Innovictor
New Member
Many people unwittingly put away the decision to start saving money until it is convenient. However, the fact remains that it is never convenient to start saving money because irrespective of how much you make, the temptation to spend more to buy the "bigger and better" version of your favorite toy will always be high.
However, the expenses for which you'll need the saved funds have an uncanny ability to jump at you from dark shadows and you'll most likely need to take on debt to send the ghosts away when the expenses surface. Hence, I have compiled 3 simple reasons that could encourage you to reexamine your attitude towards saving money.
#1. Building your House/Major Home Renovations
One of the major capital-intensive projects that the Nigerian idea of success will force you to do is building a house. However, Rome wasn’t built in a day and it is doubtful that you'll be able to build a house without proper prior planning in setting money aside to execute the project. The earlier you start saving up towards building your house, the faster you'll be able to reach that goal without having to acquire loans that will suffocate life out of you.
If you have already built a house, you might be tempted to think that you need not save up towards a building project. Nonetheless, housing trends and styles change and you might need to build a second house to keep up with your new level as you climb the corporate ladder.
Even if you don’t build a second house, you'll still need to shell out a hefty sum for major home improvements. We all remember when it was okay to have zinc roofing sheets, the trend has now shifted to aluminum and we will soon move to having baked tiles on our roofs.
#2. Climbing the Corporate Ladder with More Education
The second reason you should start saving money up now is that you'll eventually get to a point where you need to upgrade your educational qualifications if you are ambitious and are serious about climbing the corporate ladder to the very top.
I am certain that you can point to one, two or three people that you know, who could move ahead in their careers if they could present a Bachelor's, Master's, MBA, PH.D or other professional qualifications. However, such people might still be stuck at their present levels because they not been able to raise money to pursue additional qualifications.
Hence, I posit that it might be smarter to start saving money up now toward your education instead of waiting until you'll need to present those additional qualifications at work before you start thinking of where to find money to go back to school.
#3. Retirement
As hard as it is to believe, many people are not actively thinking about how they'll be able to maintain their current standard of living after they have left active service. Whether you like it or not, you'll have to leave your job someday (or the job might leave you) and then, you have to live on any nest egg you might have saved up while you were actively employed.
Hence, I posit that it is never too early to too late to start saving up for retirement instead of leaving the fate of your finances during your golden years to pure chance, and running the risk of being a burden on your children, friends and families.
A simple rule of the thumb is to save up for 20 years if you plan to retire at 60, save up for 15 years if you plan to retire at 65 and save up for 13 years if you plan to retire at 70.
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