Building wealth takes time and requires a lot of work to make it happen. This alone is the singular reason why many people will never become wealthy as they are either not ready to give time a chance to work its miracle or they refuse to do the work that is needed to make wealth happen.
And when it comes to doing the work that is necessary to build wealth, understanding the place of building a good savings habit is non-negotiable.
Fundamentally, people should understand that wealth is both an ACT and ART. Saving money is the Act but what you do with the savings is the ART in the process.
Read Also: Tips for saving money when you have low income
To begin with, many people don’t even understand what savings is let alone having one. The pandemic and lock down of 2020 showed that many working and income earning Nigerians are just few days away from financial blackout.
This is wrong and the first place to start working on things is to understand exactly what savings is, the type of saver that you are and the best type to be.
We must understand that saving money shouldn’t be a careless mindless practice that one should do just to get by
I define saving money as a systematic and deliberate process of compulsorily setting aside a specific percentage of every income for a predetermined future purpose. With this in mind, we must understand that saving money shouldn’t be a careless mindless practice that one should do just to get by.
The various types of savers that we have;
Keep aside savers. These are people who don’t save but think they do. They start by keeping any amount that feels right to them aside in the bank for no specific purpose just because someone said they should.
What generally happens to such people and their money is that they lose everything in an instant. They could just wake up one morning, walk into a shop and set all the money on fire believing that they can always start again.
Such people always have a “detty” December because what was kept aside from January finds purchasing expression in heated moments such as Christmas.
Under-savers. These are people who save a considerably smaller amount of money in comparison to their income. Imagine a person who earns 100k monthly but saves just 2k because that’s what is left after he has indulged himself, paid all the bills and had the time of his life.
Such people get decimated when things go wrong with their income or when sudden emergency hits them. Worst of it is that they also live in “illusion of Progress” thereby making movements but never really moving.
Over-savers. This category of savers never spend a dime out of their savings. They feel a serious sense of loses when they have to spend their money even for valuable purposes and investing is usually one of the last things on their mind as they always believe that they will lose the Money.
They prefer to have their stash with them and enjoy the sense of security it brings than take any risk with it. Unfortunately, such people die on their little pile of useless cash.
Save-spenders. This group just saves to spend. The main purpose why they have any form of cash reserve is so that they can buy the latest phones, cars, jewelleries and everything else that they can get with the money. They are excited liability collectors with a life that looks glamorous but financially dead.
Save-vestors. This is the elite group who build wealth. They consistently set aside a certain percentage of every money that comes into their life first for a specific purpose which is mostly investment and anything else that promotes their progress.
This is the best type of saver to be.
That said, it is important that you truthfully evaluate yourself and where you currently stand so that you can take corrective measures that will take you closer to a desirable destination.
Iheanacho is an Amazon best-Selling Author, an international speaker and a passionate wealth educator
