Man cannot live on bread alone: The plight of the piggy-bank in South Africa.

I came across an article online that discussed the savings figures in different sectors of society and also the attempted by the state government to put in place programs to assist and encourage South Africans to save money. I am the first person that would agree with anyone who says that sitting down with your tab and a cup of coffee, to work on your budget is not enough, we have to be thinking further and working harder to ensure that we can financially look after the well-being of ourselves and that of our families.

Currently the figures are as follows:

• SARB reports private and household savings are three times GDP

• Household saving is declining for the past 35 years though

• Households are lending more than saving

• Pension asset growth at 12.9% per year over 10 years at end of 2014

• Only 37.7% of the 4.9 million minimum wage workers contribute to a retirement fund or savings plan.

The picture that painted is pretty clear and undistorted but how do overcome this challenge. Well, first we have to find out what the main challenges are. One of the first things that I see is the 4.9 million workers who earn minimum wage, that are already not making enough to cover their day to day expenses but are encouraged to contribute to a savings program.

At the rate of unemployment, inflation and people retiring without savings, it’s no wonder there is a decline in household savings. Not just that but we inevitably put more pressure on the rest of the population to subsidies those who now require state grants. This is the unfortunate truth about it and there is no getting around it with normal savings programs because people are unable to contribute to these to start off with.

It is critical to create opportunities for regular individuals to be educated about money and savings and how it affects, not only themselves and their families now but in the future. But it should not end there, individuals need vehicles where their money can grow now, not over 10 years. The needs people have are now and so if we do not provide them with opportunities to turn their money around over a short to medium term, then we will remain in this cycle of non-saving individuals.

Together with FSB accredited brokers Global FX Solutions takes the experience and resources is has to educated individuals about money and introduce them to forex in a safe, transparent and controlled environment in order for them to have an opportunity to potentially improve their future for the better.

Furthermore, we find opportunities in other industries, which have been tried and tested to offer individuals to grow their savings. There is no reason that we are not able to build a brighter future for our families if we work together and understand that everyone should and can benefit from opportunities that can ensure a bright future for our country.

Contact me for more information about what we do.

eugene@globalfxsolutions.com

Cell: 078 802 1149