Money Matters

Former wealth adviser, Ayesha Ofori is the founder of Propelle, a game-changing new fintech investment platform designed exclusively for women to change the way they invest and build their own wealth. Through Propelle, women have the opportunity to connect, learn and invest regularly, with confidence, in a way which has never been available to them before. Here she gives us her top tips on how everyday women can start building their own wealth and start their journey towards financial freedom.

The simplest and easiest thing you can do for your finances right now is to take small, habit-forming actions that will help you to achieve your goals over time. As women, we often think about money more than we care to admit, but the sense of being overwhelmed often leads to paralysis. We don’t know where to start, (plus we have so many other things on our plates) so we just put it off and it goes to the bottom of our to-do list. But nothing changes if nothing changes. I recommend starting now, today, with small actions. For example, setting up a separate bank account (or sub-account if your bank allows it) is a great place to begin. Set up a direct debit for a monthly amount (so £20/£100/£500 – whatever you can afford) to go out on pay day and then put that money to work by investing. It’s about getting your money to work for you, rather than it just being the other way around. Also, go through your bank account and make sure you cancel any direct debits you’re not using – do you really need all those subscriptions? What are you spending on that you don’t need? Future you will thank you for taking action.

It’s hard to think of ways to make additional money when you have a fixed income coming in, set bills outgoing and you barely have enough time as it is, but this is where you can get creative. Rent your assets! There’s been a huge boom in the rental market recently (and we’re not talking about property here) – you can rent out pretty much anything and make money from it – your wardrobe, your driveway, your camping equipment, even a skillset you have. If you want to build your wealth then you need to start looking outside your income for additional ways to supplement what you already bring in.

Some women may think investing is for other people, usually rich people, but they are wrong. Investing is for all of us and is particularly important for those of us who need to make more money. You don’t need pots of money in the bank to make investing work for you. You can start small and build on it. There’s a concept in investing called compounding which means that a small amount of money invested over time can grow into really sizeable amounts. That’s exactly why I started Propelle, to help women like you take action and start investing regularly, so you too can build wealth. Think of Propelle as your investment partner for life.

It’s not realistic to try and cut costs all in one go and there are everyday costs that can’t be avoided, but we can all be a bit

Website: propelle.io more savvy when it comes to our spending (and therefore what we have left to invest or save). For example, my husband and I have stopped buying our children things they will grow out of quickly – eg we rent their bikes instead. We have also really cut down on the toys that we buy them too (they don’t need endless amounts of plastic tat) and we’ve started a sharing club with our friends who have kids the same age. So every month or so we rotate toys across households, so the kids feel like they have new toys (even when 6 months later they get back the toy that was originally theirs!). I am the same when it comes to things for myself. I still treat myself, but I often give myself a cooling off period before I buy something and if I don’t still really want it then I don’t bother.

We know so much about our mental and physical wellbeing and what we should be doing to take care of ourselves there, but how many of us think about our financial wellbeing? I encourage women to take control of their financial wellbeing because if we don’t it can end up as damaging to us as if we don’t look after our mental or physical selves. If you’re worrying about money constantly then I’d recommend working out a way to help yourself, and you also want to think about your future financial wellbeing and not bury your head in the sand. The good news is, you don’t have to do it alone if you don’t want to. You can always join a community of like-minded women ready to take action and improve their financial wellness.