I think your questions raises a valid point, but I also think the comparison is a bit too black and white. The real question for me is what stage of life and financial capacity are you at? If someone has ₦1m and has no valuable skill, no emergency fund, no source of income they are actively trying tRead more
I think your questions raises a valid point, but I also think the comparison is a bit too black and white. The real question for me is what stage of life and financial capacity are you at?
If someone has ₦1m and has no valuable skill, no emergency fund, no source of income they are actively trying to grow, and no clear business structure, then putting the entire ₦1m into stocks may not be the smartest move. Investing in yourself and increasing your earning capacity can potentially have a much bigger impact.
But I also don’t completely agree that investing in stocks is “funding other people’s empires” or that it’s intellectually lazy. You’re buying ownership in businesses, and over time that can become a way of building your own capital and wealth.
The business example also assumes that the person can consistently make ₦50k profit every week. That’s the part I would question. Business doesn’t automatically turn ₦1m into ₦12m just because you put the money into branding, marketing and systems. There is competition, losses, bad decisions, changing markets and the possibility that the business fails.
So maybe it’s not stock investment vs personal investment. Maybe it’s personal investment first, then financial investment alongside it as your capacity grows.
Build yourself. Build your income. Build your business or career. Then use the surplus to buy assets.
At what point do we stop seeing investing in ourselves as the only “smart” investment and start deliberately building financial assets too? I think timing and balance are the real conversation.
Is Investing ₦1 Million in Stocks Better Than Starting a Business in Nigeria?
I think your questions raises a valid point, but I also think the comparison is a bit too black and white. The real question for me is what stage of life and financial capacity are you at? If someone has ₦1m and has no valuable skill, no emergency fund, no source of income they are actively trying tRead more
I think your questions raises a valid point, but I also think the comparison is a bit too black and white. The real question for me is what stage of life and financial capacity are you at?
If someone has ₦1m and has no valuable skill, no emergency fund, no source of income they are actively trying to grow, and no clear business structure, then putting the entire ₦1m into stocks may not be the smartest move. Investing in yourself and increasing your earning capacity can potentially have a much bigger impact.
But I also don’t completely agree that investing in stocks is “funding other people’s empires” or that it’s intellectually lazy. You’re buying ownership in businesses, and over time that can become a way of building your own capital and wealth.
The business example also assumes that the person can consistently make ₦50k profit every week. That’s the part I would question. Business doesn’t automatically turn ₦1m into ₦12m just because you put the money into branding, marketing and systems. There is competition, losses, bad decisions, changing markets and the possibility that the business fails.
So maybe it’s not stock investment vs personal investment. Maybe it’s personal investment first, then financial investment alongside it as your capacity grows.
Build yourself. Build your income. Build your business or career. Then use the surplus to buy assets.
At what point do we stop seeing investing in ourselves as the only “smart” investment and start deliberately building financial assets too? I think timing and balance are the real conversation.
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