Isaac Moledi

Isaac Moledi

Plan, plan, plan. This is probably the best antidote to the national habit of spend, spend, spend, says Howard Fox, Liberty Life's divisional director for marketing.

In its concerted campaign to encourage South Africans to save more by planning more, the assurance giant will offer a R1million cash prize to anyone who works out a financial plan that conforms to Financial Planning Institute (FPI) criteria.

The prize money will be won in a national draw after the client has called in an authorised Liberty Life adviser to work out this plan.

"The R1million prize is the cherry on top," says Fox, adding that everyone who embraces the concept of regular financial planning ends up a winner in terms of peace of mind and future financial security.

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and failure means future distress for millions of South Africans who are currently frittering away the chance of greater financial security presented to us by the longest run of strong economic growth in decades," says Fox.

The country can also benefit if thousands of families give more attention to long-term saving and better management of their risk exposure.

He believes his company's initiative is necessitated by high concerns at the drift from low net saving into "dissaving" (spending more than you have coming in).

Although wage increases have been inflation-positive in recent years, high savings, which are needed for sustained economic growth, keep on going down.

"The wealth effect should trigger a savings effect, but it's just not happening," says Fox.