https://www.listennotes.com/e/8def1882f20d4580b8a6ae2046f757c7

Foreign.

Hi, I'm Natalie Bitetere and welcome back to Uncommon Perspectives, the father daughter authentic chat where we talk about different challenges facing the African population. So today we are taking off from where we left off last week and we're going to be focusing on the more mature audience about time management. Basically, it's never too late. So what can you do to improve and still achieve your goals and your dreams, even though you're in the plus 40 section of life? So there are a couple of different issues here. One, of course, is investments and savings, which is like the big one. And then there's also like, you know how we have this challenge of older people not wanting to retire and leave the jobs to young people, not just because they don't trust us, the young people, but because they're under pressure. They still need that income because there's not like a plan. They haven't saved, they don't have investments. And yet in African culture, you have so many dependents, really, by the time you're 70, how many people are you paying school fees for? Giving money for food, for rent, for different things, relatives, colleagues, co workers, loans. There's so much going on there and we don't have the economy and the safety net like in other countries where they have more organized pension funds or more people are subscribed to it. So I feel like NSSF is not like the only solution, which is also what you said last time. So this time you take the lead. Tell us, what can the over 40s be doing?

Thank you. It is in a way surprising that so many people hit the number 40 and their life is still in complete disarray. They don't have a clear plan of where they should be in the next 10 years or 15 years. They don't have a plan or vision of where they shall be if they live to be 75 now. It's a blessing to be able to be alive and well and able to run on your own steam when you're 75 and your faculties are all working. It's a blessing. Not many people get that blessing. But today with medicine, advances in medicine and better lifestyles, people are conscious of what they eat. So they will live a lot longer. So they've got to plan how they will live a lot more. When I say it's surprising and a bit disappointing that so many people reach 40 and they're still hopping between bars at night hopping, looking for action where the football matches, having brawls and arguments about petty things, whether it is politics, religion, sports. You've got to at one time draw a line. When we use the term mature. A person who is mature has got to let go of so many of the bells and whistles of life, the distractions in life, and focus on the important things. Because there are going to be so many things coming your way in life. You've got to draw a line. You can't be everything for everybody, you can't please everybody. You've got to draw a line and prioritize what is important to you. So when you know what your priorities are, you focus on them, you commit time to them and you make a difference. And why do I take 40 as a special number? That is a cut off time because you could squander the first 40 years of your life. I call it squander because really you should learn everything in life by the time you're 25, you go through the first degree by 21 and maybe a second degree at 25. So that is the learning period. After that you've got to be earning, you've got to be focusing. So any waste of that time is squandered time. Yes, you're courting, you're setting up a family, you're networking, you're doing other things that will justify what you're doing. But at 40, you've got to have a clear vision of where you want to be in life. And some people are more focused than others. You find the Chinese with their one child or maybe two children policy now they are extremely focused what they've got to do in life, they have got less things to distract them. Communities like the Jews, they also pretty focused from an early age what they want in life. And they try to remove the things that distract them. You'll be surprised to know that most of them, I think, wear a white shirt every single day and black trousers and a little black top. These colors and frills are their destruction. You don't go to a wardrobe to choose what color shirt on this day and the other. You're focused, you just dress up, keep it simple, get on and focus on making the money. They go out there and they work and they are serious about accumulating money. They are frugal, they have habits which they are taught from an early age. They fast, they respect the Sabbath day, they do certain things in a particular way that brings discipline. Many Indians, Hindus and Gujarats and all kinds of those religions, especially in Asians, they have fasting for one day or two days in a week as a way of training yourself to forego today's consumption. For tomorrow. All these are small habits that are helping to strengthen you in character, in form. By the time you are 40, you know what you've got to do. Our culture is very relaxed. At 40, you are a total man. You do as you please. And some people, I think at that age, maybe I need a second wife or maybe I need to be able to do different things. So midlife crisis is about to settle. So it's a way we've got to talk about. How do we get these people who are 40 on the right trajectory? Because it's not too late. You've still got a good 30 years ahead of you, maybe 35 years. And of those 20 years, you can actually use, well, not so much muscle power, but brain power. You should read half an hour every day. When you start