Money Saving Tips To Teach Your Maid
Laws may change from time to time as the government wants to make sure everyone is getting treated fairly, including our domestic helpers. Maids in Singapore are usually from different nationalities but with them staying in the country for a long time almost makes them a citizen of the country. The laws in maid handling have also changed as employers are no longer allowed to take hold of their maid’s salaries. It can be understood why the move was made and to remove financial abusses and claims and misinterpretations. Many employers and their workers are now more involved in their financial responsibilities. It can be a tough problem if you don’t know where to look. But the good thing is that you can offer some tips to help your maid mitigate any financial failure.
Nowadays, homeowners in Singapore are most likely required to have a maid in their homes. Why? Well, with the dozens of work loads and errands one should do, it has become difficult to take care of everything all at once. With the help of a maid, they can do all the house chores while you’re out working. Unfortunately for some, the maids they hire are not as great as what they expected. But even if that’s the case, as an employer you have yet to fulfill your duties- one of which is to make sure that they’re healthy and always ready to work. Every six months during her job, you are in charge of sending your maid for her medical examination. This practise is called the 6-monthly Medical Check-up which includes examination for infectious diseases viruses (HIV, syphilis and TB), pregnancy tests, and with additional charges, you can also have her mental health checked. If you want to know more about maid medical check-ups, here’s a guide that will lead you throughout the process.
Teach Them How To Manage Their Bank Accounts
In addition to being able to access their own bank account, your employee needs to know how to handle it. Training in money management and account management will help them develop their financial outlook so that you get a better understanding of money. There’s so many maids who, even in their country, have never experienced holding a bank account. Now is the best time for you to start teaching them how to manage it. Having a bank account is pretty simple so it’s best that you teach them how easy it is to manage their accounts.
Besides training them, you will be able to sleep better at night when your employee is conscious that she is responsible for managing their own finances. In addition, educational practices decrease the likelihood of being too risky or too good to be true in financial transactions. Contact your financial institution or a financial planner will help you step in the right direction.
Teach Your Maid How to Set Aside Money
Saving awareness is an important step towards financial transparency. This applies in particular to the old generation which plans to lead a retirement life in the future. Your maid must be serious about it in order to save enough money in the future. To help your maid set aside some of her money, you can ask her to separate a 10% to 15% portion of her salary to be set aside and help with her savings.
Once she agrees with your idea, you can teach her the many options of money saving. Any of these choices include allowing her to expand or invest in a daily savings account. While the latter is more risky, in a short time it can develop very rapidly. However, making a strategy teaches them how they are responsible financially. If your maid wants to invest her money, you have to make sure they know some excellent ways to allocate their capital. It is achieved by selecting securities that give the best long-term gain. Once investment has been started, what they need to do is keep an eye on the investing progress and make appropriate changes to ensure that their ambition continues.
She Shouldn’t Depend on Credit Cards
Financial transparency requires using or avoiding the complete use of credit cards as little as possible. Your maid must know that credit card money is “borrowed money” and the money used before the collecting date arrives should be paid back, sometimes including the interest. When you go over your spending limit or you missed paying back the money, you can get a penalty and may pay more for it. If you need to use a credit card, the easiest way to save money is to use a low APR card by not having to refund it regularly.
Explain to your maid how the credit card will result in financial risks. The high balance may negatively affect your loan and make it perceived to be a “high risk” for lenders regardless of whether they make prompt payments.
