5 personal finance lessons for tech professionals in Africa – Business Insider Africa
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Tech professionals are skilled experts who design, evaluate and implement computer-based programmes, components, and systems. These professionals ensure the efficiency and functionalities of systems operation and administration. They earn lucrative incomes but navigating the personal finance world can be overwhelming, even for technology experts in Africa.
The lack of money-management skills, financial planning, and strategy has plunged many into bad debts. This article focuses on personal finance lessons for tech professionals in Africa. We gathered these personal finance lessons from reliable sources such as Forbes, Indeed, Small Business, etc.
According to Investopedia, paying yourself is a personal finance strategy for regular savings and investments. This golden rule to personal finance means you delegate a portion towards savings and investing every time you earn an income.
Paying yourself before settling other expenses is an investor mentality that can save tech professionals in Africa from bad debts. But, while paying your bills on time is critical, your future cannot take the back seat. This personal finance lesson allows you to save funds for emergencies and retirement.
Tech professionals in Africa can develop a savings strategy and prepare for expected expenses with this personal finance golden rule. For example, paying yourself first involves buying insurance, paying off debts, and saving money for long-term goals. Besides, this strategy helps you differentiate between discretionary and mandatory expenses.
According to First State Community Bank, getting involved in your finances means tracking your spending habits. Unfortunately, many technology professionals in Africa run into debt due to a lack of knowledge and financial involvement. Do you want to set yourself free from discretionary and non-essential expenses?
Start tracking your spending because money management requires awareness. Track your spending based on your earnings and create a financial budget. It gives you a better perspective of where you spend your money and potentially increases your savings.
Technology professionals in Africa can create financial stability and plan for day-to-day and long-term expenses with a budget. As a result, you can manage your income and achieve financial goals with adequate involvement in your finances.
According to Money Mentors, separating your net worth from self-worth is an excellent financial lesson because you are not your money. Your net worth is the value you determine after excluding liabilities from financial assets. You have a low net worth if your debts exceed the value of your assets.
Meanwhile, self-worth is the measure of your feelings. People who believe they deserve respect and love from others, regardless of accomplishments or salaries, have high self-worth. But those who attach emotions to appearance and money have low self-worth. These people may not believe they deserve respect and love and tend to concern themselves with people’s opinions.
Many technology professionals in Africa are in debt for a lack of knowledge on separating net worth from self-worth. First, you must access your values and stop comparing yourself to others. Give your routine a break, seek help, change your environment and think about yourself in the future. Lastly, become financially literate and surround yourself with good people.
According to Positive Psychology, aligning your mindset and goals promote a sense of self-mastery and motivates you to develop winning strategies. Furthermore, it will guide your focus with a sustainable momentum, leading to more excellent performance and success. If you want to understand the responsibilities of achieving goals, this personal finance lesson is for you.
Before initiating the pursuit plans, you’ll envision and clarify the roles and responsibilities involved in attaining your goals. Connecting your mindset and goals can help you develop synergy and passion with desirable results. Technology professionals in Africa can start by making positive friends regardless of age. Connect with people with a similar mindset and those who are supportive, successful, and inspire you.
There is a limit to what you can achieve with the proper support and inspiration. Next, monitor your thoughts and consider why you’re thinking about a particular event. Finally, it’s time to reflect on the causes of the feelings with assumptions and determine actions to overcome the thought.
According to Axis Bank, early investments are a personal finance strategy that often leads to compounding returns and overwhelming profits. Early investments let you take advantage of the potential gains from compound interest a step ahead of everyone else. Meanwhile, if you invest early and lose your investment, you have enough recovery time, unlike investors that start later in life.
You have time to grow in value and save more by diverting discretionary and non-essential expenses towards investment. In addition, many adult investors prefer stability and are conservative, unlike their younger counterparts. Therefore they avoid high-risk investments.
But the greater the risk, the higher the rewards, and early investors earn huge returns by taking risks. Early investments also guarantee a secured future as you have more money to combat unexpected expenses during tough times.
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