Money coach offers lessons on maintaining finances
Money coach Jakkapong Mespan has started providing financial and investment advice to people as businesses are getting adversely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. His advice includes tips on debt management, controlling expenses and long term investments under the current situation.
The coach says that people who have a debt should come up with payment plans before it turns into a bad debt. He is also advising people who are unable to pay their debts to negotiate with their contract parties instead of skipping payments.
“During this Covid-19 time, the government and private agencies have come up with measures to help debtors,” he said. “Suspending or reducing big debts, such as house mortgages or care loans, is an effective way of surviving in the current situation.”
However, if negotiations are not as effective as expected, the money coach advises people to sell their assets or use their reserves.
Moreover, he says, people should avoid or suspend plans to create new debts because the emergence of permanent payments at a time when the financial situation is unstable is far too dangerous.
He is also advising people to control their expenses as strictly as possible.
“This is the most basic idea with effective results,” he adds. “This is the time to differentiate between what you really need and what you want.”
Jakkapong is also advising people to invest carefully, so their investments serve as an opportunity for the future.
“Investing during a crisis may be dangerous, but it will provide investors with a profit once there is recovery,” he says.
He said investments must be made gradually, in small portions, in the dollar cost averaging (DCA) schemes, such as Super Savings Fund (SSF), Retirement Mutual Fund (RMF) or long-term stocks. However, he says, investors should be careful with certain investments, such as purchasing individual stocks, because the stock market is not promising and can cause damage to investors.