Financial education was never taught in schools no matter which country you lived in or which school you attended. Most of us grew up not knowing how to manage our own finances. Some people earn a lot of money but end up wasting a lot of it, having nothing left at the end of the month. We save less or have nothing left at all, and even if we save money, we end up withdrawing money from our savings accounts and spend it unnecessarily. We buy things we do not need, borrow money from banks, and mismanage our funds. We have no vision of having a passive income or managing the resources we already have, so how on earth do we expect to be wealthy?
The first key to becoming wealthy is to understand and hold a belief that you already are wealthy. Re-evaluate your financial situation and find strategies to manage your finances.
As soon as you begin planning for your family, you should take your financial planning seriously because having children comes with extra expenditure. When your children start nursery, primary school, or university, you will need money to support them. When your children want to get married, it would be nice to support them financially too. When your children are buying a house but do not have enough money, it would be great to help them with their deposit money.
When you or your children are sick and you need medical care, how do you pay for the doctor? If your family is hungry and you need to give them food, what does it take to feed them? In retirement, who will look after you?
When you have to dress your children and send them to school to educate them, what does it take? Is it not the same money that will look after you? Money will not make you happy, but lack of money will certainly make you miserable, so it is about time we find out how to manage and save money for our future.
Everybody is born talented, but not all people use their talents to their benefit. Many people cannot identify their talents, and so they go on in life doing menial jobs with incomes that barely get them through the month.
Even when they can’t afford it, people buy brand-new cars on credit that lose value as soon as they leave the dealership. Some of you buy a Louis Vuitton bag at £1,000–5,000 when your rent is due and you have no house of your own. Too many people carry too much debt and don’t live within their means. Instead, they try to impress people who don’t even like them or care what they do. Pampering yourself is good, but do not indulge too much in it. Don’t worry about getting your hair and nails done at the expense of your kids’ educations or your investments for old age. Building funds for your pension is key.
People do not budget. They simply spend, living from pay cheque to pay cheque. When you do a written budget, it makes you live within your means. A written budget, when properly laid out, will make you think that you’ve got a pay increase or have been promoted with a better income. When you are faithful with the little, you will be given more to manage, so write out your budget and stick to it. You will make progress with your finances when you start budgeting. When you have a written budget and stick to it in a disciplined way, you will have excess funds to clear your debt if you have any.
