Mrs Karin Zulkarnaen, Chief of Marketing, Allianz Life Indonesia, shares her secret recipes for success to achieve one's dream - whether an entrepreneur or professional - and the importance of financial literacy to achieving personal and societal goals.
Karin was speaking at the Connext Conference 2019 at Samarinda organised by Young On Top, Indonesia’s community of youth that empowers youths to reach their success at a young age.
She said, “Whether you want to be an entrepreneur or professional, remember these 4Gs: Set your Goals, don’t be Galau (Confused), don’t chase instant Glory and glam, and Just Go for it!”
On top of that, she shared on the importance of financial literacy for everyone to make the right financial decisions in order to be able to pursue and achieve their dreams.
According to Nielsen research in 2017 regarding millennials and their financial habits, millennials have their own saving and financial planning goal to set up their own business and 36% of millennials have short-term financial planning. However, 13% of millennials claimed not to have any financial plan at all.
Without the right financial knowledge and education, these young generations will not have enough savings to achieve their dreams, including becoming an entrepreneur, said Karin.
Prosperity begins at home
Karin also spoke at the International Women Leadership & Empowerment Conference 2019 organised by the Coordinating Ministry of Human Development & Cultural Affair Republic of Indonesia earlier this year.
She shared on the importance of financial literacy for everyone to make the right financial decisions and particularly for women to make the right arrangements for financial planning in the family.
She said, “Most ladies manage their family spending and savings. Yet only 18 in 100 Indonesian women are financially literate. We must improve the education of women and girls for a better future. Prosperity begins at home.”
Other key statistics she shared include, only 18% of women have bank products and for other financial products (investment/insurance), it is even lower at just 3%.
However, women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchases. Without the right knowledge, society can easily be driven into overspending and not having enough savings, she said.
According to a research done by Accenture for Allianz Indonesia in 2017, when these women said they have savings, the amount is less than IDR300,000 (approximately US$21), and when they said they have invested, the amount is less than IDR750,000 (approximately US$53).
At the same time, in many households, Indonesian women have the responsibility to manage the family budget, but they don’t have the power to make big financial decisions. Wives administer the money and husbands make big financial decisions.
Moreover, women, in general, are living longer, so this also needs to be taken into account when making financial plans.
Financial planning and education
One of the biggest challenges facing society is a lack of financial education. The lack of financial education will lead to the lack of financial planning knowledge which will result in a low rate of financial literacy.
Even though many millennials and women in big cities are well-educated, they seem to struggle with financial issues, accumulating debt and not doing much in the way of saving money.
It is important to notice the value of practical financial management skills and overall financial literacy to this millennial generation.
Giving financial education to women means empowering them to take charge of important decisions related to finances. For example, how to separate wants and needs, and how to split the finances between personal and business (for those who run their own business).
Improving financial literacy
Allianz has been active in the financial literacy space since 2013. By 2018, it had conducted sessions for close to 17,000 people.
Karin said, "Allianz actively participates in improving financial literacy in society through My Finance Coach for youth and Adult Financial Literacy for adults, including millennials and women. The programme is aimed at encouraging people to be wiser on financial planning and decisions.”
One of the goals is to improve the knowledge of money, encourage people to plan, as well as empower women to make sound financial decisions for the family and to raise awareness for millennials to achieve dreams by managing their fund since early.
Working together
Financial literacy is the key to financial inclusion. To increase financial inclusion rate, people need to be literate enough to understand how to manage money wisely. Financial literacy will strengthen more financial depth that will help people to make the right financial choices.
“The higher awareness of the importance of financial planning, the higher the financial inclusion rate. When people start to realise that they need to make the right choices for their funds, they will start to consider purchasing financial products, including insurance. In the long term, this will definitely positively impact and increase the financial inclusion rate,” said Karin.
Going forward: to what extent should this knowledge be integrated into our education system? Both the government and the private sector need to drive this together, she concluded.
(Pictures: Mrs Karin Zulkarnaen LinkedIn.)
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