An expert discussion on the topic of Saving & Investment, was moderated by AIPFE Cyprus - Women of Europe member and Founder of Queens of Money, Cleopatra Kitti.
The event formed part of AIPFE’s Money Mindset & Self-Love series of talks, organised in collaboration with Queens of Money and kindly hosted by Deloitte Cyprus. This series of talks are centred around Financial Literacy and aim to educate AIPFE members though financial empowerment.
The success of last February’s event on Personal Financial planning organised by AIPFE and delivered by Cleopatra Kitti, helped cement AIPFE’s commitment to raising awareness and helping educate women on the importance of financial independence and literacy – an aspect critical to our wellbeing, and a key component to a healthy society and a healthy economy.
Financial literacy helps us become more financially independent in managing our day-to-day finances, dealing with rising costs of living and inflation, preparing us for emergencies, setting a good example for our children and future generations of women. And as women live an average of 6 years longer than men, financial literacy helps us better plan for our future by creating a safety-net for our families. When we reach retirement age, we often have inadequate savings and investments - due in part to career interruptions, lower earnings and earlier retirement age.
AIPFE’s aim is to help change this landscape by shedding some light on what it means to have a healthy money mindset and become truly financially independent by planning, saving and investing for our future.
The expert discussion, moderated by Cleopatra Kitti, featured 3 experts in the field of Saving and Investing:
Cleopatra Kitti underlined the value of financial literacy to bridge the pay gap (data shows that it can be up to 30% in Cyprus’ private sector) and the pension gap. ‘Financial independence is critical to wellbeing,’ she noted, adding that ‘it can only be achieved through self-awareness, education, discipline and consistency in earning, saving, investing and then spending habits.’
Anastasia Anastasiades of AON Wealth Solutions, outlined the value of saving in pension plans and the different types of pension plans that are available as an employee of private and public sectors as well as for the self-employed. ‘Saving in pensions is part of a safety net for the future, and allows for benefits in tax discounts,’ she said.
Sara Eojourian of Athlos Capital, discussed the value of understanding the markets and educating ourselves about the different asset classes, the risk and return each one represents for saving in a diversified portfolio.
Elena Mouskou of Deloitte Cyprus, explained the recent developments on filling in a tax form and how to consider tax as a tool for financial planning. She also explained how pension and insurance schemes are discounted and how earnings from investments are treated in tax calculations.
