The ojijo 9 (the nine fundamental principles of investing)

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THE OJIJO 9 (THE NINE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF INVESTING)

Investing is guided by certain core principles which when followed, will lead to successful
investing and becoming rich and financially independent. The principles, herein referred
to as The Ojijo 9 or The Nine Fundamental Principles of Investing, are extracted from Ojijo’s
Investments Club Manual, and are as below:

• Principle 1: Dreaming, Thinking Big & Goal Setting!

To invest is to make my money make money for me. Before I start investing, I must be clear
of how much money I want to invest, and how much money I want to get in return. I
must know exactly how much I want. It is through constant focusing on what I want in
this life that I will attract it. It must be crystal clear in my mind; what it is I seek. Then it
will drive me, push me, and pull me, even when the weather is sickly, even when the
papers are negative, even when the ‘friends’ are laughing at me, even when I do not have
the feeling of moving on. After all, the good life I am seeking is right here. Whatever I am
seeking is seeking me. I create my own reality. This is my dream; the dream. Napoleon Hill,
the American author and one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal-
success literature, in his famous work, Think and Grow Rich, advises us to constantly keep
in our minds that, ‘The starting point of all achievement is desire. Weak desires bring weak
results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.’ My dream must be big, a
big dream. And I must hold on to it. As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘I will not be like other
men, who die at age 25, because they stop dreaming.’ Why should I not dream? I am
encouraged by George Bernard Shaw when he wrote, ‘You see things that are; and you ask
‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I ask ‘Why not?’

Life in itself knows no limits or boundaries. Life is infinite and free and contains within itself
all possibilities. Life is meant to be abundant in all spheres. The concept of life as
limitation represents ignorance of self and fear, and it is this fear that is the cause of all
dis-ease in my life. ‘Life is phenomenal, a magnificent trip’, Dr. Norman Peale says. Life is
free and so am I. This is my life I am writing down. I am the Michelangelo of my life, I

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sculptor my image, the image I want of myself. I will paint my own reality, I will choose
the colour of the eye shades I want to wear, and I will see this life as I want.

What Is My Dream?

My dream is the vision, the ultimate goal of my life, the where I am going, and the
destination I seek. It is the basic building block of my success. Helen Keller, the blind,
deaf and dumb motivational speaker and teacher was once asked, ‘what would be worse
than being born blind’, and she responded, ‘to have sight but no vision’. The vision is the key
that will keep me focused. Hubert H. Humphrey said, ‘What you see is what you can be.’
Indeed, half the battle in life of getting what I want is worn when I know what it is I
want; the other half is worn when I do what I must do to get it.

My dream is what I want so badly, that I am willing to pay any price to achieve it. It is that
which lingers in my mind 24 hours a day. It is something I think about every moment.
Zadok Rabinowitz correctly said that ‘A man's dreams are an index to his greatness.’ Konrad
Adenauer was correct when he said that, ‘We all live under the same sky, but we do not have
the same horizon.’ Muhammad Ali, the boxing legend, and three-time World Heavyweight
Champion, confessed that, ‘Champions are not made in gyms. Champions are made from
something they have deep inside them a desire, a vision, a dream.’ Today, I must find my dream
and stand by it. ‘A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.’ said Malcolm X, the
African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist.

My dream is the compelling reason why I do what I do every day. It is the reason why I
wake up early, go to school or go to work every day. Why I do something is more
important than what I do, or how I do it. Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be
operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream into action and despite a
thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality. The power of
a dream! Thoreau phrased it well; ‘dreams are the touchstone of our character’. Angelo
D’Amico was in agreement when he wrote that, ‘if the dream is big enough, the facts do not
count.’ Napoleon Hill advises us thus, ‘Cherish your visions and dreams, as they are the blue
print to your achievement.’ My dream! Carl Sandburg, the American writer and editor, best
known for his poetry, said that ‘Nothing happens unless first a dream.’

My dream gives meaning to my actions; it explains my activities the whole day. My dream is
the painting of what I want my life to be like in all segments, whether it is in my
relationships, my money, my career, my business, my talents or my spirituality. Henry
David Thoreau said that ‘…if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and
endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common
hours…’ I have got to have a dream I am willing to work hard for, and fight for.

When I know what I want, and how badly I want it, then I will focus on it, work towards it,
and subsequently achieve it. I will never have anything until I discover what it is I want.
My dream will make me passionate and positive about my goals and to do’s, and this will
rub onto other people around me as they see the energy in me. Indeed, if I will move
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confidently in the direction of my dreams, and endeavor to live the life that I dream, I will
meet with the life that I imagine in common alleys.

The Potential To Achieve My Dream Lies In My Thought!

My dream is a result of my thoughts. It is a creation of my thoughts. The Buddha said that,
‘we are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the
world’. Thoughts become things, as all that I see today, were at one time imaginations in
people’s minds, imaginations which became realities. W. Clement Stone, the
businessman, philanthropist and self-help book author said that ‘whatever the mind of man
can conceive, it can achieve’. Our realities are a product of our thoughts.

What I am today is a result of what I thought and imagined yesterday. ‘Man, alone, has the
power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams
come true’, said Napoleon Hill. Indeed, ‘an invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea
whose time has come’, so said Victor-Marie Hugo, the French poet, playwright, novelist,
essayist, visual artist, statesman and human rights activist. The strength of an idea is also
reflected in the fear it had in the minds of past dictators. ‘Ideas are more powerful than guns.
We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.’ said Joseph Stalin,
the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central
Committee and leader of the Soviet Union after Lenin. It is in my mind, through my
ideas, that the solutions to my problems shall be found. Bantu Steve Biko, the martyr and
symbol of black resistance to the oppressive Apartheid regime and the founder of the
Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa, noted that, ‘The most potent weapon in the
hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.’ All I need is just one idea. One idea!

Jakob Böhme, the German Christian mystic and theologian correctly stated that, ‘our body is
the product of our own thoughts’. To gain insight and understanding of self, I have to realize
and acknowledge that both negative and positive forces co-exist within me. That which I
call good or evil is nothing more than a product of my own imagination. My life will
unfold and evolve through thought or consciousness. The creative thinker dwells within
me, forever revealing itself to me in manifested form. Henry Ford, the American founder
of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass
production was right, ‘Whether I think I can or I cannot, either way I am right.’ Bryan Tracy
said that ‘All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could
be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal.’

Today, I will become a no-limit person! I believe in Mark Twain, ‘it matters not the size of the
dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog’. I can change my life by changing the way I
think about my potential. Robert Nesta ‘Bob’ Marley, the Jamaican reggae singer-
songwriter and musician, who spearheaded the Rastafarian movement to the worldwide
audience, asked that we, ‘Emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can
free our minds.’ Bruce Lee, the great karate teacher, actor and legend, once remembered a
lesson given to him by his master thus; ‘if you learn to adapt, you will never lose a fight’.
Charles Darwin wrote that, ‘It’s not the strongest of the species that will survive, or the most
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intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.’ And Mohandas Gandhi agreed with him
that, ‘a man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes.’

Today, I will open new doors to unlimited possibilities and put myself on the road to a
better, more fulfilling professional and personal life by thinking positive thoughts.
Napoleon Hill rightly noted that, ‘more gold has been mined from the thoughts of men than has
ever been taken from the earth.’

I Will Visualize My Dream Lifestyle!

‘Without a vision, a people perish’ the Bible reminds us. Today, I will visualize the dream
lifestyle I want. I will close my eyes, relax, smile, and calmly visualize myself having
achieved the dream of my life. I will see my goal as though it were already a reality. Dr.
Norman Peale said, ‘When you visualize, you materialize’. For a minute, several minutes, I
will see myself with my dream, and then the whole day today, I will talk, walk, sit and
act as if I have achieved my dream. The more I do this, the more my mind gets tuned to
this lifestyle, the more I develop a positive attitude, positive thoughts and positive
emotions. This state of positive and vibrant and happy moods will make it easier for me
to get what it is I want; to acquire what it is I need. W. Clement Stone can be quoted yet
again, ‘whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve’.

