Happy New Year, don’t abandon unfinished business

It is six days into the New Year 2022 today. As they say, better late than never, I would like to wish you all readers a happy New Year filled with success, good health and enterprise.

To many, the New Year comes with resolutions and goals to improve their situation or plight. In a bid to achieve the set goals, some invest in further education while others put their money in property development as well as in children’s education.

In the case of corporates, the New Year marks the beginning of a new financial year for some of them.

New Year is generally taken as a time to reflect on goals and achievements. It is a time to look back at what we set out to do 12 months ago either as individuals or organisations. However, the past two years have not been easy due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has negatively impacted on the way people live, do business and all.

Due to Covid-19 which subdued economic activity, most individuals and corporates alike have carried over a lot of unfinished business into the New Year. Do not abandon the plans of 2020 or 2021, continue pursuing the dreams to their fruition.

At national level, the outstanding issues include foreign exchange shortages in authorised dealer banks, rising commodity prices, ballooning public debt and generally a harsh business environment that has left companies limping. In some cases, the companies have resorted to cutting jobs, rendering thousands jobless in an already tough economic environment.

Hopefully, in the New Year strategies such as the Socio-Economic Recovery Plan recently unveiled by President Lazarus Chakwera will work to stabilise the economy and put the country on the right path towards achieving the Malawi 2063, the long-term development strategy.

In terms of personal finance management, one of the best references is the best-seller Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. This simple, but inspiring book provides guidance on how one can attain financial independence. The book is widely touted to have challenged and changed people’s perception of money and how to spend the same.

Right now, I know some are still drafting or polishing up their New Year resolutions. Herewith some investment tips from the Kiyosaki team to add more value to your plans.

Greetings Aubrey,

How do you know if the financial advice you are getting is good/bad?

Good financial advice is priceless. Good financial advice can be the key to success.

Bad financial advice is expensive and will cost you a lot more than just money.

Your mind ultimately is your greatest asset. So, be very careful of what kind of advice you invest in it.

When someone offers you financial advice, you need to ask yourself:

Is this person giving me advice to make me rich, or giving me advice to make themselves rich.

My rich dad said: “Most people struggle financially because they take advice from sales people, not rich people. “They take financial advice from sales people such as stockbrokers and real estate brokers. As my rich dad said: “The reason they are called brokers is because they are broker than you are.”

Be very careful who you get your financial advice from. There is a big difference between financial advice from rich people versus sales people.

To making life better,

Robert Kiyosaki

If I may add, one’s circle of friends also has a greater influence on one’s success. Remember the saying: You can’t soar like an eagle when you hang out with chickens! Who do you hang out with? What issues dominate your conversations?

I know the past two years of Covid-19 have given us the best ways to manage our risks. But it is still worthy reminding each other the importance of washing hands with soap and water, wearing face masks, sanitising, social distancing, vaccinating and preference for outdoor during social outings such as wedding receptions.

Life has always been unpredictable, but the pandemic has highlighted to us how rapidly our plans can vanish into thin air. Through the pandemic, the need to have plan B or some contingency has become a reality.

This is the third year with Covid-19 around. Instead of being helpless and leaving everything to fate, let us keep pushing our goals. Life must go on.