Sycophancy is a disease (arguably more harmful than than corruption in our Nation building) which had not only made our people hero worship our corrupt leaders but has also turned our citizenry into a docile lot willingly accepting the atrocities committed by their leaders. Encouraged by the wide spread reverence and praise singing towards their unacceptable behavior, our corrupt leaders persist in their primitive accumulation of wealth. A major cause of this abnormal behavior ( sycophancy) is financial insecurity/poverty of the mind. I therefore believe that as more people become financially independent, the level of sycophancy among our people will be greatly minimized. Below is my attempt once again to refocus our people on the need for financial independence. Financial Independence (FI) starts with a simple decision to set a goal and pursue it with consistency, focus and determination. The important thing to note here is the passion with which the goal is set and pursued. Dream: FI begins with a dream. The bigger your dream, the better. Desire fervently to achieve the dream. The more passionate you desire, the better. Goal: The goal must be specific, measurable, challenging and achievable. I recommend that it be shared with loved ones for effective buy in and support. Action the Goal: This entails taking specific steps to achieve the set goal. Most times, this will involve CHANGE, UNCERTAINTY AND RISK. Always remember NO RISK NO INCOME; Feel the joy of achieving the desired goal and abhor the pain of failure. Investment Opportunities: ‘Financial Independence is like a three legged stool resting on Savings, Insurance and Investments’ Savings: The Richest Man in Babylon prescribed that we save at least 10% of our earnings. What is important here is developing the habit of savings. But note that savings alone is insufficient; you must invest those savings in a more profitable investments to be FI. Stocks: To invest in stocks you need information on the company, the management, the trend in the company and in the industry. You must also know about some calculations like simple interest, ROI/ROE, EPS, Etc. Real Estate: To be financial independent, you must own your own house. Good credit supported by cash flow, an understanding of the mortgage stipulations and Location of the property are all key ingredients in buying or building a property. Remember to engage the services of professionals. Your own business: this is one of the most challenging of the investment options as most businesses fail within the first five years of their existence. Therefore, to own your own business, you must research on the business, review the funding options, location, find a gap in the market to be filled, know and delight the customer, know what competition is doing, grow your income and if you cannot, you must cut cost, and reinvest your profit; and above all, grow your passion in the business. •THE ABIRIBA EXPERIENCE: From time immemorial, the Abiriba man has been a famous entrepreneur known for his shrewdness in managing his business. However, in the past decade, as the business environment changed, many of our people were unable to change along with the times. What happened? Many were stuck to their lines of business ignorant of the changing business world and skills; some invested wrongly in non income yielding assets; a few were outright extravagant living well above their incomes; others were over leveraged and got smothered by the high cost of fund and bank charges; some were ignorant of the ever changing government policies; while some others just refused to move on to other businesses or to reinvest and /or diversify their investments. Notwithstanding the above, some of our gallant sons and daughters have kept faith with the rules and ethics of business; constantly renewing their business skills and diversifying their investments and thereby continuously contributing towards making Abiriba the Small London. The Family: A lot of families fail in their pursuit for FI because the couples have divergent goals. While one spouse may be inclined to live by the day, the other may be propelled to save and invest. For some, they want to buy the latest models of cars etc even when they cannot afford those. For others, they are concerned about living comfortably for the rest of their lives and would invest in assets today that would earn income to support their expenditures tomorrow. While the FI couple are happy when they achieve their set goals aimed at a better tomorrow, the non-FI couples’ happiest moment is when they are spending money they have not earned. Therefore, a FAMILY is more successful when both spouses love each other and share the same financial independent goals. Take Action: Love a lot, Develop yourself (knowledge is key; without it, my people perish),Think positive, Seek God’s favors and Take Action today on one thing you believe can aid you to be financially independent. Curled from my award wining book titled "Financial Independence" published by Xulon Press and available on Amazon or goggle Agbai ina obasi/financial independence. God bless. Agbai Ina Obasi
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:23:17 +0000
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