I Will Believe In My Dream!

John Stuart Mill, the great jurist and philosopher said that ‘one person with belief is equal in
force to ninety-nine who only have interest’. He was right! And so was Fidel Castro, leader of
the Cuban Revolution and the President of the Council of State of Cuba when he said
that, ‘I began revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I’d do it with 10 or 15 with absolute
faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action.’ Today I will
believe in my dream and my goals. I will set my goals and then have faith that I am going
to achieve my dream. I must believe I will achieve it, after all, I am meant to live a great
and happy life; we all are meant to live great and happy lives. I will believe I can have the
dream lifestyle I want, I will believe that I deserve it, and I will believe that it is possible
to live a good life. Warren Buffet once said that, ‘I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't
think I ever doubted it for a minute.’

To believe my dream, I will set realistic, believable goals. Goals I can believe in. My dream is
only my dream if I believe I am going to achieve it, otherwise, it is just a wish. Eleanor
Roosevelt noted this and wrote, ‘the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their
dreams’. I will believe that I can achieve it, and I will believe that I deserve it.

Today, I will believe that no one, not even me, knows what will happen in the next minute,
no one knows whether I will be successful or not in the next venture, in my business, in
my relationships, so, I will be positive and think I am going to succeed. After all, if I do
not know the outcome, why suppose it will be negative? Napoleon Hill taught that, ‘no
one is ready for anything until he believes he can acquire it’. The state of mind must be belief,

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not merely wish or hope. Belief is a powerful and important tool to achieving my dream.
Adolf Hitler said that, ‘It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge.’

I Will Write My Dream!

To achieve any of my dreams, I must do the first act. The first step is to write down my
dream, where I want to go. If I do not know where I am going, then any road will get me
there. Writing makes things come to life. I will write the values that I need to reach my
goal, the new thing that will make me achieve my goals, for instance, to be the kindest
person today; to be the most time efficient person today; to be the most reliable worker
today; to be the most honest person today.

I will write a clear, concise statement of what it is I intend to acquire in life, the time limit for
its acquisition and what I intend to give in return for it. I will list everything I need to do
to achieve what I want, and then I will take action every day. This is my plan, and it will
help me to acquire what it is I want. Then I will read my plan every day, aloud, when I
wake up, and when I go to sleep.

I Will Define My Goals!

A goal is a target I want to achieve. It is the ‘what I want to do or be’. My goal is the place I
want to go to; the life I want to live; the career I want to practice; the money I want to
earn; the health I want to have; and the adventure I want to experience. ‘It is not enough
to do your best; you must KNOW what to do, and then do your best.’ said W. Edwards Deming,
American statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Today, I will define and
describe my goals.

Goals give results; and results are the main reason for any activity. I will decide what I want
in my life, my dream. I will identify what I want in all aspects of my life, in my
relationships, my financial status, my career, my health, my happiness and adventure, in
helping someone and the ability to control the day. I will write down when I want to
achieve it, and how I want to achieve it. Then I will write down the reason why I want it. I
will then write down what it would feel like when I have achieved it. And after
describing my dream and defining my goal, I will figure out exactly what it will take to
get it. I need to be realistic so that I can believe it. I will break my big plan, my big picture,
my painting, into 5 year goals, 3 year goals, 2 year goals, 1 year goals, 9 month goals, 6
month goals, 3 month goals, one month goals, weekly goals and into daily activities for
every seven days. ‘Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.’ Brian Tracy
said.

William H. Hunsen, the eloquent poet advised that, ‘he who seeks one thing, and but none, may
hope to achieve it before his life is done, but he who seeks all things must reap a barren harvest of
regret’. I do not want to reap regret today.

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The progressive achievement of my goals, when I am working gradually, step-by-step
toward something that is important to me, will generate within me a continuous feeling
of success and achievement. Indeed, success is the progressive realization of
predetermined goals. I will feel like a winner, and I will soon develop the psychological
momentum that enables me to overcome obstacles and plough through adversity as I
move toward achieving the goals that are most important to me. I will feel more positive
and motivated. I will feel more in control of my own life. I will feel happier and more
fulfilled. It is proven that 95% of achieving anything in life is knowing what it is that I
want. ‘People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than
people without them could ever imagine.’ Brian Tracy wrote.

I There are so many financial goals, and it is important to classify them in priority. The goals
could be for emergency fund, or savings to buy a house, or car, or to send children to
college. Either way, I should have them very clearly stated. And I should make all my
financial goals S.M.A.R.T

¥ Specific-knowing exactly what I want, i.e., $1 million investment portfolio
¥ Measurable - ability to track progress
¥ Actionable- knowing the steps needed to achieve the goal, i.e., by saving and investing my
money
¥ Realistic- being in the realm of possibility, i.e., $1 million is within my saving and investing
abilities
¥ Timely- knowing when the goal will be achieved, i.e., 2017

I Will Work Towards My Goals!

Angelo D’Amico wrote that, ‘I will accomplish my dream of tomorrow by acting today’. My
success tomorrow will be the result of my actions today. Indeed, as I do what others don’t
do today, so will I have what others won’t have tomorrow. An unknown philosopher rightly
said, ‘I only become what I am becoming today.’ Indeed, my success is the sum of my past
experiences. Without the foundation of my yesterday, my today would be pillared on
nothingness; hopeless. ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a
habit.’ said Aristotle. As was noted by an anonymous writer, ‘there are two things which are
most difficult to make people to do; to think and to do things in order of priority.’

Today, I need to meet my deadlines, my goals. I will keep in mind Parkinson’s Law, that ‘if I
have only one letter to write, it will take a whole day; but if I have 20 letters to write, I will still get
them done within one day.’ I can work towards and achieve my goals today. I can and I will.

I will take my big dream, and break it down into smaller, more manageable goals. I will then
write my goals in a time related way. Where do I want to be at the end of ten years from
today? Where will I need to be in five years to be able to reach the ten year goal? What
should I do by the third year, by year one, and by the half year, by the next 3 months, and

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what must I have done by the end of this month to reach my 10 year goal. What must I do
by the end of this week, to make me reach my 10 year goal? What must I have done by
the end of today to make me reach my goal?

Today, in setting my daily activities, I should be reminded of the Wizard of the OZ, when
Dorothy asked, ‘but how do I get to Emerald City?’ and the Good Witch of the North
replied, ‘It is always best to begin at the beginning, and just follow the Yellow Brick Road.’ Dale
Carnegie was right, ‘Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people
who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.’ The 13th century mystic must
be quoted again, ‘you can only start the journey from where you are; and not where you are
going’.

I will set goals and posts, so that when I move closer to it, I know, and when I move away
from it, I will also know. With this, nobody can stop me, nobody can slow me down, and
nobody can wear me out. ‘The secret to success is constancy to my purpose’, Benjamin
Disraeli, the British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, conservative statesman and literary
figure wrote. And having set the major goals in my life, I will identify the first step in
each. I will not forget the words of Lao-Tzu: ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single step.’ Angelo D’Amico was right, ‘it you do not start, you will not finish’. I will make
sure it is a very small step, perhaps taking no more than an hour to complete! Then I will
start working towards my goals.

I will ask myself, ‘What can I do today to get one step, however small, closer to achieving my goals?’
I will then take daily action towards my goals and dreams. Mike Murdock was right, ‘my
future is hidden in what I do daily’. After all, ‘there is no such thing as something for nothing’,
Napoleon Hill reminds us. The Egyptians were right, ‘There grows no wheat where there is
no grain.’ I must make the first step to begin my journey of a thousand miles. Indeed, ‘a
goal without an action plan is a day dream!’ writes Steve Chandler.

