Think of what it’ll cost you before you reach for that snooze button…

If you’re a late sleeper like me, you cannot afford to live without the alarm clock or the one on your phone. I set mine to go off 5.30am every day. Unfortunately, weekend mornings are included in my alarm schedule, so Saturday and Sunday mornings I reach for the snooze button to catch some extra sleep. It works beautifully and blissfully…most times. What I failed to realize, however, was the snooze button would cause me to attend church late most Sunday mornings (Lord forgive me for I know not what I do.)

I’m sure I’m not the only one abusing the snooze button. I’m not the only one wanting to have extra sleep and not wanting to get to church or some other appointments late. Shame on us! Thank God for his little mercies. But here’s a heads-up…Real life as we know it may not be as kind as our heavenly father.

How many people are biting their fingers in regret over that financial decision they failed to take 15 years ago? There are many Lagosians out there that are lamenting not taking advantage of the advice that came their way years ago. Some many rhetorical statements like, “I’d have become my own landlord now had I taken that mortgage 12 years ago.” “I’d have saved enough money by now if I’ve taken that insurance policy that agent brought me back then.”

When financial advisors and insurance marketers prospect clients, we tell them the advantages of starting policies early, people sneer at us. Many give the usual objections,

“I’m just 3 years into my job, and I’ve more than 20 years to go, let me start later.” 

“I’ll start when I get married.”

 “I don’t have children yet, there’s nothing for me to cover or save for.” 

“Let me look at the documentation and get back to you later.” 

Yada, yada, yada…

All the excuses, all the objections are like pressing the snooze button. Asking for more time, sleeping on it, dozing on a financial matter…very much like that extra sleep. And very much like that extra sleep could cost you something big; postponing the start of those savings/investments could lead to a monumental failure.

Humans being what we are could be very indecisive some times. We would want to take time to scrutinize financial issues and decisions. There’s wisdom in that but when we take too much time it could cost us big. When I say big, I’m not even talking about dying, that’s beyond our control. I’m talking about missing out in big financial gains, deals or dividends.

Let me share the story of a friend that stayed too long on the financial snooze button. When South Africa won the hosting rights to the 2010 world cup in 2006, my friend who happens to be financially well-off, vowed to be part of the biggest soccer fiesta when it lands in Africa. He made his calculations for accommodation, traveling, feeding and souvenirs and the figure he came up with was 2 million naira (not unreachable to him as he told me.)  But unfortunately he missed out. Why? Because he had no financial plan to back his dream, spending 2million naira in one fell swoop (by his own estimates to have an unforgettable experience) was too much even for a guy of his caliber!

What my friend failed to realize was he could have raised his 2 million naira in 48 months. Breaking it down, he could have done it like this…

Projected travel expense savings plan
Target amount	Monthly premium	Weekly savings
2,000,0000	42,000	10,500

The whole thing went down to about 42,000 naira monthly and 10,500 naira savings weekly! For a big boy like my friend and many more people like him, that’s more than affordable! What makes it sweeter is the fact that he could start this savings plan and earn a handsome profit in the process when other benefits still exist such as

• ·         Compound interest rate that no bank here can match
• ·         The ability to raise funds on a regular basis
• ·         Tax rebate and others are added to the mix

 All these and more just for saving some money. The next soccer fiesta is in Brazil in 2014 and I hope he’s not pressing the snooze button again.

At one point or the other, we’re all guilty of pressing the snooze button, what’s important, however, is not getting our fingers burnt in the process. That indecision that extra time could lead to a big difference much later in life. For my good friend pressing the snooze button means missing the world cup (thank God, that’s not so huge, for some it’s like waking up late on a Saturday morning with nowhere or pressing matters to go to.) For some other poor unfortunate soul, pressing the button mean be delaying on future mortgage or building plans, sending your son or daughter abroad for further studies, starting your own or expanding your business.

