The Money Question?

About two decades ago, a friend of mine (name withheld) confided to me: “I know you have been working for quite some time now?” I of course answered in the affirmative as I had worked for about 2 years. Then, she asked a follow-up question. “In those two years, how much money have you saved and invested?”

The truth is, I was hesitant to answer it; and I started stammering. Then, she politely said: “You have already provided your answer.” She asked another question, “What is your savings and investment plan?” I had to be sincere to myself and say to her that I did not have a savings and investment plan.

Then, some kind of anxiety followed: I wondered whether that was the time to have my savings and investment plan; and to take proactive action about it.

Reality Check

I reflected on Matthew 7:7, “Seek and you will find” and I was inspired to ask; “How can I develop a saving and investment plan?

How can I start to save and invest on my small salary?”

This was her answer: “Seek relevant saving and investment knowledge, you will find all the answers there.”

Her Recommendations

1.  You have to read or listen to saving and investment information. Learning from books, articles, audios, and videos. About thirty minutes a day of reading or listening to saving and investment information is good enough as it translates to 182.5 hours of learning a year.

2. Consulting and listening to the wisdom of others on saving and investment. Plan opportunities to seek knowledge from peers, friends, and/or experts at saving and investment; and from those who have already succeeded at saving and investing.

 3. Follow the best practices of winners, and study the practices of losers, at saving and investing.

Key Takeaways

 1. Put aside a fraction of your resources (money and time) to invest in seeking financial knowledge; and control the most valuable expenditure “time.” This was a valuable experience that I have never forgotten. I have personally thanked her and I am indebted to her. This gives me the honour as I share her advice to inspire others.

2. To achieve any goal you need to know what information you require to support it. Thus, if you wish to be a public speaker, seek knowledge about public speaking. If you wish to be a writer, seek knowledge about writing, and conversely, if you want to improve your financial situation, seek knowledge about money.

3. “Seek (and keep seeking), and you will find.” If you seek knowledge about money, you will find it. It is from this background that Jim Rohn concurs that, if you seek basic knowledge, you get basic results, if you seek average knowledge, you get average results and if you seek above-average knowledge, you get above-average results. “You can now imagine what happens if you don’t seek any knowledge at all.”

Conclusion

Financial knowledge, tips, lessons, practices, guides, and experiences can be turned into viable financial ideas and actions to cause improvements in our lives.

Dr. Charles Barugahare