![\"btvi\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/btvi.jpg\")
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Representatives from leading banks, insurance and credit unions recently gave advice to students, staff and faculty at The Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) that is expected to put them on the road to financial success.<\/p>\n
The financial wellness checkup was enlightening, yet sobering, particularly when CFAL\u2019s Senior Research Analyst, Jamaal Stubbs spoke of the financial condition of many Bahamians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thankful for forums like this because as a people, we are living from month to month.\u00a0 The average Bahamian has less than $1,000 in the bank,\u201d said Mr. Stubbs.<\/p>\n
He noted that there are affordable investment products the average person can take advantage of.<\/p>\n
Mr. Stubbs was joined by Sherell Conliffe, Senior Wealth Manager, Family Guardian; Suzette G. Moss, Senior Accounts Manager, Royal Bank of Canada; Stephanie Missick-Jones, General Manager, The Bahamas Cooperative League Ltd. and Dexter Bodie, Business Analyst, BAF Financial.<\/p>\n
A BTVI employee expressed how beneficial the workshop was and what the way forward is for her. \u201cIt opened my eyes. I now see that I wasn\u2019t budgeting as I should have been. It changed my thoughts of the way I budget and spend my money,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to invest so I can also leave something for when I have children.\u00a0 I want to live comfortably,\u201d said the 30-year-old.<\/p>\n
According to Ms. Conliffe, it is important to begin saving, even if it is a small sum.\u00a0 \u201cThe amount doesn\u2019t matter, but the consistency, and your expenses should never exceed your income.\u00a0 If so, you\u2019re living at a deficit,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Ms. Conliffe warned of borrowing for \u201cfrivolous\u201d reasons.\u00a0 \u201cBorrow for assets which will increase your overall well-being.\u00a0 If you have to borrow for a vacation, you can\u2019t afford it.\u00a0 Save towards it.\u00a0 Now is the ideal time and I\u2019m thankful for BTVI for taking this on as most of you are entering the workforce,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Echoing his counterpart during the financial wellness checkup, Mr. Bodie also spoke to the importance of using wisdom when dealing with loans.\u00a0 \u201cThe bulk of what you pay goes to interest. It\u2019s not until about half way through the loan do your payments go to the principal. The benefit of making principal payments on top of your regular payment is your balance drops.\u00a0 It shortens the life of the loan and you save some money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Chiming in, Ms. Missick-Jones noted that although consolidating loans results in a lower monthly payment, some people make the mistake of getting into further debt with the funds that have been freed up.\u00a0 She advised against this.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Mr. Bodie went on to caution attendees about the use of credit cards.\u00a0 \u201cIf you have a credit card, don\u2019t splurge.\u00a0 Use credit cards when you need to because you will pay a cost and that cost is interest,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging the importance of credit, Ms. Moss advised that payments be made on time and above the minimum required.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, BTVI\u2019s Coordinator of Student Affairs, Racquel Bethel, was pleased the students were armed with information about what financial products and services are available.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted them to know the importance of how to create and maintain a budget and even investment plans for the future,\u201d said Ms. Bethel.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome young people feel they will be young forever.\u00a0 Life is short.\u00a0 They have to plan early and in doing so, they have a greater chance to be successful in the future.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not financially well, it impacts every other area of your life,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n
The Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI)<\/p>\n
Caption: BAF Financial\u2019s Business Analyst, Dexter Bodie, spoke candidly to attendees of BTVI\u2019s financial wellness workshop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Representatives from leading banks, insurance and credit unions recently gave advice to students, staff and faculty at The Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) that is expected to put them on the road to financial success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":102031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}