Immigrant Life Podcast

Legacy is what you live in your kids, not what you leave for them ~ Dapo Bankole

Short answer: I am not sure I can tell a parent how important that decision is but I would suggest considering the objective of thinking about that option, the required financial investments and if taking such a step is critical to the parents' and child's ultimate happiness and well being. If everything looks great after weighing all these and probably more, just do it. Don't waste time. And if it turns out to be a wrong decision, just change it.

Long answer? Listen to the full episode.

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There's a popular Chinese proverb that says: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

When is the best time to buy a house?

According to a blog called "Money We Have" accessible via https://www.moneywehave.com/the-best-time-to-buy-a-home/, the best time to buy a house is in January. According to the writer, houses are cheaper then than because it's wintertime and buyers are in shorter supply. In fact, the blog says that in the Greater Toronto Area, the average sold price is $43,000 less when compared to the rest of the calendar year. In summary, the writer says even if you don't buy in January, the most important thing is for you to determine your purchase budget and stick to it.

Now to my own response.

There is none. And this is arguable - I am hopeful other community members can weigh in on this one. Not everyone needs to OWN a house or home. I know that generally speaking, people from my heritage count that as a societal definition of worth or success but that's subjective. My wife and I certainly 'own' our home (there is a reason for putting 'own' in quotes) and we got it one year after we arrived in Calgary. However, if I had my way and we had the chance to do it all over again, I would wait until we can afford a very large chunk of the cost then target to pay off the balance within a maximum of 10 years. And if I were speaking to my 21-year-old self today based on what I now understand about life, I would suggest not to even bother owning a home. A lot of my perspective on life right now is very different than what it was years ago. Even compared with one year ago. This is really a personal life choice and a very debatable topic.

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Champions are ordinary people who acknowledged the greatness in themselves. Period. ~ Dapo Bankole

In this episode, I recounted an encounter that I had with a fellow first-generation Canadian immigrant back in 2015. The fellow had contacted me regarding a particular job that he was interested in. The deadline was fast approaching and he sought my opinion. A while after the deadline, I emailed him to find out if he eventually applied for the role and he told me no, he did not because, even though he had the years of experience, he did not have the certification that the role required. I was shocked. 

Well, I shared my email response to him in this episode and explained my reasoning. 

In summary, if you feel you can demonstrate that you meet 70-75% of what a hiring manager is asking for, please go ahead and apply. Bet on yourself!

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My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there. ~ Charles Kettering

Where do you start?

1. Get rid of your debt - first and foremost - consumer - credit card, car, student loan, etc and even housing loan (I know most experts don't like to group mortgage loans as consumer debt but top each his own. It just makes sense. Here's why.

Most interest loans range from 13 - 21% p.a. (APR - annual percentage rate) or even more, depending on your situation. I read somewhere that between 1950 and 2009, the stock market grew by as much as 7% p.a. which is a great return. However, it never makes sense to be investing for retirement when you are paying between 13 and 21% on interest for loans you took. Kill the debt first.

2. Create an emergency fund. Usually, people say 3 - 6 months, I'd say 6 - 12months of expenses.

3. Put away 10-20% away from your regular earnings towards retirement.

4. Have proper life insurance. Not those ones tied to your home. The specific type? Talk to your adviser.

5. Create a will. I came across https://www.givingdocs.com/ which I find very helpful in my own personal journey.

6. Decide exactly when you want to retire. It sounds simple but it's true. Remember the lifestyle design we talked about in episode 92 and 93?

7. How much should you have in retirement? Varies with everyone.

Since life expectancy in Canada is quite high, I'd just use a flat number as an example to estimate what you need to prepare for in retirement. Simply; prepare for whatever life expectancy you expect to live to. e.g. 90? And if you want to retire at 50? Prepare for 40 years' expenses.

According to a CNBC article (https://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/11/whats-the-magic-number-for-your-retirement-savings.html)

In your 20s, put enough away so that by the time you turn 30, you’ll have the equivalent of your salary saved.By 40, aim to have three times your salary saved up.By age 50, you should have enough saved to equal six times your salary.By age 60, your savings should be eight times your salary.And 10 times your salary by the full retirement age of 67.

