PERSPECTIVES ON WEALTH AND MONEY MATTERS

SOFT FINANCING WITH AYO AROWOLO

OPINIONS OF THE MASTERS

What does wealth mean to you? Is it just a big bank account? Are there other hidden components? To wrap up the year, we decided to share the thoughts of some members of the Wealth Masters League on what they think wealth really means. And also some thoughts about money, including how to earn money, manage it, multiply it and make it useful. Have fun and Merry Christmas.

PROFESSOR THEOFILI OGUNLESI

Professor Theophilus Ogunlesi (99), the first Nigerian Professor of Medicine at the University of Ibadan (UI), is the father of Bayo Ogunlesi, one of the wealthy businessmen based in the United States of America.

He says, “Many people misunderstand what wealth means. So they believe that being rich means having a lot of money in the bank. It can be an aspect of wealth. But to me, true wealth means being fulfilled." To be able to bring a smile to the faces of others who need the mission entrusted to you by God. I am not a businessman in the Nigerian sense but my mission in life has been and still is to help the sick take care of their health, promote and prevent diseases through health education and help the poor and needy as much as possible. For me, this is success. This is real wealth."

SAMUEL ADEDOIN

Dr. Samuel Adedoyin is one of Nigeria's leading industrialists involved in banking, real estate, import and export and hospitality, among others.

GOD HAS THE FRUITS OF RICHES.

This is a secret I discovered at an early age, and I think it explains how little success I have had. At the beginning of this whole adventure, I didn't look like the kind of person who would succeed. In fact, many people, including family and close friends, wrote to me first. But I discovered this truth: the secrets of making money belong to God. For anyone who wants to succeed, the first step is to know, obey, serve, and glorify God in all things. It can bring you prosperity, health and longevity. If you know God and ask Him for what you desire, He will give it to you. Notice, I did not say that if you know God you will have no problems in life. You will, but you will always overcome such challenges and difficulties.

Everyone has what God has prepared for them. The problem we have is that some of us are in the wrong place. Ask God to show you this thing that turns to gold when you touch it.

PEDRO'S CHILD

Femi Pedro is a banker, business owner, investor and politician with business interests including banking, real estate and hospitality.

MONEY IS NOT WEALTH

Money is not wealth, but an illusion, the value of which diminishes as the wealth and lives of many generations persist. Money disappears from those who do not know about wealth creation. Wealth comes from the income you get from your wealth tools. Many people who confuse money with wealth have themselves to blame because sooner or later they will fall into the trap of poverty. Also, people need to understand that good education, intelligence and talent is not a passport to wealth without knowledge of wealth creation. Young people should learn this early.

BE READY TO TAKE RISKS

Your hard-earned money isn't what you take home as a salary, it's what you make from your investments. Those who are risk averse will never achieve anything significant in their lives. You need an investment advisor. Between 1988 and 2002, I had two investment advisors that I relied on. If you want to hedge your exposure, your investment advisor will advise you to do so. Some stocks are called blue chips because they have been around for a long time, have weathered tough times and are still thriving. That's why they're blue chips and their stocks are high. You don't risk losing your investment with it. Many people who lose money in the stock market do so because they don't go to the experts. They tried it alone. Basically, investing is a vocation and a habit because you have to be consistent. You have to have passion to understand it and you have to have experts to play in this market.

PAT TIRED

Professor Pat Utomi is an academic, political activist and boardroom guru who sits on the boards of several companies in Nigeria.

IMAGINATION TAKES YOU FURTHER THAN MONEY

Cash is the most convertible asset that can be converted into another type of asset. It's something that can help speed things up, get things done, but by itself can achieve very little real value. Imagination takes you further than money. Money is an incentive, not an end in itself. There are many people who have a lot of money and live in poverty.

INVESTMENTS IN PEOPLE

Investing in people is much more important than investing in stocks. When one of these people creates wealth, the pool for society as a whole increases. Yes, many will be ungrateful and never come back to you, but like venture capital, if one is grateful and comes back, everyone else benefits.

THERE IS NO PROFIT UNTIL IT IS EARNED

Some people predict their earnings and start spending them in advance. That is why there are many people who were rich yesterday and poor today. Also, integrity is the most important asset in business. The day you lose it, you lose everything.

DOTUN SULAIMAN

Adedotun Suleiman is a renowned management consultant and board guru who has interests in nearly 20 companies.