Today, in achieving my goals, I will apply the Pareto Principle, invented by the Italian
Economist, W. Pareto (also called the 80/20 principle) restated by Richard Coke in his classical
book, ‘The 80/20 Principle-The Secret To Success By Achieving More With Less.’ I will give
80% of my energy, time, skills and money to the 20% of the most important tasks, my
priorities. This will give me the greatest output. Today, it will not be about how hard I
work, but how smart I work. I will apply the Universal Law of ‘Planned Neglect’; to
deliberately neglect everything else and only do that which will make me progress towards my
success. I after all, I cannot have it all. Life is like mountain climbing; I must leave behind all
unnecessary weight and only carry the equipment necessary for the climb. The Pareto
Principle is about prioritizing my goals. I will prioritize my goals today. To achieve my
goals, I must learn to say NO to the GOOD in order to say YES to the BEST. Robert J.
McKain wrote, ‘The reason most major goals are never achieved is that we spend our time on the
second best things first.’

To achieve my goals, I will do one thing at a time. The world's greatest achievements were
made by people who gave the task in front of them their undivided attention. I will ask
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myself, ‘Is giving each task 30% of my attention for three hours as effective as giving each task
100% of my attention for one hour each?’ If something does not deserve my undivided
attention, maybe it is not worth doing at all. I will set goals that exploit my strengths and
minimize my weaknesses. This will allow me to realize and make full use of my
opportunities, and control the threats I face.

Then I will create benchmarks or milestones that I can use to measure my progress and know
whether I am on track, off-track or not moving at all: stagnating.

Today, I will decide what to do and do it, and decide what not to do, and not do it. Taking action or
conation towards our goals is considered to be one of the four divisions of the mind,
according to Sir William Rowan Hamilton, the Irish physicist, astronomer, mathematician
and the father of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. The other one being desire
and volition, and the other two being perception and feeling. This active mentality differs
from velleity, the wish without the effort. The Taking Action part of the mind is the part of
our mind that says, ‘I Will’. ‘I will’ is more important than intelligence. ‘I will’ is more a
driving force than ‘I wish.’ ‘I will’ is a distinct aspect of the mind - the power of creative
instinct or will – it is separate from thinking and feeling. I will quote Mohammed Ali, the
king of boxing; ‘The Champions need the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than
the skill.’

This active mentality, the ‘I Will’, was accepted as a given by thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle,
Augustine, Spinoza, Hobbes, Descartes, Kant, Hume, Freud, and Piaget. It is the
‘executive’ brain. It is the source of all striving, longing, ambition, and self-expression. It
is the root of a person's persistence against obstacles, the very essence of the person, for it
is through conation that we strive toward goals or self-actualize. Fidel Castro captured
this essence when he wrote that, ‘If Mohammed can't go to the mountain, the mountain will go
to Mohammed.’ And it is through this active mentality that one is productive, for as Hume
pointed out, ‘intellectual awareness alone cannot move us to do anything’.

The power of the human will was embraced by Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the Soviet
politician, head of state and first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union, who launched a period of rapid industrialization, when he told his soldiers that,
‘I believe in one thing only, the power of human will.’

I Will Get A Dream Team!

Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, often referred to as LBJ, was
quoted as saying, ‘There is no problem that we cannot solve together, and very few that we can
solve alone by ourselves’. Team support is very important in achieving our dreams. TEAM
means Together Each Achieves More. ‘When two people walk together, they can go a long while.’
The Luo of Kenya believe. And ‘When two people sleep together, they give each other warmth.’
The Bible says. The Swedes believe that ‘Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a
sorrow.’ This is true! I will get a dream team, a support team.

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This dream team will help me be in line, keep me in check and always ask after my progress.
The dream team will be my boards-of-advisor who will help me gather intelligence
required to help me reach my dream. This is the team that will ask me about my progress
with my dream. They will ask me where I am, what I did today, whether or not I woke
up early, and if or not I read about my books on career, role models, and industry leaders.
They will help me reach where I want to go, encourage me, push me, pull me and tell me
I will do it, because as my dream team, they believe in me. From time immemorial, the
Turks have believed that, ‘no road is long with good company’. The dream team will fight for
me when I am down and low. Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, an Argentine Marxist
revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, military theorist,
and major figure of the Cuban Revolution captured the essence of the team when he
wrote in his diaries that, ‘I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps
on shooting.’

The team can be the models in my field, and from them I will learn how they did it, what
they did and when they did it. From them I will know the books they read. The team may
be my fiancée, my friends, my family, or my colleagues from high school or college, my
colleagues at work or in my club. The team must be people with whom I share the same
desire to prosper. The team will make sure I do not remain down when I fall.

The dream team is premised on the ‘mastermind principle’; that ‘two minds are better than one’.
This is soundly described in the classic Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. A Luo
proverb says, ‘Alone a youth runs fast, with an elder slow, but together they go far.’

It is possible for a group of two or more people to cooperate in such a way that the
productivity of each enhances the productivity of the other. The Bible is right, ‘A rope of
two cords is stronger than that of one cord’. In the team I will find security of thought and
action. The Quran teaches that ‘there is safety in the multitude of advisors.’ A group can be
capable of more output than any individual within the group; than me. This team will not
be an easy crowd. Rather, it will be a group with high expectations for me and from
whom there will be high demands to perform exceedingly well. The Bible beautifully
captures the importance of harmony in the team thus; ‘can two walk together unless they
agree?’

My dream team will have a lawyer for all my legal needs, especially incorporating my
investment vehicle; a financial investments adviser to advice on financial investment
issues; a fixed assets broker for realty and other fixed assets; an accountant for my tax
planning; and a sales and marketing expert to connect me to the world of clients and
customers.

My team must be people who mind their own businesses. All my professional advisers must
be people who have excelled in their own lives, financially free people or people on their
path to financial success. As the old adage goes, ‘a blind man cannot lead a blind man.’ I
want advisers who are not only preaching wine, but also drinking it. I want advisers who
are minding their own businesses. These professionals are my eyes and ears in the market
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place. They are there every day so I do not have to be there. After all, as Robert Kiyosaki
says, ‘I would rather play golf.’

Getting the right professionals will not be easy. The fairy tale shall be a good inspiration for
me, ‘I will kiss several frogs before I get my prince.’ When Henry Ross Perot was building his
computer company, he hired the best people he could find, and his motto was, ‘Eagles
don’t flock. You have to find them, one by one.’

• Principle 2: Budgeting!

Budgeting helps me to plan my finances: To become rich, I must budget. Budgeting lies at the
foundation of every financial plan. It does not matter if I am living paycheck to paycheck
or earning six-figures a year, I need to know where my money is going if I want to have a
handle on my finances. Unlike what most people might believe, budgeting is not all about
restricting what I spend money on and cutting out all the fun in my life. Budgeting is
understanding how much money I have, where it goes, and then planning how to best
allocate the money. ‘A budget tells me what I cannot afford, but it does not keep me from buying
It.’ said William Feather, the American publisher and author.

Budgeting helps to save: Budgeting is vital to any savings strategy. It helps me to identify
where my money is going. Wasteful consumption patterns can be controlled through
successful budgeting.

Budgeting needs financial IQ: To draw up a good budget, I need to understand some basics of
financial management. This knowledge is called financial intelligence, or financial IQ, and
it will be the foundation of my financial success. The basics of financial management can
be grouped into four 4 categories as below:

¥ Income - This is the money that flows into my hands. My revenue sources consist of my salary,
my wage, investment income, and all other money that people give me as gifts or
payment/consideration for work done.
¥ Expenses - This is the money that flows out. My expenses consist of taxes, housing expenses
including utilities, transportation, food, clothing, insurance, health-related expenses,
entertainment, etc.
¥ Assets - These are moneys that I own in various shapes and forms. My assets include my house,
cars, savings, investments, and other items of value.
¥ Liabilities- This is money that I owe to other people. My liabilities include my home mortgage,
car loans, and credit card debt.

