Phew! How time flies. Didn't believe I could spend one week without posting an article here. I apologize anyway. So what are the 4 things I have been up to that has distracted me so much?
1. A long time friend of mine from the university, whom I jokingly discussed some ideas with, set me up by telling his billionaire boss that he knows a friend with great money-making ideas. So he was told to tell me to come and present any of the ideas. That would have been great news if I was totally ready for the opportunity but I must confess that, while I have a couple of great ideas, I have put my money into so many things at the same time (as I told you in the article 'Why smart people do not become very rich') and I have not had so much cash to (as I would have loved to) invest in my credicoins idea since I took it off the shelf, July last year. So the arrangement was kind of impromptu.
I have been calling people that I have not called in a long while, putting together logistics and assembling a team of professionals to start work on the idea. In case you still don't know that I have a billion-dollar idea, you can read that article -it will give you a little glimpse into my overall idea.
In the mean time, let me show you, from my recent research, some companies overseas that presently offer a similitude of what my company will offer to Africans.
- DIGIT :automated savings account for USA customers only, paying no interest at the moment. Your current account is linked via your phone number to your Digit account. From time to time, Digit withdraws little amounts from your checking account and saves it on your behalf. You use text messages to check your balance, withdraw, and so on.
You can read
- BETTERMENT : is also for USA customers, you determine how much you want to save and invest. They claim to be a community of savers who invest their funds in a diversified stock market portfolio comprising Mutual funds, Stocks, ETFs, and so on.
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| Courtesy: rockstarresearch.com |
- LENDING CLUB: a peer-to-peer lending club for those who want to invest in other people’s loans, and for those who need loans or want to consolidate their loans). They recently went public in the USA.
- WEALTHFRONT: is similar to Betterment except that your savings with them is traded on your behalf. They are typically an online financial advisory and investment company.
- BRIGHTSCOPE: this company is run by two brothers who help residents of USA find financial advisors, as well as offer online financial advice and services too.
- PERSONAL CAPITAL: is a USA-based investment company similar to Betterment and Wealthfront. It also connects your account to your phone number like Digit, and their goal is to provide you with a personalized money management solution for a better financial life.
- FUTURE ADVISOR: USA-based too, an automated savings online advisor with a group of professionals that invest your funds for you.
You can also read the following articles for more enlightment especially if you are not African or not residing in Africa.
Betterment-vs-wealthfront-vs-lendingclub
Moneyunder30.com's Digit review
An interview with Betterment's CEO Jon Stein
Update: I recently read about Acorns app on TheSimpleDollar site. It is an app (for Americans too anyway) that rounds off your purchases to the nearest dollar, e.g if you are to pay $2.50, it charges you $3, and invests the difference for you in ETFs. Please read up more about it using that link.
2. I am still looking for a regular job to help me financially find my feet fully, till other sources become more stable (this is Nigeria you know).
3. I took delivery of the free 650-page book by Tony Robbins; Money Master The Game. Which in early November of last year, I told you was free- all you had to do was pay for shipping. I have started reading it, and will definitely write a review of it once I am through reading it. (The book should have arrived in December no thanks to a poor postal code system in Nigeria. Various stamps on the package show the book has been to at least 5 different post offices before it eventually arrived at my door. Feel so sad for the travails they put the book through.)
4. I had a run-in with some funny law enforcement officers at a popular bus stop in Lagos (Ojodu-Berger). I came down from a bus while returning from my parents' home. I had my girlfriend's laptop with me.
This is how the story goes: One plain-clothes-operative accosted me asking for my ID card, and wanted to know what I was carrying. I told him I was not going to tell him until he told me why he wanted to know. Instead of explaining himself, he started rough handling me as if I was a criminal. I was so pissed, and was about to call a lawyer. Then he seized my phone and another policeman (this one fully dressed) came with a gun saying I should take it easy and follow the two of them. I complied.
They took me to a parked car where some other policemen were and searched my laptop bag. One of them said he suspects I am a yahoo boy (cyberfraudster/online scammer), so he opened the laptop and started going through my files without a search warrant. The long and short of it was that they found nothing incriminating on me, did not apologize to me or tell me what profiling technique they used that indicated to them that I looked like (and so was) a criminal. Anyway, I didn't take offense anymore after the ordeal enough to want to report them or prosecute them for human rights infringement. They released me but not without having disorganized my wireless settings.
Wonders will never end in Nigeria.
That's my journal of the last seven days. I forgot to tell you that I applied at Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program in hope that I will be shortlisted to attend their 2-day entrepreneurship bootcamp and receive $10,000 to boost my online business. You can also apply if you are an African with a thriving business, or great idea, and are presently residing in Africa.
I have not forgotten about the survey on money, wedding and marriage. I will post it before weekend unfailingly.
Thank you for staying with me through this trying times. We will continue our 40 different ways to make money online with social media marketing starting with Facebook (ads). See you soon.
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