To delay could be dangerous, if not outright financially deadly. Professional and reliable financial advice is available out there. For a little cost/premium, you could leave your financial worries at the doorstep of companies like S.A Life. It’s our job to carry that load. It’s all in your hands, I just hope you won’t reach for that snooze button when next you’re taking that financial decision. My name is Olumide Ogungbemi, my numbers 07033588160 and 07056989820, and I’m an insurance marketer with Standard Alliance Life Assurance Limited.

the rookie blogger: Let's Talk About Fear...

the rookie blogger: Let's Talk About Fear...: "Fear…There is a lot of that in our lives as Nigerians in recent times. Many would wish no one would awaken them from their blissful night re..."

Let's Talk About Fear...

Fear…There is a lot of that in our lives as Nigerians in recent times. Many would wish no one would awaken them from their blissful night rest because they are afraid of what’s in stock for them in reality. To be a Nigerian is now beginning to be a rather fearsome endearvour, rich or poor alike. But is our fear unfounded in this nation? Not really…not if you are attending a political rally somewhere in this nation.

The real problem for us, however, is not fear but understanding what we are afraid of. The problem is that we are often afraid of the wrong things. That in itself is due to no fault of ours really….separating fact from rumour is hard work, especially for busy people like Lagosians. Being human, we are driven by fear. We are so afraid of so many things that there is a fear of fears aptly named Phobophobia. That is fact, not fiction!

Check out this scenario…If you are the Senate President and are charged with funding one of two proven killers: Terrorist attacks and heart disease. Which cause would you root for? Which would you push for the most? The terrorist attacks of course. 9 out of 10 persons would vote for the terrorist act bill but the likelihood of being killed by a terrorist act in Lagos is infinitesimally smaller than being killed by clogging up your arteries with fatty and fried foods at your favourite fast food joint and dying of heart disease! Fact not fiction! Terrorist acts lie beyond or control, fried and fatty foods do not!

The question is, why are we driven by fear? It’s due in part to the familiarity factor. Terrorist acts, bombings and insecurity of lives have made the news more than any other news item in the past 5 months of our national history than the past 50 years put together! We are more familiar with terrorist acts and bombings much more than any other fear in our poor great nation. To be fair to us, nobody would love to live or die mangled by some twisted mind’s weapon of mass destruction.  

The same unfortunately applies to our financial decision making. Lagosians are afraid of investing in anything. Rightly so too! We are much too familiar with financial failures than successes, financial demise of big institutions than financial achievements! Who would forget quickly the financial demise of several defunct banks, the wonder banks, the microfinance banks and other institutions? Lagos Island still bears testament to what were once host to financial operations of the big banks of yore, the skeletal remains of what used to be beautiful headquarters of many giant financial institutions. Thank God the place is not totally the graveyard of the financial dreams of billions of hard-earned naira.

But we seem to be forgetting one thing…The financial institutions are not all dead. The strong ones survived the harsh blow of the global meltdown. The reliable ones still hold their heads high. The dependable and reputable ones remain faithful to their clients. We are not dead yet! Life as humanity knows it still remains unpredictable and a huge risk. So what should we be afraid of? We simply should be afraid of making wrong decisions.

For the benefit of the young, I would like to repeat, the only ways to be filthily-‘stinkingly’ rich in modern day Naija remain;

·         Winning the lottery

·         Falling upon a huge inheritance or

·         Becoming a politician

Thank God we seem to have to put money-making rituals behind us in this society, nobody wants to soil his hands with another’s blood anymore (at least so says everyone I’ve come across.)

The way to live a comfortable life in the nearest future simply is to plan and save for it! Shikena! No two ways about it. Fact not fiction! The question is, how does one do it in this seemingly unsafe financial ambience as it exists today? The answer is to simply make use of technology. Take a good look at that marketer (by a good look I mean a beneath the surface look,) that young man/woman wearing that crisp charcoal suit, with shoes shined to military precision, assaulting your senses with that pleasant cologne/perfume, and ask yourself the all important question, how well do I know this guy/lady?

Instead of being afraid to invest, prospective investors should be interested in knowing in the shortest time possible,

•  The marketer, financial analyst, planner trying to sell them
• His/her names
• His/her number(s), e-mail(s), facebook id/profile name
• His/her company

After getting this background information, thanks to the internet, carry out your own background investigation on the person trying to sell to you. Be objective about your search on this person not personal; don’t try to mix business with pleasure. Look for the usual things that will help authenticate or put the marketer’s claims in the right perspective. Be on the look-out for such things as

·         Does he/she have pictures on his profile confirming his identity?

