How did you learn to invest/save your money?

FINANCIAL literacy is, unfortunately, not something that is taught across the board in schools. It is left up to parents to ensure that their children learn even the very basics of personal financial management, budgeting and investing. But seeing that many Jamaican parents themselves shy away from ‘dollars and sense’ discussions, many of us had to grow up and learn (the hard way) how to manage money.

Personal finance blogger and creator of the Goody On A Budget blog, Trevann Hamilton, says learning how to save, invest and manage money is a critical skill that everyone should try to develop, as it can help to determine your quality of life.

“Saving and investing go hand-in-hand,” she says. “Having an emergency saving with at least six months worth of money to cover living expenses is essential, as this pandemic has shown us. Investing money so it can grow and be protected against inflation is also important.”

These readers share with us how they learned, and what tools they used to save and invest their money.

Charlene, 25:

My mother took my brother and I to start investment accounts a few years ago, and to start I just picked companies I liked. I still choose like that now, but I also read a teensy bit of some financial institutions’ suggestions.

Rolando, 23:

When I was younger I had jars that I’d put all my coins in. I never spent or carried around coins. I later moved on to 50 dollar bills (I just placed those in an envelope). I had a journal that I would count and check how much I’d save at the end of the month, then I would change out the coins and deposit them to my savings account. That habit set the foundation for me to be able to commit to not spending larger amounts of money if needs be.

Trev, 25:

The Jamaica Stock Exchange is a very helpful resource to learn all about investment and the stock market. I went to some of their free events to learn, until I eventually said, ‘OK, it’s time to start investing’. I was also in the young investors club at UWI, and I learned a lot there.

Junior, 32:

I learned from the Students’ Loan Bureau that I never want to be indebted to anybody or any company again. After leaving university I just roughed it out and did all I could to make sure I paid them off as soon as possible. Since then, I have a rule that I’d rather lend than borrow, and I never want my child/children to have to borrow to pay for their education, so I started investing through a broker and saving for my family’s future.

Tiffany, 29:

I did the business subjects in high school, so I learned the basics, but I think it really came down to discipline for me. I liked having my own money when I was little, so I loved to save. By high school I was lending my friends and even parents money and collecting with interest. I fell off the wagon a bit when adult expenses hit me, but I am using that discipline to get me out of debt slowly but surely…or at least I was before COVID. These days I’m just staying afloat.