Tips For Managing THR In The Middle Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Soon, Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr or Eid. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the atmosphere for Eid al-Fitr this year different from previous years.

Likewise with the use of the holiday allowance (THR). Homecoming must be postponed, there are no visits to the homes of neighbors and relatives with new clothes, no Eid prayers at the mosque with new sarongs or mukena.

Now, it's time to make a new priority scale. Then, how should you manage THR funds in the midst of a pandemic? See the explanation from Dimas Ardhinugraha, Investment Specialist of PT Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia (MAMI).

1. Pay other people's THR and zakat.

After receiving THR from the company, immediately pay THR to people who have helped us a lot, such as household assistants, security and cleaning officers in our neighborhood, and so on.

In addition, clean your property by setting aside a portion to pay zakat on assets and also zakat fitrah. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have lost their income or even lost their livelihoods. Your Zakat will certainly be of great benefit to them.

2. Pay off debts.

The second priority is to pay off your consumer debt. Even though there is a concession from the government and lending institutions, it is advisable to use your THR funds this year to pay off existing consumer debt, such as credit card debt.

This is important to do to avoid the snowball effect of credit interest, if suddenly our income decreases or disappears as the effect of the pandemic, it is not clear when this will end.

3. Fill in the emergency fund post.

After you have fulfilled the obligation to pay the THR, zakat, and pay off the debt, if there are still THR funds remaining, you should not use it for consumptive spending or for unnecessary things. Use it to fill the emergency fund post.

This emergency fund will be very useful when we experience unexpected accidents such as loss of work, damaged motorbikes or cars, and so on.

4. Set aside for homecoming.

If you and your family have a homecoming plan that must be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after the 3 financial priorities above are met, save part of the THR funds for going home when conditions return to normal.

The time comes later, you can go home calmly in good health and don't have to worry about costs.

5. Invest.

For those of you who don't have a homecoming plan or for those who don't celebrate Eid, the remaining THR funds can be felt as idle funds. Instead of these funds being unemployed, while you work hard even though you work from home (WFH), you should make your money work.

You can save idle funds, emergency funds, and homecoming funds in money market mutual funds. Money market mutual funds have several advantages, including safe (supervised by OJK), a very low level of risk, no subscription / redemption fees, easy to withdraw or liquid, very affordable (enough with a minimum fund of IDR 10,000, you can start. investing), is not a tax object, and has the potential for higher returns than savings or deposits.