Then I also need to understand how to analyse my financial life and determine if I am living
precariously, or living like an investor. For this, I need to know the difference between
good cash flow and bad cash flow.

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¥ Good Cash Flow - If I manage my money well, i.e., keep my revenue higher than expenses - I
will have excess cash. I can save this money and buy more assets that can appreciate and
generate more income.
¥ Bad Cash Flow - If I do not manage my money well, i.e., my expenses exceed my revenue -I
will add to my debt, or have to sell some assets to cover the expenses. Either case, I am eroding
my wealth and its growth potential.

Budgeting needs a budget: And finally, the hardest part of creating a budget is sitting down and
actually creating one. When I budget, I am spending on paper, on purpose, before the
month begins. When I am spending my money on purpose, I will be on my way to
financial freedom. ‘The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two
words, industry and frugality.’ said Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the
United States, a noted polymath, leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist,
politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

To live within my means is dignity. Francis Moore, the American author of 18 books and co-
founder of three national organizations that explore the roots of hunger, poverty and
environmental crises, wrote that, ‘The most substantial people are the most frugal, and make
the least show, and live at the least expense.’ Budgets are plans. Budgeting is planning.
Budget planning entails identifying the sources of income and taking into account all
current and future expenses, with an aim to meet financial goals. The primary aim of a
budget planner is to ensure savings after the allocation for spending. It allocates future
personal income towards expenses, savings and debt repayment. There are several
methods, plans and tools available for creating, using and adjusting a personal budget.

The Ojijo 10% Budget Plan: To create a budget, I will use The Ojijo 10% Budget Plan. The Ojijo
10% Budget Plan gives me guidelines of how to allocate the amount of revenue I have,
after removing taxes, expenses and the other costs of getting the revenue, including kick-
backs, commissions, interests, etc. The Ojijo 10% Budget Plan requires that I divide my
revenue into TEN equal and separate areas, which all get 10% of the revenue allocation.
The equality is premised on the fact that all parts of my daily living are equally important.

The Ojijo 10% Budget Plan

1. Giving to help the needy, whether directly or indirectly; as tithe or charity; or through
the church, mosque, temple or any charity organization like Red Cross, etc.;
2. Rent & Utilities, including security & gardeners, mortgage, home insurance, lease, etc;
3. Saving-2-Invest in various assets;
4. Entertainment, including vacations, gifts, club membership fees, hobbies, etc;
5. Education, both personal and for children, including seminars, talent development
programs and education insurance plan, etc;
6. Food & Kitchen appliances and wares, including chefs, utensils, etc;
7. Transport & Communication, including vehicle insurance payments;
8. Clothes & Personal Hygiene, including leg wear, sprays, jewellery and bathing items,
etc;
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9. Household & House Maintenance, including house help expenses, furniture and
fixtures;
10. Emergency & Insurance Fund, which should be able to take me for up to 3 months from
the day I lose my source of income. This amount is the sum of all the ten percents (10%)
for numbers 1-9, multiplied by three months. The Standard Is Rent. So, if my rent is USD$
500, then all the other costs will be equally USD$ 500 each, and hence the emergency
fund shall be USD$500*9*3 (months), hence, USD$ 13,500. Part of the emergency fund
shall also be the payment for health and life insurance, since disease can and will strike at
anytime; and death, however certain, is always an emergency.

The rule of thumb is that any excess money that remains from any of the categories will be
added to category 3 and invested to make me financially independent.

• Principle 3: Saving-2-Invest!

How do I start investing money? By saving! The key to investing is savings. An effective
savings strategy coupled with a smart investing strategy will help me to meet my
financial goals. Every dollar saved now helps me to control my current consumption by
which the size of the income that I think will be required for retirement is lowered. Also,
through the power of annual compounding, it increases the size of the nest egg I will have
for retirement.

I should save 10%. Using an automatic payment plan, I can save and invest 10% of my
paycheck every month. Today, out of every amount of money I earn, I will save 10% and
invest it. Saving what I earn is the first step to acquiring assets. In his masterpiece, The
Richest Man in Babylon, George Clason, the soldier, businessman and writer, advises
income earners thus; ‘pay myself first.’ To save is to pay myself. Savings are used to create
more money, not to pay bills. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the
United States and a noted polymath, a leading author and printer, satirist, political
theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, soldier, and diplomat was
right, ‘A penny saved is a penny earned.’ This is one area where the Universal Law of
Accumulation works. Saving and investing means that I invest my money. I should be
wary of borrowing money to invest. I must invest my own money. I should remember the
wise words of legendary investor Warren Buffet, ‘If me don’t have it, don’t invest it.’ The
simple truth is that those who borrow almost always pay a higher rate of interest than the rate
received by those who save.

To pay myself first, I will find out from my employer whether I can direct my paycheck to
different accounts. If I do not have such a service, I can set up an account that will take the
money automatically out of my checking account each month. I will let the amount be
directed to an investment account. This is re-enforced savings which implies I save first
and spend the rest from my paycheck. My goal should be to save at least 10% of my total
before tax earnings. This should be the minimum. Most millionaires live far below their
means as they are disciplined and highly focused on their financial goals from the
beginning. They are millionaires because they have decided to be so.
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I need discipline to save: To achieve any goal in life, one needs to be disciplined. Similarly,
saving to invest requires discipline. A disciplined approach helps me to remain focused
on my financial goals. I will formulate a plan and review it periodically to ensure that I
am on the right track. I will conduct a careful study of my consumption patterns. I will
then identify items of expenditures that I can do without or explore opportunities to
reduce my costs without unduly sacrificing the item. And then I will divert any cash
savings automatically to an investment account.

• Principle 4: Long Term Investing!

‘Always invest in the long-term’, Warren Buffet advises. I need to invest long term. I should not
be influenced by short-term fluctuations. These are inevitable in all economies as well as
businesses experience the boom and bust cycle. I should not try to time the market. I need
to get in and stay in. I should review my plan periodically, and whenever my needs or
circumstances change. If I am not confident that my plan makes sense, I will talk to an
investment advisor or someone I trust. A long-term view helps me to safely invest in
'riskier' investments, such as stocks, which the market rewards in general. This requires
patience and discipline, but it increases returns. This approach reduces my choices to two:
stocks and stock mutual funds. In the long run, they are the winners. The additional risk
is worth it due to the power of compounding. 10% a year for 20 years is 570%, but 7% a
year for 20 years is only 280%. I should not procrastinate.

I should begin now because an early start can make all the difference. An early start provides
a long time horizon for compounding to show its true benefit for the investor. For average
people, investing is not so much a helpful tool as the only way they can retire and
maintain their present lifestyle. By investing long term, I am planning ahead. By planning
ahead I can ensure financial stability during my retirement. ‘It never was my thinking that
made the big money for me. It was always my sitting. My sitting tight!’ said Edwin Lefevre.
This blunt warning is treated by many financial advisers like the Bible. Once I arrange my
assets into my ideal allocation, I should not tinker.

I will rebalance once a year to keep my mix on track, but otherwise, listen to Livermore and
sit tight. I will remember that even if the market tanks it always recovers for long term
investors, and when it is low I will snatch up a lot of shares at bargain prices. As long as I
am dollar-cost averaging I will always be buying shares at a cheaper price.

