2015 at 6:00 am By Ifeoma Adeoye Leave a Comment Saving, careful budgeting and financial planning are crucial steps in your journey to financial freedom and wealth creation. However, they are only one side of the equation. The other side is about investing, increasing your income and earning more money! I do not believe that the only way to indulge in the finer things of life that we all love and want is through savings and spending cut backs alone. Investing and growing your money gets you there faster. If you want to treat yourself to a $10,000 vacation, you should make strategic investments that yield enough returns to empower/enable you to do this. You can save and cut back on your spending but saving without investing will not take you to your promise land of financial freedom. If you have N1,000,000 in the bank and you take even N10 out of it, automatically you are a “thousandnaire” again! There is a limit to how much you can cut back and the more you do, the more painful it gets. Fortunately, there is no limit to how much you can earn from investing and the more you invest, the more you earn and the “sweeter” it gets. If you keep your money in a savings account alone, you run the risk of losing, in real terms. Savings accounts yield 3% – 4% interest per annum so your money would not grow enough to keep pace with inflation. Your account balance may look bigger but you might not be able to buy as much with it. The quickest way to achieve financial freedom is by investing and making/growing your money. Make your money work for you, the same way that your bosses make you work for them! That’s right! Don’t leave it in the bank to “chill”! No way! Sweat it! Send it out into the world to multiply itself and generate more money for you. The path to financial freedom is simple but not necessarily easy. It comes down to just three steps – Save (regularly), Invest and grow your income. If you are an entrepreneurial person, start something today, any kind of business that gives you even N1 extra is N1 that you can spend to “enjoy your life”. If you are not entrepreneurial, that’s ok too. Take advantage of the investment opportunities out there. Invest in a stock portfolio, mutual funds, real estate or in an actual business. Invest in income generating assets to augment your current income. This will afford you some financial flexibility and freedom. Ultimately, the power to increase your income is in your own hands. Let’s remember to start now, start small – just do it! Photo Credit: Dreamstime | Jason Stitt

The Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Jalingo today nullified the election of the Speaker of the Taraba state House of Assembly, Abel Diah, of PDP. According to the tribunal, elections in eight out of the nine polling units, challenged by the petitioner, were conducted against the provision of the 2010 Electoral Act. Thus the elections are inconclusive and INEC is to conduct fresh polls within 90 days in the affected polling units.