·         Does the company exist on google or other search portals?

·         What do you think of their web-presence?

It is time to be informed not to be scared. Rome was not built in a day. It was built brick by brick, stone by stone. It is time to start laying a solid financial foundation for the future. Imagine if 7 generations ago Africans had been saving and building for the future, it would have been part of our lives to plan to leave a positive story for unborn generations to tell about our era.

History is beckoning upon us; upon our generation…Let’s heed that call. Let’s rewrite history so our children would remember us as the shambolic, wastrel generation that squandered the commonwealth and paid no attention to the future as we are witnessing right before our very eyes…The time is now. I remain Ogungbemi Olumide, phone numbers 07033588160 and 07056989820 and am an Insurance marketer with Standard Alliance Life Assurance.

Where Religion stands on Insurance

Oh, how the world has changed since my last blog. President Goodluck threw verbal stones in Ibadan and shortly after PDP rallies became unapproachable unless one is tired of living. Mubarak’s stepped down in Egypt and Libya’s on the brink of civil war because Ghaddafi refused to budge. Julian Assange’s weird ‘gift’ to the world in the form of 4 love children in Australia has been leaked, the hunter becoming the hunted.

Esparanza Spalding (I still don’t know who that is anyways and I don’t care!) won the best New Artiste at the Grammys at the expense of artistes far more popular the world over, Drake and Justin Bieber! (I never knew the academy hated Drake and Justin Bieber  that much.) The Roman bought Fernando Torres from Liverpool FC for 50m pounds without the operations’ manual and had the cheek to throw Torres into the fray against the same Liverpool less than a week later at the bridge…needless to say that's an absolute disaster.  Chelsea FC’s resurgence in the League and the F.A Cup is in the hands of the Almighty and ‘the Blues are not smiling’.

One thing remained unchanged though, Arsenal FC’s inconsistency! Beating the best club in the world right now in FC Barcelona in a breath-taking match in the Champions’ League, only to give a replay to League One side, Leyton Orient! Only Arsenal FC can seem to manage that feat. Up Gunners! They’re so contradictory!

Speaking of contradictions, this reminds me of Lagosians, their religious beliefs and what they think of insurance. Funny how Lagosians try to use religion to make insurance look irrelevant.  Every young man and woman marketing insurance out there has encountered this particular objection more times than they can count.  When prospecting Christians in Lagos (and I want to believe this applies to the majority of Nigerians) the commonest objection is the infamous, “The Lord is my insurance.” While it is undeniable that the life we live belongs to our creator, it is equally undeniable that we are responsible for our choices and making our lives count for something! God owns us and we own our choices.

Guess what I came across over the weekend on this important yet controversial issue. While going through the daily spiritual devotional written by the renowned General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) on Saturday 19^th February 2011, the man of God talked about security measures. Even he, the G.O was surprised some people think it is a sin to take a few steps in securing themselves. Just because the Lord is our fortress, the true guard of our lives and watcher over us, many Christians in Lagos and Nigeria at large, have taken the issue of religion to the extreme. 

Do we for a second think God would do for us what we should do for ourselves? Why don’t we stop working at all and sit at home believing in God’s abundance? Why do we believe faith without works is dead as in James 2:20? Why do we quote the bible out of context or only where it suits or favours our argument or situation? While it is wrong to put our faith in the works of our hands alone, it is equally unwise to let our vision get clouded by religion or our beliefs.

I am not in any way taking anybody on in this blog because I’m a Christian myself; I just think we should be objective about things. While I can speak on the issue on Christianity, the aversion to insurance isn’t a Christian issue only. In the course of doing my job, I discovered that Muslims have their version too and ironically it follows the same line of thought as the Christians. Lagosians, let’s not fool ourselves, faith and beliefs have their place in our lives, but being extreme about it won’t help our cause. 

Where does religion stand on insurance? Religion or faith does not tell us not to protect ourselves or the ones we love from physical, emotional and financial harm. Religion and faith doesn't teach nor preach magic, it places us on the path of responsibility. Abraham didn't get God's blessing by believing alone, he played his part by accepting to sacrifice Isaac! We are responsible for our loved ones, their upkeep, education and preventing them from coming to physical harm. Just because we are under the anointing and the canopy of grace doesn't mean we could stand in the expressway and no vehicle would harm us!

Would faith cook, dish the food and put it in our stomachs or do we just get up and play our part? We should stop abusing our faiths and religious values, it is just ludicrous.

Security as a chief benefit in insurance policies is meant to build some financial estate for the future. As Nigerians and to a great extent Africans, families believe the estate of a man belongs to his entire family, nuclear and extended alike. Everything a man worked for on one day would become the exclusive preserve and property of his entire clan, not just his children’s. Do not tell me that you’ve not heard stories of women and children thrown out into the streets because some people are exercising the traditional beliefs of their clan or community. Let’s not even go into that, for even in my own personal experience, it evokes sad memories and emotions.

Securing one’s future family and children is not against the word of God, setting something aside is not going against the laws of our creator. It is just sad when learned people say things like, “The Lord is my insurance,” only to leave all their hard-earned estate in the hands of unpredictable and unreliable human beings. An insurance policy would bestow upon the beneficiary something to hold on to in case the family or the clan flipped the scripts on us. This is Africa and we are traditional in some areas of life that is our culture! That is a cold fact of life! We can, however, spare our future such pain by taking steps to lay something aside for those dear to our hearts. Now is the time to get our facts right and set in motion a financial plan that will give us peace of mind as the years begin to catch up on us. 

Plant the seed of that great oak tree today. Get financial advice today from the nearest and reliable financial firms in the business of financial security and protection. My name is Olumide Ogungbemi, my numbers 07033588160 and 07056989820, and I’m an insurance marketer with Standard Alliance Life Assurance. 

For the youth, the time is now...

One indisputable fact of life is the importance of money. We all say, “Money cannot buy happiness.”  But how many of us want to be happy and in penury? Any volunteers? I don’t think so. No one can be in penury and be happy anyway. Who are you trying to fool then when you say money is not all that important? I thank God for my generation that the importance of money is not lost on us. While making heaven is the ultimate goal to most of us, living comfortably here on earth is not an option for us, it’s a must.

This brings me to youths’ attitude towards saving money. I have a bone to pick with the youth owing to their responses to the savings question. When asked about savings many a youth would say, “There’s time on my side.” “I’ll start when I get married.” “There’s no rush, I’ll begin when I start having children.” Yada, yada, yada…All these answers are quite tenable in the face of our national economic realities, the harshness of it seems to be biting deeper every day. With a lot of things to do with money and our best days ahead of us, young people can think there’s time to play with. That assumption may be true but while you can play with time, you cannot play with money, not even if you have tons of it. If in doubt, google ‘Iron Mike Tyson’, the most ferocious fighter of his time. He’s so broke now; he’d fight a lizard for coins these days.

‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, one-time owner of a lavish mansion and many state of the art vehicles of the late 1980s, youngest heavyweight boxing champion of the world at 21, he had everything. Money, houses, parties, girls...Oh! lots of girls, and everything…the only problem was he didn’t see money stop coming his way. Financial planning or advice never mattered to him, he was young, successful and owned the hottest pair of fists in the world of boxing, nothing could go wrong and the party could never ever end. Well it did. Inexplicably the party ended and it ended because the money ended. The money ceased coming. Court cases, drugs, bad company, more fights outside the ring than inside of it, name it…The allure of success and never seeing things changing was Tyson’s undoing. Refusal to see change coming was Tyson’s hubris. Refusal to save for rainy days...

This hubris, unfortunately, is not the exclusive preserve of Tyson only but of every successful young man and woman. He’s in good company when one starts compiling the list of ‘the young, the restless and the bankrupt’. Many NBA stars, Scotty Pippen of the famous Chicago bulls of the 1990’s, unbelievably was one of them, NFL stars, rock stars, rappers, singers, amongst which was Toni Braxton. Toni Braxton, who would have imagined that 5 foot 2 beauty, would be having money issues after those commercially successful albums. Well, she is.  

