Early choices? Acquiring financial wisdom
The decisions we make today to a great extent affects our tomorrow. Infact most of the things we are enjoying or regretting today had a lot to do with the decisions we made we made yesterday or the things we know that we applied. Knowledge they say is power but I’d rather like to say that applied knowledge is power. Something will never be beneficial to us until we apply it.
We went to school but there was one thing school never taught me nor did my parents and that’s the matter of financial wisdom on the area of savings. If only I had understood the subject of savings earlier, it would have saved me to a great extent and obviously would have influenced me in making better financial choices.
Earlier when I finished my youth service and started working. I had zero financial knowledge and hence I didn’t know to save and of course invest. I’d say that almost everything that came into my hands was spent. Not on me. Spent on others. I have always loved to give and would give my last to make others comfortable but I didn’t know the balance to that.
I made bad choices. I could remember one of those years when I had a list of over 50 of my friends who I had their birthday written down in my handbook and I had plans of getting everyone of them birthday gifts. Virtually all the money entering my hands was used for this project. Hoping that I was doing a good thing and hopefully on my birthday they would remember me too.
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That particular year, I gave out more gift than Inhave ever given my entire lives but guess what? On my birthday, not even a single one of those people remembered that It was my birthday, no wishes and ofcourse no single gift. I didn’t know what to do with money. If I had the right knowledge, I would have channeled my resources rightly.
I gave all manner of seeds in church and to people. I am not saying that sowing seed is bad. No one forced me to sow those seeds but I was lacking financial knowledge. I didn’t know to save and start making investments early. I didn’t even k one to acquire skills that would make for multiple streams of income outside my school certificate.
I just went to come and came out with a certificate that I would have nothing to do with my entire life. If I had learnt about saving earlier, I would have had some investments here and there no matter how little over the years that would have started earning extra incomes for me and with more reinvestments of those incomes, the financial state I am in today would definitely not be the same.
It’s rather late but not too late. I would as ice my younger self to not just go to school but read wide and a hire knowledge and practical skills that would help me in life. Learn financial management, savings and investment and build a better financial future for myself.
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