Experts prep future generation on financial resilience
Financial advisory firm Tilney Smith and Williamson shared their pearls of wisdom yesterday in an event intent on helping young professionals manage their finances, writes Claudia Congrave.
The event was hosted by the Future Faces division of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) and invited members of the Birmingham-based Tilney team to speak on equipping the next generation with financial resilience.
Speaking at the event was Tilney 's business development director, Lucy Minton (pictured), as well as investment manager Tom Cadwallader and financial planner Khaled Hawwash.
Addressing Birmingham 's young professionals, the team used their joint expertise in investment consulting, lifetime financial planning and employee benefit solutions to stress the importance of setting foundations for financial security early on in careers.
Tom explained that a good way to start building these foundations was to understand the expense of our future goals. In order for us to save for these events, he said that being able to account for the mundane costs, such as rent and bills, is essential.
“As our income increases, most people tend to accumulate more expenses without even realising it ”, he said. “The solution lies in choosing where your money is spent, rather than just spending your money. ”
As a way of building different levels of savings, Khaled went on to detail a three-stage approach that young people can take.
Firstly, he suggested that young professionals build an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenditure.
This fund should comprised three to six months worth of income and be deposited in an easy access bank account to be withdrawn when needed.
The next step was to open a short-term savings account to retain any money that might be needed within the next three years in a current or fixed term account.
Finally, Khaled advised pooling money into a long-term savings account, either an ISA or a pension scheme, which potentially result in an increase on investment over time and a return in excess of inflation.
In order to invest money wisely in this instance, Tom recommended understanding the individual risk appetite first and assessing the level of risk to take.
Lucy concluded the event by drawing on her own experiences and offering a word of advice.
She said: “If I could have said something to my 20-something-year-old self it would be that it 's never too early to start saving. ”
“To any young people looking to start becoming more financially savvy, I 'd always recommend our services at Tilney to guide them on their journey. ”
For more information about the financial services that Tilney offer, visit www.tsandw.com
For more information regarding upcoming events, click here