No one within or outside our country doesn’t sincerely believe we have great potentials, individually and collectively. But potentials are by definition always latent and remain so unless they are converted, used beneficially as required and sustained. To convert potentials into real benefits for us and our nation, we have to do things right and well, from the ‘small’ issues to the large ones; From the individual ones to the communal ones.
For over three decades, I have been a university lecturer, a banker, a senior corporate executive, an entrepreneur and a business consultant. I have done reasonably well in my academics, banking and corporate responsibilities. I have made and lost money in investments and entrepreneurship. Whilst the die remains rolling for as long as we are alive, I have since come to appreciate my losses to be at least as beneficial as my gains, sometimes more, albeit in harder ways. Losses and difficulties, which we understandably never like, teach us and others what may work or not in one situation or another. Successes can, therefore, be replicated just as losses can be avoided if we learn from others.
In the course of all that I have been doing, I realised some time ago that we are not producing enough entrepreneurs both in quantity and quality. Unless we do that, a lot of what we have as potentials will remain latent. Even if these potentials are partially converted by others, we can hardly get the maximum benefits that are otherwise possible. So, I wrote on entrepreneurship, hoping to help create, at least a few more, and better-prepared entrepreneurs. Similarly, in the course of my human resource development programmes, I came to realise that a lot of our people, in both the private and public sectors, tend to be apprehensive, even fearful of retirement. So, I devoted some time over the last four years actively involved in retirement planning training, including writing weekly on the issue for some eighty weeks without fail. I thought that would be it. But then I realised that retirement planning is, in itself, an important but just a reasonably small component of overall personal financial planning.
As my generation, the Gen X, is gradually easing out of the active workforce and the Millennials and Gen Z are steadily following in a natural succession, I have observed both excellent and sad personal financial management cases by individuals and groups from both our private and public sectors. Consequently, commencing next week, I will begin to write on personal financial planning for all age groups, taking into consideration our contextual opportunities and constraints. As we shall see, some philosophies, principles and practices in financial management are timeless, meaning that what worked three thousand years ago will work today. On the other hand, time and environmental factors can create specific opportunities and challenges that need to be understood on their own merit, meaning that there are also new realities that must be considered for successful financial management. The earlier our younger generations understand these issues and know how to act or respond to them wisely, the better they can take care of their financial affairs in line with their aspirations. Similarly, no matter when the older generations learn to understand these issues and know how to act or respond to them wisely, the better they can also take care of their financial affairs in line with their realities.
- The Golden Years – There Will Be Disappointments (II)
- The Golden Years – There Will Be Disappointments (III)
Unless we are on top of our finances, most other things, such as our work or business, health, relationships, and the capacity to be of value to others and our nation will suffer. On the other hand, being on top of our finances doesn’t necessarily mean that there wouldn’t be some financial stresses and strains from time to time. Rather, it means that we are sufficiently prepared to understand money issues and handle them wisely on a day-to-day basis and for our long-term success. The Personal Financial Planner will be about providing financial knowledge and skills as well as building the mindset and motivation required to be effective and efficient in handling money matters. These are required to create, nurture, and protect personal wealth over time. These are required to convert our potentials into real-life results of value to us and others.
The Personal Financial Planner debuts here on 13 January 2025 and every Monday thereafter.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