Tools to help: https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/retirement-planning.htmlhttps://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/investment-calculator/

 

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“Retirement, a time to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, where you want to do it and how you want to do it,” – Catherine Pulsifer

First things first - define what retirement means for you. It means different things to different people:-->Do nothing, seat in front of the house and become the street security camera, the crazy old man harassing younger folks about how they are being rude or mannerless? Or the pleasant old woman always greeting every passerby and asking how their day went?-->Or a time when you are free of financial worry and stopped working?-->Time when you finally decided to do what's fun and important for you?-->Time to spend time with grandkids?-->Time to travel?-->Time to gossip?

It doesn't matter what you decide, you need to think about it and plan for it.

Why?

Today is the tomorrow you talked about yesterday!

Like a lot of other things, I believe that retirement is a journey.

I came across an organization in the United States called the TIAA Institute (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America). They are a research institute that provides actionable information that anyone can make use of in the areas of financial security and higher education. In 2017, they conducted a Transition to Retirement study which showed that Americans look for 3 major things in retirement -

1. Freedom from financial worries. (money?)2. Flexibility to do whatever they want. (time?)3. Relaxation time with family and travel.

I know this is not a Canadian survey but isn't that what most of us really want?

So as first-generation Canadian immigrants, how should you then approach retirement planning?

1. Consider your age - how old are you and when do you want to retire?2. Consider the lifestyle plan you designed or want. What will retirement look like for you financially and time-wise? People do all sorts in retirement - they volunteer, go back to School/pick up new skills, become teachers/mentors, travel, rekindle an old hobby, work - because they want to (not because they need to), spend more time with friends and families, get more active in politics, etc.3. Consider your health - how healthy are you?4. Consider the life expectancy for an averagely healthy person in Canada.5. Consider your responsibility towards your kids if you have them.

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Lifestyle is being able to do what you want, when you want, where you want, with who you want, and how you want, without worrying about time or money.

In order to embark on that journey of lifestyle design, it's important to answer this question: Is what I'm doing right now the best use of my time in living and creating the lifestyle I want for myself and my family?

I think a good way to start is to understand how you currently spend/invest time. And I have a fun exercise that I have done. I kid you not, you will amaze yourself when you do it! I was shocked at where my time was going! Ouch! It's simple. I call it the time matrix.

Besides sleeping, eating, and commuting here’s 15 areas of your life to consider which you would put into your time matrix, and they are, once again, besides sleeping, eating, and commuting, they are attitude, business/work, charitable, civic involvement, educational, emotional, family, financial, lifestyle, physical, reflection, romance, social, spiritual, and wisdom.

Fill in your current scheduleFill in your dream scheduleFill in your next step schedule

Let's talk about money. You probably already have an idea how much you currently earn so we won't go there.

The next question is how much do you want to earn a year?

Simple. If you want to make 100k a year working 40hrs a week, 50 weeks a year which is typical then you would be earning $50/hr. That means you will be taking 2 weeks of vacation as well. But if you prefer to work 40weeks a year and only 20hrs a week then you would need to earn $125/hr for 20hrs and 40 weeks every year. Working less but with higher per hour income, you will still end up with 100k a year and have 3 months of vacation if you wish!

Play around with the numbers and time that you want for yourself or for things you hold dear.

But there are obvious questions or fundamentals. How much are you earning today? What do you need to do in order to earn the kind of hourly rate that will give you the lifestyle that you desire?

This is what helps you in deciding the kind of vehicle - employment or business that you need to engage in so you can have the lifestyle that you want!

This is a very short introduction to an upcoming method that I am working on which will help you live a colorful immigrant life!

I wish you well.

Dapo!

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According to Martin Luther King Jr., "If a man is called to be a street sweeper. He should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all hosts of heaven and earth pause to say; Here lives a great sweeper who did his job well"

My name is Dapo Bankole and today, I am talking about how to start right in Canada. Pretty much.

The biggest mistake we make as immigrant business owners and executives is that we build our business before deciding what lifestyle you really want. Now think about that for a moment.

