Latest news with #financial literacy
CNA
4 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Money Talks - MT Explains: Understanding the benefits of corporate insurance
Many jobs come with corporate insurance coverage but for those who want extra protection, they may consider paying for a personal insurance policy. Which policy should you claim first and how do you make the most out of your company insurance policy? Peggy Chan from the Institute for Financial Literacy shares what to look out for.
Emirates 24/7
17-07-2025
- Business
- Emirates 24/7
Knowledge Fund Establishment and National Bonds Corporation announce the launch of a new phase of the Young Investor Program
In line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to nurture a financially aware generation and strengthen Dubai's position as a global hub for education and innovation, the Knowledge Fund Establishment (KFE), in partnership with the National Bonds Corporation (NBC), has announced the launch of a new phase of the Young Investor Program. The pioneering educational initiative aims to enhance financial literacy among school students in Dubai through a strategic partnership between the public and private sectors. In its current phase, the programme targets more than 75,000 students across 50 private schools in Dubai, reflecting its rapid growth since launch and the commitment of government entities to embedding financial education within school curricula. The initiative aligns with the goals of Dubai's Education Strategy 2033 and the Dubai Social Agenda 33. The latest expansion builds on the success of the pilot phase—the first initiative of its kind in the region—launched in Dubai schools. It seeks to empower students from an early age with key concepts such as saving and personal financial planning, delivered through interactive modules and engaging educational content. His Excellency Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of the Knowledge Fund Establishment, said: 'The Young Investor Program reflects our strategic focus on advancing quality education and supporting initiatives that equip students with essential life skills, particularly in financial literacy. We believe that investing in our children's education is an investment in Dubai's future, and we take pride in the leading role KFE plays in fostering innovative partnerships between the public and private sectors to realise this vision.' Mohammed Qasim Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of National Bonds Corporation, said: 'We are proud of our partnership with KFE in implementing this unique programme, which reflects our commitment to building a financially aware generation capable of making informed decisions. Early financial education is fundamental to creating a stable and prosperous economy over time. Given the rapid pace of technological advancement in students' lives, we believe it is essential to equip them with the financial skills they need both during their education and in their future careers, so they are well prepared for a world that requires awareness, adaptability and smart decision-making.' The initiative is part of broader efforts by KFE to foster closer collaboration between public and private sector entities in building a comprehensive, future-ready education model. It also supports the leadership's vision of developing a sustainable knowledge-based economy led by an empowered, well-educated generation prepared to navigate the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Your Next Podcast Listen Could Be Worth Thousands
It may sound overly simple, but it's true: The more you learn about a topic, the greater the mastery you'll gain. Whether you want to learn how to swim, change your own oil, paint a masterpiece (at least to your friends and family), or bake pies, you'll need to crack the books or stream those podcasts (not to mention the YouTube tutorials). And the same strategy that made your blueberry pie the treasure of every get-together can help you grow your wealth. For You: Check Out: How so? Building financial literacy means learning the ins-and-outs of personal finance — specifically how to manage your money in ways that will help you achieve your financial goals. It goes beyond the basics — from having a high-yield savings account for your emergency fund to asking whether you're maximizing tax-advantaged accounts like a Roth IRA, or how asset allocation can impact your long-term wealth building. If you understand what to learn about and where you can go to get that knowledge, you could turn any learning moment — whether it's a podcast during your commute, a YouTube series over lunch, or a book before bed — into a wealth-building opportunity that pays dividends for decades. Sure, you've got the budgeting basics down, but true financial literacy takes you deeper into strategies that can unlock real wealth-building potential. Instead of simply tracking expenses, you adopt budgeting techniques that free up enough cash flow to max out your 401(k) contributions — a move that could be worth hundreds of thousands by retirement. As you keep learning, you'll move beyond basic money management to master the psychology of spending, seeking out experts and materials that can teach you how to automate your finances for maximum efficiency. You may also have a basic understanding that a high credit score is important — it can affect where you live or what you drive — but did you know that advanced credit optimization