<\/p>\n
You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: I\u2019m chatting with Sebastien Alexanderson, CEO of National Debt Advisors. Sebastien, appreciate the time. In theory payday should be a good day, right? We\u2019ve got money, we reset our finances. But for many it\u2019s actually about stress, it\u2019s about debts, it\u2019s that there\u2019s very little real finance. It\u2019s actually probably a tough day for many.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON: Absolutely. Payday is supposed to be a day of celebration. We have just been paid \u2013 let\u2019s do something with it.<\/p>\n
But I think for most of us payday comes and it has become a day of anxiety. You live month to month, that money comes in, and then it\u2019s gone, whether it\u2019s in seconds, a day, maybe \u2013 if you\u2019re lucky, a few days.<\/p>\n
But for the rest of us, for most South Africans, you\u2019re left worrying about school fees, food, supporting your family. That kind of pressure follows you home, it affects your sleep, it affects your relationships, it affects your ability to be emotionally present. It\u2019s a real problem.<\/p>\n
Read:
Turn off the debt tap and start mopping up your lifestyle
Rate cuts and two-pot relief fail to stop SA\u2019s debt spiral
5 bad habits sabotaging your savings<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: It absolutely is, because it starts with money, but it ends as physical well-being and mental well-being. And, as you say, it can impact relationships, it can impact families. It\u2019s going to manifest in different ways \u2013 and emotionally most of them are going to be very, very bad for you and those you care about.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON: Hundred percent. I mean, we\u2019ve got a strong culture of depending on our friends and family for money as well. So that creates bigger divides when it comes time to pay that back.<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: That\u2019s a good point. We\u2019ve seen charts that say borrowing from friends and family is up from 18% to 28%. I get why, and you want to help friends and family, but we need to, I suppose, maybe put structures in place, and try to look for some solution here. It\u2019s an obvious and easy one, but it can bring some real conflict within a family.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON:Hundred percent. We all know that when we borrow money from a friend or family and we can\u2019t pay that back, that strains things.<\/p>\n
They might start avoiding you; it puts undue pressure on you and the family. And the reality is that if you have to borrow from more than one person just to survive, just for those essentials, it becomes a bigger problem than just money.<\/p>\n
Read:
The big squeeze: Why salary increases in South Africa aren\u2019t keeping\u00a0up with life\u2019s rising costs
A life-stage approach to women\u2019s financial wellness<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: It\u2019s that. The key point you\u2019re making here is we\u2019re talking essentials here. We\u2019re not talking, you know, holidays to the Wild Coast or something, or fancy nights out. This really is just the day-to-day of survival.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON: Absolutely. One of the things that we really encourage is to kind of sit down with your family at least once a week or maybe once a month and talk about what\u2019s coming in and what\u2019s going out, and what you can do to try to cut back. But if you\u2019re like many South Africans for whom that pay cheque is basically going for the essentials \u2013 the school fees, the transport \u2013 then there\u2019s nothing left that you can cut back on, right?<\/p>\n
That means that there\u2019s a deeper systemic problem inside of our country that needs to be dealt with.<\/p>\n
Read:
The 5 money mistakes that quietly keep South Africans from building wealth
Real take-home pay at a two-year low
\u2018Mampara week\u2019 and the trap of relief spending<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: You mentioned school fees there. We\u2019ve been talking around the adults. The kids obviously aren\u2019t wage earners at any point, but they\u2019re part of this process and they\u2019re part of this mental health challenge and the stress that goes with it \u2013 if not directly, certainly indirectly \u2013 watching their parents and caregivers.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON: I\u2019ve two eight-year-old twins, so I\u2019m at the beginning of my school-fee adventure and, let me tell you, it\u2019s tense. It\u2019s double trouble every month. Children hear everything, they see everything, they feel everything.<\/p>\n
As parents we try to hide our financial problems, but they notice the arguments. They feel the anxiety, the tension in the household. And at what point does a child start worrying about things like school fees instead of worrying about their homework?<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: That\u2019s a great point. So, some solutions.<\/p>\n
