MANAGING CHANGE IS CRITICAL IN FINANCIAL LITERACY

 Who predicted that the United States of America would cut funding? Who predicted that Covid- 19 would disrupt our lives? This seems to be the norm in today's world. We live in a volatile, Unpredictable ,Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) times. As a Master Trainer Financial Literacy Trainer of Bank of Uganda I have had the privilege of interacting with several youths in the financial literacy trainings that I conduct. One lesson that I have picked is that some of the youths are not well prepared or unaware that change comes very fast. For example a particular youth told me that there is no essence of opening an account in a bank. This is a signal of lack of awareness for future financial planning.

A few months ago I saw a video circulating on social media of a man who carried large sums of money in a plastic bag and it was all falling. In times of financial scarcity this person was risking their lives. The other question that I want to ask is , in our circles what do we mostly talk about? I have found groups of youths whose dominant talks centers around football and politics. What if they also got time to discuss about how to pool funds together and invest. What if they decided to form an investment club? I know of a group of university students who formed an investment club and today it is worth billions of shillings and have invested in real estate. On the contrary there university graduates who  focus on glorifying problems around them instead of looking for strategies to solve them.

The other issue around handling financial uncertainties is to build a strong mindset. We all face financial setbacks but our reaction is always different. I remember during Covid 19 lock down 2 young men burnt themselves because they could not cope with these hard times. The question is how ready are we to handle our lives in face of financial uncertainties?

HOW TO HANDLE FINANCIAL UNCERTAINITIES 

1.Have a long term view of life

2.Seek financial mentorship 

3.Associate with successful people who can inspire you to take action

4.Save as you earn

5.Research before you invest

6.Live with in your means

7.Build an emergency fund

8.Join or form an investment club

9. Differentiate between needs and wants

10.Avoid self comparisons.

11.Build your skills.

We live in a world of uncertainties. No one is immune. Nobody anticipated the economic impact of Covid 19. No body predicted the cut in funding by the United States government. The unfortunate  thing is that life has to continue. 

For individual and corporate financial literacy training contact:

Phillip Kiryowa

Certified Personal Finance Coach(CMA)

Master Trainer, Bank of Uganda 

Advanced Empowerment Link

+256752615916

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