Money Month is usually celebrated globally by over 100 countries. Money Month Campaign is an annual public awareness campaign, primarily designed to empower members of society with requisite skills to manage their personal financial resources effectively. theReporter’s ‘Majirata Latela chats with Tokiso Tkay Nthebe, the founder of TKO Consultancy who unpacks the importance of saving money to achieve one’s goals. After holding a wealth building brunch earlier this month, it was clear from the questions and comments of attendees that many people still struggle to save money for their future and that of their children. With the Covid-19 pandemic that has impacted very much on the economy of the country, many people have found it hard to start saving from the little income generated or earned.
Please tell us who Tokiso Nthebe. Who is he and where does he come from?
Tokiso TKay Nthebe, aged 33 years, is a personal finance coach, travel enthusiast and founder of TKO Consultancy. He hosts a podcast and YouTube Channel and is a regular contributor to web and print publications where he writes widely on personal finance. He is passionate about financial education and has studied financial planning at the School of Financial Planning at the University of the Free State (UFS). He comes from Mafeteng and currently lives in Maseru.
What about TKO Consultancy? What is it exactly and what does it do?
TKO Consultancy, registered in 2015 is a company that provides financial education, financial coaching, training and development programs to help professionals, entrepreneurs and pre-retirees to better manage their money, save and plan for the financial futures. TKO Consultancy has worked with many corporate, medium and small enterprises in Lesotho and other African Countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and Ghana.
TKO Consultancy recently held an event last week on financial wellness. Please tell us the theme for the event and why you decided to give it that theme.
TKO Consultancy, in partnership with STANLIB Lesotho hosted a wealth building brunch on 2 April 2022 at ‘Manthabiseng Convention Centre. The theme for the event was “ investing and wealth building”. TKO Consultancy launched a social media savings challenged called “Lisente to Makholo” in 2019 till 2021 where the goal was to inspire Basotho to save towards achieving their financial goals. Since the launch of “Lisente to Makholo” over 300 participants joined and many achieved their goals. TKO Consultancy however felt that more needed to be done. The goal was to help participants to graduate from just saving towards investing and building wealth. This is how the Wealth Building brunch came about.
What is the importance of financial wellness?
Money conversations remain a big taboo in many households. Being in control of one’s finances is very important, especially after the nationwide lockdowns where COVID-19 exposed how financially unprepared many people are. It is therefore important to encourage people, especially Basotho to have financial plans, manage their finances in a responsible manner. There is also generally poor levels of financially literacy where people lack the financial knowledge to make sound financial decisions. Research shows that employees spend between 13-20 hours a month worrying about their finances. This negatively affects their productivity at work, leads to high levels of employee disengagement, absenteeism, fraud and sometimes gender based violence (GBV) at home. All these factors ultimately affects the company’s bottom-line. Furthermore a study by Nthebe and Reyers (2018) found that 41% of employees in Lesotho perceive themselves adequately prepared for retirement. Many Basotho are retiring with insufficient retirement capital. Other studies found that more than 50% of household income in Lesotho goes towards paying off debt, which is alarmingly high. Financial wellness, a pillar of the 8-dimension of Holistic wellness plays an important role. It is therefore important to advocate for financial wellness, where people are knowledgeable and empowered to budget, save, manage debt, plan for retirement, avoid pyramid schemes and pay their taxes.
The economy and businesses are still recovering from Covid-19. Please explain to us the importance of financial STABILITY to individuals and businesses.
COVID-19 and the nationwide lockdowns negatively affected economies, businesses and households. Many lost their incomes due to salary cuts or retrenchments. Those who were retiring in 2020/22 also left with reduced retirement benefits. The impact of COVID-19 is still yet to be felt, although there is some recovery. The pandemic exposed how financially unprepared many individuals and businesses were. It is therefore important for individuals and businesses to consult qualified financial planners and business coaches prepare financial plans, to save for raining days, pay off bad debt and invest for the future. It will take time to recover but it is important that they start working and implementing those financial plans.
Many people may not know the importance of financial planning. Some may not know the importance of investments. Please explain the importance of saving and planning finances.
A financial plan is a road towards achieving your financial and life goals by taking a number of factors into consideration. Financial planners also take a holistic approach to financial planning where they look your life stage e.g., start working or early 30s and plan and take all your current, short, medium and long financial goals into consideration. A financial plan will take into consideration your monthly spending plan or budget, your savings and debt management, investment goals, retirement, health and risk management, taxes and estate planning. It is important to understand all the pillars holistically. Looking at investment planning as an example, a financial planner will help the client determine their investment goals -why are you investing, their risk appetite and expected return/growth and how long they are willing to invest for. Having a well-defined financial plan and taking the required action helps you to achieve your financial and life goals.
Covid-19 pandemic is taking the lives of many people. What can you say is the best way to save for the future of our children?
Planning for your children’s future also forms part of the financial plan, it is therefore to start an education fund for your children, open bank accounts for them and start investments for them. I would encourage parents to consult a qualified financial planner to help with planning. An important part too is for parents to prepare and register Wills. Having a valid Will enables the parent to appoint a guardian that will take care of the children in the event of the parent dying. A Will also defines how you’d like your estate to dissolve, who should inherit your assets and who will take care of your dependents i.e., children. Lastly, parents should start having money conversations with their children to help them understand how money works, the household finances and how to manage money.
What message would TKO Consultancy send to people about financial wellness?
We can all achieve financial prosperity. As people, we need to be responsible and change our bad money habits. It is important to consult a financial planner and work on the financial plan. It is important to also educate yourself on how money works by reading books, listening to podcasts or watching videos, attending workshops, seminars and/webinars. It is never too late to start, so start – think ahead and plan today.
People can follow TKO Consultancy and TKay Nthebe on social media or e-mail info@tkoconsult.co.ls. They can follow my Podcast- Escapes & Money Adventures with TKay https://anchor.fm/tokiso-nthebe. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfMOcFpksq9twUg-CvFYVVQ
