Unrealistic Financial Expectations?

The question isn’t, “Who is going to let me?” It’s, “Who’s going to stop me?” – Ayn Rand

While I don’t agree with Ayn Rand on a lot of what she wrote about, this quotation attributed to her brings out a point that has been the topic of a lot of discussions among my friends. That topic is the issue of doing what is expected of you, whether by traditions or family members.

Many people here in Nigeria, especially if they have a decent job, are expected to carry the financial burdens of the entire extended family. Many feel that if they don’t, they will be looked down on and spoken badly about. Most of the middle and upper class in the world work very hard to get to that station in life. Nothing was handed to them on a silver platter. So why is it that everyone else seems to think they are entitled to a share in the rewards when they didn’t share in the work.

This was the basis of the book Atlas Shrugged written by Ayn Rand, where people who didn’t work hard passed laws entitling them to benefit by other people’s hard work. In the book, some of the characters who have that entitlement mentality quote Bible verses to back up their beliefs, like ‘having all things common’ (Acts 2:44,45).

What I find interesting is that many people want to have only the finances in common and not the work. Of course, that is only human tendency to want something for nothing, but the trend can only continue if something is not done about it.

A few years ago I was talking with Cosmas Maduka, Chairman of the Coscharis Group. I asked him how he manages with all the requests for financial assistance that he must get, not just from extended families but also from community leaders and various organizations.

He said he judiciously separates personal finances from company finances and does not confuse one with the other. When someone asks for monetary help and he has it within his personal budget, he does not hesitate in granting their request. But he flatly refuses to dip into company funds for non-profitable donations, stating that he needs to make money in order to have money to give out.

I found that very wise financially, as many people feel that others will look down on them and talk negatively to and about them if they don’t help.

There are many verses in the Bible about giving and helping those in need, but what is never mentioned is that most of them are assisting the helpless, the fatherless and widows.

What a lot of people fail to realize is that the Bible also says, ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat,’ and, ‘Unto everyone that has shall be given more, and he shall have abundance. But from him that has not, shall be taken away even that which he has.’ In the parable of the talents, the ones who doubled their amounts were given that, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ while the one who just sat on the one talent he had was called ‘a wicked and lazy servant.’ Of course, let us remember that ‘God gives the ability to make wealth,’ and that ‘a just balance is His delight!’