What are you learning about this year?

Image from exit promise

For one of my school projects I decided to write about finances and I had to choose my own topics to research and write about. One of them includes financial institutions. I have to learn about bank fees charged by commercial banks and the types of accounts available to their customers. I am mostly focusing on individual steps to financial freedom therefore, I have’t touched on retail banks or corporate banking.  

I have realized that information is widely available for us out there but we don’t have the knowledge because we don’t search for information. Before I started writing about finances and financial literacy, I had this period where I did a mini research about credit cards (including talking to someone at my bank) and I gained a vast amount of knowledge. But I also realized that the reason we sometimes don’t learn about things is because the lingo may not be in our favor. Finance language is one of them. It requires having a dictionary handy to learn some of the terminologies so that you can move forward to the next piece of information (or have someone explain things to you in a layman’s language). 

I hope I won’t stop learning about finances once I am done with my school project. And as for you my readers, you can learn anything you want to. So, I urge you to make use of all the information out there - a lot is available online - educate yourself especially about things that affect your life one way or the other, be it health, finance, career, relationships, and so forth. It’s never too late to start. 

Love,

Mamatembo

How Much Do You Know About Banking and Finance

Image obtained from Google

At what age should we be learning about finances and the banking system just so that we can have general knowledge about finances and how things work? I opened my first bank account when I was 14 years old with a bank that was available nationwide in Tanzania, and that’s because I lived in Dar and Arusha. Fast forward a few years later, I had a bank account oversees for reasons of being an international student. The basic information that I knew was how to deposit, how to withdraw, costs for withdrawals from same bank ATMs (if any) and from other banks ATMs, and monthly account fees. 

I never had a student account for reasons that it was not advertised when I opened a personal account at that time. Few years down the line, banks started advertising student accounts, accounts for unborn babies, corporate accounts, how to get personal loan or business loan, etc etc. Retail banking is simple yet complex especially if you do not know all the information you perhaps would need to make your life better. Personally, when I know what I want, I tend not to ask questions, so it's not that I blame banks for not doing their job of advertising their services well to new and existing customers, it's just that I don't feel like there is enough info out there. 

For the first time in 2017 I opened a fixed deposit account thanks to my friend who had shared with me info on her finances, how she buys shares, bonds, has fixed deposit accounts and the like. When I went to my bank to get a new ATM card, they informed me about a unique fixed deposit account for women and I was already aware of the benefits, so I went ahead and agreed to have an account because I was already “pre-informed.”

If I was asked right now, other than how much I get charged for my monthly fee to have my bank account with certain banks, I would not know anything else that I can get for being a customer to some of the banking institutions I have accounts with. And because of this lack of information, it has in a way left me wondering how to go about getting a credit card to build up my credit. And the only way to overcome this ignorance is by going to a bank and ask relevant questions, but then, how will I know what is relevant if I don't know what's being offered in the first place? Banking and financial education should be prioritized from the age of 16 if we are to have a generation of finance savvy individuals, just saying!!