BANKRUPTCY
This is the state of being unable to pay for what one owes or lacking completely in anything that has value.It is not just individuals that go bankrupt, organizations also go bankrupt and some Government can also go bankrupt, that is why you hear of Bankrupt Economy. Bankruptcy can be avoided and should be avoided. However, the question is how many individuals or organizations know what to do in other to avoid bankruptcy?There are different types of bankruptcy, but for the purpose of this write-up, I shall only consider one type of bankruptcy---FINANCIAL BANKRUPTCY, as it applies to individuals .
PERSONAL FINANCIAL BANKRUPTCY This refer to individual who are financially bankrupt. Let me begin by asking you these questions, If you have One Million Dollar ( $1,000,000.) today, how will you handle it? What will be your priorities? You will agree with me that one way or the other, we all come across money in our day to day activities, but some how, some of us don't know how we spend the money. The biggest problem about money is not how to get it but how to handle it. Now, I want you to answer this question, All that you have in your home now, is there anything you wished you would not have gotten?
REASON FOR PERSONAL FINANCIAL BANKRUPTCY There are various reasons why people become financially bankrupt, but for the sake of this write-up, I shall elaborate on only three cogent reasons-which are,
- Mis-Management.
- Mis-place Priorities.
- Acquisition of in-appropriate liabilities.
MIS-MANAGEMENT.Before I let you know what Mis-management is, it is better you know what Management means. From the English dictionary, it means the act or skill of dealing with people or situation in a SUCCESSFUL way. From the above definition, we can say that mis-management is dealing with people or situation in an unsuccessful way. Better put as to deal with something badly. When it comes to finance, a lot of people are guilty of mis-management. Most people do not know the act or skill involve in the managing money. For you to overcome financial mis-management, you need to have an understanding of the other reasons people go into bankruptcy.
MIS-PLACED PRIORITIES.
A priority is something that is more important than any other things and as such are dealt with first.By mis-placed priority, I mean priority that is out of place, i.e. instead of dealing with the most important things first, you deal with them last. In other word, instead of spending your finance on things of high priorities, you spend it on those of low priorities. Mis-placed priority is as a result of people trying to live a false life. A false life is a life that is inimical to what they see on the television, which in the real sense, is out of their reach.
ACQUISITION OF IN-APPROPRIATE LIABILITIES.
Liabilities are things that do not yield you any financial profit. It could also be said to be things that have no financial values in terms of debt payment. Liability gives temporal happiness and a permanent pain or regrets. Having understood what liabilities are, it would be out of place not to mention that in life, we all have to acquire some liabilities. However, what am saying here is that, since it is imperative for us to have liabilities, we should have the appropriate one i.e. we should endeavour to have the ones we can't do without, rather than going for everyone that appeal to us. Here is a question for you: If you have a few Millions of dollars come your way, what liabilities would you acquire? Would you go for an expensive vacation in the Caribbean islands? Or as an African man, would you add more wives to yourself?
THE SOLUTION TO PERSONAL FINANCIAL BANKRUPTCY.
There is no problem without solution. Before I let you into the solution, we need to do some self evaluation and self test. You have to answer these questions first, Do you spend above your income? Have you ever had any regret for acquiring something? Alright, here is the self evaluation; take your pen and write these words down , "INCOME & EXPENDITURE". On the INCOME column, put down all your source of income and against each source of income, put down the exact amount of money you receive from that source on a day to day or monthly basis.
Example. If you are on a salary of $100 per day, then for 30 days you will earn $3000. Or, if you are on per hour then multiply that amount you earn per hour by the numbers of hours you work in a day , and multiply the result by the number of days you work in a month. E.g. if you earn $50 for one hour and you work for eight ( 8 ) hours in a day, then you have $400. a day and if in a month, you work for twenty( 20 ) days, then you earn $8000. in a month. Therefore, your income column will look like this,
INCOME
salary--$8000.
That been done, put down all other source of income you may have and at the end, sum them together to have your total income. On the EXPENDITURE column, put down all your expenditure for the month in monetary terms. For example, if Rent is part of your expenditure, then against rent , you will put down what you pay as your monthly rent. So, it should look like this,
EXPENDITURE.
Rent ----$500.
Clothes-----$1000.
Food--------$300.e.t.c.
at the end, sum up all your expenditure to have your total expenditure. Now, compare your total income with your total expenditure, what do you notice? Is your total income greater than your total expenditures? Or is your total income equal to your total expenditures? Or is it less than your total expenditures?
