Effective Living Series: 5 Keys To Financial Independence By Kofi Mantey

The fourth day of the third week of Effective Living Series on the Citi Breakfast Show featured an interesting discussion of steps to take in order to become financially independent.

The money-making crusader and author of ‘Operation 1 Million Ghana Cedis’, Paul Kofi Mantey, began his submission with a few questions to open one’s mind.

“If you lost your job today, how many weeks, months, years can you live without a paycheque?” he asked.

“Did you know that majority of people would never be rich because they never took the decision to be rich? Did you know that the Bible says ‘The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is a servant to the lender?’ Did you know that one does not always need money to make money? Did you know that if you could do away with GH¢5 a day (i.e. GH¢150 a month) and invest this money at an interest rate of 24% per annum (compounded quarterly), you would have over GH¢1,200,000 within 22 years? Yes, justGH¢5 a day!

According to Mr Mantey, financial independence is “sustaining one's desired lifestyle if one chooses not to work to earn wages or salary”.

Below are his five keys to becoming financially independent:

1. Understand that money seems to be absent from where it is needed. Money is insensitive. Money will not hear the cry of the poor. Money is not neutral and if you don't take the decision to look for it, it would not come to you. The reason why most people are poor is that they have not been deliberate about becoming rich. Poverty and riches are both based on decisions.
2. You need to plan your own finances. When was the last time you sat down to plan your finances? What do you want to see with your finances? Four important areas to look at when planning are: retirement, housing, children’s education and the high life.
3. Pay yourself every month before distributing the money to rent, electricity bill, mobile phone credit, school fees, and food. Invest windfalls; that is, any money you did not budget to receive; and the only way you can do that is to watch your spending habit.
4. Create your own money machine. Most people would remain poor because they do not understand this. Majority of people love the “golden egg” and not the goose. Money is the golden egg and the goose is the machine. The most important thing is to focus more on the money machine, than the money. Money does not make you wealthy, the money machine does.
5. Launch an operation towards making your first million Ghana Cedis. Everybody reading this can have at least 1 million Ghana Cedis if you believe in yourself and ask the right questions. You can start by saving 50 Ghana Cedis a day, which is 1,000 Ghana Cedis a month; big things have small beginnings.

Paul Kofi Mantey added that there are two types of money-making machines – the “Manual Money Machine and Automatic Money Machine.”

“Under Manual Money, there is employee salary or wages and being self-employed. Automatic Money has to do with paper assets, business and real estates or properties,” he said.

“You cannot be financially independent until you have declared personal independence; when you are not living your life for other people.”