The market can remain irrational longer than I can remain solvent. Bubbles occur. However,
investors should never attempt to short them because, while bubbles eventually burst,
they can grow larger and last longer than investor resources. This requires patience and
discipline, but it increases returns. The additional risk is worth it due to the power of
compounding. To invest long term, I should not procrastinate. I should begin now
because an early start makes all the difference. An early start provides a long time horizon
for compounding to show its true benefit for the investor.
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Further, I should invest long term since the liquidation value (if I said, 'get me out of this Club
and give me my money back'), I will often get less than my original capital contributions
during the first two years. That is to say, investing in the stock market is a long-term
proposition, and I may only see my contribution increase in value after the second year or
so of investing.

• Principle 5: Portfolio Diversification!

Portfolio diversification is the golden rule of successful investment: This simple strategy is
overlooked by 85% of investors. Diversification is a fundamental aspect of financial
planning. In a nutshell, it is the old adage to not put all my eggs in one basket. If I have all
my eggs in one basket and something happens to the basket then I am in big trouble. But
instead, let me say I keep some of my eggs in the refrigerator. Then if something happens
to the eggs in the basket I still have the ones in the refrigerator. The practice of
diversification says that I should have a little in each of these to diversify myself against
risk of the stock market and whatever else might happen in life.

I will diversify - by company, by industry, by company size and by geography. In stocks and
bonds, there is safety in numbers. No matter how careful I am, I can neither predict nor
control the future. So I must diversify. “In stocks and bonds, as in much else, there is safety in
numbers.” If I own the right number of stocks, bonds and funds and they are allocated
across several categories, industries and geographies, I can substantially lower the risk of
losses to our portfolio and increase returns at the same time. If I diversify properly; I can
lower risk AND improve returns at the same time, making this a no-brainer.
Diversification is the process of finding the investing sweet spot where I can optimize risk
vs. return.

Diversification is about mixing: Another critical piece is the diversification mix. I want to invest
in a wide variety of industries, categories and geographies to ensure that when one
specific area goes south, it does not tank my whole portfolio. My portfolio should be
spread across a wide variety of categories and geographies, most of which will not
correlate at all with anything going on in telecom, some may even be inversely correlated
(meaning they do well when telecoms do poorly).

For example, if I own a telecom and suddenly the industry is getting bad press due to invasion of
privacy lawsuits, the rest of our portfolio can cover the losses of that stock. Why? If we're diversified,
that is probably our only telecom investments, the rest are in unrelated industries and will not be
directly affected by these lawsuits.

Diversification is about diverse asset allocation: As an investor, I should have a diverse asset
allocation. This means I spread my money between various types of investments, not
buying only stocks, bonds or funds, but buying a combination. Portfolios should include
allocations to the asset classes of large-cap and small-cap stocks, value and growth stocks,
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real state, international developed markets, emerging markets, and the appropriate
amount of bonds. Diversification is the closest thing to a free lunch there is in investing.
To make the alchemy work, I must load up on assets whose up and down cycles do not
run in sync: stocks (local and foreign, as well as large-company and small), bonds (of
varying maturities), cash, real estate and commodities. Investment centers on
diversification.

Different securities perform differently at any point in time, so with a mix of asset types, my
entire portfolio does not suffer the impact of a decline of any one security. When my
stocks go down, I may still have the stability of the bonds in my portfolio. Diversification
is always working. The reason I want a blend is because each type of investment behaves
very differently. The rule of thumb is that the further I am from retirement the more I
should allocate to more aggressive investments like stocks, and the closer I am to
retirement the more I should allocate to shorter term lower risk investments like bonds.

Stocks, for example, have the highest potential return of any type of investment but they also
have the highest risk of losses. Bonds, on the other hand, cannot provide the types of returns
a stock can but they offer stability since their returns are often guaranteed. A blend of
different asset classes is just another way to diversify and I can choose from a wide variety
of allocations.

Diversification reduces risk: Diversification is important. If I spread my investments across
various types of assets and markets, I will reduce the risk of catastrophic financial losses.
Diversifying investments in a portfolio helps to manage risk. The safest port in a sea of
uncertainty is diversification. As most successful investors will tell me, diversification is king.
A diversified portfolio not only reduces unwanted risk, but also contributes to a winning
portfolio. And having a well-diversified portfolio does not necessarily mean just buying
more than one stock; branching out into other areas of investment could be a viable
alternative.

‘It is the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow and not to venture all his eggs in one
basket.’ said Miguel de Cervantes. Nothing can break the law of risk and reward, but a
diversified portfolio can bend it. When I spread my money properly among different asset
types, a rise in some will offset a fall in others, muting our overall risk without a
commensurate drop in return. Diversification reduces risk without reducing expected
returns. Once investors diversify beyond popular indexes, they will be faced with periods
when popular benchmark indexes outperform their portfolio. The strategy to get rich is
entirely different than the strategy to stay rich. One gets rich through inheritance or by taking
risk. One stays rich by minimizing risk, diversifying and not spending too much.

To diversity, I need a portfolio.

PORTFOLIO: A combination of different investment assets mixed and matched for the purpose
of achieving an investor's goal(s).

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Items that are considered a part of my portfolio can range from real items such as art and real
estate, to equities, fixed-income instruments and their cash and equivalents. There is not
just one strategy that can be used to invest successfully. Ideally an investment portfolio
should have both equity and debt instruments. Using this guideline I can allocate my
money as best fits my personal situation. This strategy does not even rely on my ability to
pick stocks. It relies on the principle of diversification. I should divide my money between
these types of investments.

Risk of non-diversification: There are horror stories of people losing all their money on the stock
market. The main reason this happens is that people do not place their money in a variety
of investments. Doing this spreads the risk of losing my money. I will not be the person
who complains about how I lost all my money on the stock market. I will be one of the
success stories who knows how the market works and how I make money, by having a
diversified portfolio, focused on the long-term. Even if I love shares, I should not buy
only stock in one asset class like utilities or banks or tech stocks. Industry stock prices
move together so when one bank stock goes down the others all go down too. Most
investors are comfortable allotting all their money to one investment. If that stock goes
up, great; if not they are back at square one. I should diversify against risk. If I follow a
diversified investment plan I reduce my overall risk as compared to being invested in
only one type of security. Diversification will help offset the volatility I may have with
stocks. If my stocks go up then I realize larger overall gains.

• Principle 6: Dollar Cost Averaging!

Dollar cost averaging is buying at intervals: Dollar cost averaging is a technique by which an
investor divides the given investment over a period of time and invests that amount on a
regular basis as opposed to buying in all at once. When an investor buys the same stock or
mutual fund at regular intervals and with a fixed amount, he or she is said to be using the dollar
cost averaging method. If the market price of the selected stock or mutual fund declines, the
investor will buy a greater number of shares. On the other hand, when the market price
of the selected stock or mutual fund increases, the investor will buy lesser number of
shares.

Dollar cost averaging reduces risk of price fluctuations: By putting in, say, $100 each month
(rather than a large amount once a year), I sometimes buy when the prices of the units of
the fund are higher, and sometimes when prices are lower. In the end, the purchase prices
average out. I can hence reduce some of the risk that poor timing and potentially adverse
price fluctuations will have on my investment decisions. Just about any fund company or
bank will let me invest like this with an automatic payment plan. However, dollar cost
averaging will not protect me in a steadily declining market. Further, if I discontinue with
a dollar cost averaging plan, I will lose money when the market value is less than cost of
the shares.

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Dollar cost averaging encourages automatic savings: The best thing about dollar cost averaging is
that it gets me into the habit of saving every single month. Dollar cost averaging permits
systematic contributions to an investment portfolio periodically, hence encouraging
savings Dollar-averaging (continuing to invest the same amount of money every month)
really works.

This investing strategy will, over a period of time, result in the investor buying the selected
stock or mutual fund at an average cost per share that will be less than the average price
per share.

