In Uganda, a lot of women face challenges in juggling work and family commitments, which can make it difficult for them to manage their wealth and make long-term financial plans. The insufficiency of financial literacy and services catered to women’s requirements impedes their endeavors to accumulate and maintain wealth across generations. It is never too late to arm oneself with financial literacy skills, and the fact that women are reading this article signalizes a step in the right direction of disseminating financial and estate planning literacy to all persons.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics’ Women’s Day report, which was released on March 8, 2024, there are approximately one million people in Uganda who are 65 years of age or older. Of these, women make up the majority (56%) compared to men (44%). The life expectancy of women has increased steadily, from 52.0 years in 2002 to 64.4 years at present. Women therefore typically live longer than men do. Accordingly, women should aim for a longer retirement age and concentrate more on making sure they have access to healthcare and financial security in their later years, both of which obviously have a financial component.
Results from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2022 show that 20% of urban women and 25% of rural women, respectively, have co-wives. The wealth of the Ugandan woman must be protected because polygamous families can be financially unstable, particularly when there are several children to support. Establishing a family or child trust can guarantee that your children’s and grandchildren’s financial futures are covered, even in the event of a polygamous marriage or divorce.
Women are more likely than men to be divorced or separated (12% vs 7%), and among women aged 45 to 49, over one in ten (13%) are widowed, compared to less than 1% of men. This creates a situation in which the woman must take charge of all or most of the financial responsibilities of life since the patriarch is no longer present. The woman would not be as financially burdened in the event of an unfortunate event, such as a divorce or husband’s death, if a secure estate planning system, such as the creation of trusts, was put in place beforehand.
Estate planning options for women
Property Ownership
Ugandan women continue to face severe legal and cultural obstacles to ownership of property, including land and inheritance. Inheritance laws and traditional practices often favor male heirs, resulting in women being excluded from owning property. This lack of ownership limits their ability to use property as collateral for loans, restricting their access to financial resources necessary for starting businesses or investing in education and housing, thus perpetuating economic disempowerment and poverty. Without property titles, Ugandan women face substantial difficulties in accessing credit from banks and financial institutions, as they are unable to provide the required collateral. This financial exclusion forces many women to turn to informal lenders, who often impose high interest rates and unfavorable terms.
Estate planning can be a powerful tool to address these challenges by ensuring women have legal claims to property. Through wills, trusts, powers of attorney and other estate planning instruments, property can be explicitly allocated to female beneficiaries, bypassing discriminatory inheritance practices and enhancing their economic opportunities and growing generational wealth.
Life insurance
Life insurance can be a critical financial safety net for loved ones if you die. For Ugandan women hoping to create wealth for future generations, life insurance is a crucial estate planning tool. A life insurance policy gives beneficiaries a guaranteed payment in the event of the policyholder’s passing, giving future generations a sizable financial cushion. By directly naming beneficiaries, women can ensure that their intended heirs receive financial support without the complexities or biases of inheritance laws and societal norms. This strategic approach enables women to bypass discriminatory practices and establish a concrete pathway towards generational wealth accumulation.
Life insurance not only gives future generations of Ugandan women financial security, but it also gives them a tool to actively influence the economic path of their family. Through strategic selection of coverage amounts and policy options, women can customize life insurance policies to better meet their long-term goals of building wealth. Ugandan women can safeguard their family’s financial future and leave a legacy of empowerment, resiliency, and prosperity for future generations by implementing wise estate planning strategies that incorporate life insurance.
Beneficiary designations
Simply stated, a beneficiary designation instructs a financial institution to send financial assets when the account owner passes away. This could be (and is usually) money, but it could also be other assets, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other financial instruments. Beneficiary designations stand as a powerful wealth generation tool for Ugandan women, offering a streamlined approach to asset transfer and circumventing barriers associated with traditional property ownership. By strategically designating beneficiaries on various financial accounts such as bank savings, retirement funds, and life insurance policies, Ugandan women can ensure the seamless transfer of wealth to beneficiaries of their choosing. This method empowers women to exert control over the distribution of their assets, irrespective of legal and cultural constraints, thereby laying the groundwork for the creation of generational wealth within their families.
Wills
Understanding the strategic significance of wills in estate planning empowers women to take proactive steps in managing their assets and ensuring the preservation and growth of their wealth for the benefit of their families over time. Through the careful drafting of wills, women can articulate their specific wishes regarding the distribution of assets, ensuring that their wealth is passed down in accordance with their desires. Wills offer a legal framework that empowers women to navigate complex inheritance laws and cultural norms, enabling them to overcome potential barriers to property ownership and wealth transfer. By securing their assets through wills, Ugandan women can safeguard their family’s financial future and establish a lasting legacy that supports future generations’ economic prosperity and advancement.
Trusts
A trust is a legal arrangement wherein one party, called the trustee, holds and manages assets for the benefit of another party, called the beneficiary or beneficiaries, governed by Uganda’s Trustees Act. Trusts are an excellent resource that women can use, either individually or as a group of women for a cause, to exercise economic empowerment and create wealth that will last for future generations. A financial safety net for the future is one of the main goals of trusts, which can take many different forms. A few examples of these include testamentary, family, and child trusts. Trusts are an estate planning tool that women should use to safeguard their financial futures; setting up a trust fund for you and your loved ones doesn’t require a large amount of money.
Ugandan women face several challenges in creating and preserving generational wealth, including limited access to financial resources and education, cultural and societal norms that often prioritize male inheritance, and legal barriers that complicate property ownership and business activities.
