Wamkelekile, Welkom
Money matters training for staff
30 October 2019 | Story Supplied. Photo Supplied. Read time 3 min.
University of Cape Town (UCT) staff in pay classes 2 to 6 are benefiting from free financial literacy training being offered via the UCT Retirement Fund in response to their requests for assistance with how to make the most of their money.
Research shows that South African households spend almost 75% of their income on servicing debt, leaving only 25% for monthly expenses, savings and emergencies, according to the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA), which conducted the sessions, the first of which took place in February.
Margie Tainton, UCT Retirement Fund communication committee chair, explained that the training is offered to all staff who earn less than R20 000 a month, and had been extremely well received by attendees.
About 20 people attended the latest workshop on 23 October, and there are plans to extend the benefit to as many as 800 people next year.
“About 20 people attended the latest workshop on 23 October, and there are plans to extend the benefit to as many as 800 people next year.”
Information sessions
Sessions are pitched at layperson level, and include topics such as:
- Planning with money, which addresses monthly budgeting, managing shortfalls and sources of borrowing
- Payslips and bank statements, which offers an understanding of deductibles, including garnishee and maintenance orders, and of standard legislated ones including UIF. There is also information about how to read bank statements properly to identify potentially unauthorised debit orders.
- Retirement planning, which focuses on, among other things, member benefit statements and nomination of beneficiaries.
Tainton said these insightful and educational sessions had proven extremely valuable to staff members.
The ASISA Foundation, which oversees the training, works to help South Africans save and invest more, by giving them access to meaningful consumer financial literacy. They aim to influence a change in behaviour through the transfer of knowledge and skills development that helps people manage their financial affairs more effectively.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Please view the republishing articles page for more information.
