We were delighted to welcome Manish Joshi for his first talk at Business in Glasgow. We benefited from his considerable acumen as he provided timely advice on an extremely topical and relevant subject.

Manish took us through a very practical overview of how to assess the way we handle our finances, particularly in these times of economic difficulty. He began by reminding us how frequent bankruptcy is in this country, currently at least one person is declared bankrupt every three and a half minutes. Despite the pressures on financial lending, consumers are borrowing a staggering 154 million pounds every day. In addition, 124 properties are repossessed every day and one in three adults are concerned about servicing their personal debt.

Manish gave four main causes of debt which are:
1. Changes in work circumstances
2. Changes in family circumstances
3. Poor money management
4. Unforeseen expenses

One of the difficulties concerning debt is that it is perceived as such a delicate subject and difficult to talk about. Often it gets out of control before we face up to the fact that it is not going to go away.

For people facing these issues, the initial course of action should be to speak to someone you can trust, prioritise the most significant debts and avoid taking on any further debt, including ‘consolidating loans’ which can often be at much higher rates of interest than you might be currently paying.

Manish then highlighted the fact that many of us don’t set a personal budget and when we do we tend to miss some of the incidental expenses which can then mount up.

He also highlighted the fact that many people end up in debt because they haven’t been able to save. He gave us some simple outlines of how to plan for the future. For example, by using the ‘Joseph Principle’ as described in the Book of Genesis which is to save and store in the years of plenty for use in the years when it is lean and difficult. Or to use the practical way of saving as in the 1950s by using a row of jam jars for a different category of household expenditure. That way we can ‘see’ what we are spending and what we are saving. He suggested that a good rule of thumb would be to have six months of income saved as a safety net.

Manish then looked at managing our business finances. He emphasised the need to make budgets and forecasts, making them as accurate as possible and trying to foresee everything that is likely to affect them. Also reminding us of the importance of keeping them updated, not just to set them up and ignore them but to return to them frequently. As in personal finances, it is good to have a contingency to help in difficult days when business is slack and money is tight and to always keep our eye on the cash flow. He also mentioned that, for those who are employers, it’s important to help staff to be practical in their own personal management of their money. This is a benefit to employees but also to the business as it can be quite debilitating and detract from people’s work performance when they are concerned about their own debt issues.

He gave a list of groups who offer professional and practical help for those who are in financial difficulty eg: Consumer Credit Counselling Service, Citizens Advice Bureau, Christians Against Poverty.

In conclusion, Manish reminded us that it is good to talk about money and that budgeting is not a one off event but a continuing exercise. We might not always have control of our circumstances but can be prepared for most eventualities that will arise. There is lots of expert advice that is available to us so we needn’t struggle alone when faced with debt issues.