can save you tens of thousands on mortgage rates and unlock premium investment opportunities? A deep understanding of how compound interest can work for — or against — you, or how tax-advantaged accounts can fast-track your financial independence timeline: that kind of knowledge can open the door to serious wealth-building, and it only takes a few minutes of learning per day. Explore More: Investing may seem like the domain of more experienced financial experts, but it's not. You're likely already contributing to your 401(k), but investing education can help you optimize your entire portfolio, whether it's learning to maximize both traditional and Roth IRA contributions or how to tackle more advanced wealth-building techniques like backdoor Roth conversions. With the right learning material, you can become a more confident investor by demystifying concepts like compound interest, tax-loss harvesting, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs — like how to build a three-fund portfolio that requires minimal maintenance. There are so many learning materials out there, from financial educators on TikTok like YourRichBFF who are dedicated to taking the jargon out of investing, to authors and podcasters like Tori Dunlap, who help people who are often frozen out of financial literacy — like women — make empowered choices. If you're toying with the idea of retiring early, podcasts like 'The Mad Fientist' and 'ChooseFI' specifically target professionals interested in financial independence and early retirement. Many people think of life insurance as an extra perk they get from their employer — and then they don't think about it at all. A deeper financial education reveals how life insurance can become a sophisticated wealth-building tool. For those on a mission to build wealth — and accumulating significant assets — life insurance serves multiple purposes beyond basic protection. As a cornerstone of estate planning, the right coverage ensures your loved ones aren't left in a financial lurch if you pass away suddenly — and it can make the difference in everything from keeping the family home to covering your children's education without disrupting your spouse's retirement timeline. But here's where advanced financial literacy pays off: you need to understand how much coverage aligns with your wealth-building strategy, which means you'll need to find experts you trust. Well-known financial experts like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman have their own opinions about how much life insurance you could need — and they're easy enough to Google. However, there are other ways to use life insurance to meet your financial goals. Some whole life policies accrue cash value that you can borrow against, using the money to support major financial milestones like buying a home or funding a business venture. This strategy isn't for everyone, and understanding your options requires consultation with a financial advisor or insurance broker. That said, learning about life insurance strategies through podcasts or other learning resources can at least help you ask the right questions. A simple Google search for 'life insurance podcast' yields a plethora of results, including a ranking of the top 20 life insurance-oriented podcasts from FeedSpot. Fortunately, we live in an age where nearly everything you need to build your financial literacy — whether you're just learning to budget or building an investment strategy to achieve early retirement — is right at your fingertips, quite literally. Your daily commute, gym sessions, or evening walks can become wealth-building opportunities. Plugging a search term into your favorite podcast app, TikTok or YouTube can give you a veritable orchard of options. The key is finding creators who understand your goals. You'll want to cross-reference the hosts or creators to ensure that they have solid credentials and expertise that you can trust. And while learning online is a great way to continuously upgrade your financial knowledge, you should eventually check in with a fee-only financial advisor to develop a personalized financial plan to help you achieve your specific wealth-building From GOBankingRates 5 Steps to Take if You Want To Create Generational Wealth I'm a Financial Advisor: My Clients Who Retire Early All Do These 3 Things 4 Things You Should Do if You Want To Retire Early Dave Ramsey: The 3 Worst Mistakes People Make When Trying To Build Wealth This article originally appeared on Why Your Next Podcast Listen Could Be Worth Thousands
Forbes
15-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Building Wealth And Protecting It For Business Owners And High Earners
