Bala and Audu met in NYSC. Both from the northern region of the country, compelled to serve their fatherland in faraway Ondo state, it was easy for them to become friends. They had a good year serving their country and even landed jobs in the same organisation. As similar as the young men were, they differed in their attitude to money. Bala was somewhat future conscious, while Audu adopted a YOLO attitude (You Only Live Once). He wasn’t particularly wasteful, he just didn’t understand why he had to ‘manage’ because of a very distant tomorrow or a rainy day that might never come. So, he saved only when he could and focused on enjoying a good life. Bala on the other hand saved 20,000 of the 100,000 they both earned in a bank account. He later discovered the benefits of mutual funds and moved his bank balance to a Money Market Fund. To make it even easier, he set up a direct debit to his account and decided to focus on the 80,000 he had left and completely forget about his investment.
About four years later, the organisation they were employed with secured a choice estate and offered plots of land to interested staff at a subsidised rate. Ideally, the offer was not for staff at Bala’s level, who had barely worked for five years and were hardly earning so much. It was a huge surprise for Audu when Bala not only signified interest in the property but also conveniently paid for it without a loan. Apparently, investing 20,000 in a mutual fund every month made the difference. Over the past four years, Bala’s monthly 20,000 had grown into over 1,5000,000 and he could easily part with 950,000 for the plot of land.
Wondering how he managed to save so much from so little?
He had saved 20,000 in a bank account for 7 months before discovering the money market fund. He therefore began his mutual fund investment with 140,000 and made additional contributions of 20,000 monthly for four years, gaining an average of 14% interest annually which was reinvested on his behalf. Imagine how much Bala would have if he had continued his investment uninterrupted for another four years? About 3,900,000! Not convinced yet? Calculate it yourself here.
That gives you a peek into how much your money could be making for you daily, if you were investing.
Wondering how people build emergency funds or save enough to expand their business, buy property, and achieve other such feats? This is how. A fraction of your income invested appropriately at the right time can get you the future you desire. We calculate time in terms of our age and achievements, but hardly in terms of money. Yet, the passage of time can have an incredible impact on how much money we have. The truth is for every day you delay in actualising your decision to invest, you actually lose money.
Every day that passes is an opportunity passing you by. Make the most of time, put your money to work now. Explore our Webshop to better understand mutual funds and discover other investment opportunities. You can also engage us with your questions and enquiries on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn. Or if you prefer you can reach out to us at [email protected] or 0700 CALL ARM.
The post How much are you losing? appeared first on Realising Ambitions.
Source: Blog
