How much did you make last year?
How much money did your really make last year? I am not talking about your salary, you may earn a huge one. Neither am I talking about your contracts you may have pulled off some big ones worth millions last year! What I am talking about is: after all the money you expend is sent and spent and it remains you. How much did you have left? One vital thing about financial planning is the amount of money you keep aside for future investments. I was going through the list of billionnaires in 1999 that’s about 16 years ago and I made an effort to compare them to those on the list today. There are only a few changes. Most of them kept their fortune. Now you and me may not have billions yet, but one thing we must learn is from every job you do or every salary you earn you have to keep something aside. There should be no time of the year when being totally broke means you broke your bank account and your piggy bank(if you have one).
You should have a savings account where you earn money on interest(no matter how small) that is not touched at all. In fact, you should have at least three accounts and as your income grows you could use one for investment, one for savings and one for on going spending.
A lot of these ideas seem difficult and impractical but trust me, there is nothing that beats keeping some money by the side and having target accounts for specific plans. Now the issue of banking and banks would probably lead us to examine the banks. Everything is definitely not well with them. So why should I keep my money there? Well the answer to this is where should you keep your money? In stocks? Bonds? Insurance? Of all the safe keeping places that you may think of keeping your money, the banks are still the safest!
Banks are duty bound to continue no matter how hash the investment climate is. Even though many businesses have closed down in Europe and America and indeed in Africa and Asia, the banks backed by government are still standing. No government anywhere in the world would allow a bank to go bust and thats why even in Nigeria the CBN is making sure that banks are standing and are standing well, even in the face of economic challenges and troubles.  We ought to do a little bit of bank bashing here just to assure you that even the banks are not perfect. Take Intercontinental Bank plc for instance. The bank sent text messages around in January assuring customers that it is strong! Not a good strategy if you ask me. If the bank is strong why do you have to assure customers via text messages? Such an assurance would only make customers like me feel uneasy.
These days it is easier to deposit your money than to withdraw it. Even with the advent of the ATM machines. Now that rule does not apply at GT Bank at Abule Egba area of Lagos. That bank has a wonderful way of taking deposits from customers. There is a machine in the banking hall that allots numbers to customers who wish to deposit money so that there are no queues and there is no rushing. It is a brilliant way to do things. Only trouble is in the periods of rush the bulk deposit rooms are over crowded and even the automated system does not work as fast as the customer would want it. How I wish GT Bank could adjust to customer turn out and create alternatives in the event of a rush.The executives of GTB ought to take note here. One of them made an appearance on Youtube to answer questions for 15 minutes recently. It is an ingenious idea, but I dare say, 15 minutes is not enough! And You tube? Well I can bet that a large proportion of Nigeria’s 43,000,000 on line never heard of the site.
I was at First Bank at U-Turn Alagbado the other day. First Bank has the habit of having a Head Teller who attends to most cheques brought by customers that come from outside. I asked the Head teller if I should bring my cheque she waved me onto a queue. I joined the queue, agonized for a long period of time only to discover that I was on the wrong queue! I had wasted so much time. These days I discourage clients from bringing me a cheque. I prefer for them to credit my account. Going to the bank to withdraw money is such a bore.
But I still think the bank is the best place to keep money, even though a lot of the bankers could do well to understand the true essence of customer care.  Bankers have a way of relating to you according to the way you dress. I have noted that whenever I dress formally, the lady or man at the till behaves very well, but when I dress informally the attitude is a bit different. So how do I get the best of services from the banks? Well for a start get to know your banker. It does not matter how much you keep there. Just get to know them. People work better with those they know.