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First Quarter: Have you hit your financial goals yet?
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We started the year by expressing our willingness to guide you through the year on the best ways to achieve your financial goals in life. We tried to raise some pertinent questions on your personal financial plans.
What is your financial objective this year? Do you plan to buy a new car or own a new home or save for tomorrow? Do you plan to settle some of your outstanding financial obligations or invest in shares, property or even take up some open or closed credit facility with any of the banks? What projects would you love to embark upon this year or would you be eating from hand to mouth? We believe that providing answers to some of these questions would help you achieve some financial success. Oprah Winfrey says we are responsible for our lives.
Therefore as the first quarter rolls by, we still dare to repeat the same questions for those who have not made any decision on managing their personal finances.
As we are all aware, planning, is a leading management function. Without planning no meaningful progress can be made in any area of human endeavour. Different changes in the economy from agriculture to technology and to latest development in the financial sector have raised issues of management of finances. These have resulted in different career opportunities as well as new perspective on financial planning. Following the success of the banking consolidation, many banks have rolled out mouth watering products that are targeted at customers, to enlarge their market share as well as broaden their deposit base. There are various classes of consumer credit products some so alluring and tempting that the consumer is in a dilemma over what choice to make.
Faced with wider variety of investment choices, saving for retirement, housing, owing a car and taking care of your children at school, no doubt creates financial stress which affects our spending. In spite of these pressure points, we also allow friends and extended relations dictate our spending patterns. Would you allow this to continue this year?
Everywhere, people are talking about money. Most people want to handle their finances so they get full satisfaction from every naira. To achieve your financial goals, you need to identify and prioritise your needs.
Personal finance planning is therefore the process of managing your money to achieve personal economic satisfaction. This planning process allows you to control your financial situation. Every family, person or household has a unique financial position and any financial activity therefore must also be carefully planned to meet specific needs and goals. Have you set out any plan of action this period? If you have not better do so.
A comprehensive financial plan can enhance the quality of your life and increase your satisfaction by reducing uncertainties about your future needs and resources. The specific advantages of financial planning include increased effectiveness in obtaining, using and protecting your financial resources through out your lifetime.
It also increases control of your financial affairs by making you avoid excessive debts that may lead to bankruptcy, and dependence on others for economic security. Another advantage is that a financial plan would lead to a leap in your personal relationships which is a result of a well planned and effectively communicated financial decision. Again, it will engender a sense of freedom from financial worries obtained by looking at the future, anticipating expenses, and achieving your personal economic goals.
Certainly, every individual makes hundreds of decisions each day and most of these decisions are quite simple and have few penalties in case of wrong decisions. Some are multifarious and have long-term effects on our personal financial situations. While every one makes decisions, few people make better decisions. This is partly why you must plan and genuine planning starts with a virile budgeting process.
Aside planning, another crucial aspect of our finances is the budgeting process. This draws from the need for planning and could be used as a tool to achieve your financial goals.
Dictionary.com defines budget as an estimate, often itemised, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future. It also says it is a plan of operations based on such an estimate and an itemised allotment of funds, time, etc., for a given period. It further stated that it is the total sum of money set aside or needed for a purpose.
To many Nigerians, budgeting seems a strange and bad word. What do you think of when you hear the word budget? Interestingly, budgeting is something that every family should do, not only to ensure seamless financial planning but to save for their future. It is because we do not plan our finances through budgeting that we usually run into avoidable financial mess.
In the mind of the average Nigerian budgeting means squaring up the money that comes in with what is spent. The idea being that you will not be living above your means or living marginally. You will not put yourself in debt and you will only be able to buy what you can afford. To some extent, this is correct but of course, this theory may not apply when you need to buy a car, house, or other large purchase unless you have saved for your purchase over time and this requires rigorous planning.
As you step into the second quarter of the year, this is the most appropriate time to begin to develop a workable budget. Your first step in budget planning process would be to take note of the money that you spend for a couple of weeks so that you can more concisely see where your money is spent. Just this process will open your eyes to all of the ways that your money goes through your fingers. You will be very surprised to see how the little bits of money add up that you spend every day.
you have to eat out three times a week? You must now sit down and carefully assess your financial status and see where you could adjust in order to make ends meet.
Though without costs, it however brings us to an evaluation of our networth.
Your net worth is the value of all of your assets, minus the total of all of your liabilities. Put another way, it is what you own minus what you owe. If you owe more than you own, you have a negative net worth. If you own more than you owe you will have a positive net worth. Consequently, we must try to improve our networth to enable us obtain some positive assessment and qualify for credit should we need one as we try to improve our selves this second quarter.
