“When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?”
“Financial risk is often defined as the unexpected variability or volatility of returns and thus includes both potential worse-than-expected as well as better-than-expected returns”
“A financial return is the profit or loss you have on your investments, including income and change in value.” The return could be interest received, dividend received, rent received, royalty received, profit made or capital appreciated. These returns come as a result of some risk taken. The risks that are taken could later on bring joyful returns.
Some corn has to be sown, gets rotten in the ground before it germinates and later on yields food for consumption.
No risks, no returns. The higher the risks, the higher the returns and that is exactly what it is in investment. Those who dare and take higher risky ventures get higher returns.
In Financial Literacy, you learn that higher risks give higher returns, because you learn the different types of investments and their associated risk calculations and predictions.
Investing, they say is a game you learn to play. Nobody can learn it for you.
Life is beautiful. Life is joyful. Life is glorious. Life is sorrowful. Life is daring. Life is discipline. Life is boldness. Life is action. Life is faith. Life is not fear. Life is full of risks.
Wherever, you find yourself, however, you look at life, whatever, you think about life, it is not meant for those who fear it. Life is meant for those who confront and conquer it. Why life is both is joyful and sorrowful is natural, it is so since time immemorial. Life has always been two in one. It has two sides, good and bad.
Life is not all about money? Is life all about love? Love without money? Does it really work in the 21st century? What is life all about? Is life all about going to church? I wonder how Ghanaians would have been at churches if their churches were some dirty shrines. Money has helped built the modern temple for you to go there and sit comfortably. If our forefathers did not think about us and used money to build churches, where would we worship? This generation is not the generation that began building churches, mosques and other temples?
Financial Literacy uses the teachings of Jesus and agrees that you should give back abundantly to society and giving back to society is one main reason for which Financial Literacy is being taught.
Is life all about work and being in the office all day? How many work in this world for free?
Volunteerism is absolutely becoming extinct, because everybody wants to be paid money for even emptying his/her bladder.
Those, who pretend not to talk about money are truly the most selfish and self-centered people on earth, because they don’t think about any other person or thing apart from their immediate family.
They are the people, who actually forget they will have grand and great-grandchildren, they are the people, who never think about their community, they never think about their village, they never think about their country.
Financial literacy teaches us to use our brains genuinely to get money and let society benefit from it.
Can you live without life? Life is money and money is the revelation, the invention and discovery of where you find yourself now, how you think and what you do now. Money is the root reason for the modern office you work in now, the modern architectural house you live in now, the flashy car you drive, the aeroplanes flying over head, the bank that you have your pound sterling and dollar accounts with. Money is the revelation of your professorship, your doctorate degree, your degree and your whatever class you belong. Somebody might try to argue with me on this but let’s ask ourselves the following questions, how many cars would have be built each day, month, year if they were not bought. For charity? Who would have been an architect if his services were not paid for? Who would build airplanes if passengers wouldn’t use them? What is a bank if money is not transacted in it? Who and how many, on earth just want to acquire academic qualifications for their own sake? Returns are the monies and the monies are the charities given unto the world by the philanthropists. Pure and sustainable charities are the organizations and individuals, whose sources of income come from ventures that give them returns of money. Those who talk about money matters are the people who make the world the place to live in. Could you listening to your sweet, selective music? Sweet songs Sang by whom, would you have heard about them? The music philanthropists make it happen and they are truly financially intelligent moguls.
A return is joyful but is only one side of the coin. A risk is the sorrowful side which is needed to make life complete. Is it risky for two human beings who never knew each other, but one day get to know each and decides to marry and have joy? They decide to have returns, the good side of life. It is risky for human beings to be flying in the air, like birds but the good side of life; the returns are the evident results you know. It is risky for you to leave your children for some people called teachers to take care of them during the day time, teaching them certain things you wouldn’t teach them at home, but the returns, you know more than I do. Life is more joyful when it is made complete and pregnant with risks and returns.
Many people try to justify why life could be existed without the sorrowful side but their end result is regretful and self-centered.
Many people, especially the poor and the middle class in society do not want to invest their money into ventures that will give them good returns. They say “It’s risky”.
Yes, life is full of risks; you should learn to manage the risks. Learn to live with them. Learn to live with all the odds in life. You, I mean you in particular, you CANNOT change them. Don’t even attempt it!
Financial literacy teaches you how to take risks and manage them. You cannot afford to live life in the 21st century without being financially literate. If you try, your descendants you would brand you as someone, who never had a vision and someone, who was self-centered. You never thought about them. Why, if you don’t have ears, don’t you have eyes? Everything is available every where in this century. I’m blessed to be part of it.
Encourage and allow your children to attend financial literacy classes, so they prepare for the returns and risks of life. Let them understand all that they need to know about money for money is life. Life is worth living when the wisdom God has given us has been applied by all of us for the benefit of society.
You are being encouraged to take the risk by investing your money in the Treasury Bills, Shares, Mutual funds, Unit Trusts, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS). Invest your money in building businesses or companies. Build hotels and houses. Build office complexes, that you have been saying, it’s risky. Let some people you don’t know manage them for you. You don’t need to know them before, just own the systems they would need to work with. Go home and sleep. Big time businesses cannot be managed by the owners themselves alone.
Yes, it’s true you have to leave many if not all these at the care of some people you don’t even know in the first place, but the returns you as an individual gets and society at large benefits are more pronounced than the risks you took. It’s unbelievably phenomenal how those, who take risks and manage the risks, have impacted on the world and made life more meaningful. God can relax and be honoured.
I end with this quote: “The best use of life is to invest it in something which will outlast life.”
© 2010, Godwin-Xavier Ayeebo
www.g-xavierayeebo.blogspot.com
Email: gayeebo@gmail.com
