Alfred Mathu

One of the most expensive financial mistakes a parent can make is waiting until their child is ready for university to start thinking about how to pay for it. By then, the dream is clear. The child has worked hard, the university has been identified, and the family is ready to take the next step. But there is one problem: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝. Parents know their children will eventually need an education. What many do not appreciate is the amount of money required to finance that education, particularly when a child wants to pursue a specialised course such as medicine or engineering. The mistake is not necessarily failing to afford the education. It is failing to prepare for the cost early enough. Think about it this way. When a child is born, a parent has approximately 18 years before university enrolment. Those years are not just a countdown to school admission. They are an opportunity to build a fund towards a clearly defined goal. This is where financial planning changes the conversation. Instead of asking, “Where will I get the money when my child is ready for university?” the better question is, “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐭?” When I advise parents on education planning, I encourage them to establish a target, determine their investment horizon and identify a structured way to accumulate the required funds. If the goal is to have 10,000,000 million available in 18 years, the plan must account for the amount required, the time available and the effect of inflation. The cost of education today may not be the cost of education 18 years from now. The earlier you begin, the more time you have to build the fund gradually. You also have more room to adjust your contributions as your income grows and your circumstances change. But there is another consideration that parents must not overlook. A good education plan must account for what could go wrong, not just what you hope will go right. Imagine a parent who has been consistently setting money aside for a child’s education. Then, along the way, the parent experiences a disability, a critical illness or dies before the target is reached Without appropriate financial protection, years of disciplined saving could be disrupted, leaving the child’s education exposed to circumstances beyond the family’s control. Now, what if your child is already in primary or secondary school and you have not started? My advice is simple: 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰. You may not have the same amount of time as a parent whose child has just been born, and achieving the same target may require substantially larger contributions. But delaying further only reduces the time available to prepare. Your child should not have to abandon a well-earned opportunity simply because the financial preparation began too late. Your child’s education deserves a plan, not a last-minute scramble.

The polished shoes, the expensive perfume and the impressive job title may tell you that someone is doing well. Their bank balance, outstanding loans and investment portfolio might tell a very different story. Look closely at some of your salaried friends. They dress well. Their suits are sharply pressed, their dresses are elegant, and they smell of the finest perfumes. They drive to work, attend meetings and carry themselves with the confidence of people who appear to have their finances in order. From the outside, they seem to be doing well. But look a little closer. Some are knee-deep in debt. Their salaries arrive with several claims already waiting: a bank loan, a car repayment, rent, school fees, mobile loans and money owed to friends. They have little in savings and barely any investments to their names. Yet, because a salary arrives every month, they feel financially secure. Until the salary runs out. The last week of the month becomes a struggle. Unexpected expenses trigger panic. Borrowing becomes a temporary solution, and the next payday offers relief before the cycle begins again. This is the uncomfortable reality of financial sickness: you can look financially successful while your finances are quietly falling apart. Imagine working for twenty years, earning progressively better salaries, only to reach a point where losing your job means you cannot maintain your household for even three months. What exactly have those twenty years of earnings built? This is why I encourage people to look beyond their salaries and examine what remains after the money has done its work. How much debt have you accumulated? What savings have you built? What investments are growing in your name? How prepared are you for retirement? If your income stopped today, how long could you maintain your lifestyle without borrowing? One statement I hear repeatedly is that budgeting is impossible unless you earn a certain amount. “You cannot budget on that salary!” Someone earning 30,000 says they cannot budget. Another earning 80,000 says the same thing. Sometimes, even someone earning 200,000 insists that their income is too small to accommodate a financial plan. There is a difference between earning too little to comfortably meet your essential needs and spending without a clear understanding of where your money goes. A budget will not magically make an inadequate income sufficient. It will however help you see your situation clearly. It can reveal whether your essential expenses exceed your income, whether your lifestyle has become too expensive, whether debt repayments are consuming too much of your salary and where adjustments may be possible. Without that information, you are making financial decisions in the dark. You cannot solve a problem you refuse to examine. Saying that you cannot budget because you do not earn enough is a convenient justification for avoiding the exercise altogether. The first step towards financial wellness is acceptance you must be willing to admit that you have not managed your money well, that your debt has become excessive, that you have neglected saving and investing, or that your spending habits are working against your long-term goals. There is no wisdom in continuing down a path that has consistently produced results you are unhappy with simply because it is familiar. If your current way of managing money is not giving you the life you want, why are you so determined to keep doing things the same way? You sought education to improve your career. You seek medical attention when your health requires it. There is equal value in seeking guidance when you need to strengthen your financial position.

