COVID-19 AND MY MONEY

Hello everyone, I hope we are all doing great and keeping safe?

I need not be a Soothsayer to tell of the scourge of COVID-19 on the world economy and coming home to the Nigerian economy, we are not just facing the Virus we are also facing low oil prices which is as a result of the faceoff between Russia and Saudi Arabia (Talks on going to resolve)

As at 20th April 2020.  the price of Crude Oil was $13.5 the lowest since 1999. So, the implications of all this is that we have in our hands an impending Recession, if not already in Recession.

The truth is these affects the world all over, most countries are heading towards Recession, if not already in one.

Let me quickly explain how they intertwine.

The faceoff between Russia and Saudi Arabia started before Corona Virus became a Pandemic, so in other words the USD crisis we are having now is not just as a result of the Pandemic.

That is, In layman terms and in summary we have more supply of Crude in the Oil market and simple economics law of demand and supply kicks in thereby crashing the price worldwide and you and I know that Nigeria is largely a mono economy depending on Oil revenues with our National Budget set at $57/Barrel. But this was reduced to $30/ Barrel.  But even at that we can still meet up as it was sold at $13.50, 20th April 2020. Not only that we have less demand as most factories are shutdown worldwide due to COVID-19, meaning a further reduction in price.

In March 2020 the CBN devalued the Naira to N380.5/$1 and as at today the black market is selling at N416/$1. What is the meaning of this, someone who had 360m before the devaluation you had $1m but now that as reduced significantly. And experts are still looking at a further devaluation soon. What this in turn mean for you and I is that we have our income reduced and our disposable income with it, so we will be experiencing inflation

Because of the high risk of person to person transmission of the COVID-19, the Federal Government lockdown Lagos (Financial Capital) Ogun (Industrial Capital) and Abuja (Federal Capital). And thereby causing Businesses to either a full or partial shutdown, I spoke with some of my Entrepreneur friends and the said they are doing half salaries this month for their staffs and if the lockdown persists they will do no salaries and the sad truth is some businesses may not recover from it.

So, what would I have done before the devaluation (This is for next time):

·       Take a more stable currency position (USD/GBP etc)

·       If you had a foreign currency loan (Business Owners) you should hedge (NDF, SWAP is not visible here in Nigeria).

What should be done now:

·       Review your expenses and reduces frivolities’ as much as you can.

·       Verify investments well and be smart as fraudsters will increase, the last time we had rescission was 2016 and that was when MMM grew more even though it started late 2015.

·       Be financially disciplined.

·       Make and work with a Personal Finance Budget.

Lesson from the whole episodes:

·       Increase your savings culture, so many people are ‘broke’ because of the lockdown.

·       Review your business model/ life model to include contingency plans for situations like this.

·       Always buy things in bulk (Majorly food stuffs etc)

In all this the most affected industries are Tourism, Aviation, Sports, Cinemas, Entertainment, Fashion Hotels etc are all counting losses in revenue.

While some industries are hit hard some are having surge in revenue, Telecommunications, Video Streaming websites (Netflix, YouTube, etc) ,Social Media (Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram etc), Pharmaceutical, Food, Supermarkets etc.

Above all, I am an optimist and I believe we are more than able to come out of this strong and better as a person, as ‘Though Time Never Last but Tough People Do- Robert Schuller’

Let us remember to Keep Safe, Stay Home, Wash your Hands, Maintain Social Distance and remember it is only the living that spends money.

I remain your friend and Personal Finance Coach Babatunde Ayorinde, follow me on twitter @pistis03, on Instagram @personalfinancebabat

And if you like to engage us to speak in your program or for adverts send us a mail at babat09@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading, invite you Family, Friends, and Foes to read the blog, as we move ahead to our financial freedom.

THE SUPER WOMAN

 Years ago, the face of family finance was majorly the man’s business even though some women took the responsibilities of solely providing for the family like paying for the accommodation, feeding and footing all bills.  This was the case of women married to lazy men, widows and those whose husbands could not work due to sicknesses and sort.

The prevailing trend now is more men leave the responsibilities of family finance solely to the woman, I have seen able bodied men who are laid backs, lazy and are comfortable in such situation since they have a woman to provide the basics for them. The fact is situation could make the man earn less, I am not talking about men who are giving it a shot and earning something.  The fact that you are putting in efforts is good enough and I encourage you that if you keep at it, you will break through, for this type of men, it’s good to have a supportive woman who will step in and cover the few lapses. Family finances should be the responsibility of both the man and the woman in my opinion but it is best that it’s well defined in the family.

Handling Financially Induced Depression

                       

 Depression is a part of human baggage which is becoming endemic and we need to take conscious effort not to be caught in its web. Anybody can be depressed, a more crucial reason to be watchful and take personal responsibility for our health and life.

