Relationship with Money-PART II

"a fool and his money are soon parted" English Proverb

“man is born free, but everywhere he is in chain” is a quotation from Jean Jacques Rousseau, French political philosopher (1712 – 1778). Why is this so? why is it that some people acquire money so easily while others work so hard to earn so little only to put them in the pockets with holes, usually pockets with pipes that takes the money right into the pockets those easy earners.

My friends, if you are to learn anything from this post, get the fact that 'nothing just happens'. There is a reason for everything. Just like gravity pulls all mass down at acceleration of 9.81m/s² or just as the sun will always rise from the East and Set on the West so is the flow of money in any person's life governed by universal laws.

Part II of the post ‘Relationship with Money’ looks at a few remedies to soured money-man-relationship. (See introduction and nature of abused money-man-relationship in Part I of this series)

Remedy:

Before we look at remedies to soured relationship with money, I think it is equally important to address some of the flawed beliefs that hinder one from having a healthy relationship with money. If what you believe is flawed, it does not matter what you do it won't work because our belief is a compass that drives our life. We attract and become what we believe, no more no less.

Below are some of the flawed beliefs that many people have limited themselves over them, I have also shown on the right what I believe to be the truth:

Flawed Belief	The Truth
You need money to make money	Money follows purpose and wisdom, not otherwise
Money is the root of all evil	The love (lust-greed for) of money is, not money
Money corrupt good people	Money amplifies what is already inside, it does not add
Poverty and Godliness are synonymous	God gives us (bless) power to get wealth, He is wealthy
There are chosen few to have wealth	We start differently, but all have time & chance to wealth
You must be 'dirty' to have lots of money	You can earn clean loads of money, evidence is around you
You must be educated or known	All you need is resolve & sound mind to make good money

If you don't believe it is good to have money and have it in abundance, then this post is not for you and you are wasting your time reading. The truth is God wants every one of us to be abundantly supplied—we can do more, as God operatives, with more. I wish everyone would read the book Acres of Diamond by  Russell H. Conwell [and for those super interested, get hold of these two books and they will change your thinking and hence your life 'Think and Grow Rich' by Napoleon Hill and 'The Millionaire Mind' by Thomas J. Stanley]

1. Role Reversal (See Part I for details)

When money is elevated to Position of Power in the relationship, i.e. becoming Master instead of servant it is, it will, sooner or later walk away from you but not before it destroys your life and perhaps anyone and anything you love.

You need to make sure that money is and continues to be your faithful and loyal Servant. There are two ways to do this (my humble position), namely attitude and gratitude:

i.                    Attitude; check your attitude daily—see that you deliberately talk to yourself that ‘money is my servant, I will use it to serve me, my family and other people’ This attitude adjustment (self-talk) is needed even more as you gain more servants—the more the servants, the more humble you need to be knowing that just as they walked in, they can walk out if you abuse them (servant—money). The attitude should be, I have more servants to do more good, to serve me and those that I come into contact daily. Love people and use money to serve them NOT the other-way around.

When you master your position over money, guess what, people will trust you with their money and wealth. God (the Universe) will trust you with more. Money will begin to flow in your direction for then you will have worked the universal law of money-man-relationship at balance in your favour. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been 
faithful over a little; I will set you over much. [Ref Matt 25:23 ]

ii.                  Gratitude; acknowledge that there is a God (or Universe for non-believers) who has graced you with the opportunity to be a guardian over the servants (money) in your power; that’s right, we don’t own what we possess, we are simply custodian thus one day we shall give account on every penny that came into our guardianship.

But you say, ‘I have worked very hard for my money’ Ok, tell me, who gave you the life and health that you have…the mental capacity and vigour/enthuse to work? You can buy medicine but not health/life, you can buy education but not understanding/wisdom, you can invest all you like but you don't always have control over the returns…an attitude of gratitude will take you further with people and with God. Stay thankful for every little penny that comes your way.

2. Hoarders (See Part I for details)

A Master gave talent (money) to his three servants and travelled afar. When he came back, he demanded account for what was entrusted to the servants. The one who had 5 talents returned 5 more, the one who had 3 returned 3 more, the one with 1 returned 1 i.e. what was given. The master was angry, he said, if you couldn’t do business the least you should have done is to put in the bank where it would have earned interest. He then proceeded to take away that 1 talent and gave to the one with 10. The servant with 1 talent was punished for HOARDING what was given instead of investing [Ref Matt 25:14-30]

Money as your servants should be put to work not hidden in the closet; it should be exchanged for service and goods i.e. flow for it is current.

Your servants are meant to work for you in order to:

Reproduce after their kind—i.e. more servants through investments

Do good even in your absence—provide goods and service to yourself and others,

Make you happy—create comfortable environment for you & your family.

This is my suggestion of what percentage of your monthly/quarterly or annual income should be apportioned to:

Live on           60%,    live within your means, then increase your means

Invest  10%,    put this on “passive income” investment

Save 1  10%,    long term savings (for rainy days, old age)

Save 2  10%,    secure your children’s future, trust fund

Give    10%,    to the poor, in need, (relatives), for the good cause

For those with more income (servants), say as single you earn more than Tsh 2m [Tsh. 5m for family] per month (For UK I would say over £1,000 for single person [and £2,500 for family] per month. For USA, though I don’t have first-hand experience living there, I believe in general living expenses are relatively lower compared to most parts of UK thus equivalent of the UK £ should suffice.

Anyway, this is what I suggest for those who are above average earners:

Live on           40%,    live within your means, then increase your means,

Invest  15%,    put this on “passive income” investment

Save 1  15%,    long term savings (for rainy days, old age)

Save 2  15%,    secure your children’s future, trust fund

Give    15%,    to the poor, in need, (relatives), for the good cause.

3. Spendthrifters (See Part I for details)

The philosophy I subscribe to on how to spend money is ''live within your means, then increase your means''. Get motivated to increase your means so that you can live large from large income. I am not against luxurious living and spoiling oneself every now and then, I am against doing it with 100% of your income and or from a borrowed money.

If you have to borrow to buy it, you can’t afford it leave it alone (with exception of borrowing to invest or a mortgage). It is FOOLISH to borrow to sustain lifestyle i.e buy a car, rent a big house, buy expensive clothes or travel on holiday.

The following tips will help one to put one’s expense on check:

i. Limit your expense to housing to not more than 10% of the net income (mortgage aim to 30%)

ii. Limit your car expenses i.e. loan and running cost to not more than 10% of your net income

iii. Live within 40-60% of your net income; let your income decide your lifestyle—social life etc

The last item is very critical, many people let their friends, relative and colleagues decide for them (pressure them) onto a lifestyle they cannot afford YET. i.e where they live, the house and the car they drive. By all means get motivated by your wealthy friends but don’t jump ship and copy them BEFORE you get there financially.

LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS, THEN INCREASE YOUR MEANS!!!