September 27, 2024 • 29 mins
Continuing the series on money management, this episode delves into the essential knowledge about money that everyone needs. I discussed why financial literacy is as crucial as oxygen and how it empowers us to live better. You'll learn practical steps to improve your financial situation, regardless of your current income. Discover why wealth is money not seen, the importance of starting from where you are, and how your money can grow just as fast as your kids.
You’ll also learn the significance of treating your current work or business as your primary financial resource. Get inspired by real-life stories and actionable tips that can make a difference in your financial future.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We are here today to talk about how you get knowledge about money.
You know, money knowledge, because we all need it, including me.
I'm still learning. We all need it.
There's a popular quote by someone that he said, money is not everything, but it's like oxygen.
(00:21):
It's not everything, but it's like, that means it's very important.
You know, hardly can we do anything without money, right? Right.
Without cash, without dollars.
So the more we know, have knowledge,
the more we know about some things we can do to improve the money,
(00:41):
you know, to make us have more so that we can live better, the better for us. Right.
All of us. So we're going to cover.
These are the things we're going
to cover. I'm going to do a little bit of more introduction about me.
I'll tell you more about me and why are we, you know, why are we,
(01:02):
why am I teaching this today? I'll talk about it briefly.
You know, I'm going to cover this. Usually I teach based on eight topics,
but because of our time today, I don't want to bore you.
I don't want to make it too long.
So I just put some here. Wealth is money, not sin.
That's, I teach that. Start from where you are, no matter what you are earning right now.
(01:26):
I don't care. $5, just start from where you are.
You don't have to wait until you get, you know, thousands and millions. Start now.
Your money grows as fast as your kids. You know, we all know that children,
we can all relate to children grow quickly.
Like I was just saying how my, sometimes I still think about my seven-year-old
(01:49):
CE. year. I still said five years.
She's seven now. I still think of her like she's five because they've grown, they grow so quickly.
And that's the same way money grows. And I'm going to explain it to you why I believe that.
And your business, whatever your hand is doing now, whether you're an homemaker,
(02:12):
whether anything that you're doing now, that's your money. And I will explain.
And then I'm going to end my presentation with what you can do today.
What can you do now? Because I'm all about, you know.
I'm not just going to talk, talk, talk, talk. No, I'll guide you into little
(02:32):
things that you can do now that will make a difference in your life maybe five
years later, 10 years later, 20 years later.
And then we'll go into the question and answer.
When I get to this place, then I'll switch off my video.
It's recording me right now. I'll switch it off so that we can talk to each
other about, you know, any questions that you have and all, okay?
(02:53):
But if at any point you want to stop me, to ask me anything, then feel free. Okay.
So who is Zola Williams?
Who am I to teach you about money? I am a certified accountant.
You know who an accountant is? I am a qualified accountant. I qualified in 2006.
(03:14):
So that's 2006 is about 18 years ago or so, almost 20 years ago.
That's when I qualified as an accountant.
I have a business here in Pictou County. The name of my business is Cornish's Variety.
It's in Trenton. It's a small convenience store that I bought in 2020.
(03:37):
And I speak, I have a podcast as well. And I speak about financial literacy.
And I speak about how you can start your business.
I speak about if you want to buy a business or if you want to save towards starting your own business.
I speak about all those things. And because I've had the, you know,
(03:58):
the opportunity to speak to owners of businesses and to speak to people like
you, like me, about money,
there are things I have, you know, gained over the years that I know from my
personal experiences and from speaking with people that I want to pay forward.
(04:20):
That's why I'm here today to teach you about that money management.
So that's a little bit about me.
And so we'll start with, first of all, you know, we are here,
the topic is financial literacy.
What is financial literacy?
I see it as, in simple terms, financial literacy is, you know,
(04:42):
I always tell people money is very emotional.
If I have $50, you have $50, you know, other, do you have $50?
You have $50, you have $50. Everybody here has $50 each.
We're all going to spend it differently. I can tell you that.
(05:04):
And I spend it. And how you spend it, how you spend it, how you spend it, it's not wrong.
Because we all have different, you know, emotions.
We all have different situations, different circumstances, right?
So money is very psychological.
There's no right way. way, oh, this is $50, Ola.
(05:28):
This is how you must spend it. Well, if you tell me this is how you must spend
it, I may not be happy with that. I have to spend it the way I'm happy with, right?
And once I spend it the way I'm happy with, as long as I spend it the way I'm
happy with, that it will make me better. Am I too fast?
Okay, I'll slow down. As long as I spend that $50, I'll slow down.
(05:52):
As long as I spend that $50 in a way that will make me happy,
And in a way that will make my family happy and will make my money situation
better, then that's fine.
And that's why I'm here. That's what we are learning today.
(06:12):
That money that you have or that you will have,
what are the things you should know so that as you have the money,
you can make your decisions in a way that will make you happy and in a way that
will make your family happy.
And then I also, financial literacy is also about, you know,
(06:35):
life is all about ups and downs.
What that means is sometimes things are good, sometimes things are not so good.
And that's life.
So when you have this teaching, yeah, when things are not so good,
you will have the confidence that you will have the faith that, oh,
(07:01):
as long as I'm breathing, it's fine.
I'm not going to give up. As long as I'm breathing, it's fine.
As long as I'm not dead yet, I'm fine. So that is financial literacy.
When you have the confidence that tomorrow, no matter where I am today,
(07:22):
no matter what money I am earning today, whether it's government benefit,
whether whatever my job is,
whether it's family giving me money, money
whether it's a job I have whatever having that
confidence and that faith that as
long as I am not dead I'm going
(07:44):
to be better that is financial literacy and that is what I'm that is what I'm
teaching today it makes a whole lot of difference when you have that confidence
that these are going to be better as long as we are breathing so you know I
have an ATL we all You all know an ATM, right? No.
(08:04):
I have one in my business. I will try and go slowly.
And when the people that put it in my store, when they came.
They told me, Hola, this is your ATM.
You put money in it. The money you put in it is going to be known to only you.
Now, they told me the password to that ATM is only known by me.
(08:29):
They said, Ola, if you forget the password, we can't help you.
We will have to bring Amaham, break the ATM.
We'll have to smash it. Because they told me, Ola, if you forget the password,
we can't open this ATM for you.
So make sure you keep the password very safe.
And the reason why they do that is because to make it safe.
(08:52):
Because the money in the ATM in my store, I have the responsibility to keep it safe.
Now, when customers come into the store to use the money to put their card and
use the ATM, do they know how much is inside there that I have inside the ATM?
Do they know how much money I've put in there? They don't.
(09:12):
They don't know. They don't know how much money. Only me know.
Only me. I only know the amount of money in there. But when they come,
they trust that Allah should have put money there.
And they put their card and they take $20, $100, whatever money they need.
Now, the way I see it, and this is very powerful, honestly, believe me. Your money, yeah?
(09:39):
Just like the money in the ATM is not seen by customers, is not seen by you
when you go and use the ATM, your personal money should not be seen by everybody.
That's the way you grow it. It should be eating.
It should be, excuse me, you know, some people believe, oh, if I wear a flashy
(10:00):
dress, if I wear flashy clothes, if I drive flashy cars, if that is,
you know, like I said, money is very personal.
I don't have anything against it. But from my experience and from speaking with people, you know,
How you make, you know, decisions that will make you happy is when you know
that your money is like money in an ATM.
(10:23):
Known to you only. That is real wealth.
Then you take it as you need it, right? But only you know it.
It's not exposed to people. You know it and you make your decisions that way.
You know, when we go into the questions and answer, I'm going to talk a little bit about budgeting.
(10:47):
When I say only you know it, that's where budgeting comes in.
Budgeting is simply you planning how much money is coming or how much money
you expect to have and then how much money you think you are going to spend.
That's budgeting. You're planning it. You can write it on a paper.
(11:08):
There's a government, you know, there's a hub by Government of Canada that I'm
going to show you that is very easy to use and it plans your money for you and you can use it that way.
It's very powerful because that way you are in control of your money because
that hub that the Government of Canada has done,
(11:29):
you've put how you're going to
spend your money or the money that you're expecting that is going to come.
And then, so if something comes that you're thinking, oh, should I get this? Should I not get this?
You are in control because you've already planned it ahead, right?
That's the power of budgeting.
And that's part of the principle of me showing this ATM so that you know that
(11:53):
your money is real wealth.
How you blow your money is really hidden. And it doesn't, what matters is you
and your family, that you're going to be happy at the end of the day.
What outsiders think doesn't really matter. Okay.
So I visually like to say very, this is very important.
(12:17):
That starts from where, because when I speak to people, people think,
oh, Ola, I'm going to, I'm a, I'm a store attendants now. Now,
I work in Cornish's Variety. I'm earning so little.
I'm going to wait until I earn a lot of money before I start putting some money away.
No, start from where you are right now.
(12:40):
And I will share a very little story. Just several years ago,
over 10 years ago or 15 years ago, I was in a class like this.
Where I was working before. And some people like Hola came to my place of work
to teach me financial literacy like this.
And so they said, I wasn't earning a lot. I was earning very little.
(13:05):
But when they finished that presentation that day, they said, do something today.
You know, do something. They encourage us to start putting some money away,
no matter what, even if it's $1, even if it doesn't matter.
Just put something away. So I made that decision to start. I opened up.
They were a bank. You know a bank?
(13:28):
The people that came, they were staff of a bank. So they came.
And I opened an account with them that day. That was over 15 years ago.
And that was all the way even in Nigeria, not here.
Now, I put in very little. I'm telling you, the amount of money,
it wasn't even up to $1. that I was putting away every month into that account.
(13:51):
Now, a lot of things have happened over those 15 years.
Over those 15 years, along the line, my husband lost his job.
Along the line, I went to UK to study.
We moved to Canada. A lot has happened. So I've not been able to continue to
put that money in there because we've moved away from Nigeria, right? Right.
(14:15):
But that money I put in there that time because of the decision I made that
day is still there today.
Nothing happened to it. And the returns on that money, I think I was sharing
with Catalina, is enough to pay my son's phone bill every month.
(14:35):
You know, it's little, but it's something. And that's what I teach.
It's very little, but it's something. And that's the principle.
Like, it's not, it just makes, you know, that's one of my expenses taken care of, right?
One of the ways I need to spend money taken care of. Because I did something,
you know, over 15 years ago.
(14:55):
So just like this, you know, this seed, you know, when you plant this seed, does anybody see it?
Nobody sees it when you plant it. It's not, it's not visible.
And then you wait. And then you water it. Just like a farmer, right?
And then, you know, no matter little, I even tell people, even if you are collecting
(15:19):
benefit, put a little bit of it.
Maybe 50 cents, $1, put it away.
And, you know, I will talk more about that when we are having the question and answer.
There's this quote I like, and I put it here.
So let's, you can write, I think we should write this down, if you don't mind. Let's write this down.
(15:40):
Big things have small beginnings. You wrote it down. Yes.
Let's write it down. Big things have small beginnings.
And I think we're all parents, right? So we can know.
When I gave birth to my 15-year-old, he was such a little boy.
(16:04):
Baby. Now he's taller than me now.
That's the same. Every big thing, even me, Ola, that I'm speaking,
there was a time my mother gave birth to me.
I was a baby, like your son.
And now, I'm a woman.
That's the way you should look at money.
Yeah? You know, when I started, I said, financial resilience,
(16:28):
having the confidence as long as you are alive, that things are going to be better.
The same way Ola was born, you were born several years ago and now you are a full-grown adult.
Adults that's the same way your money grows and
when you are reminded of that you have more
confidence you'll be happy no matter what that oh Allah told me that big things
(16:52):
have small beginnings so I have you know whatever money I have now it can grow
into big thing just like a baby grows into an adult,
right? Are we all done? Can I move it?
Yeah? Okay. Good.
So, like, you know, I've said it, our money grows as fast as your kids.
(17:15):
And the reason why I teach this is as parents, we can relate to this,
because we all have, we have kids, and those of us that don't have kids,
at least we, at one time we were, We were a kid, we were a child, and now we are grown.
Now, like a baby, you can take a picture if you want, a baby grows into a toddler,
(17:40):
grows into a preteen, grows into a teenager.
And I can tell you there's a big difference between preteen and a teenager.
When they are not yet a teenager, they will listen to you.
When they are a teenager, no. No. One of my friends told me that when she was
growing up, she's 50 years old now.
(18:00):
She said when she was a teenager, she said her dad put something in her room
and said, children, since you know everything, since you know everything in this house.
The water bill, this is the water bill, pay it, you know, because they know everything.
And then after, when they are past teenage years, they start listening to you again, right?
(18:25):
Yeah. But then when they are like this, a teenager, they're not like your baby,
like your baby will listen to you now.
Anything you tell your baby, they will listen to you. When you,
you know, over 50, like the same, because, you know, I told you I attended a
workshop just like this, like over 15 years ago.
I told you that I put some money away and that money now is not too big,
(18:50):
but it is bigger than the way I started it.
Now, the lady that came, just like me, she came into my workplace to teach financial literacy like this.
So after the class, then I went to her, just like Ola is teaching you now.
And then I told you know, I was still in Nigeria then.
I said, I'm thinking about, I want my child, my son that is now 15 years.
(19:16):
He was my only child then. I said, I want him to have a good education.
And I was dreaming big. I said, I want him to study in the United States.
And I was still living in Nigeria.
And I said, I told her, I said, can you do like a plan for me so that I know
how much I need to be putting away now so that when he's ready to go to college,
(19:40):
I can, you know, I can afford it.
And you know what? She did the plan for me free of charge.
And that's one other thing I want to tell you. Do you know that you have a bank?
You have a bank, you have a bank, you have a bank, you have a bank.
Do you know that in your bank, I can bet, if you, you know, after this teaching
(20:01):
today, if you call your bank and tell them you want to speak to a financial advisor,
most likely you'll get like 30 minutes free consultation.
I can bet it. But many people don't know. After this teaching,
when you have the time, call them and tell them
just tell them you want to talk you know
like that lady 15 years ago she did the plan for
(20:24):
me free most times these people financial
advisors people that work in the bank what
they are they are qualified right most times they can do it for you without
collecting any money so at least you know you know if if you know you dream
big this is what i want for my son on 15 years later, tell them.
(20:48):
They will do a plan for you and then you know, then you can start working towards it.
Okay. So that's one thing you can do after this teaching and,
you know, connect with me, call me afterwards.
If, if they are not able to teach you that, I have phone number, I will give it to you.
You know, call your bank, tell them I attended the financial literacy class,
(21:11):
I just, can you, I want to talk to a financial advisor.
I'm sure they would speak to you without taking any money from you and you will be better.
Okay. You don't have to do everything they have to tell you,
but at least you will know something that's going to be better for you. Okay.
Yeah. So that, that time, like I was saying, I met with the lady that came to
(21:36):
teach financial literacy, just like this.
You know, I told you, they came to my office then.
After the class, I met her and I told her, I have a dream of my son going to
a college in the United States.
And I was still in Nigeria. So she did a plan for me.
And she did it based on what I was earning in my office. And I was earning very little.
(21:57):
Believe me, very little. So she did it. And then I started putting that money away towards that.
Okay, if I put this, so she told me, all right, you can put this away every month.
Every month, your child will be able to go to the United States in 15 years
time. So I was putting that money.
Now, like I said, things change, right?
(22:21):
I didn't go to the United States. I came to Canada, but that account is still there.
I opened in Nigeria years ago, I still have that plan. That account is still there.
And, you know, that money in that account, it can even, it can serve as a down
payment towards a payment of a house today that I did several years ago.
(22:44):
And I can tell you, because I moved away from Nigeria, I stopped putting money
there just because I moved to Canada, right?
But because I did it Those years ago, and she did it for me,
it didn't cost anything for her to do that plan for me.
The only thing is I had to discipline myself.
I had to tell myself, Ola, you have to discipline yourself.
(23:08):
You have to be putting this little, little money away if you want your child,
if you want your son to go to the United States to go and study.
So it seemed like sometimes when I look at that money in that account, it's like yesterday.
Today but because but it's
like 15 years ago my son is now
15 years imagine if i
(23:28):
didn't do it like it look you know you know what i'm trying to say children
grow very fast but the reality is the years have passed right it looks like
they grow fast in our eyes but the the full 15 years have passed.
And that's how, you know, your money can work for you.
(23:51):
If you look at it with the how a child grows, because you are raising your child,
you will even forget that you have that money there.
Okay. That's one of the powerful things about it because you are busy raising your child.
You will forget them. You know, you are busy taking care of your son.
You're busy taking care of your daughter.
So if you put some money there for them, you forget it's there and And you continue, you continue.
(24:15):
By the time your child is like 13 years old or 15 years old,
you say, ah, thank God I did this several years ago.
That's how powerful that concept is.
So the next thing I usually say concerning financial literacy,
your business is your money.
You know, a lot of us leave money on the table.
(24:38):
And I'm going to tell you why I say this. You know, I have a store in Trenton there.
Let me tell you, no matter your job, whether you're a cashier,
whether you are cleaning, there is always more money to be earned.
And I'll tell you a little story. So in my business place,
(25:01):
I will be happy with any of my workers that are thinking like me.
They are thinking like they are doing that business, my store, like their home.
They are doing the store like they own the store. I will be happy with them
(25:22):
and I will pay them more money.
But sometimes they don't know this. You know, there was a time in my store,
I have a staff and I was thinking, and I was thinking of promoting the staff.
I was thinking of giving the staff more work.
So I told the staff, oh, can you do this? Can you do that?
(25:46):
But because sometimes, because she doesn't know my mind, right?
Maybe she's thinking, oh, this is all I can do right now.
She did not embrace, she didn't take those things I was telling her to do.
And unknown to her, I wanted to give her more work and to give her more money.
(26:09):
Do you understand what I'm saying? In your place of work, there's always more money on the table.
I challenge you. There's always more money on it if you can think like the owner of that business.
No matter what you're doing, whether you're taking care of a home,
whether you're working in a store, whether you're working in a bank,
(26:33):
whether you're driving, no matter your job, or even if you don't have a job,
what you're doing in your house right now, that's your business.
I tell some people, they are surprised when I tell them. I said,
I say, excuse me, even if you don't have a job, if you are taking,
if you are raising your children, right?
(26:55):
Raise them right. That's your business.
Whatever you are doing, that's your business. And it has the power to give you
more money. And that's why I said that story.
Like the staff that was working in my business, she didn't know that I planned
on giving her more money. She didn't know.
(27:18):
But I planned on giving her more money if only she could take on what I wanted
to give to her, you know, the job I wanted to give to her.
If she was open to the change, I planned on many businesses because,
you know, I told you when I started the class, I said, I speak to business owners like myself.
From all the interviews, all the business owners I speak to,
(27:41):
like people that own businesses like me, they are always willing to give their workers more money.
Honestly, trust me on this.
I'm a business owner. They are always willing to give if only their workers can think, like,
you know, do the business like their own and make the person that owns the business there's.
(28:07):
Make their job easier, you get more money that way.
Whatever your hand is finding to do today, whatever, that is your business and that is your money.
Do we understand that? That is your money. We can have time to,
you know, to ask questions about that.
(28:27):
I, you know, Charlie, tell me, oh, hold on, you said this.
I did this. Tell me, I'm telling you because I have interviewed people And I leave it.
Whatever your business is, whatever you're doing right now, there is more money there. Honestly.
If you look very well, there is more money there. And you can grow your money that way. Okay?
(28:51):
Now, I have been talking. The way to get started is to quit talking and begin
doing. I've talked too much.
Now we are going to start doing something. Okay? Okay?
We are here today to talk about how you get knowledge about money.
You know, money knowledge, because we all need it, including me.
I'm still learning. We all need it.
There's a popular quote by someone that he said, money is not everything, but it's like oxygen.
(00:21):
It's not everything, but it's like, that means it's very important.
You know, hardly can we do anything without money, right? Right.
Without cash, without dollars.
So the more we know, have knowledge,
the more we know about some things we can do to improve the money,
(00:41):
you know, to make us have more so that we can live better, the better for us. Right.
All of us. So we're going to cover.
These are the things we're going
to cover. I'm going to do a little bit of more introduction about me.
I'll tell you more about me and why are we, you know, why are we,
(01:02):
why am I teaching this today? I'll talk about it briefly.
You know, I'm going to cover this. Usually I teach based on eight topics,
but because of our time today, I don't want to bore you.
I don't want to make it too long.
So I just put some here. Wealth is money, not sin.
That's, I teach that. Start from where you are, no matter what you are earning right now.
(01:26):
I don't care. $5, just start from where you are.
You don't have to wait until you get, you know, thousands and millions. Start now.
Your money grows as fast as your kids. You know, we all know that children,
we can all relate to children grow quickly.
Like I was just saying how my, sometimes I still think about my seven-year-old
(01:49):
CE. year. I still said five years.
She's seven now. I still think of her like she's five because they've grown, they grow so quickly.
And that's the same way money grows. And I'm going to explain it to you why I believe that.
And your business, whatever your hand is doing now, whether you're an homemaker,
(02:12):
whether anything that you're doing now, that's your money. And I will explain.
And then I'm going to end my presentation with what you can do today.
What can you do now? Because I'm all about, you know.
I'm not just going to talk, talk, talk, talk. No, I'll guide you into little
(02:32):
things that you can do now that will make a difference in your life maybe five
years later, 10 years later, 20 years later.
And then we'll go into the question and answer.
When I get to this place, then I'll switch off my video.
It's recording me right now. I'll switch it off so that we can talk to each
other about, you know, any questions that you have and all, okay?
(02:53):
But if at any point you want to stop me, to ask me anything, then feel free. Okay.
So who is Zola Williams?
Who am I to teach you about money? I am a certified accountant.
You know who an accountant is? I am a qualified accountant. I qualified in 2006.
(03:14):
So that's 2006 is about 18 years ago or so, almost 20 years ago.
That's when I qualified as an accountant.
I have a business here in Pictou County. The name of my business is Cornish's Variety.
It's in Trenton. It's a small convenience store that I bought in 2020.
(03:37):
And I speak, I have a podcast as well. And I speak about financial literacy.
And I speak about how you can start your business.
I speak about if you want to buy a business or if you want to save towards starting your own business.
I speak about all those things. And because I've had the, you know,
(03:58):
the opportunity to speak to owners of businesses and to speak to people like
you, like me, about money,
there are things I have, you know, gained over the years that I know from my
personal experiences and from speaking with people that I want to pay forward.
(04:20):
That's why I'm here today to teach you about that money management.
So that's a little bit about me.
And so we'll start with, first of all, you know, we are here,
the topic is financial literacy.
What is financial literacy?
I see it as, in simple terms, financial literacy is, you know,
(04:42):
I always tell people money is very emotional.
If I have $50, you have $50, you know, other, do you have $50?
You have $50, you have $50. Everybody here has $50 each.
We're all going to spend it differently. I can tell you that.
(05:04):
And I spend it. And how you spend it, how you spend it, how you spend it, it's not wrong.
Because we all have different, you know, emotions.
We all have different situations, different circumstances, right?
So money is very psychological.
There's no right way. way, oh, this is $50, Ola.
(05:28):
This is how you must spend it. Well, if you tell me this is how you must spend
it, I may not be happy with that. I have to spend it the way I'm happy with, right?
And once I spend it the way I'm happy with, as long as I spend it the way I'm
happy with, that it will make me better. Am I too fast?
Okay, I'll slow down. As long as I spend that $50, I'll slow down.
(05:52):
As long as I spend that $50 in a way that will make me happy,
And in a way that will make my family happy and will make my money situation
better, then that's fine.
And that's why I'm here. That's what we are learning today.
(06:12):
That money that you have or that you will have,
what are the things you should know so that as you have the money,
you can make your decisions in a way that will make you happy and in a way that
will make your family happy.
And then I also, financial literacy is also about, you know,
(06:35):
life is all about ups and downs.
What that means is sometimes things are good, sometimes things are not so good.
And that's life.
So when you have this teaching, yeah, when things are not so good,
you will have the confidence that you will have the faith that, oh,
(07:01):
as long as I'm breathing, it's fine.
I'm not going to give up. As long as I'm breathing, it's fine.
As long as I'm not dead yet, I'm fine. So that is financial literacy.
When you have the confidence that tomorrow, no matter where I am today,
(07:22):
no matter what money I am earning today, whether it's government benefit,
whether whatever my job is,
whether it's family giving me money, money
whether it's a job I have whatever having that
confidence and that faith that as
long as I am not dead I'm going
(07:44):
to be better that is financial literacy and that is what I'm that is what I'm
teaching today it makes a whole lot of difference when you have that confidence
that these are going to be better as long as we are breathing so you know I
have an ATL we all You all know an ATM, right? No.
(08:04):
I have one in my business. I will try and go slowly.
And when the people that put it in my store, when they came.
They told me, Hola, this is your ATM.
You put money in it. The money you put in it is going to be known to only you.
Now, they told me the password to that ATM is only known by me.
(08:29):
They said, Ola, if you forget the password, we can't help you.
We will have to bring Amaham, break the ATM.
We'll have to smash it. Because they told me, Ola, if you forget the password,
we can't open this ATM for you.
So make sure you keep the password very safe.
And the reason why they do that is because to make it safe.
(08:52):
Because the money in the ATM in my store, I have the responsibility to keep it safe.
Now, when customers come into the store to use the money to put their card and
use the ATM, do they know how much is inside there that I have inside the ATM?
Do they know how much money I've put in there? They don't.
(09:12):
They don't know. They don't know how much money. Only me know.
Only me. I only know the amount of money in there. But when they come,
they trust that Allah should have put money there.
And they put their card and they take $20, $100, whatever money they need.
Now, the way I see it, and this is very powerful, honestly, believe me. Your money, yeah?
(09:39):
Just like the money in the ATM is not seen by customers, is not seen by you
when you go and use the ATM, your personal money should not be seen by everybody.
That's the way you grow it. It should be eating.
It should be, excuse me, you know, some people believe, oh, if I wear a flashy
(10:00):
dress, if I wear flashy clothes, if I drive flashy cars, if that is,
you know, like I said, money is very personal.
I don't have anything against it. But from my experience and from speaking with people, you know,
How you make, you know, decisions that will make you happy is when you know
that your money is like money in an ATM.
(10:23):
Known to you only. That is real wealth.
Then you take it as you need it, right? But only you know it.
It's not exposed to people. You know it and you make your decisions that way.
You know, when we go into the questions and answer, I'm going to talk a little bit about budgeting.
(10:47):
When I say only you know it, that's where budgeting comes in.
Budgeting is simply you planning how much money is coming or how much money
you expect to have and then how much money you think you are going to spend.
That's budgeting. You're planning it. You can write it on a paper.
(11:08):
There's a government, you know, there's a hub by Government of Canada that I'm
going to show you that is very easy to use and it plans your money for you and you can use it that way.
It's very powerful because that way you are in control of your money because
that hub that the Government of Canada has done,
(11:29):
you've put how you're going to
spend your money or the money that you're expecting that is going to come.
And then, so if something comes that you're thinking, oh, should I get this? Should I not get this?
You are in control because you've already planned it ahead, right?
That's the power of budgeting.
And that's part of the principle of me showing this ATM so that you know that
(11:53):
your money is real wealth.
How you blow your money is really hidden. And it doesn't, what matters is you
and your family, that you're going to be happy at the end of the day.
What outsiders think doesn't really matter. Okay.
So I visually like to say very, this is very important.
(12:17):
That starts from where, because when I speak to people, people think,
oh, Ola, I'm going to, I'm a, I'm a store attendants now. Now,
I work in Cornish's Variety. I'm earning so little.
I'm going to wait until I earn a lot of money before I start putting some money away.
No, start from where you are right now.
(12:40):
And I will share a very little story. Just several years ago,
over 10 years ago or 15 years ago, I was in a class like this.
Where I was working before. And some people like Hola came to my place of work
to teach me financial literacy like this.
And so they said, I wasn't earning a lot. I was earning very little.
(13:05):
But when they finished that presentation that day, they said, do something today.
You know, do something. They encourage us to start putting some money away,
no matter what, even if it's $1, even if it doesn't matter.
Just put something away. So I made that decision to start. I opened up.
They were a bank. You know a bank?
(13:28):
The people that came, they were staff of a bank. So they came.
And I opened an account with them that day. That was over 15 years ago.
And that was all the way even in Nigeria, not here.
Now, I put in very little. I'm telling you, the amount of money,
it wasn't even up to $1. that I was putting away every month into that account.
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Now, a lot of things have happened over those 15 years.
Over those 15 years, along the line, my husband lost his job.
Along the line, I went to UK to study.
We moved to Canada. A lot has happened. So I've not been able to continue to
put that money in there because we've moved away from Nigeria, right? Right.
(14:15):
But that money I put in there that time because of the decision I made that
day is still there today.
Nothing happened to it. And the returns on that money, I think I was sharing
with Catalina, is enough to pay my son's phone bill every month.
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You know, it's little, but it's something. And that's what I teach.
It's very little, but it's something. And that's the principle.
Like, it's not, it just makes, you know, that's one of my expenses taken care of, right?
One of the ways I need to spend money taken care of. Because I did something,
you know, over 15 years ago.
(14:55):
So just like this, you know, this seed, you know, when you plant this seed, does anybody see it?
Nobody sees it when you plant it. It's not, it's not visible.
And then you wait. And then you water it. Just like a farmer, right?
And then, you know, no matter little, I even tell people, even if you are collecting
(15:19):
benefit, put a little bit of it.
Maybe 50 cents, $1, put it away.
And, you know, I will talk more about that when we are having the question and answer.
There's this quote I like, and I put it here.
So let's, you can write, I think we should write this down, if you don't mind. Let's write this down.
(15:40):
Big things have small beginnings. You wrote it down. Yes.
Let's write it down. Big things have small beginnings.
And I think we're all parents, right? So we can know.
When I gave birth to my 15-year-old, he was such a little boy.
(16:04):
Baby. Now he's taller than me now.
That's the same. Every big thing, even me, Ola, that I'm speaking,
there was a time my mother gave birth to me.
I was a baby, like your son.
And now, I'm a woman.
That's the way you should look at money.
Yeah? You know, when I started, I said, financial resilience,
(16:28):
having the confidence as long as you are alive, that things are going to be better.
The same way Ola was born, you were born several years ago and now you are a full-grown adult.
Adults that's the same way your money grows and
when you are reminded of that you have more
confidence you'll be happy no matter what that oh Allah told me that big things
(16:52):
have small beginnings so I have you know whatever money I have now it can grow
into big thing just like a baby grows into an adult,
right? Are we all done? Can I move it?
Yeah? Okay. Good.
So, like, you know, I've said it, our money grows as fast as your kids.
(17:15):
And the reason why I teach this is as parents, we can relate to this,
because we all have, we have kids, and those of us that don't have kids,
at least we, at one time we were, We were a kid, we were a child, and now we are grown.
Now, like a baby, you can take a picture if you want, a baby grows into a toddler,
(17:40):
grows into a preteen, grows into a teenager.
And I can tell you there's a big difference between preteen and a teenager.
When they are not yet a teenager, they will listen to you.
When they are a teenager, no. No. One of my friends told me that when she was
growing up, she's 50 years old now.
(18:00):
She said when she was a teenager, she said her dad put something in her room
and said, children, since you know everything, since you know everything in this house.
The water bill, this is the water bill, pay it, you know, because they know everything.
And then after, when they are past teenage years, they start listening to you again, right?
(18:25):
Yeah. But then when they are like this, a teenager, they're not like your baby,
like your baby will listen to you now.
Anything you tell your baby, they will listen to you. When you,
you know, over 50, like the same, because, you know, I told you I attended a
workshop just like this, like over 15 years ago.
I told you that I put some money away and that money now is not too big,
(18:50):
but it is bigger than the way I started it.
Now, the lady that came, just like me, she came into my workplace to teach financial literacy like this.
So after the class, then I went to her, just like Ola is teaching you now.
And then I told you know, I was still in Nigeria then.
I said, I'm thinking about, I want my child, my son that is now 15 years.
(19:16):
He was my only child then. I said, I want him to have a good education.
And I was dreaming big. I said, I want him to study in the United States.
And I was still living in Nigeria.
And I said, I told her, I said, can you do like a plan for me so that I know
how much I need to be putting away now so that when he's ready to go to college,
(19:40):
I can, you know, I can afford it.
And you know what? She did the plan for me free of charge.
And that's one other thing I want to tell you. Do you know that you have a bank?
You have a bank, you have a bank, you have a bank, you have a bank.
Do you know that in your bank, I can bet, if you, you know, after this teaching
(20:01):
today, if you call your bank and tell them you want to speak to a financial advisor,
most likely you'll get like 30 minutes free consultation.
I can bet it. But many people don't know. After this teaching,
when you have the time, call them and tell them
just tell them you want to talk you know
like that lady 15 years ago she did the plan for
(20:24):
me free most times these people financial
advisors people that work in the bank what
they are they are qualified right most times they can do it for you without
collecting any money so at least you know you know if if you know you dream
big this is what i want for my son on 15 years later, tell them.
(20:48):
They will do a plan for you and then you know, then you can start working towards it.
Okay. So that's one thing you can do after this teaching and,
you know, connect with me, call me afterwards.
If, if they are not able to teach you that, I have phone number, I will give it to you.
You know, call your bank, tell them I attended the financial literacy class,
(21:11):
I just, can you, I want to talk to a financial advisor.
I'm sure they would speak to you without taking any money from you and you will be better.
Okay. You don't have to do everything they have to tell you,
but at least you will know something that's going to be better for you. Okay.
Yeah. So that, that time, like I was saying, I met with the lady that came to
(21:36):
teach financial literacy, just like this.
You know, I told you, they came to my office then.
After the class, I met her and I told her, I have a dream of my son going to
a college in the United States.
And I was still in Nigeria. So she did a plan for me.
And she did it based on what I was earning in my office. And I was earning very little.
(21:57):
Believe me, very little. So she did it. And then I started putting that money away towards that.
Okay, if I put this, so she told me, all right, you can put this away every month.
Every month, your child will be able to go to the United States in 15 years
time. So I was putting that money.
Now, like I said, things change, right?
(22:21):
I didn't go to the United States. I came to Canada, but that account is still there.
I opened in Nigeria years ago, I still have that plan. That account is still there.
And, you know, that money in that account, it can even, it can serve as a down
payment towards a payment of a house today that I did several years ago.
(22:44):
And I can tell you, because I moved away from Nigeria, I stopped putting money
there just because I moved to Canada, right?
But because I did it Those years ago, and she did it for me,
it didn't cost anything for her to do that plan for me.
The only thing is I had to discipline myself.
I had to tell myself, Ola, you have to discipline yourself.
(23:08):
You have to be putting this little, little money away if you want your child,
if you want your son to go to the United States to go and study.
So it seemed like sometimes when I look at that money in that account, it's like yesterday.
Today but because but it's
like 15 years ago my son is now
15 years imagine if i
(23:28):
didn't do it like it look you know you know what i'm trying to say children
grow very fast but the reality is the years have passed right it looks like
they grow fast in our eyes but the the full 15 years have passed.
And that's how, you know, your money can work for you.
(23:51):
If you look at it with the how a child grows, because you are raising your child,
you will even forget that you have that money there.
Okay. That's one of the powerful things about it because you are busy raising your child.
You will forget them. You know, you are busy taking care of your son.
You're busy taking care of your daughter.
So if you put some money there for them, you forget it's there and And you continue, you continue.
(24:15):
By the time your child is like 13 years old or 15 years old,
you say, ah, thank God I did this several years ago.
That's how powerful that concept is.
So the next thing I usually say concerning financial literacy,
your business is your money.
You know, a lot of us leave money on the table.
(24:38):
And I'm going to tell you why I say this. You know, I have a store in Trenton there.
Let me tell you, no matter your job, whether you're a cashier,
whether you are cleaning, there is always more money to be earned.
And I'll tell you a little story. So in my business place,
(25:01):
I will be happy with any of my workers that are thinking like me.
They are thinking like they are doing that business, my store, like their home.
They are doing the store like they own the store. I will be happy with them
(25:22):
and I will pay them more money.
But sometimes they don't know this. You know, there was a time in my store,
I have a staff and I was thinking, and I was thinking of promoting the staff.
I was thinking of giving the staff more work.
So I told the staff, oh, can you do this? Can you do that?
(25:46):
But because sometimes, because she doesn't know my mind, right?
Maybe she's thinking, oh, this is all I can do right now.
She did not embrace, she didn't take those things I was telling her to do.
And unknown to her, I wanted to give her more work and to give her more money.
(26:09):
Do you understand what I'm saying? In your place of work, there's always more money on the table.
I challenge you. There's always more money on it if you can think like the owner of that business.
No matter what you're doing, whether you're taking care of a home,
whether you're working in a store, whether you're working in a bank,
(26:33):
whether you're driving, no matter your job, or even if you don't have a job,
what you're doing in your house right now, that's your business.
I tell some people, they are surprised when I tell them. I said,
I say, excuse me, even if you don't have a job, if you are taking,
if you are raising your children, right?
(26:55):
Raise them right. That's your business.
Whatever you are doing, that's your business. And it has the power to give you
more money. And that's why I said that story.
Like the staff that was working in my business, she didn't know that I planned
on giving her more money. She didn't know.
(27:18):
But I planned on giving her more money if only she could take on what I wanted
to give to her, you know, the job I wanted to give to her.
If she was open to the change, I planned on many businesses because,
you know, I told you when I started the class, I said, I speak to business owners like myself.
From all the interviews, all the business owners I speak to,
(27:41):
like people that own businesses like me, they are always willing to give their workers more money.
Honestly, trust me on this.
I'm a business owner. They are always willing to give if only their workers can think, like,
you know, do the business like their own and make the person that owns the business there's.
(28:07):
Make their job easier, you get more money that way.
Whatever your hand is finding to do today, whatever, that is your business and that is your money.
Do we understand that? That is your money. We can have time to,
you know, to ask questions about that.
(28:27):
I, you know, Charlie, tell me, oh, hold on, you said this.
I did this. Tell me, I'm telling you because I have interviewed people And I leave it.
Whatever your business is, whatever you're doing right now, there is more money there. Honestly.
If you look very well, there is more money there. And you can grow your money that way. Okay?
(28:51):
Now, I have been talking. The way to get started is to quit talking and begin
doing. I've talked too much.
Now we are going to start doing something. Okay? Okay?
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