What about back home in Lagos, Nigeria? A visit to Ojez, the popular celebrity haunt and hangout at the National Stadium would expose you to the stars of yester-years, but sadly, not all of them reflect style and grace. What they reflect, what they project, what you see about some of them is far from okay. Many of them are not good-looking anymore, and why is that? Simply because they are broke! While many have stories of investment schemes gone wrong, others simply frittered their wealth away, thinking they would never go out of circulation. How wrong they were and how unkind life can get! These erstwhile stars are barely living off their past earned fame. They are not in demand anymore and so…poof! Their money making days are gone, right before their eyes.

The undeniable fact of life is everyone has his time. At a point, you’re the sun, the center of the stage, the one hugging the spotlight, the one whom is being spoken off. A time would come when the curtains would drop not to be raised again, the final applause, the final ovation, and there would be no encore. The next time you’re seen, you’re an antiquity; there to be acclaimed, appraised, appreciated or even praised but you’re not the center of attraction anymore, or even worse…you may be banished to oblivion.  When the curtains don’t open for you anymore, the stage belongs to another youngster, it isn’t yours anymore. And that’s when it dawns on you that your shine time is up.  And at that time where do you turn but to what you’ve left, what do you fall back on but your savings and investments?

That’s just life for you, young folks. Our time is now. The stage belongs to us now; let’s make the most of it while we can before another star is born. Let’s think like the ancient Egyptians a little. Back in their time, when a Pharaoh is crowned, he starts building his tomb almost immediately. They believe in an after-life, the transition from the living to the dead, that even while dead, Pharaohs must still live like royalty. Based on such beliefs, they start stashing the Pharaoh’s mausoleum, the Pyramids, with treasure for his passage into the after-life. They prepare for his transition to comfort and riches even in the after-life! King Tutankhamen , one of the richest of that era died after a mere 6-year reign at the ripe age of 18! Imagine what he would have made of his life had ‘bad belle’ allowed him be!

The time is now, young folks…At Standard Alliance Life Assurance, we have policies tailored to meet financial needs of the immediate future and far more. The train is one the roll again, ladies and gentlemen, hurry up and don’t get left behind. Don’t spend your future regretting what might have been had you done the right thing 15-25 years ago. The time is now…

Financial Mistakes to Avoid in 2011

We've arrived in 2011...Praise the Lord! We made it! Hope we did it without casualties. We've lots of reasons to thank God, that's an undeniable fact. Right from the moment the clock struck 12am on January 1, 2011 ushered in a lot of promises and good news, we just have to position ourselves to take advantage of what the year has to offer.

As we enter the promises and potentials of 2011, what do we intend to achieve in the year? What goals and targets are we looking at? Thankfully, the year's just started, we have time to figure things out but we should never forget that time waits for no man. Let's make hay while the sun shines.

Talking of making hay, I sent a new year message to a friend and in it I reminded him of the need to start saving and other benefits of being insured. I said, "Get ready to be insured." to which he replied "By God, you mean." What a cracker! We are in a new year and the beginning of another decade, a time which we cannot afford to make many mistakes, if any at all. What my friend fails to realize is that God being our insurance doesn't mean we should go to bed with fire on our rooftop! It would be fallacious if we let our faith prevent us from playing our part. After all, the bible even said in James 2:26, "faith without works is dead!" Let's not begin to make mistakes in the year, it's just to early.

It's imperative that we know what mistakes to avoid in our financial lives in 2011. Here are some financial mistakes we should avoid in  2011.

Not Having A Financial Plan

Like I said in my previous blogs, besides winning the lottery or inheriting a fortune or being born rich outright, financial success doesn't just happen. You work for it. Most people live from day to day adopting a "let's conquer each day as it comes" attitude with no clear plan in place to save for specific future events or protect their families from unforeseen circumstances. If you don't plan for events like buying a house, paying the children's school fees or getting married, you might not have the outcome you imagined. You can't just sit back and expect things to fall into place, if you're proactive about your finances, nobody will do it for you. You can't predict the future but you can be prepared for it if you plan ahead.

Not Paying Back The Money You Owe

One of the worse mistakes you can make is not paying back that you owe. This might be a large financial loan or a small personal loan from a relative or friend. Ideally, you should not get into the habit of borrowing but worse still is getting into the habit of not paying it back on time or even at all. Eventually, it all comes back to haunt you as no one will want to lend you money, even if it just to tide you over a difficult patch.

