michelle doyle - lowe : become financially savvy and shape the future you want remarks by ms michelle doyle - lowe, deputy governor of the central bank of barbados, at i am a girl ngo's " money smart girls : building wealth, shaping futures! ", bridgetown, 27 may 2024. * * * to our young ladies and participants, as well as the organisers of i am a girl ngo, to our scotia bank and other colleagues – good morning, and a warm welcome to the central bank. let me begin by saying how pleased and encouraged i am to be chatting with you this morning. as a woman and as a mother of two daughters around your age, i understand the importance of having supportive, empowering spaces for girls. i am also pleased because the topic of focus - " money smart girls : building wealth, shaping futures! " - is quite apropos because just two and a half months ago at the start of march, the central bank launched a digital financial literacy campaign called moneysmart, so it seems our conversation this morning is well aligned with the bank's recognition that financial literacy is paramount to repositioning our future. like your workshop today, our programme aims to help people understand the ins and outs of personal finance. we began by focusing on saving and budgeting, and, over the next few months and beyond, we will look at investing, borrowing, and other moneyrelated matters. since we have a lot of information readily available to you on our website, youtube channel, and social media accounts, i don't intend to repeat everything you'll find there – and yes, the central bank is sufficiently cool to have a social media presence on some of the day - to - day platforms that you use. rather, than just mentioning a few key points of relevance, let me ask you a few questions : by a show of hands how many of you get an allowance, or if not an allowance, then money, be it weekly or monthly, from your parents, grandparents, or whomever you live with? how many of you have a part - time job, a micro business or a side hustle? maybe you manage a business'social media accounts, or build websites. maybe you do hair, nails, or eyelashes. maybe you bake or sell customised or hand - made items. so why am i asking these questions? because i want to show you that you're not too young to be thinking

##erning, circumspect, and judicious. you have to keep your head on and not be enticed by dollar signs. now if you take that approach, you are more likely to make sound decisions when it comes to investing. the last thing i want to touch on this morning is planning for retirement. i promise, i have not forgotten how old you are. it might sound crazy for me to be talking about planning for retirement when you haven't even started to work yet. but i'm willing to bet that most adults you talk to will tell you that they wished they had started saving for retirement much sooner and at an early age. there are a myriad of reasons you need to be thinking about retirement, even as a young person. the cost of living will be higher when it's time for you to retire. being older often means more and higher medical expenses. and, hopefully, you'll have many, many years ahead of you after you stop working, which means you'll need enough money to support a long, enjoyable retirement. remember what i said about saving at the beginning of my remarks? that the earlier you start saving, the more you'll save. that's why i think it's important for you to have retirement and how you'll finance it in the back of your mind even now. i believe i've given you some food for thought this morning. i hope you'll take some value from what i have shared and supplement it with everything you're about to learn at this workshop. take this info to heart, and also go the extra step and use some of the resources of the central bank's moneysmart programme – watch the videos, look at the infographics, and read the blogs. finally, i want to say one thing to you as young women. do not let anyone tell you, suggest to you, or in any way try to convince you that as a girl, you don't need to think about your finances or to take charge of them to achieve the future that you want. financial literacy leads to you being financially savvy, and this leads to you having financial freedom and financial independence. as the theme of this morning's 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches workshop states, being money smart can help you to build wealth and shape your future. i urge you to grasp the opportunity to do both. please enjoy the remainder of this