BANZA January 2016 Issue | Page 45

y; u Once the banks have reeled you in with the first loan, they will do everything possible to keep you in a debt drowning lifestyle. They have something they called “DIRECT LOAN TOP UP,” EVERY bank has that. Every time they realize you are left with a few months to finish your loan, they offer you another loan under the pretenses that they are rewarding you for not defaulting. You will spend the rest of your life paying loan after loan and before you know it, you are 60 years and about to retire and you have lived a miserable monotonous, financially stressing life. The idea is to delay taking a bank loan as possible, to an extent where you save as much as possible so that you are in a position to ask for a loan from the bank only on a CO-FINANCING prospect, where you fund the car or house with a portion of your own money and the bank meeting you at half. This is quite handy as it reduces the interest you would have paid had you borrowed the whole sum from the bank. Remember, the more you borrow, the higher the interest rate. Secondly, it is upon us to try and diversify dependency on salaries alone. There are far many prospects available out there than can improve our financial positions. Classical accountants will tell you that a car is not an asset, it continues to drain you financially every month. Worse still, its value depreciating. Take a loan to buy something that will bring in money while you are paying for the loan. Acquire property through loans. It’s quite handy as the house itself will become security or collateral. Then lease or rent out the house and use the rental fees to pay back the loan. Your salary is still untouched; the rentals continue to pay back the loan and 5 years down the line you own the house and you have paid nothing to acquire it. Your money is your money, you need to start spending it wisely. Sit down, take a piece of paper and assess your financial position. You can have everything you want in life-a debt free lifestyle, vacations and houses. Do not become another statistic of someone who worked hard all his/her life just so they can die; miserable, poor and still in debt. Without a clear cut budget and devoted personal finance plan, your fate is sealed. You will never enjoy the fruits of your labour. Plan it all the way. Be good, Do good. “Do not become another statistic of someone who worked hard all his/her life just so they can die; miserable, poor and still in debt.” Maatla Kgasa is novelist, a screenwriter and an aspiring entrepreneur.