What is Depression? This is the feelings of severe despondency and dejection caused by several situations which includes money problems or financial stress. Many people are having a tough time paying bills and meeting their financial obligations which has led to a feeling of despondency, dejection and ultimately Depression.

I am not a health expert but a Personal Finance Coach, so I can only proffer solution on only financially induced depression from finance perspectives.

You need to do more!!

The New Year has begun in earnest and just like preceding years its fast running, this necessitates the need for us to gear up to do more and begin early.

Most people begin the year with expectations of getting the best financially, but as the common quote goes ‘Talk is cheap’ anybody can say anything. The determinants of a better 2018 is the result you can show at the end of the year, and the truth is: the year had begun already, opportunities are already slipping away and some hopes are been dashed.

I am not a prophet of doom I just want to encourage you to do more as time waits for no man. One proverb I love so much is ‘if wishes were horses, beggars will ride’ you cannot live your entire year on wishful thinking but on practicable actions that can deliver your dreams and aspirations to you. Once again time waits for no man.

Evaluation and Appraisal of your Personal Financial Year

 

  The year will soon be out and done with, A time of the year when establishments and Organizations do an appraisal of how they have performed against their outlook at the beginning of the year. This is necessary to put into perspective what needs to be improved upon and what needs to be jettisoned.

In the same vein, we need to carry out personal evaluation and appraisals of how we have managed our finances during the period under review in this case a Year. I know you are thinking it will be an Apulian task given that the needed comprehensive information are not available for adequate evaluation and appraisal. If this is the case, then some adjustments have to be made in the coming year.

All your income and expenditure needs to be recorded, by having a complete and right transaction narration as much as possible. For you to achieve much with the income you earn, you need to block leakages and this leakages can only be identified by doing a thorough and sincere evaluation and appraisals.

Your Family and Your Money (Focus on the Nuclear Family)

Being married brings you to a place of responsibilities, it doesn’t matter if you are the man or the woman, it is, however, more important for the man to quickly understand that his income has become ‘our income’ based on our culture and the female gender belief. I also understand that we have a class of ‘Super Women’ who are the ones footing the family bills (We will discuss more on this soon)

Free Personal Finance Seminar!!!!!!

Do you wish to take charge of your finances? If your answer is yes, then you need to plan and prepare to attend this free Personal Finance seminar on the 2nd October 2017. Pre-register here: https://goo.gl/forms/d4DrcISf04wb92Bj1. Share with friends. Limited space available.

"Land Speculating- An Investment with huge returns but require a lot of care!"

I first read about Land speculators while in the University some years back, and it was eye opening, I cannot remember which book it was, but it was a book on history in my University Library. Let us look at this investment strategy a bit closer.

A land speculator is someone that buys a large amount of land for little money and also with no intention of using it, then sells it for a larger amount of money to many people to make money when the land appreciates.

Personal Finance

Money and Family Members- The Extended Family

This is a sequel to the first post on money and friendship (Get it here), in this post we are considering your personal financial relationship with your family members, with an eye on the extended, say your Brothers, Sisters, Cousins and the like.

Just as Money and Friendship do not mix well, same can be said of Money and this family members, a lot of people have got their hands burnt for lending money to family members who will not return and will still be arrogant about it. 

Money and Friendship

 Money often does not mix well with friendship, as so many promising friendships are lost based on money issues. In most cases, this happens when friends borrow money and refuses to pay back or when there is a business deal between friends and one party decides to play the smart one and cheats the other. And because of this personal experience, most of us have put our friends in different buckets, hear say, and characters exhibited by the friends in question.

The truth is you are also being placed in buckets too based on the same measurement by some friends. Let us do a quick evaluation of your friendships, quickly list five friends you can do business with without fear of losing your funds, and now list the friends you can never trust with your money (You need not write them out). You see how easy it was to put your friends in one of these two buckets? You reached this decision based on a few parameters best known to you, which might not be correct in its entirety. It is not strange that many people have a lot to say on money and friendship and the need to exercise caution but, the beautiful thing is that we can have a sustainable balance wherein our friendship is secured and our ‘business friendship ‘ is also very secured

Mortgages 101

 Been a house owner via  Mortgage is very prevalent in developed countries, however not in Nigeria due to the high interest rate which is applicable to any other loan that can be accessed here. So what then is Mortgage?

 A mortgage is a debt instrument, secured by the collateral of a specified real estate property, that the borrower is obliged to pay back with a predetermined set of payments, usually monthly. It is a secured form of loan and usually secured with the property being purchased. In Nigeria most commercial banks offer mortgage loans we also specialized banks called mortgage banks whose primary focus is mortgages.

In accessing a mortgage loan, there are few criteria that you must fulfil and there is a limit to the loan you can get for your home, irrespective of your income. These factors may include but not limited to the following: