Three generations of investing awesome

Public relations and communications star Lethabo-Thabo Royds just turned 28 . Her mom Ntombi is a vivacious 54 year old who serves as a Non Executive Director at a number of companies and is the Deputy Chair of Council at St Stithians College; while her 90 year old grandmother Ethel is a retired matron who proudly leads and looks after her family.  All three are also investors, at different stages in their journey.“I've always been interested in the concept of investing: being able to take what you have and let it grow over time,” says Thabs. “I recently signed up on EasyEquities, along with my mom and grandmother and have been exploring and getting a feel for the platform. It really makes a lot of sense, and the fact that I can invest small amounts at first totally suits my investment style.

“I'm reasonably conservative so I like to do a little research and look for investment options that are more stable. I save whenever possible and then look at what's saved and invest what I think can afford. Then, as I become more confident in the investment, I add more.”

Mom Ntombi has a similar approach. “Slow, steady and consistant yeilds results,” she comments.“Investing is for the long term. But EasyEquities works for me because it allows me to also invest lump sums when I can, which is great.”

Grandmother Ethel is looking to set up tax free investments for her grandchildren as a way of providing them with some financial stability in the future. “I want the money I have saved to go towards my family. I want to invest for my grandchildren so that they can get a good education and get a masters degree if they want to,” she says.

Thabs belives that investing is a culture that can be instilled in younger generations if they are led by example. “I think if more people start investing, their kids will start investing and have a better understanding of their finances from an earlier age.” Ntombi adds, “I think it will alleviate a lot of poverty in South Africa, if people were to invest and save better.  I think a lot more people would be happier. So maybe we’d see less fancy cars on the road but we’d see more healthy children, going to better schools and investing in their future.”

Thabs says she’d like to have children soon and so school and university fees are high up on the list of things she’s saving and investing towards. “I'm also an avid traveller so that's on the list too. And I’d like to own a beautiful house one day. But saving the money and choosing to invest it instead of using it for an instant gratification (a trip somewhere, for example), is more important to me right now.

“I used to be quite apprehensive about investing, but I think I'm more open to it now and I love the idea that my saving habits can pay off with a higher return.”