UAE’s leading sharia-compliant savings and investment company National Bonds, now provides financial planning tips and tools via its website as part of its continued efforts to spread financial literacy among the UAE population and the wider region.
Launched by the Financial Advisory unit at National Bonds, the new financial planning section of the portal www.nationalbonds.ae offers valuable insights and information in Arabic and English to help the company’s customers achieve their financial objectives.
The topics cover planning for retirement and children’s education, debt management, investment solutions, takaful, and estate planning. In addition, the website offers practical financial planning tips on goal setting, cash management and budgeting, financial health, and the rule of 72 – which provides an almost exact indication of how investments may grow depending on the annual profit rate or return on investment.
The portal also includes handy online calculators for accurately computing expenses, commitments, and budgets for customers to assess how best to save for a secure retirement or consolidate their debts, as well as fine-tune their educational savings strategy. One of the calculators can even help determine when a savings plan will turn a regular saver into a millionaire. The website dedicates a full page to the latest publications, books and global research in the field of savings and investment.
Speaking on the new services, Mohammed Qasim Al-Ali, CEO of National Bonds, said: “Financial planning is the only way for individuals, corporations, and even governments to achieve financial security. Since the launch of our company, we have worked relentlessly to enhance financial literacy among citizens and residents of the UAE. Leveraging our extensive experience in savings and investment, we help web users improve their financial conditions. Our new online tool will save time and effort for those looking for simple and straightforward financial planning based on a scientific approach and expertise.”
The 2015 National Bonds Savings Index has revealed that 48% of savers who participated in the survey let information they read on websites influence their savings and investment decisions, while only 11% said they relied on TV, and 12% resorted to magazines and economic newspapers. As for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries, the Savings Index has indicated that as many as 77% of the participants consider the internet to be a reliable source of financial knowledge.
Al-Ali added: “In one way or another, individual practices reflect on society, and small budgets are just as important as large ones. In order to become real partners in social and economic development, members of the public – and particularly the young generation – need to hone their financial planning skills. If we want the youth to contribute their fair share, we have to motivate them to become responsible, and learn sound financial planning and budgeting so that they are ready to assume bigger responsibilities related to investment and wealth management at a later stage. Therefore, we have taken it upon ourselves to offer with appropriate knowledge tools that will help them control their expenses, manage debts, and find the best ways to save and invest.”
According to the S&P Ratings Services Global Financial Literacy Survey 2015, the UAE surpassed other countries in financial knowledge. The results further revealed that Emiratis with lower levels of education and income were more financially astute than their counterparts in most emerging economies. Alarmingly, the survey also indicated that two thirds of adults across the world lack financial literacy.
