Whenever we have conversations about investments in instruments such as stocks or real estate, there is always that one person whose default response is: The returns are too low, I would make more money if I invested in business instead. This person almost always manages to derail the conversation from the investment at hand, to a business that makes “way more money” than one could…
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A picture is said to speak a thousand words, so I will cut short my prose by letting this one speak: Since 2010, the stock market, as represented by the benchmark NSE20 Index performed its best in March 2015 reaching a high of 5,499.64, and its worst this October 2018, slumping down to 2,782.97. And it will probably fall some more. I do not attempt…
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There is a joke that every Kenyan has a side hustle, so this article is probably moot but I will write it nonetheless. In this age of passion, we are told that we should discover what we are passionate about and should we single-mindedly pursue that passion, we shall not only find financial success but personal fulfilment. Life is not that perfect though. Some people…
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A friend recently wrote to me to ask me for advice on whether he should buy a house off-plan, with the intention of selling it once the development is complete. With his permission, I publish the advice I gave to him below. Off-plan house sales (also called pre-sales) are where the developing company sells some units in advance, and uses the money raised from these…
Read MoreBefore I went out into business for myself, my goal was to always be credit-free. It is a bragging point for most personal finance bloggers, gurus and wanna be gurus, but being debt free is also a great place to be! I have however discovered that in business, being debt-free is almost impossible. This is especially so if you are in agriculture where you do not…
Read MoreToday’s post is by Owuor Kuyoh, an investment analyst at a local investment bank. He loves to use numbers to tell a story but in this instance he decided to add some words to the numbers. I was about 15 years old, desperately saving to buy a new PlayStation2 when my father told me “Money doesn’t grow on trees! You have to put it to work,…
Read MoreOne of my young but brilliant friends sent me this text early on a Saturday morning: “Do you think I should take a mortgage now?” He’s about 24 years, he has done really well career wise, and his pay slip could support a mortgage if he sacrificed a few luxuries well-to-do 24 year olds typically enjoy. Personal finance advisers sit on two extremes when it…
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Most clubs are born of casual conversation in a social settings, where friends, inspired by various things, but mostly the emotion around being rich discuss and agree to pool funds towards an investment goal. It’s however not advisable to start making contributions on the spot, an investment club is a long term commitment, and it requires a bit more structure than casual conversation can give….
Read MoreThis is a continuation to a previous post where I answered some of the most common farming questions people ask. I will answer a few I got from the comments on that post.
Read MoreA series on creating extra income streams cannot be complete without a post about my favourite side hustle; farming. I don’t really need to make a case for farming on here, I believe it’s quite obvious. Food doesn’t go out of fashion, everyone eats from the rich to the poor, and as a country, we are a net importer of food.
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