The Gap Between Generating Income and Building Wealth Generating income is only half the battle for business owners and high earners, building wealth, protecting it, and passing it down is the real challenge. We hear it far too often: stories of people who made significant amounts of money only to lose it because of poor financial advice or habits or mismanagement by professionals they trusted. These stories aren't just headlines—they're real, painful reminders of why financial literacy and constant oversight matter at every stage of the wealth lifecycle —from accumulation to preservation to transfer. Wealth isn't just what you earn—it's what you keep, protect, and grow. Build it wisely, preserve it ... More intentionally Lessons on Building Wealth from Celebrities' Financial Failures Even celebrities aren't immune to the consequences of poor financial management. In 2012, Grammy-winning singer and beauty mogul Rihanna sued her former accounting firm for gross negligence. Despite her success she reportedly lost millions of dollars and was close to bankruptcy due to their mishandling of her finances. Likewise, in 2008, comedian and host Steve Harvey discovered after his accountant's death that his taxes hadn't been filed for seven years. As a result, he owed over $20 million to the IRS in back taxes and interest. These stories highlight the importance of staying engaged and educated because it's not just about earning money, it's about managing it properly, growing your wealth, and protecting it. This article is part of a series for business owners and high earners seeking to grow, protect, and pass down their wealth. Building Wealth with a Solid Investment Strategy Your investment strategy serves as your personal roadmap as you are building wealth. It should reflect your financial goals, risk tolerance, and long-term vision, and it should serve as a compass for every investment decision you make. Your investment strategy should evolve as your life and goals evolve. When defining your investment strategy, it's important to reflect on what wealth means to you, what your short-term and long-term goals are, determine your target net worth and decide on the level of risk you are comfortable with. You can start by reflecting on these questions when creating your investment philosophy and strategy: It's important to write these goals down and revisit them annually. Most wealthy individuals diversify their portfolios across the stock market and real estate. This doesn't exclude other investments, but those typically play a smaller, complementary role in a well-balanced strategy. Real estate and the stock market each have their strengths, for example real estate provides tangible assets and tax advantages, while stocks and ETFs offer liquidity and compounding growth. When it comes to investing in the stock market, consider this rule of thumb: 110 minus your age = ideal percentage of your portfolio in stocks. So, if you're 55, aim for 55% in stocks, and the remaining in gold, bonds or other conservative assets. Of course, the younger you are the more flexibility you have around this rule of thumb. But, allocating a portion of your investments in more conservative assets will give you peace of mind in case of a market downturn or if you're going through a challenging financial period . As part of your investment strategy, consider how much of your portfolio will be dedicated to alternative investments like investing in startups, venture capital firms or bitcoin. However, even if you're passionate about investing in businesses or buying cryptocurrency, remember that more than two thirds of startups fail according to the Harvard Business Review, and that crypto markets are highly volatile. So those investments should complement, not replace, foundational investments. As business owners and high earners are building wealth, they often reach a point where they no longer have the time or the appropriate knowledge to do it all. That's when building the right team becomes essential. Your team should support your goals around building and preserving wealth. And just as importantly, you should equip yourself with knowledge to have meaningful conversations with the professionals you hire. Oftentimes, the first hire is an accountant. Hiring a CPA, preferably a tax strategist, especially if you own a business or have multiple income streams can make a huge difference. When it comes to investing, Low-cost ETFs and index funds can take you a long way. However, if you reach a point where you need support with investing and are considering hiring a financial advisor, it's essential to ensure they have a fiduciary responsibility—meaning they are legally obligated to act in your best interest. Ask them directly if they are a fiduciary. Understand how they are compensated (flat fee vs. commission), and request clarity around any incentives. A qualified and ethical attorney can prevent and save you from difficult situations and help you elevate your wealth. When interviewing lawyers, ask about their experience with clients similar to you, and clarify their billing practices—hourly, retainer, flat fee. Make sure they're familiar with business contracts, and asset protection vehicles like trusts and operating agreements. It's crucial to talk to several candidates to find the right expert for you. When interviewing them, rank them based on a scorecard you have created that includes their credentials that you have verified, their integrity and alignment score, their compensation structure, their client retention and testimonials, their responsiveness and availability among other things. Check credentials annually using regulatory websites like the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy for CPAs, BrokerCheck (FINRA), or SEC Adviser Search for financial advisors, or verify a lawyer's licensing through the state's bar association. Here a few questions you can ask your wealth team: Building Wealth and Protecting Your Assets If you are building wealth, protecting it is a non-negotiable. Establishing proper legal structures is a foundational step. Using LLCs or corporations to separate personal and business assets and limit liability and reduce risk. For more advanced planning, family trusts or irrevocable