For example, assuming that a person invests $100 per month for 12 months in a Mutual Fund;
as can be seen from the below table, the average cost per share is lower than the average
price per share.

Month Dollars Price per No. of shares purchased
Invested share
January 100 12.76 7.84
February 100 13.25 7.55
March 100 15.25 6.56
April 100 18.76 5.33
May 100 20.26 4.94
June 100 18.85 5.31
July 100 15.62 6.40
August 100 17.85 5.60
September 100 16.62 6.02
October 100 13.26 7.54
November 100 14.5 6.90
December 100 16.76 5.97
Total 1,200 193.74 75.94

Average price per share = 193.74/12 = $ 16.15
Average cost per share = 1,200/75.94 = $ 15.80

• Principle 7: Risk Tolerance!

Risk is a necessary element of life. There is always the chance that something will not work out
for me and this chance is called risk. There is a risk in everything I choose to do in life
including my financial life. The holder of any debt is subject to interest rate risk and credit
risk, inflationary risk, currency risk, duration risk, convexity risk, repayment of principal risk,
streaming income risk, liquidity risk, default risk, maturity risk, reinvestment risk, market risk,
political risk, and taxation adjustment risk. The broad range of investment opportunities
represents varied levels of risks and rewards. Success in financial investment requires
good knowledge of investing and underlying risks. It is important to understand risk
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from a wealth perspective because I am rewarded for taking risks. History unequivocally
supports this "no free lunch" principle. Stocks (high risk) have paid more than government
bonds (medium risk), which in turn have beaten low-risk Treasury bills. Among many,
many other things, this law suggests that to earn returns high enough to build true
wealth, I have to put some of my money in risky assets like stocks-the only investment to
handily beat inflation over time.

The greater the risk I take, the greater the reward I will receive. This applies to investments
but also to life decisions. In the financial world this is illustrated when I choose to invest
in a stock over a safer investment. The extra risk I take is rewarded in terms of the stocks
growth. In our personal world this is illustrated in a decision to attend college.
Attending college is essentially a case of one assuming a risk. I am foregoing years of
income for the chance that the increased education will pay off for me in more income in
the long run. This is actually a pretty safe investment that usually works.

o Types of Risk

Depending on the nature of the investment, the type of 'investment' risk will vary.

€ INCOME RISK: The possibility that a portfolio's dividends will decline as a result of falling
interest rates. Income risk is generally greatest for money market instruments and short-term
bonds, and least for long-term bonds.
€ INFLATION RISK: The possibility that increases in the cost of living will reduce or
eliminate the returns on a particular investment.
€ MARKET RISK: The possibility that stock or bond prices overall will decline over short or
even extended periods. Stock and bond markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising
prices and periods of falling prices.
€ INTEREST RATE RISK: Interest rate is the amount charged for borrowing money. The
interest rates may go up or down and hence affect my capital or profit. This is a risk.
€ CAPITAL RISK: A common concern with any investment is that I may lose the money I
invest - my capital. This risk is therefore often referred to as capital risk.
€ CURRENCY RISK: If the assets I invest in are held in another currency there is a risk that
currency movements alone may affect the value. This is referred to as currency risk.
€ LIQUIDITY RISK: Many forms of investment may not be readily salable on the open market
(e.g. commercial property) or the market has a small capacity and investments may take time
to sell. Assets that are easily sold are termed liquid therefore this type of risk is termed
liquidity risk.

o Risk Reduction

Since there is imminent risk in entrepreneurship, every entrepreneur should take risk
reduction measures. I can do this by applying various strategies:

Experimenting

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The first strategy is to experiment. This involves taking action through a series of low cost
events and projects before committing a great deal of resources (time, energy, skills and
money).

Risk Sharing

Risk sharing risk by partnership with individuals or corporations that have complementary
skills will increase the chance of success while reducing the risk in terms of time, skills,
money and energy that is required.

Determining Attitude towards Risk

I should also determine my attitude toward risk. After I decide my attitude toward risk, it
makes my planning easier. It allows me to tailor how I intend to become prosperous; hare
or tortoise pace. My attitude will determine how I respond to the risks of life. Life in itself is
risky, and nothing is certain. How do I cope when things go wrong? Am I positive,
dynamic, enthusiastic, and up? Or do I get all gloomy and depressed and sees the glass as
half empty? I will encourage myself to know myself, and know how I can cope and how to
respond to changes. And I should remember that risk does not mean bad. It means I do
not know how it will all turn out. I should consider how much stress and excitement I can
handle.

As an investor, I can learn a lot from the famous Greek maxim inscribed on the Temple of
Apollo's Oracle at Delphi: "Know Thyself". In the context of investing, the wise words of
the oracle emphasize that success depends on ensuring that my investment strategy fits
my personal characteristics. Fundamentally, there are two types of personalities regarding
risk. Knowing which personality best suits me is an important step in managing my
investment portfolio properly.

¥ Risk-Taker -The risk taker lives for the thrill and loves to take chances. I am this
person if I am perfectly comfortable in the high-risk world of options or foreign
securities where the prices fluctuate by the hour. As this type of investor, I am at
the greatest risk to lose my money because of a poor investment. Therefore, if this
is my type then I need to make sure and re-evaluate my investment choices or get a
second opinion from a third party. Risk takers find an extra thrill in taking risk.
They are likely to indulge in gambling, the lottery and dangerous activities such as
sky diving or driving fast. They thrive on the element of danger and risk involved
in their activities. They love the extra adrenaline rush from pursuing these
activities. This personality type needs to learn to embrace safer investments and
safer lifestyle options for at least some of the time. The risk taker employs an
Aggressive Investment Strategy. Aggressive investment strategies are those that
shoot for the highest possible return. They are most appropriate for investors who,
for the sake of this potential high return, have a high risk tolerance (can stomach
wide fluctuations in value) and a longer time horizon. Aggressive portfolios

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generally have a higher investment in equities. An aggressive portfolio may consist
of 75% equities and 20% bonds and 5% cash equivalents.

¥ Risk-Avoider- The risk avoider always looks for things to not turn out good and is
most likely to say, “I cannot trust anybody!” As this investor I am most likely to
miss out on returns and end up with the same money I started with. If I am this
type then I need to take a look and see if maybe I am allocating a bit too much
money in bonds, money markets or other fairly safe and liquid investments. The
conservative never takes risks. I am unable to ever experience true wealth or any
other rewards that are associated with taking risks. The risk avoider employs
Conservative/Passive Investment Strategy: The conservative investment strategies
puts safety at a high priority and is most appropriate for investors who are risk
averse and have a shorter time horizon. Conservative portfolios will generally
consist mainly of cash and cash equivalents, or high-quality fixed-income
instruments. The main goal of a conservative portfolio strategy is to maintain the
real value of the portfolio, or to protect the value of the portfolio against inflation.
The portfolio here would yield a high amount of current income from the bonds
and would also yield long-term capital growth potential from the investment in
high quality equities. A conservative portfolio would consist of approximately 50%
equities, 40% bonds, 10% cash and equivalents. A passive investor has no desire to
try to beat the market. Instead, relying on the stock market's history of increasing
over the long term, the passive investor, believing that trying to beat the market is
too much work or even futile, will simply purchase a security such as an index fund,
which mirrors a benchmark used to track the performance of a market. The index
fund as founded by the legendary John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group and
creator of the index mutual fund.

It is very important for an investor to embrace some forms of risk and accept them as a
necessary element on the road to wealth. If one always plays it safe then one will never
find great rewards. ‘He that is overcautious will accomplish little.’ said Friedrich von Schiller.
Since I only live once it is worth it to take some risks in life. Sometimes these pay off in big
ways. Again a third party can often help me in being objective in my evaluation.

