By: Abdirahim O. Osman
October 17/2010

Conceding my citizenry of Somalia sends a chill through my spine for she is the practical definition of indignity, chaos and ignorance. Somalia is the most deprived country of the most basic human needs, water, food and shelter which in tern inflicted the population with so much misery beyond the depth of human understanding.

Somalia has an insatiable appetite for peace, security and prosperity, the very foundation for financial well-being of any human being aspiring to be free from poverty. This is in part; all the warring factions are in cahoots with their endeavours of keeping Somalia anarchic. By doing so, they sign themselves a license to loot those that are the weakest in the Somali society, mainly the Somali Bantus, without being held to account.

Albeit many Non Governmental Organizations, UNDP, UNICEF, CARE, MSF, and AU, just to name a few have documented that majority of the Somalis are poor, one segment has been and is still is at the bottom of the rag, the Somali Bantus. The Somali Bantus are the most deprived in the Somali society be it material wealth, education, health and social status. There are many factors that contribute to their inherent submission the lowest cast of the Somali society because few of them have the cavalry or basic skills required survive intensely cruel market environments, the farms where wealth is produced.

Ali Hassan Mwinyi, the second Tanzanian President once told his fellow citizens, “Poverty is not hereditary”. In other words, no one is preordained to be or live poor for his or her entire life except those who choose to remain in such conditions. Consequently, so long as the Somali Bantus willingly or lack thereof abdicate from entrepreneurship, to them poverty will remain hereditary.

There are many remedies for poverty available to those determined to be financially independent. Of course not all the tools that enable one to be wealthy can be enumerated, but few can be and many people have found them to be useful in their quest for wealth. Some of them are saving, planning, and discipline.

Saving, the practice of avoiding willful extravagant use of resources when abundant is the most basic yet at most scarce skill many people lack or devalue. For instance, when nabi Yusef (AS) was told about the dream of the Egyptian ruler who dreamt of seven “withered corns” Yusef A.S. told the king that there was to come seven years of drought and saving enough grains from the preceding years is the only means out to the misery resulting from the drought. This reinforces the importance of saving in the sense that saving can be a cushion that facilitates ones quest for financial independence.

Further, saving is a bridge to financial wellbeing because it acts as a cushion in the event of emergency or unforeseen urgent needed expenses, the death of a loved one is a good example. In the absence of emergency funds, one is left to resort to debt, and more often than not, it makes you a slave to your debtors.

No doubt, saving is easy if one is at the right place, right time with the right support system. The right place is when one lives in an environment that peace and security become the norm. An environment where one can secure gainful employment if he works hard and can get an income that surpasses his/her expenses. The right time is during ones peak years of production. At a young age, one is physically and mentally able to tax his or her body to maximum by taking up labour intensive jobs, and the body can take the beat. As one ages, this becomes a luxury.

In addition to right place and time, one needs proper support system so that he or she is not torn between difficult choices. It is believed that having the right partner facilitates the pursuing of financial independence. Many people are indifferent to the importance of having a partner who is a good fit, the fact remains, “Financial independence takes a complimentary partner”. Andrea Chu, a contributor to 8 secrets to financial independence, “regardless of how good you are at saving and investing, you can not achieve financial independence if your spouse is not a spend-thrift, rings up financial debt, it is like to get out of quick sand but having someone pull you back in every day”. Simply, it is hard to attain financial independence should your partner be lacking in frugality, disciplined disposition of wealth and investment oriented mind.

Needless to emphasize, investing your time, money and energy in a relationship to someone whom you are not fit for each other has the potential to frustrate the execution of well planned goals of financial independence.

Experiences have proven that living in a hostile environment taxes heavily the emotional, financial and tranquility of the individual. This makes it hard for one to concentrate on the initiation and implementation of projects that advance ones goals to financial freedom. By and large, hostility bankrupts one emotionally and emotional bankruptcy is a recipe for over spending in pursuit of happiness for the soul with materials that are meant for status symbols. Plainly, while in the pursuit of financial independence, one must have a partner whose support to his or her goals is unwavering, and unconditional. Someone who understands the risks your are taking and no matter what the outcome, they are your pillar in every step of the way.

Understandably, saving alone can not pull one from the shackles of poverty as it is the case with the many Somali Bantus. One must chart a plan as to how he or she is going to attain financial independence. Planning, assembling tools that will facilitate the steps to reaching desired goals. It can be long term, intermediate or short term. However, its importance is it forces the planner to evaluate alternatives, choosing destination and decide specific course of action.

It becomes very hard to avoid making mistakes, if not repeat them when one chooses to execute projects without planning for them. It also makes the future hardly visible while looking a head. As a result, it is important that one must first psychologically chart out a map with which will act as his or her guide in the pursuit of financial independence. Some of the tools that may include in the planning but not limited to are, spending habit, tap debt level and always striving to identify that is most valuable in your life.

During early years in life, most people are impulsive in their buying habits. This makes them to rack up debts so easily by use of credit cards. However, little do most impulsive buyers they know that this habit is detrimental to financial independence. In part, it becomes hard for one to save when his or her expenses are greater than their income. This begs the question, if someone has a take home income of $ 10,000.00 a year, and his expenses are $ 12000.00, can they save. No because the evidence shows that he or she can hardly keep up with the compounding interest rate let alone the principle. The solution to avoid in falling in such trap. Keep liability to minimum and expenses under control. That is always, the net income of the individual should surpass the expenses. He or she must try to save any surplus income.

The result of having surplus cash, one can graduate to exploring options, long-term, intermediate or short term investments. Long term could be the pursuit of assets that generate passive incomes. Instances of this could be investing in real states, apartments, houses, business ownership and investing in oil leases. In most cases, the income from this kind of investment does not require the labour of the investor as such one has all the time they need on actives they love or with those whom they are positive force in their lives.

Even thought many people choose to in invest themselves by education which gives them skills that earn them bigger paycheque, the money ceases to follow to the bank ones one stops selling their labour. For example, many specialized Doctors and Lawyers are highly paid. But bigger paycheque does not translate into wealth or financial independence for one must keep on working. For short term investment, this makes senses but inapplicable to those that hates not having control over their time and can not determine their activities as they are pleased.

One way for someone to have a total control over their time is to set up a system that generates them income which is greater than their living expenses or liabilities without having to supplement this income with paycheque from a job that they enjoy not. The easiest way to understand that one enjoys their job is when they are willing to go on for over 16 hours and still feel that the day was unfairly made short to them. In the event someone has money that he or she can live on it for extended period of time without worrying that the funds may dry up, they are financially independent.

Conventional wisdom holds many people to the believing in the Vanity Fair that go to school, work hard, get good grades and get a good paying job and you will be happy. The reality proves otherwise. It goes on to prove that those who retard their gratification to status symbols, plan for the control of their time and pursue passive income generating assets or investments are likely to attain financial independent. We are reminded that it is all about freedom to live life of your dream not for others.

By: By; Abdirahim O. Osman.
boodheri2k@yahoo.com