There is work to be done; are you ready?

Are you among the minority of Kenyans who are in formal employment? Brighter Monday Kenya, an online jobseekers platform estimates that job opportunities have dropped by 58% in the last 4 months.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), over one million people in Kenya lost their jobs as companies closed or downsized to survive the economic downturn brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic

Jobs in some sectors have survived the downturn in the economy. Lockdowns and curfews have been blamed. Workers in creative and design, marketing and communication, legal services, human resources and administration have survived the massive job cuts.Have their employers insured them against new workplace related risks? Maybe they have to support relatives who have been downsized.

Pardoxically, jobs for Doctors are being advertised abroad while local Doctors are unemployed. Clinical Officers and Public Health Officers are being infected due to the lack of Personal Protective Equipment. This latter cadre are managing the pandemic in public facilities. They will get it soon. They must manage the risk of sickness and death in the workplace themselves. How many of them have Life or Medical Insurance?

Maybe you were one of the lucky few who supplied masks and PPEs and got paid. You may want to consider investing your funds in a Money Market Fund or Wealth Management Fund until your next windfall.

This has made many economically productive adults leverage on their other skills, exposure, education, expertise and networks to pay their bills. In other words, they have become small business owners. Business is about adding value and managing risks. What new risks do they face – fire, floods, theft? Are these risks insurable?

Last week was interesting. A class-mate lost an ex girl-friend to what he thinks, were COVID related complications. A Public Health Officer in Wajir lost his life to the same disease. A colleague has come down with COVID 19 - she is in self isolation.

Our risk profiles have changed whether we are self-employed or in formal employment. Risks have to be avoided, shared or mitigated. The Insurance Industry could help you out.

Everywhere I looked last week, I was reminded that I am merely mortal, that I live in interesting times and that I must try and make a difference in the lives of those I come in contact with. I have little time and so do you. If you have read thus far, you will want to get in touch with me about how to navigate these interesting times; how to save,invest and manage risk.

Dr Melvin D'lima is a Personal Financial Consultant with Britam, A Business Coach and mentor at Passion Profit Limited with a background in Dentistry and Public Health. He enjoys writing poetry,short stories and blogging.

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Message from Course Director, Activate Program

I want to thank you for taking a bold step. Enrolling in the Activate program is an admission that you want to succeed and that you want to be in a flourishing business five years from now. Our business is to walk with you on the journey to more clients and cash flow into your business.

How we do it, is the subject of all that we will teach you, as we co-create a new business reality, full of possibilities. We are going to be your loudest cheerleaders. We are also going to hold you to a higher standard. The journey has begun.

Expect to be challenged in the areas of your self-limiting beliefs, which drive your behavior and have, thus far, given you the same results. We will help you build on your personal values as you tighten your value proposition and business model.

I am excited about you on your journey, with us, of Activating your passion and turning it into profit by creating order and a legacy, by shifting your mind. Every thought has an equal reaction in your subconscious. Every positive thought will be manifested in your reality as a business owner.

Welcome to a millionaire mindset. Thank you for choosing Passion Profit to teach guide and mentor you to personal and business success. I bestow a blessing on you now and on your path to the stars.

Dr Melvin D’lima                                                                                                        Course Director, Activate Program                                                                                  CEO, Passion Profit                                                                                                        Nairobi                                                                                                                           

July 23 2020

 

Options for investment by retirees

Options for investment by retirees

1.      Independent pension plans with income draw-down or lifelong annuity payments

2.      Wealth Management Funds at 9% daily compounded interest (taxable)

3.      Unit trusts at 8% daily compounded interest (taxable)

4.      Unit linked life policies at 13.7% interest (Tax free) for a lockdown period of 36 months

5.      Term Life insurance for those below 65 years

6.      Offshore investments in USD

7.      Forex trading

Cr  Cryptocurrency hedging or mining

8.      

O   The author, Dr Melvin D’lima is a writer, speaker and authority on money matters for small business owners and professionals in private practice. He is a Financial advisor at Britam.

We have all gone nuts over a crown

The week that was.Mental health is following the COVID 19 curve very closely. Anxiety and depression have assumed epidemic proportions. Wife and child battery, murder as well as sexual abuse are rampant. This virus brings out the worst in us. Thought mental illness only affects others? Think again

In my Westlands neighborhood, residents buy umpteen bottles of spirits from a convenience store on a daily basis. Alcohol numbs the anxiety and soothes the depression or so they seem to suggest. Are they running mad? – watch their language.

 Last Friday, a friend who was attending a funeral gathering of a young man who had committed suicide, reversed her Toyota Prado into the Toyota Prado of a Real Estate developer whose He was anxious. His SARS-CoV2 positive brother was in the ICU at Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi and had run up a bill of KES 800,000 in 24 hours. She was anxious. In the middle of this situation, her son had just survived a Pulmonary Embolism. Her son is in his late twenties. Her sister is undergoing radiotherapy and brachytherapy for cervical cancer at Kenyatta National Hospital

The upshot of this is that anxiety and depression fuel irrational actions which can impact other people going about their business. Both these parties had the cash to extricate themselves from this fender bender. My friend went out of pocket to the tune of KES 20,000.She replaced two reflectors. One each for each vehicle and paid for a very small paint job. Both parties value the appearance of their cars.

Senior citizens are going crazy, being locked up in their houses, for their own protection. They need to be kept away from asymptomatic SARS-CoV2 positive young folk who are swarming into the counties that had been locked up and locked down. These possibly crazy youth are back to doing what youth always do – living recklessly.

Parliamentarians and Senators have passed a raft of Bills which penalize the tax paying public. Have they lost their senses like the Teachers who can only wait for January 2021 to go back to work. Police officers have slowed down their contributions to their SACCO. Fewer bribes on the road, perhaps? They must be going crazy.

I know you aren’t among those who supply air to a government project and are still paid. It is those crazy folk, who used to live in Ngei Phase 2 but have now moved to Karen, who did that. They are so sane they don’t know how to tastefully furnish a living room with curtains and upholstery which actually match. The insane nouveau riche what?

I should be raving mad to expect you who has a couple of Million holed up in a bank to shift your money into a Unit linked Trust fund for 36 months at 13.7% interest, tax free with an administration fee of 4% giving you an effective tax free interest of 9.7%.

Relax, I work with Asset Managers who are less mad than you and me. They can wrap their heads around interest rates and returns faster than I can sprint to the kiosk next door. You can’t better this interest but why don’t we meet online or let me visit you so that you can assess my mental stability and vice versa.

 Dr Melvin D'lima is a Financial Advisor with Britam. He works with astute individuals who want a good return on their investment