Personal financial lessons

Peter Obi

Not everyone can govern a state, let alone have the courage to go against the existing norms to show frugality and resourcefulness in managing the affairs of a state, putting key projects and systems in place as well as leaving quiet a handful resources for one’s successor.

With the realities of recession starring in our faces, I believe there are key personal financial lessons we can abstract both directly and indirectly from former Anambra governor Peter Obi’s speech at the Platform, a program organized by Covenant Christian Centre. He did show an ingenious understanding of money and it’s nature.

Here are few of such lessons; you can always add yours;

◾It is foolish to allow your expected expenditure exceeds your expected revenue, except capital expenditure far exceeds recurrent expenditure for the period concern.
◾Borrowing can sometimes be cool, what you are borrowing for is what counts.
◾Spend for growth; in other words, have systems in place that increases your net asset or net worth directly or indirectly. Investment in capital projects such as building a house, buying accruing assets, opening businesses, making sound investment decisions, increasing savings comes in here
◾Net asset is the real deal. What do you think you are worth now?
◾Never borrow to feed your lifestyle, even if you have streams of revenue to fall back on
◾Every extra penny can be put to a valuable use
◾Know what is taking your funds. For some people its just call credit, for me this is ok if it brings revenue or make provision for revenue to come in
◾Cut re-current expenditures when they are killing your capital projects
◾Don’t make unnecessary noise about your spending or keep company that makes you spend more if there are no correlation in value whether monetary or not.
◾There would always be emergencies, have a system in place to handle that
◾It is not about buying items, it’s about getting value when your money exchanges hands.
◾Deal with the waste or rather wasters of fund,
◾You are responsible for changing your financial status, like Gov. Obi to Anambra, you are the Gov. of your own affairs.
◾Changing your financial status can affect your family and relationships greatly.
◾Clearly understand your inflows & outflows; not every person keeps or makes a personal budget, but to be able to keep the inflows better than the outflows, there is a need to regularly do a financial check.
◾It is foolish to try to impress people with your financial spending because when you are broke, they will really be impressed

On a final note, everyone knows what cool money can do, especially in this material age, but who you are determines what you do with the resources you have or can access