A lot of folks back home in Africa are of the opinion that we have to live our best lives today, and tomorrow would take care of itself. Would you agree or disagree with that mindset?
If I were asked what I preferred, I would definitely face a dilemma. Whilst I am big on growing wealth by spending little today in order to invest as much for tomorrow, I am equally very tempted to enjoy my resources and my money everyday God bless me with breath.
The younger version of me would rather live a rich lifestyle and ignore the idea of wealth creation. Of course I’d love to carry a Gucci bag, go on fancy holidays, live in a mansion, and drive my dream range rover sports car.
I heard an unorthodox definition of riches as “being able to buy nice things now at the expense of creating wealth.” Moreover, we all like nice things and life is for living isn’t it?
Addressing the elephant in the room.
The most common reason why people shy away from the idea of living a frugal life, and saving as much as possible for a future, is the fear of untimely death.
As cliche as this may sound, I equally struggle with the thought of working as hard as I do, saving a lot and investing for my future enjoyment, but ending up dead before retirement. If you’re experiencing this fear, you’re not alone!
You would hear folks at home say stuff like “I am living my best life. Life tess (life is tasty).”
Managing the fear factor
In order to deal with fear, perhaps you could find comfort in the word of God which promises to reward us with anything we ask for in God’s name (Mathew 7:7). Which is why one of my daily prayer points is for God to bless my hustle, and to give me a long and healthy life to enjoy the fruits of my Labour.
To further reassure yourself that frugality today for wealth creation tomorrow is the right thing to do, examine the historical life expectancy data in Africa by the united nations. The main takeaway from Fig 1 is the fact that Africans are living much longer as time goes by, thanks to innovative health care solutions, vaccines, better living standards etc. This will only get better as the world economies evolve and grow.
As you would notice in Fig 1, the numbers arrived at are based on in-depth studies of a mass population and therefore, its safe to say that “numbers don’t lie.”
I first came across these numbers whilst doing my research for this article, and I was shocked at the life expectancy ages in Africa between the years 1950 to 2000.
My late father died at the age of 53, not because he was sick, but because of a car crash caused by the poor state of roads.
It would be unfair to ignore the fact that an act of God could happen and we may die before the life expectancy age projected for African folks. However, based on the probability that we may actually live until the age of 63, the wise thing to do will be to start planning for when we are old and fragile.
The last thing you want is to end up old and broke, working hard in order to eat, pay for medical bills, or live a comfortable life. After all, saving does not mean depriving yourself of all the good things that you can enjoy, but rather putting some money aside for the purpose of compounding its growth.