trusts can help shield assets and facilitate tax-efficient wealth transfers. Insurance is critical as well. This includes business liability insurance, umbrella liability policies, short- and long-term disability, and life insurance. Insurance can help protect you from unexpected legal or financial difficulties. In today's digital world, cybersecurity cannot be ignored to protect your data, networks, computers, systems. Wealthy individuals are high-value targets. J.P. Morgan and Chase recommends a zero-trust cybersecurity approach—trust no one, and verify everything. Use password managers, multi-factor authentication, and network monitoring tools to guard your sensitive data. Due diligence is another critical part of asset protection. Consider personally submitting your tax payment to the IRS after your CPA has prepared them, review your tax returns every year. Avoid signing any contract or legal document without full understanding and performing your due diligence. Take time to review your contracts, especially clauses around termination, indemnity, auto-renewal, and survival. Always look for red flag language like perpetuity, forever, or irrevocable… Review your bank and credit cards' activity once a month. Tools like Empower help you track your personal finances in real time every day. For business finances, routinely monitoring account activity and personally approving transactions above a certain threshold can be life savers. You can learn contracts basics using free resources like Yale University's Contract Law Course on Coursera or listen to legal podcasts like the Simplifying Legal or the Legalpreneur. Here are a few questions you can ask your team about asset protection: Building and protecting your wealth is your responsibility. Your wealth team is there to advise and assist you —not replace your oversight. Know your numbers. Review them regularly. Pay close attention to your finances —including your investments — and track their performance over time. Perform regular financial reviews and revisit your investment strategy every year. The more knowledgeable you are about your finances and contracts, the harder it becomes for someone to take advantage of you. Be a good steward of your wealth by keeping a close eye on it so it can continue to grow. Building wealth and keeping it requires strategy. Once you've developed a plan to build wealth, the next step is making sure you're monitoring and protecting it effectively. That's exactly what we'll explore in the next installment of the series: Building Wealth, Monitoring It and Optimizing Your financial Ecosystem. For more content focused on building wealth, follow the author at the top of the page to be notified as soon as an article goes live.
Zawya
14-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Pension, retirement cycle and insurance benefits on the Jahiz platform aim to explain the insurance system
Abu Dhabi: Understanding pension laws requires grasping insurance terminology, particularly regarding contribution payments and insurance benefits. This knowledge is essential for both employers and employees to navigate the system, whether it involves retirement pension or end-of-service gratuity. For that reason, the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) in collaboration with the Jahiz platform have launched a pension and insurance benefits virtual masterclass, which can be accessed on the customized digital platform Jahiz, marking the second phase of the "Wafra" program, which is a transformational project for the second cycle announced in July 2023 aimed at achieving the UAE's "We the UAE 2031" vision to establish a prosperous Emirati society. The Jahiz platform represents the future of government talent, the largest and most comprehensive national initiatives for future skills in the United Arab Emirates. Launched in late 2022, it is one of the pivotal transformational initiatives for the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR). The project focuses on raising the financial literacy of insured individuals and eligible beneficiaries, providing them with the principles of proactive financial planning, while promoting a culture of early savings and investment. The topics in the program include defining terms such as contribution account salary, average contribution account salary and pension account salary. Also explained in the modules are monthly contribution rates due from both insured Emiratis and their employers, registration and contribution rules, as well as the provisions behind merging employment years as per federal pension laws. Users will gain information on eligibility criteria's regarding pension and end-of-service gratuity in terms of age and years of service, with details on the calculation mechanisms for both. The course provides comparisons amongst pension funds in the UAE, the merge conditions and compliance with the provisions for each, as well as GPSSA's role in managing the files of pensioners and non-civilian entities as per the pension laws by which they are subject to and the Authority's responsibility in managing citizens subject to the provisions of the Insurance Protection Extension System. In addition, the "Ma'ashi" digital platform has been introduced as GPSSA's main service platform, providing information, data and awareness for users to reach their goals. For more information, please contact: Dina El Shammaa Media and Public Relations Senior Specialist E-mail: Website:
