By Blessing Otobong-Gabriel
Nollywood actor, James Ikechukwu, popularly known as Jim Iyke, has grilled the entertainment industry of lacking financial literacy given the reason why some of the actors failed in their retirement days.
He made the revelation during an interview with Crunch Time News in Abuja, that Attaining some levels of financially literacy allows an individual to be better prepared for specific financial roadblocks, which, in turn, decreases the chances of personal economic distress.
" I'm not trying to begrudge anybody or lay blames on anybody but I sincerely think that if you fail to prepare for the raining days you'll surely be in want for the rest of your life, so achieving financial literacy is crucial in today’s society due to everyday facets of life, such as student loans, mortgages, credit cards, investments, and health insurance, he said ".
According to him, most Nollywood actors are not financial literate, they tend to live larger than their worth, they're expose to living a lifestyle that's beyond their means, some live for the moment without preparing for raining days. We shouldn't forget that no season last forever, life is such a transient.
Obtaining financial literacy is one of the most important things an individual can do to ensure prolonged financial stability which is typically lacking in the entertainment industry, ensuring financial security is not a rocket science, you must learn to increase your investment and savings while reducing exorbitant lifestyle.
Again the truth of the matter is that we don't manage resources very well so if there's ever a dryness, it's because we lived for the moment, it's because we didn't prepare for it. It's not about how much we earn but how prudent we are in managing our resources.
"I never assume what I'm not, and even when I do I have a lot of people on my trust cycle that will bring me back to reality. I started business early in my 20s .I always do business with my mother of blessed memory, she tutored me, so most of us didn't come from extremely rich home as a lots of people think, but it's just the early preparation that keep us where we are. There's no such thing that raining days will last forever, there's nobody that exists in a wide space longer than necessary, so it's your preparation beyond those times that ensures your continuity in life."
And the foresight to see early outside your cycle of influence, another important question is; who are the people around you, you know what they say of like birds that flog together, I also looked up to certain people, show me your mentor, show me your cycle of friends and I will tell you what you will be in 5years . So it's not rocket science, I've always made bold to seek out for people that understand things better than me, I've always made bold to keep my life in the learning process, seek out mentors that were very successful in my endeavors, so that the days your endeavors stops many other doors will be open to you.
"I've always taken time to educate myself properly on financial literacy. It's a different conversation that can be heard a whole day. Financial literacy is really lacking in the entertainment industry, I can not go and pick up a phone and buy it unless I can afford it 12 times, it has always been my mantra and barometer for showing affordability, if you see me with a Royce Roy be sure that I can afford it 12 times, if it does not measure so in my account I don't need the Royce Roy , I can buy a far less luxurious car that will serve the same purpose, I don't have to live in a cycle to keep up with the Joneses 'another primary problem, because colleague A bought a Royce Roy is not incumbent on me to show that I am on the same status, buy Royce Roy I don't need it."
Another concern is who ground you, who are your trust cycles, my people ground me, my mother will tell you something that happen and then if this was propellent a lots of mistakes wouldn't have been made.
Narrating his yielding to the voice of prudent from his mother, Jim Ike said..
"My mother walked into my house one day, and saw 7 cars, she was going to Shiloh I didn't expect her that night, she came with some of her friends I thought she was going straight to Shiloh, but somehow the frieght was delayed, they were forced to spend a night in my house in Lagos to continue to Shiloh the next day, they called and I was not around I was on set, by the time I came back she was in the living room downstairs and asked me who owns 7 cars outside my house, for other parents it would be a bragging thing but I didn't brag because I know what she was going to say, so I lied to her that it was my friends who visited, dropped their keys and travelled, and for me to have lied about it, means that it wasn't the right thing to do.
She went to bed, the next day in the morning she was fixing me breakfast, unfortunately for me where I hang my car keys were by the kitchen door, so she said James why are these car keys here while the owners are not here, so I continue the lies I told her that they left the key with me so that if there's need to repack I can do so.
Not knowing that before then she had asked my house keeper who owns the car, and my house keeper not knowing my mother very well began to brag about and even added that 2 more cars are coming very soon. She didn't say a word she went to Shiloh and came back and stop by one more time and said these friends of yours they've not come back to collect their cars, I said some of them just left and I didn't know she knew already.
So she sat me down and said I already knew these are your cars I didn't raise a son that is an exhibitionist, I Know there's certain clicks and cycles that you're keeping up with, it's fine but I thought it's something you go in with your head knowing the background you came from, there's no 1billion dollar wait for you, your are not a trust fund baby, we started up from an extremely comfortable home but I wonder how you come to your home 3 times in a year, as a bachelor with 2staffs and live in a 6 bedroom with 9 cars so I want you to understand that less than 10 years from now you're going to be in your 40s, is this the lifestyle you want to continue I hope you will be able to sustain it, then she left, I didn't sleep that night , 3 weeks I sold up all the cars and left 3, I needed just 3 so when I lossed the voice of friends telling me why I should buy the latest cars and so on and the voice of prudent that I grew up with and the proper training that was imbibed in me from the beginning.
Truly when I sold the cars what was in my account balance told me that surely this was wrong, parts of the investment I made from the cars sales alone was what paid my first house and every other investments follows, he advised Nollywood actors to see financial literacy as an important component of life that can ensure financial solidity, reduce anxiety, and stimulate the achievement of financial goals.