The problem is that when a street sweeper does his job so well that figuratively, even the hosts of heaven say "Here lives a great sweeper who did his job well", many would wonder why a street sweeper would do such a great job when he is not the property owner. Reflect on that for a bit. Have your colleagues ever asked you why you work so hard? Have they jokingly said you work like you own the organization or that you work so hard as if you are being paid much more than you earn? Did you hear that before? Good.

That brings me to my next point - If you are working for someone else, you are still a business owner, you are still an executive. That’s called YOU incorporated. Everything that I am about to talk about applies to you as well. So business owners, executives, and individuals, building your business before deciding what lifestyle you want is your biggest mistake. The solution is to design your lifestyle first, then build your business to get you there. See, the business is the vehicle. The employment that you have is the vehicle. That’s what we need to do.

The challenge is that a lot of times we build our businesses first and it boxes us into a corner as far as our lifestyle, and sometimes we create a successful business and then we start thinking about, “Well, I’d really like to have this business to provide me some lifestyle,” but then you have to possibly make some changes to the business and sometimes those tweaks don't do well for the business and therefore the business suffers and therefore your lifestyle will suffer too. My main point is therefore that you design your lifestyle first, then build your business to get you there.

When you move to Canada as permanent residents, you are not here on a vacation so take it easy. I know economics is important but, relax. Let's do it right.

Now you’ve heard that time equals money. Well, let’s analyze that just a little bit. You can spend time. You can spend money. Can you waste time and waste money? Sure. Can you leverage time and leverage money? Absolutely. Can you manage your time? Can you manage your money? Yes. Can you use other people's time? Yes. Can you use other people's money? Yes. Can you save it for future use? Money yes but time no. You see, time does not equal money. And the real issue is time plus money equals lifestyle, and that's what we're really after.

It's part of why we left our countries of origin and embraced Canada as our new home.

Depending on your experience level, you've probably figured out that going after all the money won't afford you the time to do the things you really want to do. Have you been on a job that pays your bill and gives you a lot of things yet you feel trapped and unfulfilled? Yeah. I have been there. If it was just the time, sometimes I didn’t make the money. You've probably figured out it wasn’t one or the other. I want a combination of both. Now when you put those two together it gives us what we’re really after which is the lifestyle.

For you, what is lifestyle?

Well, I found out that lifestyle really means something different to everyone, and that's the good news. For me, I believe that lifestyle is being able to do what you want, when you want, where you want, with who you want, and how you want, without worrying about time or money. I'll say it again. It is being able to do what you want, when you want, where you want, with who you want, and how you want, without worrying about time or money.

So, before you rush into building that vehicle that will take you to your desired lifestyle, you need to decide - it's not about making it happen but discovering your own north pole which will determine the type of vehicle that will take you there.

So what are the things to consider when you are designing the preferred lifestyle that you want?

Join me in the next episode!

Dapo Bankole.

“Don't let your boy's schooling interfere with his education.” ~ Grant Allen, the novelist and science writer

It's Dapo Bankole here again from the Immigrant Life Podcast, the Canadian narrative. I thought to make my answer to the question of certification an episode because very similar to the question about going to school in order to secure a job or get a promotion in Canada, this is another very popular one. In fact, this question came up again very recently in my discussion with a prospective student of my BA training where I made it clear that my training does not focus on helping people to secure BA certifications rather, on getting the job done when they secure the BA job. Know that whatever decision you make, certifications require time and often significant resources and you need to be sure that it is what really counts when you are talking about getting hired or promoted in Canada.

Let's dive right into it.

In my opinion, I like to compare certification with Schooling versus education. Education is a broader means of gaining knowledge which could be formal or informal. Schooling, on the other hand, is the more formal way of getting educated. Using this lens, certification is like Schooling.

So which ones do employers prefer?

I'll make a bold statement - employers prefer anyone who can get the job done, never mind the long acronyms after their names! However, this comes with a caveat. Sometimes it depends and could be more complex than my response here.

