Personal Finance guide

He ruled the music world for almost a whole century. Some hated him, others liked him while others mimicked him but all said and done, Michael Jackson will remain a legend. His rare talent in music will be celebrated by many for a long time to come. This is amazing because other musicians die out two years into their music careers. Today if tributes were to be paid in monetary value Michael would be a tycoon even in death.

The important lesson we should all learn from Michael Jackson is to start early. Thanks to his parents who identified his talent early enough and nurtured it.

Despite incurring huge debts – it is said that Michael was $ 400 million in debt- one fact is that he made millions of dollars from his music. The royalties from his music brought him millions. Before the 2005 child molestation trial Jackson had a lot of assets amounting to over 20 million dollars. Continue reading ‘Vital Lessons to Be Learned From Michael Jackson’ »

He has been termed as a legend; many know him as the king of pop and the supreme entertainer of all times, Michael Jackson transcended all races and touched the lives of many people. Whether his influence on his fans was positive or negative, I leave that to you to make your own verdict.

The one thing that Michael did is make money from his music. He paid close attention to his potential and found ways to perfect his music and dance moves while keeping his wardrobe up to date with the relevant costumes. He made good use of his talents to generate immense wealth but the sad part is that he did not manage this wealth properly. Continue reading ‘Financial Management Lessons to Be Learnt From Michael Jackson's Life’ »

For smaller companies, changes in economic activity are especially unwelcome as SMEs are more susceptible and have less control over their business environment than do bigger enterprises. Every action the company, its customers or suppliers take in an uncertain situation, may create a risk to the very survival of its business.

In an economic climate such as our current one, the pressure on companies to reduce staff costs is overwhelming, especially as more companies face extinction. The first cutback business owners and managers tend to make, will involve reducing payroll as that seems to have a more immediate effect than do other measures. The danger however, is that in desperation, companies will make rash permanent decisions to save costs even when this results in such an unfortunate situation as under-resourcing. The consequence of this is that business opportunities from prospects or existing clients may be missed; administration gets behind, reporting gets delayed- all resulting in further unwelcome pressures on the business.

So why isn’t under-resourcing an option – or, technically not an acceptable option? There are many risks to having insufficient capacity to deal with current orders or potential increase in demand. The business opportunity that may be lost might well have provided the cashflow needed to eradicate the cut back in the first place. Also additional costs often arise through fines, penalties, uncollected debts and other results of not having enough manpower.

With this in mind, most businesses are in favor of an option that has become acceptable in today’s business world. Outsourcing and insourcing – entrusting another company with your finances and other strategic assets has become a viable lifeline, even an essential business model. The advantage is that companies can afford to plug the gap in staffing as and when required, usually on a flexible payment platform, and often at a lower cost than full time employment.

Continue reading ‘Gary Jesson Offers Some Advice On Outsourcing Your Admin’ »

CBN SACK OF BANK CEOs: MATTERS ARISING

Written By: Shafii Ndanusa, MBA, ACCA, FAAFM, MFP Based in Abuja. Nigeria.

The chicken has come home to roost. This is the common phrase heard from commentators following the recent bombshell from the Central Bank of Nigeria that led to the sacking of chief executive officers of five commercial banks. The banks were adjudged to be financially unhealthy. For a while, the Nigerian banking and finance industry has been awash with rumors of ill-health, unfair de-marketing practices and the need to comprehensively sanitize the system.

While some informed commentators have argued that it is a welcome development that has long been overdue, it is my modest opinion that perhaps there are more equally serious issues to deal with beyond the change of guards at the top of these institutions. It is the single bold step that signifies that proactive risk management has taken centre stage in the Nigerian banking industry.

First and foremost, the action confirms in clear terms that the stories about the liquidity crises faced by certain banks have been true. If out of ten (10) banks examined so far, five (5) had to receive the sledgehammer, then we have a serious problem at hand as this represents fifty per cent (50%) of the sample size covered. What happens when the examination of the remaining fourteen (14) banks is concluded?

One can only imagine the run down the industry will face following these revelations. The assurance of the CBN Governor that no bank will be allowed to fail, is a strong reassuring measure. However, when it comes to money matters, I am certain that the average individual will not want to take chances.

Another worrisome development is the major reason advanced by the CBN as basis of the sack which may be summarized as poor corporate governance practices. In a nutshell, the global financial crisis has just succeeded in exposing the very poor corporate governance practices in our banking industry. I wish to state categorically that no institution anywhere in the world, with or without a financial crisis can survive for long with poor corporate governance practices. Poor corporate governance is reflected in weaknesses in internal controls hence the assets of institutions are not safe from abuse. And once the safety of depositor and shareholder fund is jeopardized, any system no matter how large and attractive it may look can eventually collapse.

Continue reading ‘CBN Sack of Bank CEO's: Matters Arising’ »

Today more and more people search for a solution to their financial problems. As the financial crisis affects most of us, various banks and financial institutions had to come up with debt relief measures to help those unable to pay their debt due to job loss or other unfortunate events. If you’re also looking for a way to stop going into an even deeper financial crisis and an even deeper debt, you can now take advantage of a debt settlement plan; there are many c debt settlement companies and many debt settlement plans you can now choose from.

Of course all debt companies came into existence in order to help us carry the burden of our debt, but not all debt settlement companies are equal. Therefore, when choosing a debt settlement company you should pay attention to a few key aspects based on which you can better decide what’s best for you and which debt settlement company is more likely to give you a fair treatment and a good solution to your financial problems.

First and foremost you should always go for the company that offers free of charge consultation. If the company offer free professional consultation they are more likely to offer a good solution and an honest treatment. Fee consultation is a good way to gain peoples trust and make a good name for the company if you can get free advice and counseling the company probably knows you will like their services and you’ll stay with them.

Continue reading ‘Get The Help You Need To Overcome All Financial Problems’ »