Debola Osibogun, former resident of the Chartered Institute of Nigeria (CIBN) has outlined some of the effective ways to execute a saving plan as the world marks World Savings Day today, Thursday.
Such ways include tracking one’s expenses, using automatic savings methods, saving all or part of a certain type of income, and establishing savings buckets.
Other ways are creating an emergency fund, and seeking the best investment options and track progress.
In a piece titled ‘Saving for Raining Days: Why, How and When?’ she said only 1% of the global population has imbibed the culture of saving.
“It is important to highlight that saving money is a difficult thing to do. Not only do we have a raft of expenses seeking to deplete the savings, as Nigerians and Africans, our communal nature of living leaves us with large number of dependents in the absence of social nets.
“Notwithstanding these challenges, it is important that we make a habit of saving for the raining days to ensure we can meet our needs whether in retirement, to fund education or to meet emergencies,” she said.
Given that saving requires a high amount of rigor and discipline, she said it is important to have a documented plan and make effort to adhere to the plan.
“In my 31 Years’ experience as a banker, I have seen the best and worst of both worlds: how saving little money can lift families out of penury and I have seen also how very large income has proven not to be enough in many cases where the discipline of saving is not maintained. Constantly saving and taking informed decision on what best option there are for your money will ultimately prove valuable in the long run, irrespective of the quantum of money being saved at a time. When you build this out constantly over a stretched period, the results are usually worth the effort and that ultimately is a necessary condition to wealth creation,” Osibogun said.
