal income statement

  • Where is your money going?
  • Are you in debt?
  • Do you have any savings?
  • Are you a big spender?

2:  Review your financial situation

  • You earn a fortune in your lifetime.
  • It’s not what you EARN that counts……..
  • it’s what you KEEP

   Cut back on your spending

2: Create a Budget and stick to it

  • Review your financial situation
  • Helps you to prioritize
  • Change your spending habits
  • Live below your means
  • Brings focus to your financial affairs.
  • Enables you to save for emergencies.
  • Helps you identify waste
  • Revise your budget as needed

She is frugal

"She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar."

Proverbs 31:14

She is prudent about her shopping and will go some distance to shop around for quality items at bargain prices to ensure that she gets good value for her money. We too can be frugal in our shopping, by avoiding impulsive buying and shopping with a list. 

Budgeting Tips

  • Tithes and offerings
  • Pay Yourself First
  • Track expenses for a month
  • Be in control of your debt
  • Automate savings and investing
  • Curb impulse spending, shop with a list
  • Bargain hunting – sales - shop in bulk
  • Plan ahead for major spending / saving
  • Save windfall income - gifts, bonuses
  • Include a few indulgencies – spoil yourself a little

You earn a fortune in your lifetime
It’s not what you earn, it’s what you keep

Where does your money go?

3: Are you in debt?

Don’t let debt be a way of life – a never ending cycle

Debt is one of the biggest traps and potential obstacles to financial security. It is critical that you understand debt and stay on top of it.

Stay in control of your debt – use credit cards sparingly

Establish a debt-repayment plan to pay off the most expensive debt

Earn additional income to pay down debt – e.g. part time work, lifestyle change. Cut  back on waste or any excesses etc

With interest rates going up, make every effort to avoid, reduce or pay down your most expensive debt

3: Good debt versus bad debt

Dealing with Debt

The more you owe the more vulnerable you are

Are you struggling to repay?

Don’t ignore debt problems – you cannot wish it away.

How much debt have you accumulated?

Don’t ignore letters

Talk to your creditors, and discuss your options

Try to reduce debt (particularly high interest debt*)

Stick to a revised repayment plan

Aim for debt-free retirement (incl. mortgage)

 

4:  Short Term Savings

Savings is setting money aside securely to meet your short term needs.

  • Savings should be kept in money market instruments:
  • Interest bearing current accounts
  • Savings accounts
  • Fixed Deposits

AUTOMATE YOUR SAVINGS

Advantages

  • Liquidity
  • Defined interest
  • Low Risk
  • Capital is secure
  • For short term goals

Disadvantages

  • May not keep pace with inflation/devaluation
  • Relatively low interest

Emergency Fund

Things Happen – we must be prepared.

Set some funds aside to take care of emergencies

Making Your Money Work For You

5. Invest Wisely!

5. Invest in yourself  - Find your purpose

YOU are your greatest asset

Guard your personal brand, your values, your reputation

Identify, nurture, cultivate  your unique gifts and talents; leverage on them

Discover yourself. What are you passionate about?

What are you exceptionally good at? 

Tap into the potential for these effortless skills to earn income.

Network: Build and nurture relationships

Use time to your advantage.

Educate yourself, read, exercise

Volunteer to get additional experience

Keep your CV and profile updated

She is talented and industrious

  • “She stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her fingers grasp the spindle” Proverbs 31: 19 

She uses her creative talents to earn additional income to support her family. What gift have you been blessed with? Do you use it? With some determination you can you can use your talent to earn. Let us consider our God given talents and see what benefit it can bring to us, our families or to our community.

Can you cook, bake, sew, sing, write, IT, etc? 

How can you develop these skills to the point where they can increase your income, or touch lives?

Human Capital – your greatest asset

God gives each of us our own unique gifts, marketable skills or talents. It is your responsibility to :

  • Identify them
  • Recognize them
  • Nurture them
  • Utilize them

Artistic, musical, sports, entrepreneurial, writing, cooking, sewing, organizing

If you faithfully use your gift from God, it will open unimaginable doors of success for you and help you to achieve your full potential

 

5. INVEST FOR THE FUTURE [RISK versus REWARD]

Risk is the potential for you to lose money

Understand Your Risk Tolerance

RISK versus REWARD

ALL investments are subject to some level of risk but some have a higher degree of exposure to risk than others.

  • Stocks have highest risk / return potential
  • Risk can be managed
  • Avoid Risk - Spread Risk - Reduce Risk

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”

Total Asset Allocation

Diversify

  • Across borders/geographies
  • Across asset classes
  • Across sectors
  • Across currencies

Having a variety of investments helps to reduce your overall risk and helps to reduce the volatility of your investment returns over time.