at 40, you'll be a genius. By the time you're 70, you could be a professor. Now, I'm not saying read to go and teach or to do academic stuff, but learn a lot of stuff about how you can use your time well, your skills well. How do you improve your skills? And today, with technology, you don't have to read books. There is so much information on YouTube, so much information on the Internet. Google it. Go for it. Learn. Don't stick to that narrow vision. If you're a doctor or an accountant or a lawyer, don't stick to only what you were trained to do. Broaden your perspective to life and see the colors that are out there. There are so many beautiful colors out there, but you've always looked at life in one color. That's not good. So I encourage people to change at 40, draw a line and say a new life. My life changed monumentally when I turned 40. I started reading avidly. Every time I'd have to read a book every week, I wanted to go through a book. I started buying books. I found a new pleasure in learning, in growing. My personal growth began at 40 because the children were stabilized. The business model is stabilized. I know I had to do so much more in my business life and set my goals, but I couldn't do it on my own. And all the secrets of life were in all these books. And I would travel so much and pick up so many books. And I started reading, and my growth was monumental. In five years, I did much more than I'd done in over 25 years. I kept growing every time, and I felt I could do so much more for other people. It wasn't only about my growth. Now I. And in helping other people to grow, I found Growth in my own trees. So it's so rewarding to live a life of trying to enrich other people's lives because you learn so much more in the process. You broaden your knowledge, you deepen your understanding, you are more empathetic with people, you connect with causes, and you really feel it's something you've got to do. I started understanding people's health, mental health, children's health, all these things. I became passionate about them and I was not looking for money there. But you find you're intrinsically tied to all these causes. How can I make a difference? So 40 is a magical time. And I'd like it to be a bell. The first bell that time up. You've got to. Now you're going for the last lap. Go now and start running harder. So that's the bell that you hear at 40, and use it well. Now, I would be amiss if I didn't talk a bit about him. There are two reasons why we invest. One is for a rainy day because something will go wrong, either health loss in the family or in the community. And you have to contribute so your savings will be eroded or you will get an external shock. And the other is you save so that you can invest. Now, too many people have lost most of their youth because until 40, you're really a youth without saving enough. The power of saving cannot be emphasized. Enough for going today, something so that you can enjoy tomorrow, have a better life. Tomorrow is so important. And there's a story about this lady who used to save the change from her husband's pocket. Every evening he'd go to the bar, he had a job, she was a housewife all her life. And whenever he'd come home in the evening, there's a couple of shillings here, left over in the wallet when he comes from the bar. And she'd take out a couple of those shillings, 5,000 shillings, 3,000 shillings, equivalent of a dollar, two dollars. And she used to keep it in a cup in the kitchen and keep it in a jar. And this was her kitty. Every day she'd take a dollar or two dollars. He never noticed it, of course. It's the change that's left over that you never really noticed. But she'd been doing this since he was 28 or 29 when they got married. So by that time she accumulated this money, opened a bank account, put in a fixed deposit and saved their children, grew up, went to college, graduated. Now it was time for the wedding. It was embarrassing because this family, Asians, the daughter makes the wedding and being an Asian family, she had been saving this money. Her husband never knew and she had put in a fixed deposit and has been compounding. So they had a challenge of how to give away their daughter. So the daughter had fallen in love with somebody from an affluent family and they expected the wedding. And then this lady says, okay, we have a little bit of money on the side. And the man is surprised. Which money do you have on the side? To find out they have some savings, a kitty and this little money that she used to accumulate had grown to $28,000. The man is in shock because his pride is saved, his dignity is saved because they have saved this money. He had no role in saving this money except leaving his jeans hanging with a little bit, a few coins in there. And this woman saved the money and saved the family's dignity so they could give away their daughter with dignity. Now that was a moving story because bit by bit, a dollar at a time, she saved this money. And because of the compounding effect, the money grew and was over twenty something thousand dollars which gave them a dignified send off, paid off the balance of their mortgage and they could live a comfortable life. That's what life is for. Learning to have the right partners to support you. Where you are weak, the left hand is not as strong as the right hand if you're right handed or the right hand is not as good as the left hand when you're left handed. So you find a partner who supports you, complement your efforts. If you're 40 and you don't have a partner, you better be a Catholic priest. Over to you. Whatever you think of this.

