Hands up who saves money
Hands up who saves money for holidays, a new car, home improvements, a night out or a new outfit?
Hands up if you save for training, professional development, or upskilling.
This last one is probably not on most peoples’ lists – it should be though. That’s what I told Ms. TAM, one of my clients.
In the long-term, saving for professional development could bring you more job prospects and a higher salary; I’ll tell you how.
I work mainly with young adults, to give them a good grounding, foundation, and the information they need to start on the right track financially.
It’s not taught in schools how to look after your money and not everyone has good role models around them. Ms. TAM didn’t.
Debt is a major problem in our society, so the next generation may often follow the first…down the rabbit hole of spending more than they’ve got coming in.
Save, invest, spend and give – these are the four pillars I workaround. I encourage parents of under 25s who attend my workshops to start with the pocket money.
Yes you may say, a few pence here and there won’t create a huge savings pot, but it’s not so much about the value of what’s saved; it’s more about the habit.
When I first mentioned to Ms. TAM about saving for her professional development, she wondered how she would achieve that.
Save £1 from £5 of pocket money.
Save £20 from £100 wages.
Save £40 from £200 wages.
Save £200 from £1000 wages, and so on.
Once the habit of saving money is established and wired in, it can be scaled up. By the time you are earning more, the habit of saving is there.
Who then thinks about funding training and professional development?
Throughout our careers, we should keep learning, training, and developing. This is because it enables us to do the job better or to specialise, which in turn, would mean earn more money – and this is key.
I want my students to keep on developing and thus opening up that window of opportunity to earn more money.
Money might be a dirty word in some places, vulgar, unspoken, yet it’s something we all need – and finding a way to get more of it is key.
Saving to pay for professional development, training courses, experiences, qualifications, and courses, means that you will always have money to be able to do it. Most employers won’t always foot the bill.
They might subsidise it, and you might need to pay the balance.
Having a pot ready will mean you aren’t held up from progressing or tempted to use credit cards.
Once you can fund your development, it brings more:
- Skills – putting you above your peers and colleagues for responsibility and promotion; both of which should earn you more money.
- Choice – of where you can work and what you can do. The job market opens up if you have more skills and capabilities.
- Money – you are more likely to be promoted or find a higher-paying job as you are more skilled. You will have more to offer and therefore be able to reach further in terms of your job satisfaction and salary.
By including ‘saving for professional development’ into your finances you would find that you have a much more comfortable future.
I want you to join the Financial Growth Accelerator program, where you get step-by-step guidance on how to grow your finances, achieve your desired goals, and have a positive money mindset.
