By Livingstone Mukasa
Many people wonder if they are part of the Middle class. Politicians love to talk about how they will make life better for the middle class or how they will grow this important economic part of a successful society. Let’s start by define the middle class as people that are between the lower 20% and the upper 20% of society, otherwise the middle 60%. The global average wealth for these is a net worth of $50,000 excluding the primary residence. Here we go
1. You own a house and a car but the car is not the car of your dreams. You settled for utility (carrying capacity, easy of service and good fuel mileage). You live 30 minutes or more from your work place or good schools because You couldn’t afford the property prices near these.
2. You have things you bought but now need to give away but can’t let go for the moment. If you are a lady, you have clothes that no longer fit but you can’t bring yourself to give them away because they are still dear to you.
3. You are well educated and formally employed. You are considered a valuable employee and knowledgeable in your area of specialisation. You love your job and can’t imagine life without it. You were a front row student but now you find many backbenchers doing better in the game of economics than you.
4. You can afford your own water and power meter and TV and Data Subscriptions but you always watch your consumption closely. If you maintain your job you can ably pay for all these services and have a little extra to spare.
5. Sincere you economically struggled as a child because your parents were poor, you part yourself on the back that you have done better than them and you want your children to do better than you. Therefore you want them on a secure and safe career path like to be a doctor or a lawyer. You content you don’t like this nonsense of creatives like footballers, singers etc. Therefore you religiously save for their education in some insurance company.
6. There things you buy to show you are rich even when what you only have is a salary. You love branded items and want to make sure you’re seen with a cool snicker or the latest Iphone. You buy bigger sofas, exquisite carpets and curtains but you struggle to have these professionally cleaned. You are convinced that if you work hard at your job or profession you will get rich someday.
7. You love to travel but only to places that are not expensive or those that you go to because of your work. You always fly economy and wonder why people bother with business/first class. When you do, you make sure to document your journey on your social media pages so that people can see how you are having a good time in Frankfurt or Singapore. However you no longer want the entire clan to escort you to the airport. Your hubby or wife can ably do the job.
8. You look forward to retirement as if it’s the promised land. One of the reason is that your retirement fund is your biggest savings port and you hate the fact that its managed by people you don’t get to choose. You strongly believe you can manage that money better than those deft fellas and with it it you can launch a successful business. You don’t prioritise emergency savings but whenever something happens out of the blue you request a salary advance. Sometimes you borrow from someone and pay back but you hate money lenders.
9. You enjoy group sports like football, rugby or Motor sports. One of the reasons you don’t like individual sports like golf is that you can’t afford the membership nor the expensive equipment that comes with it. You are really invested in your team with a couple of jerseys and if your team looses you feel bad about it the next morning. One of your wish is your children to support your team.
- You are a member of a clear group like a church and a couple of associations and saving clubs that really invest. You attend church regularly and give generously even when you know that the Church’s accountability sucks. For reasons of safety you believe politics is a game of loosers and you less excited about elections. However you don’t mind access to the National cake if someone can fix you close.
The author is a Financial Advisor, Entrepreneur, People’s Professor of Streetnomics and the Author of “The Great Financial Rebuild” & “Investing for the Future”
Contact +256772459167 email: livinbusiness@gmail.com
It’s so educative.