Sharon Hamman, Senior Legal Adviser, Momentum

Human Rights Day is a reminder that freedom is a constitutional principle, but also something that must be experienced in everyday life. Beyond its historical significance, it requires us to think about the practical realities that make it possible for us to make life choices, plan ahead, and build secure futures. Giving individuals and families the confidence to navigate uncertainty and act with intention, financial stability plays a critical role.

When we live from pay cheque to pay cheque or lack a safety net, we are financially exposed and freedom of choice is usually the first to suffer. Financial insecurity is a lack of money, but includes limiting someone’s financial independence, staying in a toxic work environment because you cannot afford a month without pay, staying in an abusive relationship as you cannot afford to live on your own, or losing the power to provide for your family’s future because of an unexpected medical bill.

Financial resilience is your ability absorb life’s financial shocks without losing your footing. Contrary to popular belief, it is something tangible, available to anyone willing to take small, intentional steps.

Here are five guidelines to help you become financially resilient, thereby safeguarding your dignity and ultimately, your independence.

1. Understand your approach to money

Financial resilience is not possible without self-awareness, as our unique relationship with money is shaped by past experiences and emotional triggers. Resilience is aligning your spending with what provides you and your family with long-term stability.

It is important to spend time reflecting on your current position: are your habits serving you, your independence and financial resilience, or are they holding you back, shielding you from true freedom that financial peace of mind brings?

By identifying and understanding your money personality and aligning your spending with long-term stability, you can move from spending to planning.

2. Build a freedom fund – also known as emergency savings

Peace of mind is knowing an unexpected expense won't derail your entire month. Your first line of defence – to avoid going into debt when the unexpected happens – is a freedom (emergency) fund.

To start with, aim to save enough to cover one month’s expenses. Build it up over time to set aside three to six months of expenses, because automated, consistent contributions build self-reliance.

3. Protect your greatest asset – your ability to earn

Financial resilience requires protecting yourself against the "what ifs" of life; a level of cover that ensures a crisis doesn’t become a poverty crisis.

Disability, critical illness, or life cover are more than financial products – they are vital laying the foundation for financial security, ensuring you and your family can live with dignity if you can no longer earn an income. The right level of cover ensures a health crisis doesn’t create a poverty crisis.

4. Navigate relationships with rands and sense

Extended family obligations, loans, or shared household expenses can cause financial vulnerability. Setting healthy financial boundaries helps you build financial resilience; open communication about money with partners and family members protects your financial sanity.

5. Flipping the script on financial planning

Financial planning can easily be seen as an unwanted chore, another annoying monthly cost limiting your ability to enjoy life to the fullest. However, to build resilience, it is important to flip this script.

Be grateful you can afford life cover to leave a positive legacy, view your retirement contributions as payments to your future self, be proud of yourself for keeping to the plan and making responsible decisions. Every cent allocated towards a plan is an investment in your future freedom. By taking the time to regularly review your financial plan, you ensure you remain on course, fit for purpose, confirming your commitment to yourself and your loved ones.

A journey of many small steps

Financial resilience is a journey of small, consistent steps, allowing you to live with confidence, security, and – most importantly – the power to make life choices.

While human rights set the ethical boundaries within which we live, financial planning secures the resources needed to protect those rights. This Human Rights Day, commit to the idea that your financial wellbeing is a cornerstone of your personal freedom, and do what is necessary to protect that freedom.