No, it's interesting and this is something that I have to think about and like plan and it's something that I get asked as well because many people my age are now on the trajectory to 40, scary as it is. So we also have to think about this thing and how we're going to live post 40 because even now I can see the difference in my energy and the way I work from when I was in my 20s. And I kind of worry if it keeps going like this, how am I going to be making money. But I also see that I work smarter, I don't have to put in as many hours to get the same amount of stuff done. And as you move up in your career, things are more efficient. So you should be getting more value for your time. And that's why I see the link between the time and the money. But there's still so much that we have to Think about and plan for, especially in this kind of context. Like, personally, I invest in bitcoin or like different things on cryptocurrency because I understand enough about that and that's not an active investment. But I feel like there's so many different options and many people are not financially confident to make those decisions. I get a lot of questions about investment clubs, which I think you also do, which I think is a good idea, or circles or different types of bonds. So people are always asking about what types of investments they want. But what I always say is it depends on your life and your goals. Right? Because how invested do you want to be with your time on your investment and also what are you trying to get out at the other end? So now should we all be planning for, like, if we're going to live to 75, if I want to work till I'm like 60, so I need to be thinking about how much money I need to be earning at all the times, or like how I need to get to that point so that the money keeps working for me. Like the 5% you were talking about. So these are the kinds of questions I think we need to think about. Under 40, but even over 40, what are like the action points or like the things they can do to adjust? You said your life completely changes at 40. Was it something that happened to you to get. Did you just feel older? What changed for you that made you see that the bell has gone off and now you need to change what you're doing?

I think everybody should learn to listen to their gut or their instinct. The sounds are always there. Someone is whispering in you. Which way to go? Turn left. Take a chance. Buy this, don't buy this. Be careful. You've got to learn to listen to that whisper because the whisper will never get loud. Some people say it's the Lord guiding you or it's your instinct. Whatever the whisper is, somebody is whispering in your ear. I heard the bell at 40. I assume most people hear it around 40. Some are lucky. 35, 38, the bell goes off and they hear it and they start running. Some don't hear it until 60 because they are too busy. There's too much noise and they miss it. And then all of a sudden they realize what happened. The bell. And then the bell is ringing so loud because you're really in the red zone, not in the orange zone. So it's important that people take time to take a step back. If you have just five to ten minutes for yourself where you are quiet and stop and think. Some people call it meditation. Those who are really up there. I don't think I'm intelligent enough to meditate. I like to sit in a chair and maybe daydream. And when I'm daydreaming, I think about the things I've done, where I am and where I want to go. And it takes a few minutes. And you don't have to do it every day, but if you can find time to do that, some people do it in their bed. Before you go to sleep, think about what you've done in the day and what you got to do tomorrow. So you plan your day the night before, and it gives you some kind of purpose directly what you're going to do. So when you do this, you are reflecting. That inner reflection is so useful. If you reach 40 and you've not started training yourself on how to reflect, you've got a problem because you've got to keep reflecting. It's like being a lady and never looking at a mirror. If you never look into a mirror, you don't know what you're like. Men can get away with it, but also us. We have to shave, we have to look into a mirror and make sure that you're okay, you're presentable. So reflecting is looking into a mirror. Who am I? Where am I? What do I want to do? Where am I going? You've got to keep reflecting. And I talk to the people who are 40 and above. It is so important that you start practicing these things when you are young and pushy and fiery. It's okay. You get through life like that. But at 40, draw a line, start. Accept the changes that are happening biologically to you. And in your real life, life is going to change and your energies will start waning. Not so much at 40, but after 50, certainly you'll feel the kick. And at 60, you will feel the kick. Then you've got to develop more brain power, not muscle power, where you think more strategically. And the power of saving small amounts of money every day cannot be emphasized enough. Small amounts. Keep saving them, putting them away. They will accumulate and they make a difference. Now, some people don't have the gift of saving. I am one. I don't have really the gift of saving, but I have the gift of making. So if my wife or my partner does not help me to save that money and accumulate it, then I find the time. I'm at a loss. And I'm always delighted when I can raid my wife's kitty. Oh, there's so much money there. Let's now buy this property. So I'm good at making investment decisions, but someone has helped me undo that. Watch it. The accounts department, the finance department, they are trying to make sure that you have got frugal processes to manage your expenditure and there's money for investment. Investing is so important because investing is what makes you wealthy. Wealth is what gives you freedom. You cannot reach the age of 75 and you're not free. The most powerful four letter word is free. To be free, to have the power to do what you want. When you want to buy something, to give something, it is so important to have that free, Dom. And that's what money gives you, wealth gives you. When you grow old, you want to leave something to your children, to your grandchildren, not to be a dependent on them, to be a pain to them. Your medical bills, your transport, your accommodation, your electricity bills should not be going to your children. You should be helping them with the hand getting on in life and that is freedom. That's why you've got to start saving. You've got to wake up. PLAYING about time is over at 40. You build for the future, you build for the next generation. You've got to contribute to giving them a better start in life. Now, in Africa, the state does not do that well enough for you in Europe, in America, the security system is a safety net. The state security system will protect everybody. It gives you a bare minimum, a cushion. But in Africa, you're on your own. So it's up to you as an individual to plan for them, to make a difference in people's lives and plan for your own retirement. How will it be in the evening of your life? What do you think?