Investing In What You Don't Understand

What works for one person may not work for another as each person's risk profile, goals and circumstances, differ. In 2008, many people heard about the possibility of borrowing to buy the latest "hot" stocks; many un-informed investors jumped on the bandwagon without really understanding margin investing and were left in debt. Putting your money in investment vehicles that you do not understand or getting involved in some of those "get-rich-quick" scams can have devastating consequences. Invest only in what you understand and try to make financial decisions based on adequate research and advice from experienced and tested professionals.

Borrowing On Behalf Of Someone Else

A good friend asks you to help them get a loan from their bank. You then accede to the offer and borrow in your name on their behalf and sign off on the dotted line. Your friend may have very good intentions at the time of borrowing but if they should run into financial difficulty and fail to pay you back, you're liable to pay the loan back in full. If your friend or relation couldn't get a loan through a bank or other lender, there may have been a good reason for the decline. Be very careful in considering such a request if you're approached.

Ignoring The Stock Market

Even if you're one of the thousands of people that got burnt during the stock market crash, it's a big mistake to ignore it completely. With some blue chip stocks still selling at considerable discounts, it is an ideal time to invest. If you have been scared away from the markets, at least consider buying into a mutual fund. This way, your portfolio would be more diversified than buying individual stocks and this reduces your risk. Be careful not to speculate; consider your risk appetite, your time horizon, and your goals before investing.

Not Having Adequate Insurance

Most Nigerians are under-insured. Imagine the number of people who do not have even third party insurance for their cars.Not having adequate insurance in place can have devastating effect on your finances should you hit an expensive car when you are at fault. The bill could run into hundreds of thousands of naira. Yet, the simple payment of the annual premium could help one avoid this. Accidents do happen. Nobody wants to be left paying expensive hospital bills or witnessing a family unable to make ends meet because of the untimely death of its primary breadwinner. Make sure your health insurance is up to date and that you have adequate life insurance particularly if you are the bread-winner of a young family.

Borrowing To Buy A Car That You Can't Afford

borrowing money to buy a car, you're paying interest on an asset that starts to lose value from the moment you leave the car showroom. Of course, many people have no choice but to take out a loan to buy a car. Some vehicles are very expensive to buy, insure, fuel and maintain. If you need to buy a car and must borrow to do so, consider buying one that is fuel-efficient and with reasonable maintenance costs. Likewise, avoid buying a house you can barely afford. That way, your payments will be manageable and you can continue to build your savings and financial security.

Living Above Your Means

Living above your means can put you into a precarious financial position. Trying to have some-else's lifestyle is a big mistake. Living like an overnight celebrity could kill you financially! Many young people believe they should be able to move straight into a perfect apartment in a nice area with all the latest gadgets. The 3D LED tvs, the home theater systems, the cable systems and all that...This is a lifestyle you build up and strive to achieve usually through the dint of several years of hard work and savings, not an overnight achievement, I tell you.

Putting Money Above Everything Else

While most people don't do enough towards achieving financial success, there are others whose priorities have become so warped that money takes the first position in their lives. Remember that money is simply a tool, a means to an end, and should never be considered the end in itself. You can't just keep cash without doing anything with it, it's useful when invested, not just locked away in some airtight safe (considering if you have a safe in the house)

Let's make 2011 count folks, let it be a year of landmark financial achievements for you. My name is Olumide Ogungbemi, 07056989820 and 07033588160, and I'm with Standard Alliance Life Assurance Limited.

Let's Celebrate Christmas But...

It's Christmas again. Time to be merry. We've spent the whole year preparing for this. Time to celebrate the end of another year and as usual, it's time to empty our wallets again, whether we like it or not. Trips to the village (or the cinemas and other leisure centres), new clothes, decorations, and oh...food, lots of it! Rice, chicken, turkey, beef, fish, yummmmmmy! Bring Christmas already, I can't wait! I've earned it (one way or the other.)

