“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” Benjamin Franklin
Sorry for the long hiatus in posting on this blog but I became very preoccupied with preparing for my CFA exam which happened quite some time ago actually. Now that is behind me and I can continue posting regularly, especially as it was one of my goals for 2016.
As we are now more than halfway though the year 2016, its only fitting to review my progress against my annual financial goals. At the beginning of the year, I was quite focused on this idea of building an emergency fund but I have since changed my mind on that one for 2 reasons. 1) I believe that there is significant value in the Kenyan equity market right now and I want to take advantage of that by using all my savings to invest in equities – there is too much negative news on Africa but I think that will change in a couple of years. 2) I also see the value in having my finances more consolidated and in one place and so I have decided to close my SACCO account and put everything in equities and also start to reduce my credit card debt.
So here were my goals for 2016!
- Save a five month emergency fund. CANCELLED. As I said earlier, I won’t focus on an emergency fund for now because I do have a credit card that I could use in case of an emergency. A cash fund would be too much of a temptation
- Blog more regularly and consistently. 14% COMPLETE. On this one I have done terribly having only posted only 7 blog posts so far this year putting me at about 14% complete. I will aim to do better for the rest of the year and catch up.
- Make an effort to sell all the unnecessary items that I own. 0% COMPLETE. I have made zero effort on this one.
- Buy into a pension fund for my future retirement. 0% I want to focus on my own share portfolio
- Top up my SACCO to 1 million shillings. CANCELLED. I am closing this account as its serving me no purpose as I am a net saver and for emergency expenses I can rely on my credit card. I know I know, its a challenge to maintain discipline with credit cards.
- Not to use any credit and if I do to pay it back immediately. SUCCESS. I have been good on this – as long as I do not shop for unnecessary items then usually there is no danger, and I am totally done with shopping as I have adopted a minimalist philosophy
- Keep better track of my expenses by entering the expenses every few days and also keep track of my net worth on a monthly basis. SO SO. I do keep track of my expenses but not very tightly and I am tracking my monthly net worth change without fail.
- Reduce my credit card debt by £1,000. 0% done on this one – but I should be able to make that payment soon when I get my SACCO money.
- Earn $1,000 in passive income. 36% complete. I am getting there, there is a very good chance that I will actually hit this target this year, fingers crossed.
- Make a sale for my business by July 30th. FAIL. I am not sure when I will make the first sale as progress is being made but very very slowly, its just been so hard for me to find the extra time. Progress on the business is however being made.
So my goals have now reduced, since I cancelled two of them and I now have only eight left. I will continue to stay focused and hopefully achieve all I wanted to by the end of the year.
Happy Investing!
Financial Independance in Africa 