By Nume Ekeghe
The Managing Director, Sigma Pensions, Mr. Dave Uduanu has reiterated that short-term and long-term savings are critical to the development of any nation.
Uduanu, stated during a panel session at a virtual media engagement organised by the Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), where they deliberated on ‘Impact of Financial Literacy on Youths.’
Uduani, a board member of JAN, said it was important that people learn how to save from young age, especially in the university. This, he said would go with them as they grow and develop into adulthood.
He explained: “Savings and pensions are critical to national development. Pensions are the bedrock of the long-term financial savings. “The longer you save the better for you. What we are saying is that it is important that we start to save for our future while we are young than to wait for when it is too late.
“That is why at Sigma Pensions, we target university students and youth corps members for our catch them young programme.”
He added: “Saving for pension is no magic. People should save enough money now so that when they retire, they can continue their lifestyle in retirement.”
He added that, “the minimum requirement for pension is 18 per cent of income from the age of 25, while in other climes; some do as high as 30 per cent.
“The key thing here is to start now even if you are older than 25, you have to start a pension savings plan now. One good thing now is that these savings are invested by the Pensions Funds and it is all better for contributors in the future.
He stressed that it would be difficult for anybody who has a strong pension plan to think of going into financial crime or embezzlement because he is rest assured of a better future.
“If you have a decent financial plans or pension plans you will not go into fraud. We should emphasise more of savings and savings for the future among the people.
“The more we save, the better the future is for us”, Uduanu added.
Another member of the panel, the Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, FBN Holdings, Folake Ani-Mumuney, said it was important to understand the role of savings.
She said: “We have an economy where everybody is a player. We must make sure that we start teaching financial literacy at young age. We must understand the multiplier effect of savings and financial literacy.
“We expect primary school pupils to start learning about money and savings because it is important to start early.
“Financial literacy is important because it has impact on the future. As long as they can read and write, we should teach them financial literacy”.
