Meeting Sasegbon, legendary Corona School ex-headteacher, & planning ahead

TUNDE OYEDOYIN  

Tunde Oyedoyin is a London-based personal finance coach and founder of Money Intelligence Coaching Academy, a specialist academy of personal finance. He can be reached as follows: +447846089587 (WhatsApp only); E-mail: tu5oyed@gmail.com

When, as we headed home after my mother’s birthday on the last Saturday of June, my sister-in- law, Yemi Bello and her husband, Joe Bello, asked if we wanted to go out first, yours truly was expecting them to mention the name of an exotic destination or venue.

So, together with Mrs O, I said let’s do it. The image of that ‘happily ever after’ place of relaxation was still there at the back of my mind. But as it turned out, it wasn’t for long.

Reason being that, soon after, while still around the Ojota end of Ikorodu Road, Pastor (Mrs) suggested popping over to see her former boss at Corona Schools, Mrs Laide Sasegbon. To be honest about it, I wasn’t particularly excited. Her husband, also a part-time pastor like the wife, quickly bought into the idea and before you could recite, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth …” sister-in-law was already on the phone to Sasegbon, (who they had long become close family friends with) informing her that they were coming to visit.

By then, it seemed as if yours truly in particular had entered “one chance”. About half an hour later, we were there at Sasegbon’s place. Her domestic staff know madam and the Bellos are good friends, so we were let into the building and ushered to the first floor with no questions asked. It seemed like home away from home for the Bellos. Thus, the Pastor (Mrs) only needed to introduce wife and I and our son after pleasantries.

Drinks and small chops were soon tabled. After about an hour of catching up with each other and including many rib cracking jokes and references to ageing, the grand maternal and headmistress instincts kicked in for Sasegbon, who then asked master T to come sit closer for a chat. 

“I like speaking to young people,” she told us. Perhaps, it slows down the ageing process. Anyway, during the conversation, one of the things that madam said to my son that jumped off was when she told him, “it’s always good to plan ahead.”

Though the masterclass was meant for him, yours truly knew that was worth building a life around. As a matter of fact, if you don’t want to live “miserably ever after,” you must plan ahead in this area of personal finance.

Here’s the thing. Let’s cut through to the chase by planning ahead even for Christmas. So, do you want to splash out a hundred grand (N100,000) on it or twice that. Do you plan on funding it with part of your November pay? Planning ahead could also mean reducing your level of debt from August. If, as suggested in last week’s piece, you’re eyeing a very tiny slice of Fidelity Bank’s shares or any other shares, that’s planning ahead .

That twelve thousand Naira can give you Access

Many times when I suggest putting as little as just two thousand Naira aside a month in savings is better than doing nothing, it may sound ridiculous. But trust me, it’s a lot better than having zero savings.

Watch this. Did you know that If you had saved only two thousand Naira per month in the first half of this year, you can also aim for a slice of Access Bank’s shares. Like Fidelity, they too are out in the market for recapitalisation. So, pop into a branch and ask for the forms. That’s how you plan ahead even with that insignificant amount of monthly savings.

By the way, neither of the two banks has sent me on this mission. I’m only asking you to plan ahead as Sasegbon advised.

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