Good morning dear Hivers. I am glad to be back after about a week of no active appearance on the blockchain. One aspect of life that we ought to take very seriously is financial literacy. I learned early in life to take savings and land property if I must break the vicious cycle of poverty that I found myself in. This exposure has taught me the best ways to live and also affected my immediate environment by taking a lead in the scheme of returns on investment.
In this work, I shall take you on a journey on how you too can take my model as an opportunity to make and keep wealth. But first, let's understand that wealth is transferable only when we possess it. In my view, wealth is not just physical cash but anything that can be valued in money. It could be jewelry, land, buildings, machines, and in recent times, cryptocurrency. So, let's get to it.
My Foundation on Financial Literacy
As a common African boy, I started to make money at a very young age. My father was a chef and engaged in farming to a great extent. During the rainy season in our corn plantation, weaver birds flock to the farm to eat corn. My cousins and I would set snares and catch a lot of weaver birds that were in high demand by expatriates back then. I made a lot of money through selling the birds but lavished the money on nothing tangible until I came in contact with this model.
Money Is A Messenger
The youth department of my church organized a symposium where we were tutored by a university lecturer from the Department of Economics. The only thing I learned from that symposia was to break the vicious cycle of poverty, one. must be able to save at least thirty percent of his or her earnings.
I held right to this model and I have lived my life by it.
I opened my first bank account where I ensured to save money rather than keep them as cash in hand. There would always be a reason to spend, but self-control can help us discipline the insatiable desire to spend. In no time, I have been able to save hundreds of thousands in a time when the Naira was very strong in value.
At another time, I got an idea that money can go on an errand for you. The only money that is answerable to you is the one that you have at hand. This was before my university years. I had saved up a lot of money before I got admission to the university and before I went to school I took the next step as explained below.
Investment In Land
Lands are fixed capital and never reduce in price. During the time under consideration, lands were sold for between thirty to fifty thousand naira per plot. I didn't mention that I grew up and lived all my life in the eastern part of Lagos.
I used my money to purchase some pieces of land amounting to about nine plots (not up to two acres).
By the time I graduated, the land had appreciated in price and the demand for it, very high. The best I could do was to dispose of it and build my first house from the proceeds, buy some pieces of land and wait for it to become valuable.
The reason why I decided to invest rather than save the money in the bank is that banks nowadays hardly give interest on your savings. The next is that the value of our currency is always depreciating. When money is saved, in a few days time, you will only find out that the purchasing power of the saved amount has devalued.
Most times, the only money I save is for the upkeep of the family and for emergencies. On the overall, money in hand at this present time in the economic life of Nigeria will only greatly devalued.