The Fool and His Money....
When
Jackson Kamau* won Sh1 million through Kenya Charity sweepstakes some years back,
he thought he had it all mapped out for a life of ease and comfort for the rest
of his days. It wasn’t to be, for financial discretion took a sabbatical and he
was back to square one sooner than he anticipated.
“All of a sudden, I had so many friends hanging round me like moths to a
glow globe,” he recalls.
He was generous to a fault standing them drinks or literally painting
the town red during their many outings or dishing cash right, left and centre
as a ‘philanthropic’ gesture. It wasn’t long before reality sunk in when he hit
the bottom financially speaking, with no investment worth his name to show for.
His is not an isolated case for majority of those landing windfalls
finds themselves in similar predicaments. Take the case of one Mbugua*, then
formerly a resident of a village in Nakuru County who, after being wrongfully
dismissed by his employer a decade back, was awarded Sh5 million as
compensation through a court ruling. It took little before his life took a down
spiral that eventually led to an early grave due to alcoholism.
The adage that a fool and his money are soon parted company aptly applied
to Mbugua’s case. He threw out his legal wife of many years and their two
children and brought in a young lady. His life with this young catch was characterized
by grandiose partying and bingeing, though short-lived, as he eventually
succumbed to kidney failure with the wily young lady transferring all his
property to her name.
According to Sarah Nginda, a financial expert, many people are cautious
with the little they have but foolish by the way they carelessly waste the much
they have.
Extravagance
becomes synonymous with landing a windfall. Ms Nginda says that as a financial
statement, some may try to upgrade their lives just to prove they have
‘arrived’. “Before this life changing fortune, chances are that the recipients
of same were in a different social class. But a win or hefty monetary
compensation blinds them to the reality of their rushed actions only to regret
later,” she says.
It is not unusual for some to move to costly estates or splurge in
things they have no use for, like latest models of cars in the market, only to
resell them later out of desperateness at lower prices when reality check dawns.
By the time they do a personal lifestyle audit, it is too late to remedy a bad
situation.
She notes that even a win of, say, Sh20, 000, will be deemed as
insufficient for any meaningful investment. “It is easier for one to blow up
what he or she has not worked for than to wisely invest the same,” she says.
A win or compensation of whatever amount can go a long way in bettering
the life of a recipient, but it would pay to consult financial experts, than to
be shilling wise and pound foolish!
*names changed
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