One major area in which people struggle in their adulthood is in area of finance. This is so because many failed to learn the most important finance lessons earlier in life. Life’s lessons are meant to build us and make us better people in life. However, if you fail to learn these lessons you may find adulthood a frustration and disappointment to be in.
Before you attain the age of 30, these are the personal finance lessons that you must learn:

1. Being rich is a choice, being poor is also a choice.

I found out that many young people always try to justify their reason for continuing the poverty of their family. They try to give themselves enough excuses for not making money. But the truth is: it is your choice to be rich, and it’s also your choice to be poor. Everything we experience at different stages of our life is as a result of the decisions we had earlier made – whether consciously or unconsciously.

So, if you really want to be successful and great in life, you must make the choice now. You must make the decision now. And, of course, the decisions you make now is definitely going to reflect in your actions and your thinking. Being rich is a choice, being poor is also a choice. And like Moses told the Israelites, I’ve put before you life and death but, choose life.

2. A man who can’t save a dime cannot make a dollar.

You must learn to save no matter how little it is. You must learn to keep some money aside for the future. A Yoruba proverb says “Don’t eat with your ten fingers” it’s bad. Learn to save.
I have learnt how to save since I was a little boy of about 8 years and it has been helping me till now. I remember during my primary school days when my dad would give me just N10 or N15 for lunch – and I don’t have that all the time. Out of the N10 I bought a little piggybank and started saving up some money for myself. Sometimes I bought myself books from the savings, sometimes I cook for my dad – I stayed alone with him then. This same attitude of saving that I learnt helped me sponsor myself through the polytechnic when my dad had no money to pay my school fees. As a young person growing up, you must learn the attitude of saving.

3. Wealth does not come by luck, it is prepared for.

This is one lesson I would like to teach the youths in my generation. Many young people think wealth can be made by luck and they waited for the lucky day but it never came. Wealth doesn’t come by luck. You don’t make money by being lucky. Money only comes when opportunity meets with hard-work. If you’re not preparing for it, even when opportunity comes you won’t see it. You must understand that in this world we are, wealth is prepared for. Even if your parents already laid up the treasures, you’re going to mismanage and waste it all if you’re not prepared to handle wealth.

So ask yourself: Am I ready to handle wealth? Am I prepared to handle money? It’s not a matter of how old you are, it’s about how financially intelligent you are. If you’re given a million dollars right now, how many years would it last in your hands? What would you be able to achieve with it?

I used to have a colleague in high school who was a cyber-fraud. The guy made millions of Naira in his early days and, while in high school, he already bought his own car. But unfortunately, he wasn’t prepared to handle wealth. He wasn’t prepared to handle money and so he mismanaged all he had – or should I say all he stole – and the money didn’t last in his hands. Today, after 12 years, he’s roaming the street with his legs and wearing tattered dresses. Wealth does not come by luck, it is prepared for.

4. Financial freedom starts from responsibility.

You obviously can’t make money doing nothing. In fact, the Bible says “An idle hand tends to penury.” If you want to live your life in financial abundance, you must get yourself to work. You must become responsible in life. You can’t be financially free if you spend all your life depending on people for survival. Be responsible. Do something with your hands. Engage in a trade, job or business. Even if you’re still studying, you can still make money for yourself.

I used to operate a business centre from my room when I was an undergraduate. I started by helping my colleagues do assignments and wrote thesis for some of my colleagues in my final year, I saved up some of the money I realized and bought myself a printer. And with my laptop, I started a full-scale business in school and was able to settle some of my bills even without calling home. You can read my article on how to make money as a student. You can achieve more if you start taking responsibility now.

5. You can always get what you want when you start making your own money.

Some young people had become a liability to their parents so much that they ask their parents for almost everything. And the worst is that some of these young fellows always want to live in luxury even when their parents are not financially buoyant. You have to understand that your parents work hard to earn money too and they, of course, can’t buy you everything. But the fact that they can’t buy you everything you want now does not mean you can’t still have those things. Stop putting pressure on people. When you start earning your own money, you can buy whatever you want.

6. Don’t try to have what you can’t afford.

Don’t try to have what you can’t afford. Don’t try to live to impress people. Don’t live above your earnings just because you want to look like other people. It’s going to wreck you. You’ll never stay financially independent if you continue to buy what you cannot afford. For instance, you don’t necessarily need to buy a car because you see your friend driving a car. Your friend might be on loan. You don’t have to live expensive life because your colleagues do. They might have other source of income that you’re not aware of. Please learn this lesson now. Don’t try to have what you can’t afford.

7. Education is good, but skills is better.

There has been a great misconception in recent times about this subject. While many think education is the best legacy, like that old saying, some still go with the opinion that skills is better. Although education isn’t complete without skills, and skills isn’t complete either without education but in this age we are, skills build you much more wealth than education. If all you have in mind is to just go to school, graduate with good grades and then get a good job, it may take you longer time to be financially independent. In fact, some had concluded that salaries don’t make people rich. So if you really want to be rich, add skills to your education. Not going to school at all is bad, but not having any skill at all is worse.

8. Don’t focus on money, focus on value.

I think this is a common sense. If you want to become relevant in life, your main focus must first be to add value to people. It is in the process of adding value that money will come. You must think of something you can do to help people – to help the society. If your main focus is to make money, you will lose touch with humanity but if your desire is to add value and impact lives, then you’ll surely be in touch with humanity because the money you’re looking for is in the hands of men and you’ll need to offer them something to get it. If you have value, people will pay you for it, and money will come.

9. You can never have enough money.

Let me clarify this to you once and for all. I know you might sometimes wonder why even the richest men in the world are still looking for money every day. You might have asked “How much money can I make that will make me completely satisfied?” The simple truth is that you can never have enough money. You can never be satisfied with money. That is why the rich are still looking for it. That is why the greatest investors still want another big hit, and another bigger hit.

You need to learn this so that you won’t put yourself under unnecessary pressure in a bid to make more money. There are many who pursued this money to the grave yet the money was never enough for them. You can never have enough money. Appreciate God for the ones you have and work hard to earn more. But never do anything that will jeopardize your faith or integrity because of money. Don’t engage in fraud, cheat, kidnapping or ritualism because of money. Because even when you get it, you’ll still want more and your appetite to commit evil will rather continue to increase. You can never have enough money.

10. God can make you rich.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 8 verse 18 that God is the One who gives power to get wealth. Some people go to Satan to make them rich. And truly they become rich, but not without a price, not without pain. The Bible says that it is the blessings of God that makes one rich without adding sorrow. If you want to be truly rich and still enjoy the peace of mind, then you need God to be the Source of it. If you believe in God and obey His word, He will bless you in all ramifications of life just like He did to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and many other great men of God that we see today.

I believe this article has really helped you to learn these important personal finance lessons. What other lessons have you learnt that has helped you grow financially? Kindly let me know in the comment section below.
Thank you for reading.