38 | The Lion King
Investment
How to manage
your money
By Ifeyinwa Olloh
Y
our money is a huge part of your
life. It can determine what you
can do and where you can go.
Learning how to manage your money
the right way is an important step
towards taking control of your life.
Understand where your money is
coming from, where it is going to, and
make sure that the way you manage
your money is in line with the values that
matter most to you. Here are several
strategies to manage your money.
Keep tabs on your bank
accounts.
Managing your bank accounts by
reconciling them to your bank's records
is a responsibility – and one of the best
money management habits you can
keep.
You should balance, or reconcile, your
records for all of your bank accounts
at least once each month when your
bank statement is available. This is one
of the best money management habits.
Benefits of balancing your records
include:
• It helps you keep track of your
money
• It helps you verify that the bank infor-
mation you have is accurate
• It Helps you identify any mistakes you
or your bank may have made
Make a budget
Drawing up a budget and sticking to it
is not easy, but it is the best way to be
in control of your finances and make
sure your money is going towards the
expenses that matter most to you.
Here are some tips, in no particular
order, on setting up your personalized
budget plan:
• Make a list of your values
• Set your goals
• Determine your income; net pay or
take home
• Determine your expenses; fixed, flexi-
ble, insurance
• Create a spending plan, a spending
plan that must meet your needs
Pay yourself. Save
The future is expensive and that is why
people need to save or invest. Consider
the cost of education, cost of retire-
ment especially when your prayer for
long life is answered.
Investing, which is a form of saving, is
just one individual master plan which
every individual needs to be inter-
ested and involved in. Therefore, it is
important that as you grow older, you
evaluate your net worth by comparing
your assets with your liabilities, income
versus expenses, input versus output
and make a personal effort to have a
savings and investment plan to fill in any
gap that is noticed.
Open an investment
or savings account.
Make sure that the invest-
ment or savings account
has withdrawal limit. This
will ensure that you are not
able to withdraw from the
account at will.
Make a decision on
how much you will put
into your investment
or savings account and at
what intervals you will make
whatever deposits or invest-
ments. Make sure that the
savings or investment has an
attractive interest or return.
Pay yourself in
5 steps
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