1. Is the role you are targeting a controlled profession that requires the certification? If yes, then you really don't have a choice. Typical ones are real estate, engineering, financial services, etc

2. Does the role that you are targeting change so frequently that the changes impact your service quality or better put how well you deliver the service and in fact, in some situations the safety of lives? If yes, please go ahead with the certification. Good examples would be the Amazon Web Services space, ServiceNow certifications, Security professionals, etc

3. How experienced are you in the field? If you are very experienced and the quality of your delivery is not so much as dependent on critically changing information then you can easily get away with deprioritizing certification versus you getting skilled in actually getting the job done. e.g. Business Analysis, Project Management, Software testing, etc.

4. If you can get the job done as a junior to intermediate professional without the certification the by all means ditch the certification! When you get the job and have enough time, experience and financial cycles, then go ahead and get certified. It never hurts at this point. In fact it becomes a bow on your experience or the icing on your cake...figuratively speaking.

5. Finally, go to coffee with senior leaders/hiring managers in the industry that you are targeting and ask them what matters to them and how they perceive certifications vs skills in their hiring matrix.

That said, I will be having with me a senior leader in the consulting industry who I have had the pleasure of working with for a few years. He will be joining us in the studio to talk about this and other interesting topics related to hiring for new and established immigrants and promotion for established immigrants in the workplace!

Looking forward to it!

Dapo

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If you want a change in your circumstances, then you've got to move. 

I'm here to talk to you! Yes, you - the very person listening to me right now. All I want to do is to remind you that unless you change, nothing's gonna change.

You can meditate, do yoga or go on marathon prayer and fasting for as long as you like unless you tell people about that service that you offer and they buy from you, nothing's gonna change. Unless you tell enough people that need the service and they buy from you, nothing is gonna change!

Why would you develop that product or service and tell no one about it? You've gathered so much market intelligence, snooped on your so-called competitors for years on end now and yet you are yet to make a move! You've bought every single online course, gone for a myriad of training with your savings and even line of credit yet you have not told anyone about your product or service beyond your family and a few friends!

You are in a job that is killing you! Yet you are smiling. Sunday seems to be the worst day of the week for you simply because you dread going to that place of work - for whatever reason. And your day has barely begun on Monday when you've started dreaming of Friday - just because you are looking forward to the weekend.

You are afraid. And you know. Yet you have blamed everyone who ever coached you or sold a service to you because they did not provide the help that you think you need.

Do you know the truth? You are a great person. Your future is bright but you are scared of your own future. You are so used to thriving on other people's affirmations that you are now addicted and it is now holding you back. You cannot seem to move because people have not said good things about YOUR DREAM. They are afraid of the dream you have and because you have always believed them and looked up to them, their own personal unbelief has become your death sentence.

Your side hustle has a lot of potentials but because you have continued to sit on it because of fear, you have ended up being a secret agent - gathering information and talking to no one about it. Stop it.

I need you to go back to your WHY. Why exactly did you start this journey in the first instance? What led you to where you are today? What led to the dream that you once had?

You need to go back to your roots - that is your why!

At this point, the only person who can unblock you and get you moving again, working on your dream is you.

Because you blocked yourself.

Nobody did.

If you really want something, if you really want to offer that service, if you really want to make that side hustle work, if you really want to quit that energy-draining work and invest your time in something or relationships that fill your heart with joy and fulfillment then,

GO. FOR. YOUR. DREAM.

STOP being a secret agent.

Offer that Service!

Happy Saint Valentine's day!

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The average person spends eight hours at work daily. This is a significant one-third of our daily 24hrs. And if we realize that we typically leave work to go home or to friends and families it implies that what happens at work determines a lot regarding what happens at home. But then like Hugh Mackay, a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia said, “Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.”.

This implies that when we mix professional relationships with personal relationships, it adds a significant layer of complexity to our lives and we need to be aware of it. So should you, therefore, be friends with your colleagues?

My answer? Yes. I believe we should develop meaningful friendships with some of our colleagues at work. We cannot be friends with everyone but we can have a few really great friends. And how should you go about it? Go. Slow. Great relationships are not forced. They are cultured and it takes time. But when done right, it lasts and you will look forward to going to work and be fulfilled in other areas of your life.

Enjoy and share with someone you care about!

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