Risk Should Be Proportional To Available Disposable Income.

The golden rule surrounding all investing is: I should not spend more than I can afford to lose.
This is the absolute truth. The stock market, or any other investment, is not a sure thing. It
never will be, or else what would be the point of bothering to track businesses? If I have
some spare cash that I can spend if need be, then by all means I should- this way, I can
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learn about the stock market and have the potential to increase my wealth. As a general
rule in risk taking, I should not take more risk than ability, willingness or need dictates. I should
take risk with money I can afford to lose.

I need to work out the percentage of my wealth I am prepared to risk. The more I have got,
the smaller the risk might be - unless I am prepared to lose the ranch, of course.

Plans fail because investors take excessive risks. The risks unexpectedly show up and the
plan is abandoned. When developing a plan, investors should consider their investment
horizon, stability of income, ability to tolerate losses and the required rate of return. I
should never invest in any security without fully understanding the nature of all of the
risks. If investors cannot explain the risks to their friends, they should not invest.

I should ask myself if I can live with the outcome, regardless of how small of a chance there is
of the outcome occurring. And I should avoid working with commission-based advisors.
Commissions create the potential for biased advice. I should only work with advisors
who will provide a fiduciary standard of care. This is the only way to ensure that the advice
provided is in my best interest. There is no reason not to insist on a fiduciary standard.

Risk should depend on my investment objectives.

People invest in different vehicles or jurisdictions for various reasons. The two main
investment objectives are income generation and capital appreciation. These factors should
influence an investment decision since they inform the amount of risk an investor can
take. These and other objectives, such as tax sheltering, change throughout my entire life.
Capital appreciation may be more important for me as a young investor, but once I enter
my golden years, I may place a greater emphasis on gaining income.

Risk should be based on my financial position.

As multi-millionaire, in an effort to increase my profit for the year; I may have no problem
putting down $100,000 in a speculative real estate investment. To me, a hundred grand is
a small percentage of my overall worth. Meanwhile, as a newlywed couple concentrating
on saving up for a down payment on a house, we cannot afford to risk losing our money
in a speculative venture and regardless of the potential returns of a risky investment,
speculation is just not appropriate for the young couple.

Risk should be based on my age.

A 75-year-old widow living off of her retirement portfolio needs income from her
investments to survive, she cannot risk losing her investment. A 35 year old young
executive, on the other hand, has time on his or her side. As investment income is not
currently paying the bills, the executive can afford to be more aggressive in his or her
investing strategies. As a general rule, the shorter my time horizon, the more conservative
I should be. For instance, if I am investing primarily for retirement and I am still in my

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20s, I still have plenty of time to make up for any losses I might incur along the way. At
the same time, if I start when I am young, I do not have to put huge chunks of my
paycheck away every month because I have the power of compounding on my side. On
the other hand, if I am about to retire, it is very important that I either safeguard or
increase the money I have accumulated. Because I will soon be accessing my investments,
I do not want to expose all of my money to volatility - I do not want to risk losing my
investment money in a market slump right before I need to start accessing my assets. We
cope better with risk the younger we are. Further, if I have family commitments, then I do
not want to risk his capital, and hence will be more risk averse in his deals. I will look for
income rather than growth.

Diversification Mitigates Risk

Whatever my personality type, I need to make myself aware of how I approach risk in the
different areas of my life. I will then use the approach of diversification to mitigate the
risk I am assuming and then make some well-placed investments that are riskier than the
others. I will then be compensated for the extra risk I undertake. This is called taking
calculated risks: The returns I get are proportionate to the risk I take. This is a fundamental
law of the markets. It is why five-year CDs typically pay more than six-month ones and
why I am disappointed if my emerging markets fund does no better than its stodgy blue-
chip stablemate.

Knowledge Mitigates Risk

The more extensive my knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be my power of
knowing what (not) to do. ‘As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has
the best information.’ said Benjamin Disraeli. All knowledge is built from previous
knowledge. As an investor, I should learn something new about financial investments
every day, a new way of analyzing companies, a new way of calculating risks, a new way
of portfolio allocation and mixing. I must read the technical journals which will keep me
abreast of the field and career. I should build my knowledge base to help me in achieving
financial independence. Whether it takes a week, a month or a year to become thoroughly
knowledgeable, it does not matter. I should start learning immediately, today. This is an
area where the Universal Law of accumulation is important; that any body of knowledge is a
result of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of small pieces of information. Investing is a big bet on an
unknowable future. The mark of wisdom is accepting just how unknowable it is. Granted,
that is not easy. Confucius said centuries past that, ‘When I do not know a thing, to allow that
I do not know it-this is knowledge.’ I should accept I need to learn, and then learn. This will
reduce the risk of venturing into this unknowable future. Think about how much
information I have! Too little increases risk.

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• Principle 8: Knowledge-Based Investing!

I need to be an informed investor: Investing is the key to building wealth, but investing in and of
itself is not enough. If I have to invest, I need to invest wisely! I do not need to be a
financial expert to invest, but I do need to learn some basic terminology and concepts so
that I am better equipped to make informed decisions. This is what this guide is all about.
Investment is not speculation. Investment is informed speculation. My goal is to be informed
enough to understand and analyze what I hear. Then I can decide what fits with my
investing personality. When asked how he managed to become a rich investor, Warren
Buffet said, “we read hundreds and hundreds of reports every year.”

The poor reading culture about money is why only 1% of the population is rich. I must join
this small percentage that buys books and reads about being rich. I will read about shares,
stocks and stock options. I will read about securities and special funds. I will read about
investing in fixed assets and securities, including government securities. If I want to fly an
airplane, and land safely, I have to learn how to fly planes before I get to the cockpit. As the
Gilded Age publisher Henry Holt once observed, ‘a book is a thing by itself. There is nothing
like it, as one shoe is like another, or as one kind of whiskey is like another.’ Charlie ‘Tremendous’
Jones was precise; ‘I am a combination of the books I read and the people I meet’. Robert
Kiyosaki confirms it by teaching me in his classical book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, that, ‘I am
what I eat, but I become what I study.’ 'Read in order to live.' wrote Henry Fielding. Indeed, as
a writer, the more I read, the better I write. Dr. Seuss writes that, ‘The more that I read, the more
things I will know and the more places I will go.’ I will do myself a lifelong favor if I keep
reading!

‘Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.’ wrote
Malcolm X. A lawyer friend of mine from Uganda, Edith Ojiambo, loved Literature so
much that when she was studying for her A-Level examinations she wrote on the cover of
her literature notebook, ‘Because I love I, I will always keep in touch’. True knowledge cannot
be gained in things in which I have no passion. ‘Man is only great when he acts from passion.’
wrote Benjamin Disraeli. I need to love investing in financial instruments and stocks to be
able to seek and acquire knowledge about it anytime, in anyway. The English
philosopher, scientist and lawyer, who served both as Attorney General and Lord
Chancellor of England, Francis Bacon, agreed with him in his famous aphorism that
‘Knowledge is Power.’ The Quran commands the Ummah, Iqra!, meaning, ‘Read’. The Bible
confirms that ‘people perish because of lack of knowledge.’

It is now proven, both scientifically and historically, through innovation and creativity,
industrialization and technological advances, that one hundred percent of human potential is
a result of proper education.

Robert Kiyosaki wrote that ‘It is not what I know that counts; it is how fast I learn that matters.’
This is true because in the information age, what I know today becomes obsolete
knowledge tomorrow. As a club, I should seek new knowledge in financial instrument
and stock market. Plato, the Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of
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philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of
higher learning in the western world, noted that ‘Knowledge is food of the soul’. I will seek to
know the latest trends in carrying out my professional work. I should know the
technological advances and applications of ICT and related technologies in financial
investing.

