Mwenda turns thirty years today. Well-schooled and travelled, he is the consummate planner. Married with one child and another on the way, he is well on his way to achieving his goal of having a KES 10M or USD 100K investment portfolio by the time he is forty. He looks at me straight in the eye, without batting an eyelid and says “I want to have KES 10M at the end of the next 10 years, I want to be Financially stable. To be stable and have KES 10M, I must do the smart thing. I need to change my Business model, my savings and investment actions and manage risks. This has never been more important than now, with the COVID 19 disruption in our lives, at individual and state level”. We each reach out for our coffee cups and slices of Black Forest cake. We are on a Video call. The new normal. Mwenda, like me, is a prudent spender. He can be generous though, within his strict personal budget. He teaches personal finance. I am learning at his feet. He doesn’t need me to guide him in any way. It may well be the other way round. From the mouths of babes and all that.
Kamau is a well-paid Banker. He is in his thirties. He works
in investments. Kamau only gave me an appointment because I am older than him
and a friend of his Father. He eyes me with that “know it all look”. In the
background, his children are kicking up a ruckus. We ignore the brouhaha. He
knows interest rates like the back of his hand but he listens respectfully. At
the end of my pitch he declares “When I retire, at 60 I want to have 60
Million.” I nod in agreement and ask “What will you be when you have 60
Million?” He replies, a tad quickly “I will be fulfilled and will be
consolidating my savings, investment and legacy.” I tell myself “This guy seems
to be winner.” I then ask “What have you done and what are you doing to ensure
that the 60M becomes a reality?” He becomes cagey. Appearances must be
maintained. “I have a life Insurance policy”, he replies without talking about
the premium or sum assured. I let
the omission ride. He switches the conversation to interest rates and how his
very bank has moved into Insurance products. I manage to convince him to
consider a Wealth management fund of KES 1M for starters. As he signs off he
says “Call me Friday week.” Kamau is not picking up my calls. Naturally Kenyans
do not answer emails. I have not given up. I will keep in touch with him. I am
determined to help him craft a legacy.
Shiundu is a Consultant Doctor in his early sixties. He is
sharp as nails. He is at home. His Bose music system plays classical music
quietly in the background, as he toys with his pen. I have in the past,
successfully convinced him to invest KES
2M in a Money Market Fund. Now that we are in pandemic panic mode he wants to
invest in USD since he predicts that the KES is going downhill in value. I say
“Dr Shiundu, things are so dynamic in international money markets that I would
be cautious about investing in USD. Note that China has started piloting a
digital currency, the e-RMB in 4 major Chinese cities. This means that the Yuan
will not be pegged to the USD. Guess what happens to the USD after this. Let us
put our faith in our very own KES and watch as things unfold. Shiundu put on
his intelligent Doctor face but was skeptical “I will wait and see.” He thought
about the 50M KES that he had invested in real estate and wished he could
liquidate it immediately. Relatives were already trying to shake him down for
emergency funds to buy food in his village in Western Kenya. Dr Shiundu needs
another video call from me I thought as I bid him farewell. I said “That is it for today, Dr Shiundu, we
shall meet again, soon, to discuss what you want to be, what you want to have
and what you have to do. This pandemic will go away but your legacy will live
on. Let us craft it together.”
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