Hi accounting fans,
My name is Samir ‘Sam’ Harith. And I’m passionate about Financial Literacy.
Those of you who follow my blog would have known this by now. For those of you who are new to this blog, welcome and I hope you have found many useful tips to help you along your journey towards financial literacy.
Today I thought about writing a more personal article about myself, where I come from and what makes me so passionate about financial literacy.
To find the answer to that, let’s go back to 1998 – when the Asian Financial Crisis struck. Back then I was only about 11 years old. It was a pretty tough time for everyone in Southeast Asia. My father had just been laid off from a job and my mother pretty much supported us through the crisis on her salary as a lecturer with a government uni (which wasn’t much).
My parents didn’t share much with me about their financial situation then, but I knew that it spurred my father onto his personal financial journey to educate himself about proper money management. Fortunately for our family, my father bounced back and got re-hired towards the end of the crisis.
For me though, the experiences of the 1998 financial crisis would stick with me throughout my teenage years, as I bounced around a few different MLMs – looking to unlock the secret of financial independence and success. Like many young people in the early noughties (that’s what we’re calling it now I guess?) I was an avid fan of Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki – which was a pretty groundbreaking book then as it talked about the importance of generating passive income.
Because of that, I was influenced by this idea of passive income and got sucked into the promises of various MLM outfits which all promised easy money at very little work. Hint: There’s no such thing as ‘passive’ income – whatever income you make, you gotta work for it! Obviously that didn’t end very well for me – but I was one of the fortunate ones to have gotten out without wasting too much of (my parent’s) money.
Eventually I ended up doing a degree in accounting, and by some twist of fate, I ended up teaching accounting and finance in a University. I learned many things in my years at uni. Most importantly I learned that:
- Professors in accounting and finance don’t always have their personal finances in order; And
- What they teach in University doesn’t help you manage your personal finances, rather it’s aimed at teaching you how to manage the finances of the large multinational they are training you to work for.
Which means that – throughout our entire schooling life we aren’t given the necessary tools and resources to navigate personal finance properly!
For those of us who end up starting businesses – this actually means that we are setting sail with half the rudder missing!
Which brings us to where I am today.
I am super passionate about financial literacy because just like mathematics and reading, it is an important part of living in today’s modern world. Individuals who lack financial literacy are at risk of being taken advantage of by unscrupulous financial institutions (loan sharks, credit card companies, etc.) and plunging themselves into financial ruin – which in turn affects their ability to function in society.
Society as a whole is stronger when our most vulnerable are taken care of. To this end, I do my little bit to help by ensuring that our most vulnerable have access to free, easy to understand and relevant information that will help their personal financial situation. I may not benefit from it directly, but indirectly, I will benefit from living in a better world, with more financially literate people out there.
Take care, dear readers.
And keep staying positive!
Love,
Sam