If your total income is greater than your total expenditures, it shows that you are above bankruptcy, but the degree to which you are above it depends on the percentage to which your total income is compare to your total expenditure. For instance, if your total income is 10% higher than your total expenditure, it means you are 10% above bankruptcy, which is not a fair grade against bankruptcy. On the other hand, if the percentage is above 60% it means you are secured fairly enough against bankruptcy. However, if your total income equal your total expenditure, it means you are on a dangerous path and you could fall anytime into bankruptcy. Moreover, if your total income is less than your expenditure, it goes to show that you are '' already bankrupt''. Therefore, you need an urgent and calculated move in other to come out of that state.
Moreover , the Solution tips given in this write-up is to help those who are teetering at the brink of bankruptcy and those, that are already bankrupt, to come out of it. Not withstanding, that it is to help those set of people mentioned above, those who are already above bankruptcy could also draw from it , in other to keep them permanently above. Below is the list of the solution tips, which I have outlined.
- Proper Financial Management( p.f.m.)
- Prioritized Needs
- Acquisition Of Assets
- Streamline Your Expenditure
PROPER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ( P.F.M.).A p.f.m. is the bed rock of all financial success. How does one or how can someone attain a p.f.m. status? For you to attain a p.f.m., you need skills and discipline.
SKILLS: The Skills needed to manage finance properly does not come from the Traditional Education System, which we all go through. Rather, it comes from a more reliable tailor-made special kind of schools, called sometimes Business Schools. However, since it is not possible for everyone to go to such schools, there are those who have gone and are willing to render their services to us as financial advisers. These advisers are there to tell us what to do with the extra money we have, the type of investment to invest in and how profitable an investment is going to be. So, the next time you have that few extra money (whether small or big ) seek the advice of a financial adviser.
DISCIPLINE: Discipline plays an important role in determining if one will be bankrupt or not. Discipline is what helps you to be wise in spending. What is a Wise Spending ? A wise spending is spending your finance on finance. It means that you spend money on things that generate money. When one is not financially discipline, the propensity to spend foolishly and on material things that has no long term values is high.
PRIORITIZED NEEDS
What are your needs? What are your day to day needs? What are those things you can't do without in your everyday life? Now, be sincere and ask yourself these questions, the things you spend money on daily, are they the most important things you aught to spend money on? Are those things so important that you can't put some of them away? It is true that priorities differ from one person to the other. What I mean is this, what is of least priority to me, may be of most priority to you. Whether, our priorities are different or not, what is expected of everyone is to set his or her priorities right. Take for example, a man that earns a total income of $10,000. monthly and he is putting up a priority of acquiring a Suit worth $5,000. do you think that kind of priority is in the right place? The bane of some people lives is that, they try to live the ''TELEVISION LIFE'' , ( they try to live the lives of the Hollywood stars and all other stars that appear on the television) and as such they place their priorities based on what those artiste wear, have and do. If you want to be above bankruptcy, then you should and must set your priorities right.
ACQUISITION OF ASSETS
What is asset? It means something that is useful and contributes to the success of something. It also means a valuable thing-a property to which a value can be assigned. Another meaning of asset is Possession or valuable that is in the form of cash or can easily be turned into cash. Asset is the opposite of Liability. Most people acquire liability instead of asset. Asset is what could easily generate more money for you. The acquisition of asset gives both short and long term financial joy and security.
The secret of most rich people around you is the acquisition of good assets. A good asset is that asset which gives short, medium and long term returns on your investment. For instance, an investment that yields dividend on a yearly basis is a good investment. For you to know a good investment, you will need the required skill or acquire the service of a financial adviser. Below, are some assets you could invest on.
1. REAL ESTATE
2. STOCKS
3. BONDS
4. START YOUR OWN LITTLE BUSINESS
STREAMLINE YOUR EXPENDITURE This is where most People get it wrong. Your income is expected to be greater than your expenditure greatly, but in a situation where your expenditure equal or exceeds your income, it shows you require urgent help. If you will be truthful with your self, you will agree with me that not not all your expenditure are truly your most needed expenditure. So, all you need to do is to cut down on your expenditure i.e. remove the less important ones. Streamlining your expenditure would require some sacrifice and discipline. Don't act or live as if you are a santa claus and don't try to be a Bill Gates. Always remember this: '' THAT YOU DON'T NEED A THING DOES NOT IMPLY THAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT''.
