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Bimonthly Newsletter from VM Pensions Management
Money Tip: Be Kind to Your Mind
Stress, anxiety and depression are all made worse by financial difficulties.
HOW TO BE A FINANCIAL HERO: You need to have the right mindset when it comes to your personal finances.
OCTOBER 2020
Money Tip: Be Kind to Your Mind E
ven in the best of times, life can be stressful. When there’s an ‘invisible enemy’ causing health and economic repercussions worldwide, monitoring and managing our mental health should be a top priority. The fear of sustaining infection – or worse, passing it on to a vulnerable loved one; the isolation from family, friends and teachers; and the uncertainty around employment and personal finances all contribute to an environment that can be overwhelming to say the least. Studies show a cyclical relationship between money troubles and mental health. Stress, anxiety and depression are all made worse by financial difficulties, which, in turn, make it harder to earn, manage money and ask for help. One aspect of the problem can be addressed by taking steps like practising mindfulness* to calm the mind and alleviate the effects of external stressors. The other side of the cycle can be tackled by approaching our finances in a proactive way. Examining your goals will give you an understanding of what you need to do now. Having a plan puts us in control and helps alleviate anxiety. Taking practical steps, big or small, to control and change our personal financial situation shifts our focus from worrying and creates
constructive channels for the energy that might be otherwise spent overthinking. Five things you can do are:
HAVE A PLAN It’s ok for the plan to be vague, given there may be things you can’t know right now, or can’t predict. Any good plan should account for now as well as the future. The important thing is to identify the outcomes you want. Be flexible, and review the plan regularly so you can make adjustments, if needed, along the way.
LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS It’s easy to say but doing it will require you to take stock of your monthly bills and your expenses. Comparing them to your income will allow you to see what needs to be trimmed. This will also help you identify any amounts that could be invested or added to your ARS contributions.
UNLOAD DEBT Pay off your credit cards and any other high-interest obligations as quickly as possible. Consider debt consolidation, which should simplify your debt payment
schedule at a relatively low rate. The less you pay out, the more you’re paying yourself.
AUTOMATE PAYMENTS Set up standing orders and automate bill payments wherever possible. This way, your bills will be reliably paid and you can use your time, and your brain, for other things. If you can’t do standing orders, put the dates in your calendar so you can forget about them until the reminder pops up.
COMMUNICATE
support for any concerns. Talking to an ARS advisor can also help us navigate uncertainty and make good financial decisions now, for the future. In both instances, communicating goes a long way towards reducing stress levels and constructing the life we want for our future self. In a time when so many of us are preoccupied with our finances, the best thing we can do is to see that our mental health is just as, if not more, important. They each affect our ability to maintain and enjoy the other. To paraphrase a popular mantra: mental health is wealth.
Talking to family and friends whose advice you trust, is a good way to flesh out ideas, firm up plans and get
Financial heroes also understand they’re their own greatest asset. Taking care of the asset means treating self-education as a lifelong project. Some of the world’s best financial minds read four or five dozen books every year. It also means time and money should be spent on pursuits that enhance your decision-making skills. That could mean finding a mentor, talking to an advisor or going fishing, if it helps you think. Seeing sacrifices made today as an investment in the future is also important. It provides the perspective needed to make decisions that will be beneficial later on. It also makes it easier to be disciplined. Whether you’re prioritizing items on your budget, choosing to start an emergency fund or deciding on how much your ARS contributions should be, remember you’re paying yourself for the future you want.
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Money means different things to different people. You should be clear on what it means to you. Is it security, a tool for achieving financial freedom or a means to take care of your loved ones? Whatever it is, once you are clear on your ‘why’, your choices will benefit from greater clarity and it will be easier to find the discipline you need to make sacrifices for future gain.
CONT’D.
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As Jamaica celebrates heroes big and small this month, our thoughts turn to financial heroes. You know, that mother who always has the money stuff planned out, or the dad who taught us valuable lessons about money we still use today … those people. Being a financial hero doesn’t mean you need to have a lot of money. It doesn’t even mean you need to have all your ducks in a row. It just means you need to have the right mindset when it comes to your personal finances and to be consistent about moving in the right direction.
*S o
How to be a Financial Hero
The use of failure as a learning tool is one of the least talked about aspects of success, but it is one of the most powerful. Michael Jordan and Sara Blakely, inventor and founder of Spanx, are just two of the many financial heroes who credit their view of failure as a path to being better as fundamental to their success.
How to be a Financial Hero
you can start doing today, if you haven’t already. So get out there and get going – your world could use another hero.
MEET THE TEAM
While these aren’t the only psychological aspects that define a financial hero, they are certainly among the most important. And the good thing is that they’re all things that
CONT’D.
H E A LT H & W E L L N E S S
When Science Meets Mindfulness Last year, over 17 million people reported experiencing major depression in the US alone, often struggling to function while grappling with crippling darkness and despair. There’s an arsenal of treatments at hand, including talk therapy and antidepressant medications, but what’s depressing in itself is that they don’t work for every patient. Studies have shown benefits against an array of conditions both physical and mental, including irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. But some of those findings have been called into question because studies had small sample sizes or problematic experimental designs. Still, there are a handful of key areas — including depression, chronic pain, and anxiety — in which well-designed, well-run studies have shown benefits for patients engaging in a mindfulness meditation program, with effects similar to other existing treatments. Full story: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/ story/2018/04/harvard-researchers-studyhow-mindfulness-may-change-the-brain-indepressed-patients/
VM Pensions Management Ltd 73-75 Half Way Tree Road Kingston 10, Jamaica
Mr. Conroy Rose CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER VICTORIA MUTUAL PENSION MANAGEMENT
Conroy assumed leadership at VMPM in January 2019 after a successful 11-year tenure at VMBS. His last assignment was as AVP, Sales & Service. Conroy is a democratic leader who effectively balances the needs of his team with the strategic management of the business. In 2018 he received the VM Group Active and Visible Sponsorship Award given to outstanding members of the Executive Team. Conroy is a proud alumnus of Jamaica College where he now serves as an active participant in the institution’s mentorship program. A married father of three, Conroy’s aspiration is to guide his children to becoming noble adults who are able to make meaningful contributions to society.
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TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW DEFINED-CONTRIBUTION PLAN
This is a plan in which employees contribute a fixed amount of their monthly salary to an account intended to fund retirement. The sponsor company will, at times match a portion of employee contributions as an added benefit. How does this work? Let’s say Bob is employed to ACB Inc. and they deduct $5,000 from his salary every month to put towards his retirement plan. ABC Inc. may decide to match Bob’s contributions with 50% of his contribution i.e $2,500 for an agreed period of time.
Tel: 876-754-7265 Fax: 876-754-8359 Email: pensions.info@myvmgroup.com