YOU CAN'T FEEL ANYMORE

I never spend all my money. never. I also live within my means and don't indulge in alcohol or a lifestyle I can't support. So I don't know what it's like to be broken. Although I continue to invest, I have made some concessions such as investing in an extensive art collection of mostly Nigerian and African art. But basically, money doesn't mean anything to me. To me, money is a measure of the reward you get for doing something right. For me, in addition to meeting basic needs, it gives you the confidence that you can meet your needs and afford some luxuries within reason, and of course the absence of fear that you won't be able to meet them. The more money you have, the more you should realize that you don't need a lot to have a decent life. Also, the money should be used to do good, to touch the lives of the underprivileged or underprivileged. I believe that I will do well with a lot of money, but I will also do well that I will be happy and content with very little money. I don't think money can change me.

DON'T INVEST IN WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW.

One of my golden rules when it comes to investing is to not invest in something I don't know much about. If it's too esoteric, specialized, and out of my field, I just don't go. I invest in things I know a little about. My motivation for investing has never been money. What motivates me most is the desire to use my knowledge, experience, contacts and connections to help a young person advance. Therefore, it is no coincidence that most of my investments are in young entrepreneurs and startups. I will give them money, but more valuable than the money I give them is my time, access to me and my network to hold their hands and mentor them.

BUNMI ONI

Bunmi Oni, a former managing director of Cadbury PLC, currently teaches at the Graduate School, University of Lagos.

YOU MUST LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY

My principle about money is primarily that money is a means, not an end. It's good to have him while he doesn't have you, and maintaining that balance takes discipline. This is where my Christian faith sets the standard. You have to involve your husband all the time. In that regard, I believe I have better money management skills than my wife, if I do say so myself.

GET READY FOR LIFE AFTER WORK

I had a retirement plan, but I couldn't call it reliable. I left more savings than I should have in a checking account instead of letting it work for me. I have long understood the value of saving and try to be guided by the principle of living on no more than 80% of my income, and allocating the rest to other obligations - annuity savings, tithing, contingencies or unforeseen. Of course, that wasn't always possible, especially with all the kids in college and mortgages to pay.

Investment management is something I wasn't very good at until I left my position. Later I built a structure that works for us - optimizing investments and good allocation between asset classes; Set up an interest-free down payment to finance ongoing expenses. Others include wedding planning for the kids (can't pretend I'm amazingly busy!), insurance, medical checkups, routine cleaning, and of course vacations. It's a good idea to list all known expenses and decide exactly how each one will be paid for, keeping an eye on contingencies.

If you think about it, we spend a third of our lives in retirement. It is long and you have to plan the period. So the three main questions are: Where will you live? what will you live on And how do you maintain mental and physical fitness? In the latter, it is good to do something new, for example, learn a new language or play the piano, solve puzzles such as Sudoku. I have also decided to offer a part-time post-graduate course.

OBU HESEQUESIL

Abiageli "Obi" Ezekwesili, Nigeria's former Minister of Education, economic policy expert and political activist of sorts.

FOR ME, INVESTMENT IN PEOPLE IS IT

I see money as a means to an end. I don't see an end to this. I see money in exchange for receiving other types of goods and services. So I say that instead of investing in an account, I would invest in what we in economics think of as a transfer of one form of capital to a higher form of capital. My rule of thumb is that if that money can go towards someone's education, I'd rather use it to invest in that human capital.

Money will never be my god. Money can never be the reason I wake up and sleep, and it's not because I have something important. no It's because he just doesn't hold me. I cannot collect money from ill-gotten gains because ill-gotten gains have consequences; I also won't have money without a purpose. This means that money must have a purpose in my life. He must go to the service of people outside of me. Here I also need the so-called rainy season money for emergencies and finally I have to invest in myself.

I AM AGBAE

A pharmacist by profession, Jimmy Agbaje is an investor, entrepreneur, politician and political activist. He was a two-time opposition party candidate for governor of Lagos State.

YOU CAN BE RICH BUT NOT SUCCESSFUL.

To me, wealth is a combination of things: it's not just money. Wealth is something to be used. I believe wealth includes many things: your name, your integrity, your beliefs, your network, how much you give back to society, and how little money you have. Money without everything else is not success.

MONEY GOES YOUR WAY, music to attract endless wealth, 777 Hz