Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Financial Literacy

Every Life Has Invisible Expenses

One of the easiest things in the world is to mistake an outcome for a story. A beautiful home. A thriving business. A failed marriage. A child in an expensive school. A forty-year-old with no savings. Someone who seems to have it all. Someone who appears to have fallen behind. We see the destination and instinctively begin filling in the journey. Hardworking. Lazy. Disciplined. Irresponsible. Lucky. Entitled. Deserving. Wasteful. Perhaps the most dangerous thing about human beings is not that we judge one another. It is how quickly we become certain that our judgment is correct. Because every life has invisible expenses. Not just financial ones. The kind that never appear on a bank statement or a résumé. Some are chosen. Some are imposed. Some are wise. Some are costly mistakes. Most are a complicated mixture of both. One person reaches middle age with very little savings because they spent years paying school fees for younger siblings. Another because they repeatedly made poor financi...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Hidden Cost of Your Returns: An Honest Look at Investment in Kenya

"It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable." — Molière I. The Promise of Profit Everywhere you turn in Kenya today, someone is encouraging you to invest. From financial influencers on TikTok to WhatsApp investment groups to that uncle who now owns three plots in Nanyuki — the message is loud and clear: "Don’t let your money sleep. Put it to work." We are living in the age of the investor. From TikTok to Telegram groups, from SACCO WhatsApp circles to finance podcasts, everyone seems to be an expert on how to grow your money. Bonds. Land. Money market funds. Buy shares. High yield apps. Crypto. Build apartments. Flip land.  And it sounds harmless. Who doesn’t want financial freedom, passive income, or generational wealth? But in our race to grow money, a hard question lurks in the shadows: Do we know where our money goes once we invest it? Do we care who or what it hurts on its way back to us as profit? II. A Brief H...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Do Kenyan Parents Hoard Their Inheritance?

In Kenya, inheritance is a mystery novel with missing pages. Parents buy land, build businesses, invest in property, but when you ask about the future, suddenly, it's 'God’s plan.' The same parents who struggle day and night to provide will let their children battle through terrible jobs instead of integrating them into family businesses. Why? The Kenyan Parent’s Mindset: “I Suffered, You Must Suffer Too” If you ask many Kenyan parents why they don’t teach their children about their businesses—whether it’s a successful dairy farm, a well-stocked kiosk, or a thriving matatu business—the answer is often, “Si mimi nilianza na zero, hata wewe utaanza na zero.” Translation? “I started from nothing, so should you.” This suffering Olympics mindset is why many Kenyans graduate straight into struggle while their parents have assets that could cushion them. Farming is for ‘Shamba Boys’ but Not Their Children Take a family that owns acres of farmland and makes a solid income from far...
Post a Comment
Read more

Should Religion and Business Be Miles Apart? A Brutally Honest Look at How Religion is Keeping Us Poor and Stuck

Religion is a powerful force in Kenya. It shapes our values, our work ethic, and even our politics. But somewhere along the way, we’ve been fed a twisted version of faith—one that glorifies suffering, discourages critical thinking, and keeps people broke. Let’s talk about how religion, especially in business, has been misused to keep us poor and stupid, and what we can actually do about it. The Prosperity Gospel Scam: Pray, Pay, Prosper? You’ve probably seen it: pastors rolling in brand-new SUVs, wearing designer suits, while their congregants walk home barefoot after giving their last KES 200 to “plant a seed.” The prosperity gospel tells people that if they tithe more, God will bless them financially. Yet, the only ones getting rich are the pastors. Meanwhile, the faithful remain in financial struggle, waiting for miracles instead of making smart money moves. The Reality: Giving 10% of your income to a church while struggling to pay rent won’t make you rich. God does not operate like...
Post a Comment
Read more

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Kenyan Home Ownership Madness: Dreams vs. Reality

Owning a home is a big dream for many Kenyans, but somewhere along the way, practicality has been thrown out the window. Too many people, driven by childhood aspirations or societal expectations, are constructing massive houses only to end up living like misers within them. Let’s break down why this trend makes little sense and what smarter, more sustainable homeownership looks like. The Harsh Reality of Owning a Big House in Kenya Many Kenyans, especially those who grew up in humble backgrounds, grew up being told to “dream big.” Unfortunately, this has translated into building unnecessarily large houses, often with rooms that remain unused, multiple verandahs gathering dust, and massive balconies that no one actually sits on. These houses cost millions to build, yet within a few years, the owners are struggling to maintain them, regretting their choices as they pour more money into renovations. If you need proof, just look at how many old houses in Nairobi remain unsold. No one wants...
4 comments
Read more

Daniel Arap Moi — The Shadow and the Shepherd: A Deep Dive into Kenya’s Second President

If Jomo Kenyatta was the founding father, Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi was the long-reigning stepfather — sometimes protective, often punitive, and almost always enigmatic. He ruled Kenya for 24 years, the longest of any president to date. To some, he was the gentle teacher, Mwalimu , who kept the nation from tearing apart. To others, he was the architect of a surveillance state, a master of patronage and fear, the man who perfected repression through calm. This is a portrait of Daniel Arap Moi — not just as a ruler, but as a man shaped by modest beginnings, colonial violence, and the hunger for order in a chaotic time. Early Life: The Boy from Sacho Daniel Arap Moi was born on September 2, 1924, in Kurieng’wo, Baringo, in Kenya’s Rift Valley. He came from the Tugen sub-group of the Kalenjin community. His father died when he was just four. Raised by his uncle, Moi’s early life was marked by hardship, discipline, and deep Christian missionary influence. He trained as a teacher at Tambach ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Know Thyself: The Quiet Power of Naming Your Nature

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” — Carl Jung We live in a culture that equates good intentions with goodness, and ambition with ability. But very few people in Kenya—or anywhere—truly know what they are made of. We can name our qualifications and our dreams. But ask someone their vices or virtues, and they hesitate. Worse, they lie. The Danger of Self-Unawareness In Kenya today, many of us are wandering through life making choices—big, small, and irreversible—without truly understanding who we are. We end up in jobs we despise, relationships we shouldn’t be in, or positions of influence we aren’t emotionally or ethically equipped for. And at the root of this dysfunction is a simple truth: we don’t know ourselves. This is not a spiritual or abstract dilemma. It’s a deeply practical one. To know oneself is to understand your vices, your virtues, your weaknesses, and your strengths—not in a vague sense, but in detail. Let’s ge...
Post a Comment
Read more
🥤 Buy Me a Soda