One of them is, I suppose, bring in the kids, age appropriate. Let\u2019s not get an eight-year-old and ask them to balance the budget. But engage them in the process, perhaps \u2013 to sit around at dinner and I suppose be open and frank with them.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON: Hundred percent. Those little human beings of ours are smart. They know, they understand, they see it, and they\u2019re often very, very supportive.<\/p>\n
Read:
Teach your children well \u2013 Part 1: Early childhood
Raising financially capable children starts at home
Pocket money with purpose: Teaching children early
The three-jar trick: Teaching our kids about money<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: Yes. And often way smarter than we give them credit for. You mentioned earlier as well around a sort of weekly check-in for couples: to sort of sit down \u2013 importantly non-judgmental \u2013 on what\u2019s coming in, what\u2019s going out.<\/p>\n
In other words, get everyone on the same page \u2013 an important point there \u2013 so there aren\u2019t surprises. I suppose in some senses it\u2019s a clich\u00e9, but \u2018trouble shared is trouble halved\u2019.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON: I find one of the most interesting parts of the job that I\u2019ve been doing for 25 years is that we speak to so many people and it surprises me \u2013 and kind of after all this time it doesn\u2019t surprise me \u2013 but the people we find the hardest to speak to about our money problem is our loved ones.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like we\u2019ve got pride, we don\u2019t want to admit defeat, and we are staying up all night tossing and turning, tossing and turning.<\/p>\n
Your partner\u2019s asking why you are tossing and turning, and it builds a wall between you. But then what you really need to do is to stop putting your head in the sand and delaying it, and have that conversation.<\/p>\n
Read:
Love shouldn\u2019t send money sense flying out the window
Questions to consider before becoming a stay-at-home-parent<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: And having that conversation as well then goes to sort of the more formal assistance \u2013 there are lots out there \u2013 such as speaking to the people you owe money to, whether it\u2019s friends and family, or secured or unsecured loans.<\/p>\n
But also just avail yourself of the opportunities and have those conversations sooner rather than later \u2013 not just for your own mental health, which is hugely important, but also just because nearly always sooner is better than later.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON: 100%. At first we try to borrow our way out of trouble, but then that stops and we need to find other solutions. Depending on where you\u2019re at there are different solutions available.<\/p>\n
But the one thing we\u2019ve learned over time is if you don\u2019t act sooner rather than later, those solutions disappear \u2013 and before you know it, the sheriff is at the door and those problems just become even bigger than what they were.<\/p>\n
Read:
Modern day financial slavery: Unveiling the mental health crisis in SA\u2019s debt trap
Too many consumers enter debt counselling prematurely
Needing to borrow money?<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: This is Mental Health Awareness Month. We\u2019ve been talking around that. I suppose the point is that it feels, I would imagine, completely unsolvable. I imagine you\u2019re going to say it is solvable, and you\u2019re not going to say it\u2019s necessarily easy or fun \u2013 but it absolutely is solvable, and that is the key point.<\/p>\n
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDERSON: Absolutely. At the end of the day, we have a great Constitution. It caters for these sorts of things. If you\u2019re the main breadwinner and you\u2019re finding yourself in a position where you\u2019re stuck, you\u2019re struggling to put food on the table or you\u2019re struggling to speak to your family, speak to a professional, speak to a debt counsellor, speak to a financial advisor. Get your bank statements out, and see what options are available because they are there.<\/p>\n
Read:
Money matters: How better financial habits can boost your mental health
Silent crisis: Financial pressure driving fathers away from families
Reckless lending is a human rights issue
The consequences of credit card dependency
Distressed debt anxiety is spreading across emerging markets<\/p>\n
SIMON BROWN: They are there, absolutely.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message we\u2019ll leave with. Sebastien Alexanderson, CEO of National Debt Advisors, appreciate the time.<\/p>\n
#hidden #toll #debt #early #action #matters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here. SIMON BROWN: I\u2019m chatting with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[4342,1555,451,1012,199,3032],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19208"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}