The year end is associated with spending, heavy spending for that matter. No one, I repeat, no one is exempted from the merry-making and the spending. This is what we've all been waiting for right? Hold on! Whoa! Apply some brakes and remember that after the lightening comes the thunder! After the joyous and lavish spending (and most certainly sybaritic to some epicurean folks ala the party freaks) associated with Christmas, comes the reality check of January...bills, more bills and more bills. To some, it's the rent, for some other folks, it's their childrens' school fees. Almighty January lays the law of conservation and frugality and that brings out the manager in all of us. Let's talk about that later, let's review 2010.

2010 has come to a conclusion just like that. Another year gone just like that? Let's take stock of the out-going year, dear reader. What have you done with the year? Did you do yourself any financial favours this year? Did you keep something aside? Anything at all...If you did, congratulations! If you did not, there's no need crying over spilt milk, 2010 just proved to us that time waits for no man! Does that mean you've failed in the area of financial planning? Not exactly, it only proved that you're human and prone to mistakes.

2011 is an opportunity to remedy that mistake. As the year draws to the definitive and inevitable close, the close of another chapter, please be determined to open the next year well. Hit the ground running! What are those factors that prevented you from having the time of your life? The factors that prevented you from living your dreams and giving life to your plans, need to be dealt with. You need determination, consistence, perseverance, focus and of course, prayers. We can't run from that fact, every single one of us believes in God regardless of the religion (am not talking about a 'higher power' like Gaia or the earth or something like that, that's just sad...am sorry I don't understand that kind of faith)

Be ready to embrace change. Many don't have a savings plan and don't care about one because according to them, they're trying to make ends meet. Everyone is doing that, even the folks living on the Banana Islands, the Oniru estates and Parkviews of this world would tell you that. It would be unfortunate if all you, my dear reader, wants to live for is today! Live for your own  life and your own comfort and do not plan for tomorrow. I wonder who you're playing? Married folks would say they can't save because of their childrens' upkeep. Who, I wonder, are you working for? Yourself or your children? Please take this advice...work for yourself! Why? Why not for the children? Well, do you need to guess that you're responsible for the children? That's right! It's your job to provide for your children, it's your job to prepare the path of life for them. You called them from the courts of comfort called heaven the day you got married and agreed to become a parent.

Singles would say they can't save because they're not comfortable yet. I support that logic totally! You can't do anything if you can't fend for yourself can you? Nah...the singles are excused from savings. Try to remember though, you can't be comfortable running after the latest designer labels and the cost that come with them and be comfortable. You can't be comfortable doing the Hennessy Beat Bar Crawl with Olisa every month, it's costly, damn costly! You need focus, you can't be painting the town red and wanting your account to grow or swell, that's having your cake and eating it. Consideration should be the singles' watchword. Think about the head start you can give yourself, when like my first unmarried clients, you're building something you can fall back on, your contingency plan when the load of marriage starts weighing you down. Oh...you've forgotten about getting married? You'd better not! This, after all is Africa, your folks won't take that from you no matter how liberal they are.

What would you do right with money in 2011? 

• Start with a good plan. Get a piece of paper and outline your financial priorities in 2011, do your opportunities cost and stick to the plan. Don't let it be like your usual new year's resolution to go to the gym to lose weight, it's much more serious than that. 
• Select your savings strategy (take a little time to go through my blog archive, savings strategies were discussed in the earlier posts of this blog)
• Get a hold of good financial advice. That's my job and there are several other guys you know out there that are in the financial service sector.

Dream big, start small. Think about building your dream small. Do not start thinking about loans right now, that's not very workable right now, the economy not kind to anyone and banks don't give small loans anymore. Think of starting your project by saving for it and that you can achieve by starting small. Do not have dreams that will swallow your finances. Nothing kills the spirit more than failing to achieve ideas you've always nurtured in your mind. While nothing is wrong with dreaming, do not conceive

Don't forget, time waits for no man. Start working on it right now. Do not do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination does not help to achieve anything, instead it is a killer of ideas, a very potent dream killer!

As Christmas is knocking on the door and you prepare to have all the fun you can get, don't forget if you're drinking, don't drive. If you're driving, don't drink. Have a fabulous ending to 2010!

I remain your friend, Olumide Ogungbemi (07056989820, 07033588160) and I'm Insurance marketer with Standard Alliance Life Assurance Limited.