How confident are you in managing your finances?

In the current climate, many of us are concerned about our financial well-being. When it comes to studying and progressing your career, you may feel like you are being held back due to the rising costs of living.

At Kaplan, we want to provide you with information that can help you best manage your money. We recently held a webinar with Catherine Miller from Maji, who offered her advice and guidance on budgeting options, and different aspects of life that involve money.

Event panelists

Catherine Miller is the Head of Impact at Maji. She is an expert in discussing financial well-being and helping people on their journey to financial freedom. Maji is a financial well-being and money management platform designed to help people build a financially secure future.

Jenny Pelling also joined Catherine on the webinar. She is an Apprenticeship Partnerships Director at Kaplan, and her career has seen her involvement in designing programmes and enhancing provision for learners' and employers’ benefit. She is also the lead at Kaplan for Brighter Futures, which focuses on the social mobility of apprenticeships to provide opportunities for all.

Key topics we explored

What is financial well-being?

We discussed the ways in which we can measure financial well-being and how we can break this down into component parts. Catherine talked through the four key points to assess your financial well-being:

• Financial resilience. How well protected you are if an emergency or unprecedented circumstances occur.
• Money management. Your day-to-day money habits. Examples can be the amount that you’re spending or saving, as well as money that you borrow, budget and your debts.
• Future planning. Your long-term financial goals.
• Money mindset. How you feel about your money. This can include your financial confidence or attitudes, for example.

Rules of thumb

Offering advice and tips to help you achieve financial freedom, we spoke about:

• Saving for emergency funds.
• Recommended mobile applications and organisations to help with saving.
• The people that you can turn to for advice and help on your finances.
• The 50/20/30 (needs, wants, savings) budgeting method.
• The importance of your pension and keeping track of where your money is throughout your work career.
• Setting regular money dates for yourself to give yourself time to sit and look at where your money is going.

Beating the cost of living crisis

While the cost of living crisis is an issue that is looming over the majority of people, Catherine explained what this is, and what it means, and shared her tips on how you can save money and support yourself financially.

Support contacts

Several support options are available for anyone who is struggling with financial concerns or just seeking advice. The Kaplan Safeguarding team is also available to offer support at safeguarding@kaplan.co.uk.

Funding options at Kaplan

The Personal Development - Financial well-being webinar is suitable for anyone who is looking for tips, advice or an understanding of how we can manage our money. However, if you are a learner, employer, or prospective learner with Kaplan, there are financing options that we offer to help you achieve your career goals.

Options for learners

Interest-free payment plans

If you are funding your studies yourself and your course costs more than £500, you can apply for an interest-free payment plan. We will check that you’re eligible for the plan and then need a 10% deposit. You’ll pay a fixed amount each month depending on your chosen courses, rather than paying in one lump sum.

This payment option is available across all study methods (Classroom, Live Online, OnDemand and Distance Learning) for AAT, ACCA, ATT, CIMA, CTA, CFA, FRM, CAIA, IMC, or CISI Capital Markets Programme, as well as Kaplan exams. Any discounts or offers that are running can also be applied to your plan.

Study via an apprenticeship

If you’re looking to progress your career but are worried about the costs, the apprenticeship route may be just what you’re looking for. The course costs will be funded through your apprenticeship, and you’ll have the opportunity to advance your career while gaining work experience alongside your studies.

You can find vacancies or more information through the apprenticeships page on our website. Our recent financial well-being webinar will also guide you through any other financial concerns you may have.

Invoicing your employer

If you are employed, your organisation may be happy to fund your studies. Many employers are happy to be invoiced for their employee’s development as it is convenient for both of you. You can request to invoice your employer while enrolling on a course through our website, and they can accept it online.

Before invoicing your employer, speak to your manager and discuss this option as they will need to approve that they are happy to go down this route.

Options for employers

Apprenticeship funding options are available

If you’re an employer and hope to help your employees develop their careers, the apprenticeship route can help.

If you’re based in the United Kingdom, you may already pay into the Apprenticeship Levy. In this case, your employee’s apprenticeship will already have been funded. If you do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy, you will need to pay 5% of the cost of the programme and the government will cover the remaining 95%.

Further information can be found through the apprenticeship employers overview page on our website, or you can get in touch with the relevant team who can advise.

If you’re looking to advance your career, browse through our funding options.