You can spend three hours on social media and still learn nothing that improves your life or you can come across one idea that changes how you think about money forever. That is the interesting thing about social media. Every day, we have access to an incredible amount of information, yet it is possible to scroll for hours, watch video after video, and walk away with nothing meaningful to show for the time spent. Meanwhile, there are people trying to figure out how to acquire their first 1,000,000. There are parents wondering how they will finance their children’s education, and professionals earning good salaries but struggling to build wealth. What they need is not another source of entertainment. They need the right information, explained in a way they can understand and apply. That is why I make it a point to share financial insights across my social media platforms. If something I share helps someone rethink a spending habit, start investing, prepare for retirement or make a better financial decision, then the effort is worthwhile. We are taking that conversation a step further. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Rick Okinda, CPA, host of The Executive Review Podcast for a conversation that I am looking forward to sharing with you. We discussed ideas that I believe will be valuable to anyone interested in understanding money and making more informed financial decisions. The episode will be out soon, so keep an eye on this space. Until then, the next time you find yourself scrolling, ask yourself one simple question: 𝐀𝐦 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞? The difference between where you are financially and where you want to be begins with a lesson you have not yet learned.

Your salary needs a plan before your expenses take over. Rent, school fees, family responsibilities and lifestyle will always compete for your money. Without a clear budget, you may find yourself earning every month but making little progress financially. I believe every shilling should have an assignment: some for emergencies, some for investments, some for your future, and some to enjoy today. Give your money direction, or your expenses will give it one. The question is simple: Are you telling your money where to go, or wondering where it went?

Watch the full episode: youtu.be/QDbKLSfxJYE?si=tApM…

I met a young lawyer who had taken a mortgage to acquire a Ksh.16,000,000 property but his rental income was only Ksh.72,000 a month. Despite owning a valuable asset, he was struggling financially! After looking at the numbers, I advised him to consider a difficult decision: selling the property before the situation became worse. Here's a lesson every property investor should understand: owning an asset worth millions doesn't automatically mean you're building wealth. The numbers must make sense. Your investments should support your financial goals, not put your financial stability at risk. If you were in his position, would you sell or hold on to the property?

Have you ever checked your M-Pesa balance, only to realise that the money you had a few days ago has almost disappeared? You look at your phone in disbelief. The balance was healthy just the other day. Now you are staring at a few hundred shillings, wondering what happened. The strange thing is that you cannot remember doing anything major with the money. You haven’t bought a car, paid school fees or made any significant purchase. Just a few transactions here, a few purchases there, some money sent to a friend, a little shopping, lunch, transport and perhaps a weekend outing. Nothing that felt particularly expensive. Yet somehow, the money is gone. It is almost as though it evaporated straight from your M-Pesa account, leaving no trace of where it went. And you are left asking yourself, “Hii pesa ilienda wapi?” You have probably heard people say, “Pesa hujitafutia kazi.” Money always seems to find something to do. And that is precisely the problem. Money will always find somewhere to go if you don’t decide where it should go first. There will always be another bill to pay, something to buy, someone to help or an opportunity to spend. By the time you remember your savings and investment goals, there may be very little left to work with. If you are keen you will see this pattern. Someone receives their salary with every intention of saving and investing that month. They start by paying a few bills, handle some personal expenses and attend to the things that cannot wait. As the days go by, more expenses appear. Then one day, they check their phone and wonder how a seemingly comfortable balance became a double-digit figure. This is why I encourage people to 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. Before your income arrives, decide how much needs to go towards your savings, investments, emergency fund and other financial goals. Once the money comes in, allocate those amounts before everyday expenses begin claiming their share. The amount will depend on your income, responsibilities and goals. I recommend 25%, but you may start with 10%, 20% or whatever is realistic for your circumstances. What matters is making the decision deliberately and sticking to it. You should also pay attention to where the rest of your money goes. Review your M-Pesa statements and bank transactions. You may discover that several small, ordinary expenses are taking up a significant part of your income. Once you can see the pattern, you can decide what needs to change. You don’t have to stop enjoying your money. You simply need to make sure that your present lifestyle does not consume everything you could be using to build your future. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞. I invite you to a one-on-one financial review where we can examine your income, spending habits, financial obligations and existing investments, identify possible leaks and explore suitable investment options aligned with your goals.

Imagine your child gets into their dream university tomorrow. Can your finances keep up with their dreams? Then comes the question: Can you afford to give them that opportunity? Imagine discovering that educating your child at their dream university abroad could cost as much as KSh 50 million. Would your current savings and investments be enough to meet that cost? Every parent wants to give their child the best possible start in life. But while the dream of a good education is clear, the financial plan to make it possible is often left for another day. That is why I encourage parents to start planning from the day their children are born. Eighteen years gives you valuable time to set a target, invest consistently and build towards the amount you will need. But saving alone is not enough. You also need to consider what would happen if an unexpected event affected your ability to provide. Appropriate insurance protection can help safeguard your child's education plan, depending on the cover and policy terms. You might be asking yourself, "what if my child is already in primary or secondary school?" You can still assess the costs, review your current resources and develop a realistic plan for the years remaining. The important thing is to understand your goal, choose investments suited to your circumstances and know the terms before committing your money. Your child's education should not depend entirely on how much money you happen to have when university admission arrives. Start building towards that future today. Let me ask you: How old was your child when you first started planning financially for their university education? 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐞𝐭? I can help you set an education savings target and structure an investment plan tailored to your goals, budget and timeline. Comment “EDUCATION” below, and let’s start planning for your child’s future today.