World Savings Day: Financial responsibility doesn’t start and end with saving

World Savings Day, observed on 31 October, highlights the importance of saving towards financial security and independence. Whether you are starting your career, growing professionally or building a future for yourself and your family, developing good saving habits is essential to achieving long-term financial stability.

Product and Clinical Risk Executive at Dis-Chem, Dr Jessica Hamuy Blanco, is using the day to remind South Africans that financial responsibility is not simply about how much one saves, but about how well one protects what one is building.

“Savings help individuals create a financial buffer and work towards their goals, while life insurance provides protection against the financial consequences of an unexpected loss of income. Together, they form complementary parts of a responsible long-term financial plan,” she said.

What does financial responsibility mean to you?

Tebello Mokhotso told The Citizen that being financially responsible means having enough money to cover his and his family’s needs, while also having enough saved for any emergency.

When asked if he believes he is financially responsible, he said: “Yes, I would like to believe I am financially responsible because I take care of our needs before I start going on a spending spree. Being married also means having to consider my wife and child, so I ensure our emergency pocket always has enough

“I have also started paying for my life insurance. I want to live life with peace knowing that should anything happen to me, there will be extra money left behind to ensure my family’s needs and wants are taken care of.”

Planning for the future

Blanco said being financially responsible means not only setting money aside for what you want and the goals you hope to achieve, but also providing for the people who depend on you.

“South Africans are increasingly encouraged to save, budget and plan for their financial futures, but financial resilience is about more than accumulating money. It is also about protecting the income, assets and people that make those plans possible.

“Life insurance should be viewed not as a grudge purchase or a product bought out of fear, but as a key component of responsible financial planning.”

Five tips

• Financial responsibility means planning beyond today:

  Financial planning should account for immediate needs as well as longer-term commitments, from supporting a family and paying off debt to buying a home and preparing for retirement.

• Savings build the foundation of financial resilience:

  Regular saving creates a financial cushion for emergencies and future goals, but meaningful savings take time to accumulate and can be vulnerable to an unexpected loss of income.

• Life insurance protects your financial plan when life doesn’t go according to plan:

  Life cover serves a fundamentally different purpose than saving. Savings help you accumulate financial resources; life insurance can provide a lump sum or other benefit to help dependents cope financially after the insured person becomes disabled or dies.

• Financial protection should evolve with life:

  As responsibilities and life stages change, through marriage, children, home ownership, caring for parents or building a business, financial plans and levels of protection should be reviewed and adjusted.

• The goal is financial resilience, not simply accumulation:

  The question should not only be “How much am I saving?” but also “How protected is my financial future?” True financial resilience combines building a reasonable savings base with protecting the people and commitments that depend on it.