Books a way to wealth

LAST week I had a bit of fun thinking what I would say had the Sunday Times invited me, as they do various celebrities in their Money section, to tell readers how I handled money matters.

Well I received a letter from an old Chiel reader friend, Khanya Cakata, who professes to gravitate towards this section of the Sunday paper before reading the rest. He once wrote to say how he enjoyed reading some of the mundane subjects tackled here.

I think the one he referred to then was how useful I found a tray for moving objects around the kitchen. This time it was mention of a failed investment in Protea Furnishers stock market shares, missing cashing in at the right time when at their peak. Khanya alludes to the floral connection between my investment and historical references about investors in Holland getting caught up in tulip mania in the 17th century. The period is referred to as the Dutch Golden Age when contract prices for tulip bulbs reached extraordinary high levels, then collapsed.

Wilting violets, one might say. Nice one … I’d forgotten about that!

Anyway, I decided to invite Khanya, who was born in Butterworth, completed a Bachelor of Technology degree in architecture at University of Johannesburg, and is now in his family financial consultancy business in East London, to share his “money matters”.

What did your childhood teach you about money? “My mother repeatedly scolded me about not ‘knowing the value of money’. I have come to realise that, as a child, I was a compulsive buyer, squandering pocket money on sweets and delicatessen. I am much more temperate in my spending now.”

What was your first job and how much were you paid? “It was working for my dad. We had to package petroleum jelly tubs. We were paid R8 a day for four hours of work.”

Have you ever been really hard up? “Absolutely. Being in a business-orientated family booms and busts were a dime a dozen.”

Are you a big spender or a saver? “I have to admit I am a spender. A couple of years ago I decided to reverse that and have been on the Damascus road to becoming a saver.”

What is the one thing you wished you had never bought? “This has to be a pair of shoes costing R800 that I wore not more than five times. Despite wishing I never bought them, my younger brother has taken a liking to them, so all is not lost.”

What is the best investment you ever made? “It was building up a library of investment and financial books. Books like The Snowball: Warren Buffet and The Business of Life by Alice Schroeder, The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfont, and (not so aptly named) Become Your Own Stock Broker by Jacques Magliolo, to name a few.

“I believe lessons from people who have had successes and failures in investment/ money have been instrumental in shifting my mind from the media-fuelled get-rich-quick mentality, to a more reasoning financially literate adult. I honestly believe parents should expose their children to books in general, a wealth of knowledge is the greatest wealth anyone can leave their children.”

Well said Khanya.

Chiel today is Robin Ross-Thompson;