Every individual’s asset allocation is determined by life stage, unique circumstances, and financial goals

Develop your knowledge

  • Seek professional advice
  • Advisors operate from deep knowledge and experience
  • Helps you evaluate your financial situation
  • Have access to research & information
  • Develop your own knowledge
  • Conferences, seminars, books, internet, software etc

 Invest for the future

  • Investing is a conscious decision
  • It is about making plans for the future
  • Owning your first property
  • Educating children
  • Investing in a business
  • Retirement Planning

Advantages

  • Dividend Income
  • Capital Gain
  • Is often a hedge against inflation or devaluation
  • Can be used as collateral for a loan

Disadvantages

  • No guaranteed return
  • More Risky
  • You may have to sell at a loss
  • Long Term

Invest in the Stock Market

Seek Professional Advice

  • Financial advisors operate from experience
  • Help you evaluate your financial situation
  • Have access to research and information
  • Stockbroker will advice you on securities to purchase

Funds

  • Full-time professional management of your funds
  • Pooled funds
  • Diversified portfolio
  • Allows you to invest according to your specific goal and, risk appetite
  • **Invest a fixed amount regularly by direct debit into the stock market

Investment Clubs

  • Shared information, knowledge, risk & cost
  • Broaden your financial perspective
  • Awareness about investment opportunities
  • Opportunity for involvement in substantial investments

 

Real Estate Investment

Location Location Location

e.g Land or building     

Benefits:

  • Good hedge against inflation
  • Provides rental income
  • Capital appreciation    

Drawbacks:

  • Substantial capital outlay
  • Relatively illiquid

She invests in real estate

"She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard". Prov 31,16

Apart from working to earn a living, she invests carefully. She not only plans for the short term but understands and seeks the benefits of long term investments and income and contributes to the financial well-being of her household.

She is reliable and dependable and watches over the affairs of her family. Her husband has full confidence in her and trusts her to make the right day to day decisions and manage the family assets efficiently.

 

6: Family Finances

Select your life partner wisely. The choice of your life partner is the most significant decision you will ever make.

Do their values match your own?

Do you talk about money matters?

Who owns what?

Whose name is the house in?

Where are the title documents and other financial documents?

Do you both have wills?

Where are they and who are the beneficiaries?

Single women – responsible for their finances

Be careful that you aren’t coerced into bearing a significant part of the extended family expenses. Plan ahead for your family.

Starting a family late means you will be much older when you have the most significant expenses.

Single Mothers – responsible for their finances, educating children often singlehandedly. Life insurance, estate plan

Family Finances

Late in life marriages – Implications of inheritance and other concerns particularly where there are children from previous marriages

Sandwich generation – Caring for children and aging parents simultaneously

Dangers of overindulging children

  • They will not appreciate the value of money and will spend all your money - Undercuts self-discipline
  • Decreases their ability to be selfless; they will see their own needs ahead of others’
  • Deprives them of the opportunity to be independent
  • Makes it difficult for them to learn how to deal and respond with disappointment

 What do you owe them?

The best education you can afford so that they can stand on their own two feet. The most expensive is not necessarily the best.

Non-material things:  love, affection, attention, respect, and unconditional acceptance of who they are.

 You owe yourself a  comfortable, secure retirement

Your retirement needs are just as important as their current needs

You do not want to have dependent children in your retirement years

Educating children

By far the most significant expense for the family.

Must be planned for many years in advance.

The most important aspect of education is not in school, it is at home. Lay the solid foundation

Educational Insurance

Property etc

7: Insurance

Maintain and protect your assets.

Be prepared for the unexpected

Do you have adequate insurance to protect your assets in the event of an emergency, crisis or disaster.

Insurance:  Do you have insurance in place for your possessions, car, home, health, life (if you are primary bread winner)?

  • Car insurance
  • Homeowners / renters insurance
  • Health – medical insurance
  • Life insurance

Health is Wealth

Commitment to a healthy lifestyle today can help protect you, and therefore your financial well-being, in the future.

Prioritize medical check-ups and recommended medical screenings.

Aim for some balance; long periods of stress can be immensely harmful.

Exercise regularly and commit to a healthy, nutritious diet.

The choices you make today regarding how you treat your body can have a significant impact on your future health. Be careful of the pressures of excesses – cigarettes, alcohol, prescription drugs, hard drugs.

She keeps healthy and strong

  • "She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong". Proverbs 31:17
  • We get the impression of a woman who kept herself fit and well, through hard work going vigorously about her duties as so many people depended on her.

 

8: Retirement

Start saving for retirement from first job

Calculating Need

  • You are likely to spend 1/3 of your life in retirement.
  • Experts recommend saving 10-20% of your income towards retirement.
  • You need 60-75% of your current income to maintain your standard of living.

How will you afford this?

Where will the money come from?

Retirement Nest Egg

Sources for your Retirement Fund

Pension is unlikely to be enough

Passive income

Interest income

Rental income

Dividend income

Inheritance

Extended family support

Talents

Hobbies

experience?

9: Estate Planning

  • Joint Accounts
  • A Will
  • Life insurance
  • Living Trust
  • Company structures

 10: Philanthropy

It is through philanthropy that we attain the best relationship with our money; generosity enriches our lives far more than money or material possessions.

There will always be someone worse of than you

What can you do to help others?

Are there causes that you identify with and wish to support?

Potential motivators:

  • Religious / Political / Philosophical
  • Establish a legacy
  • CSR / Business Interests

Start to build “giving” into your plan.

Even if you don’t have money now, you can give of your time, your intellect, your skills, your experience

She is thoughtful and generous

"She extends her hand to the poor, and stretches out her hands to the needy." Prov 31, 20

She is generous in her giving; not only did she care for her family, and her domestic staff, but she also gave back to society and had the sensitivity and compassion to care for the poor and needy.


Here are 4 key words to remember when it comes to planning for your wealth

In the final analysis…what really matters?

Maintain perspectives. Money is not the most important factor. Life is not measured in naira and dollars.  Money does not buy long term happiness and fulfillment.

It is about loving relationships with your family – spouse, children, friends and your relationship with God.

"It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy."

    - George Lorimer

Money Matters Workshop (by Mrs. Nimi Akinkugbe)

Contact Information

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