Wow. No pressure.

Take it easy. You've got time on your side and we have a big responsibility so that your life is not as hard as ours. But remember that you've got to carry that responsibility also for the next generation so their life is not as hard. And because Africa has come from such a low base, we have always been the continent that was left behind. We've got to run twice as hard to catch up. You've got to work twice as hard. You need the discipline, you need the strength to keep running up the hill because it's climbing up a hill that is hard. Running down the hill is not as hard. So we've got to think about some of these challenges in life.

Yeah, it's a lot to think about. And when you say build, I feel like so many people at that age now you start reflecting and you realize there's so many things you haven't done. There's so many things you still want to do. Is it too late? Do you start to change? Do you start to start something new? Could you think of starting something a fresh when you were 40, like starting a business or changing career or. It's too late now. You just have to make the most of what you have and then just keep building where you're going.

I've done so many businesses from childhood, from 13, I've tried nearly every small business and the things I've not done are not worth doing. Others have tried it, but real progress began at 40. It's never too late to build. My real progress was after 40. Yes, I'd had a bit of luck between 30 and 40 and I was getting by doing better than the average, I must say. But 40 is when I could see clearly what I've got to do. I could take calculated risks and I started then focusing on the development of properties, managing my cash flows, trying to manage my debt. And that's how I scaled my businesses. And I was thinking then about posterity. What do I want people to think of me after I've gone? What should be written on my tombstone? What should people say about me? Was I kind enough? Was he a generous man? Did he do enough? Did he touch people's lives? How many lives that responsibility urges you to even work harder. It gets you out of bed. So many kids are hungry out there, so many kids are sick and they need help. So many people want a difference in their life and they need just a little bit of a push. Some people, it's not about the money, it's the advice. So I started seeing life differently at 40. So I urge all of you out there, you can make a difference. If you start now, you can reinvent yourself, make a big difference in your life and in the lives of the people around you. From the age of 40, going onwards, time for frills and playing about is over. Focus on what you've got to do. And it's amazing what you can do within 20 years between 40 and 60, it was a world of difference for me, completely meeting all kinds of people and going up to the White House in America, going to the Buckingham palace, you find yourself in the most awkward places and say, how did I even get here? And if you want to make a telephone call to anybody in the world, you can find, whether through five or six people, there will be a network that will connect you. And you can talk to President Obama, for instance, if you want him. You know, the six people. You've got to connect and you'll be talking to President Obama. So the world is your oyster. You can do whatever you want to do with this world. If you have a good intention and you really keep trying, deliberately keep trying, the world just open up for you. It's so scary that the number of people just don't take a chance. You've got to take that chance to make a difference. And to make a difference, you must change. Accept change. When change comes, embrace it. Sometimes it'll hurt you a little bit, but that's what happens. That's the price for progress.

It's a lot to think about and to put in action. Not just think about, but it's good advice. Thank you.

For those of you who are 40, good luck. Make a difference. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for watching. For those of you who are listening, I thank you for listening attentively to us. It's such a pleasure to know that some people out there appreciate whatever it is we are sharing as a father and daughter. We're enjoying this and we hope you're enjoying it, too. We look forward to the next episode. Hopefully next week we have something even more interesting for you. Thank you.