Nina Peters, Business relationship and sales manager
Business relationship and sales manager for JN Bank’s St James and Trelawny locations, Nina Peters, is cautioning professionals not to allow the need to maintain a certain profile to ruin their personal financial development.
She was speaking to members of the Kiwanis Club of Rosehall in St James, recently.
Highlighting statistics from a poll conducted by the Medical Association of Jamaica last year among its membership, which indicated that a majority of practitioners were not prepared for retirement, Mrs Peters, underscored that many professionals fall into the same financial difficulties during their golden years. .
“You may want to enjoy a certain lifestyle, and in fact, it may be necessary for you to have a certain profile, so that you can win clients, or be taken seriously in your profession. However, you need to be smart about it, so that you’re not spending funds unnecessarily, just to ‘keep up with the Jones’,” Mrs Peters cautioned Kiwanians.
Outlining how they can accumulate capital, she said debt management has to be taken seriously, pointing out that some professionals borrow heavily to maintain a certain profile.
“Service your debt, and where possible, try to negotiate to pay them off quickly and at lower interest rates,” she advised. “If you have debts at different institutions, try to consolidate them. You could benefit from a lower monthly payment and possibly a lower interest rate,” she said.
She added that credit cards must also be carefully managed, and credit history carefully monitored.
“Keep your credit in check and monitor the use of your card vigilantly,” she counselled, adding that they should be even more focused on this during the holiday season.
“Reduce the number of cards you have and transfer balances, where possible, to lower interest-yielding cards. You may even want to reduce the limit on your card to control your spending. Use your credit card wisely. It is a free loan, if you use it well: re-pay your loan on time; avoid the monthly interest; and don’t use it to spend on items that you would not have purchased, if you only had cash,” Mrs Peters maintained.
The JN Bank business relationship and sales manager said what professionals should seek to do is accumulate capital for investment. In addition to managing their debt, she urged them to save, applying the 80/20 Rule. The rule dictates that persons should save at least 10 per cent of their income; give 10 per cent to charity, the church or to assist the needy; and use the remaining 80 per cent to finance their expenses.
She encouraged professionals to also improve their financial acumen by reading and consuming more personal finance content from news and books, and by carefully monitoring their expenses.
Mrs Peters urged professionals to also diversify their sources of income to acquire capital to invest. She said beyond their primary sources of income, they should consider how they can earn from their talents and assets.
“Ask yourself, what you can do to supplement your income. The people we all consider wealthy know that this is the key to success,” she affirmed.
“Is there an asset you can earn from? Do you own property that you can rent? Do you have land which you can lease or farm? Are there fruit trees in your yard, from which you can earn an income? Can you take on a second job lecturing in the evenings? Are you a good speaker and can earn from speaking engagements?” she asked Kiwanians to consider.
Finally, Mrs Peters advised professionals to take care of their health. She said it was important for them to maintain good health and that life insurance plans would assist them, if the need arises, pointing out that often health is neglected as persons work to build themselves professionally.
“Exercise and eat right. Don’t treat your health casually, because I guarantee you, you’ll pay for it,” she warned.