I should subscribe to print and online e-zines, e-newsletters and web updates to keep myself
informed of the latest knowledge in my field. I should attend seminars, workshops and
conferences to learn the latest knowledge in financial investments. I should attend short
specialized intense courses, even online, to advance their specialized knowledge to be on
top of the game; ahead of the pack; and poised to fly. ‘Acquire knowledge, it enables its
professor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven. It is our friend in the desert,
our company in solitude and companion when friendless. It guides I to happiness, it sustains I in
misery, and it is an ornament amongst friends and armor against enemies.’ the Muslims believe.

Aristotle wrote that ‘by nature, all men desire knowledge.’ More than 2,000 years later, Pope John
Paul II claimed that, ‘whereas at one time the decisive factor of production was the land, and later
capital, today the decisive factor is increasingly man himself, that is, his knowledge.’ It seems that
two respected individuals from two different eras are trying to tell me something
important about knowledge. I should never stop trying to learn more.

The more extensive my knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be my power of
knowing what to do. ‘As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the
best information.’ said Benjamin Disraeli. All knowledge is built from previous knowledge. I
should learn something new about the stock market every day, a new way of analyzing
companies, a new way of calculating risks, a new way of portfolio allocation and mixing. I
must read the technical journals which will keep members abreast of the field and career.
I should build my knowledge base to help me in achieving financial independence.
Whether it takes a week, a month or a year to become thoroughly knowledgeable, it does
not matter. I should start learning immediately, today. I should make sure the members
learn, by being informed and through experience. This is an area where the Universal Law
of accumulation is important; that any body of knowledge is a result of hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of small pieces of information. Investing is a big bet on an unknowable future. The
mark of wisdom is accepting just how unknowable it is. Granted, that is not easy.
Confucius said centuries past that, ‘When I do not know a thing, to allow that I do not know it-
this is knowledge.’ I should accept I need to learn, and then learn.

Reading makes me Invest in things I know. There is a great investing saying thus, ‘Invest in things
I know.’ Peter Lynch said it best when he said, "Never invest in an idea I cannot illustrate
with a crayon." Reading makes me Invest in things I know. Peter Lynch is the guy who
took over the $18 million Magellan Fund in 1977 that grew to more than $14Billion in
assets by the time he retired only thirteen years later in 1990. Peter advises beginners thus;
"invest in what me know", and his message still resonates with working people who do not
have the time to learn complicated technical analysis or read financial reports as thick as a
phone book. Invest in what I know. Sounds simple but there is a lot of wisdom in this
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advice. In our everyday lives we tend to become experts in some field or another either
because it relates to our career or because we use related products on a daily basis. This
expertise is my foundation and gold mine as an investor. We should play to our strengths
when we invest. Ignoring this rule can ruin even great strategies.

For example, a value investor is always looking for great bargains, i.e. underpriced stocks. But
if they buy companies that they know little about, more often than not they'll wind up with
a stock that has done something to deserve a low share price and would have been best
avoided. There is an enormous amount of information available for any stock we'd like to
buy. I should study the company, their competition, the industry, and anything else I can
think of before I decide. This sounds like a lot of work but my portfolio will reward me
generously in the form of profits if I do my homework.
• Principle 9: Re-Investing & Compounding!

Compounding is the most important principle in saving and investing. It has been called the
eighth wonder of the world. It is the key concept of any saving and investing plan. Albert
Einstein called compound interest "the greatest mathematical discovery of all time". This is
true partly because, unlike the trigonometry or calculus I studied back in high school,
compounding can be applied to everyday life, and in finance, it applies to amplify the
growth of my working money. Whereas investing maximizes my earning potential,
compounding maximizes the earning potential of my investments. Compounding depends on
two things, time and reinvesting. The two make compounding work. I must keep hands off
the principal and earned interest. Reinvesting earnings allows the members to take
advantage of compounding.

Compounding makes money make money: The wonder of compounding ("compound interest")
transforms my working money into a state-of-the-art, highly powerful income-generating
tool. Compounding is the process of generating earnings on an asset's reinvested
earnings. To work, it requires two things: re-investment of earnings and time. The more
time I give my investments, the more I am able to accelerate the income potential of my
original investment, which takes the pressure off of me.

Compounding makes me safer and wealthier: I do not have to place a large amount of money into
highly volatile stocks to make money. I can, but if anything; that is the surefire way to lose
my hard earned money. My investments do not need to return 20% or more to make me
wealthy. By investing small sums, and making average gains I can increase my wealth.
Understanding compounding interest will make me a safer and wealthier investor.

Compounding escalates interest: The return I receive on an investment is interest. If I invest
$20,000 and it returns a modest 10% a year then I will have earned $2,000 in interest.
Compounding interest is the escalating effect of interest. As an example, if my $20,000
investment was returning 10% per year after 10 years I would expect to receive $20,000 in
interest. Actually it is much more than that. Compounding interest ensures the amount I earn
is more. After Year 1 I receive $2,000 which makes my investment $22,000. For Year 2, 10%
of $22,000 is $2,200. This is because I reinvested that $2,000; it works together with the
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original investment. This means the amount of interest I receive in year 2 is greater than
year 1. This interest I am earning is compounding. Every year, my investment compounds
more and more. After 5 years my investment of $20,000 has gone up to $32,210. That is
interest of $12,210 not $10,000 as I first thought. This little bit extra may seem like peanuts,
but I didn't have to lift a finger to earn that $2,210. More importantly, this $2,210 also
starts to earn interest. At the end of 10 years my investment is worth $51,875. I have
returned $31,875 and not $20,000.

This shows the power of compounding interest. This is one sum of money invested over 10
years with no contributions and earning modest returns. This increase in the amount
made each year is compounding in action: compounding of interest (interest-on-interest)
or interest earning interest on interest and so on. This will continue as long as I keep
reinvesting and earning interest. The more I invest the more money I will get to re-invest.
Robert Toru Kiyosaki says of the power of re-investing, ‘I have a problem with too much
money. I cannot reinvest it fast enough, and because I reinvest it, more money comes in. Yes, the
rich do get richer.’ Understanding and applying compounding interest is a long term
investment strategy that will put me on the right road to retiring on a comfortable amount
of money.

Compounding is premised on the doctrine of the Time Value of Money. (TVM). Time Value of
Money (TVM) is the idea that money available at the present time is worth more than the
same amount in the future due to its potential earning capacity. This core principle of
finance holds that, provided money can earn interest, any amount of money is worth
more the sooner it is received. The time value of money demonstrates that, all things
being equal, it is better to have money now rather than later. I need to start investment
now, today. I need to start investing now, today.

The time value of money, also referred to as "present discounted value", is the basis of
compounding. Compounding is based on the Time Value of Money. By giving my investment
more time to grow, I earn myself more money. Investments start to grow slowly and then
accelerate. The invested money accumulates interest, and the accumulated interest is itself
accruing more interest. Everyone knows that money deposited in a savings account will
earn interest. Because of this universal fact, I would prefer to receive money today rather
than the same amount in the future. The earlier I put money to work, the longer it works
for the members, and the more wealth is generated. It makes a lot of sense. Wealth is
generated via production. The longer my money works in good companies, the more time it
has to produce further profit; profit which I also get to share.

The right time to start investing is right now. People tend to be optimistic and happy to buy
when the market is going up and pessimistic and likely to avoid investing when the
market is going down. This is a mistake, when I have money to invest, I should put it to
work; I should not try to wait for the perfect moment or the perfect stock because this
may never come. I should remember that compound interest cannot work for me if my
money is on the sidelines. Many beginners have a very low risk tolerance and want to
avoid losing any money. Paradoxically, they also often expect superior returns. It does not
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The ojijo 9 (the nine fundamental principles of investing)

The ojijo 9 (the nine fundamental principles of investing)

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