What is your financial objective this year? Do you plan to buy a new car or own a new home or save for tomorrow? Do you plan to settle some of your outstanding financial obligations or invest in shares, property or even take up some open or closed credit facility with any of the banks? What projects would you love to embark upon this year or would you be eating from hand to mouth? We believe that providing answers to some of these questions would help you achieve some financial success. Oprah Winfrey says we are responsible for our lives.
Therefore as the first quarter rolls by, we still dare to repeat the same questions for those who have not made any decision on managing their personal finances.
As we are all aware, planning, is a leading management function. Without planning no meaningful progress can be made in any area of human endeavour. Different changes in the economy from agriculture to technology and to latest development in the financial sector have raised issues of management of finances. These have resulted in different career opportunities as well as new perspective on financial planning. Following the success of the banking consolidation, many banks have rolled out mouth watering products that are targeted at customers, to enlarge their market share as well as broaden their deposit base. There are various classes of consumer credit products some so alluring and tempting that the consumer is in a dilemma over what choice to make.
Faced with wider variety of investment choices, saving for retirement, housing, owing a car and taking care of your children at school, no doubt creates financial stress which affects our spending. In spite of these pressure points, we also allow friends and extended relations dictate our spending patterns. Would you allow this to continue this year?
Everywhere, people are talking about money. Most people want to handle their finances so they get full satisfaction from every naira. To achieve your financial goals, you need to identify and prioritise your needs.
Personal finance planning is therefore the process of managing your money to achieve personal economic satisfaction. This planning process allows you to control your financial situation. Every family, person or household has a unique financial position and any financial activity therefore must also be carefully planned to meet specific needs and goals. Have you set out any plan of action this period? If you have not better do so.
A comprehensive financial plan can enhance the quality of your life and increase your satisfaction by reducing uncertainties about your future needs and resources. The specific advantages of financial planning include increased effectiveness in obtaining, using and protecting your financial resources through out your lifetime.
It also increases control of your financial affairs by making you avoid excessive debts that may lead to bankruptcy, and dependence on others for economic security. Another advantage is that a financial plan would lead to a leap in your personal relationships which is a result of a well planned and effectively communicated financial decision. Again, it will engender a sense of freedom from financial worries obtained by looking at the future, anticipating expenses, and achieving your personal economic goals.
Certainly, every individual makes hundreds of decisions each day and most of these decisions are quite simple and have few penalties in case of wrong decisions. Some are multifarious and have long-term effects on our personal financial situations. While every one makes decisions, few people make better decisions. This is partly why you must plan and genuine planning starts with a virile budgeting process.
Aside planning, another crucial aspect of our finances is the budgeting process. This draws from the need for planning and could be used as a tool to achieve your financial goals.
Dictionary.com defines budget as an estimate, often itemised, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future. It also says it is a plan of operations based on such an estimate and an itemised allotment of funds, time, etc., for a given period. It further stated that it is the total sum of money set aside or needed for a purpose.
To many Nigerians, budgeting seems a strange and bad word. What do you think of when you hear the word budget? Interestingly, budgeting is something that every family should do, not only to ensure seamless financial planning but to save for their future. It is because we do not plan our finances through budgeting that we usually run into avoidable financial mess.
In the mind of the average Nigerian budgeting means squaring up the money that comes in with what is spent. The idea being that you will not be living above your means or living marginally. You will not put yourself in debt and you will only be able to buy what you can afford. To some extent, this is correct but of course, this theory may not apply when you need to buy a car, house, or other large purchase unless you have saved for your purchase over time and this requires rigorous planning.
As you step into the second quarter of the year, this is the most appropriate time to begin to develop a workable budget. Your first step in budget planning process would be to take note of the money that you spend for a couple of weeks so that you can more concisely see where your money is spent. Just this process will open your eyes to all of the ways that your money goes through your fingers. You will be very surprised to see how the little bits of money add up that you spend every day.
you have to eat out three times a week? You must now sit down and carefully assess your financial status and see where you could adjust in order to make ends meet.
Though without costs, it however brings us to an evaluation of our networth.
Your net worth is the value of all of your assets, minus the total of all of your liabilities. Put another way, it is what you own minus what you owe. If you owe more than you own, you have a negative net worth. If you own more than you owe you will have a positive net worth. Consequently, we must try to improve our networth to enable us obtain some positive assessment and qualify for credit should we need one as we try to improve our selves this second quarter.
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