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What are the benefits of setting challenging goals?

Setting challenging goals benefits

Setting big challenging goals would give something to always live for in tough and in good times.

Ted Turner wasn’t wrong when he asserted,

“You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.”

Let’s look at it this way. When you set not too challenging goals, it’s natural not take tasks for achieving them seriously.

You’d tend to surrender to mediocrity and procrastination.

Why would you likely adopt this approach? 

Because you’d believe that you just need to put in little effort, do things the usual way and when you feel like to get what you want.

 This approach, apart from making to procrastinate, could also create problems of attention lapse and diminishing performance.

On the other hand, studies found that setting clear and challenging goals can minimize attention lapses and improve performance during task.

When you want to get the big things done and  achieve big dreams, high performance is a must.

Another advantage of setting challenging goals is that it strengthens your resolve to win.

Every small win would make you to be more determined to keep going towards that big goal. 

Every small win would give you the courage and the self-belief to take the next step and keep on going despite occasional missteps.

There’s another advantage.

Keeping your sight constantly on the challenging goals you have set for yourself is going to make you increase your levels of effort and stay persistent till you win 

You’re never going to accept average from yourself because you’d believe that you’re capable of doing better.

And you wouldn’t allow yourself to turn back mid-way because you’re always going to believe that you’re one step away from your achieving your goal.

So, setting challenging goals for yourself would bring out the best in you to overcome challenges and go create the life of your dream.

24 Exchange gets set to offer 23-hour trading in 2025.

Security exchange.

In a press release on November 27, 2024, 24 Exchange announced it has received approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to operate 24X National Exchange as the first national securities exchange in the U.S. that allows trading of U.S. securities 23 hours each workday. The extended hour trading is subject to Equity Data Plans making changes that would facilitate overnight trading hours and 24X National Exchange making an additional rule filing with the SEC confirming the changes and the Exchange's ability to comply with the Securities Exchange Act.

24 Exchange CEO and Founder Dmitri Galinov said: "The SEC's approval of our new exchange is a thrilling development that the 24X Team has been working toward for many years. Traders are most at-risk when the market is closed in their geographic location. 24X National Exchange will seek to alleviate this problem by facilitating around-the-clock U.S. equities trading for broker-dealers and their institutional and retail customers."

According to the press release, 24X National Exchange will be launched in two stages.

9 High yield savings accounts in Nigeria.

High yield savings account in Nigeria

Here are nine Nigerian banks known for offering high-yield savings accounts, as of the latest available data. 

The interest rates can vary, so it’s always a good idea to check with the banks directly for the most up-to-date offers.

1. GTBank (Guaranty Trust Bank) 

  Known for competitive interest rates on savings accounts, including specialized savings products like the GTSave savings account.

The GTSave offers a competitive interest rates at 8.175%.

2. Access Bank 

   Offers a variety of savings products with attractive interest rates, especially on their Access Bank High Interest Savings account.

Access bank premier savings accounts attracts interest rate of  8.175%p.a paid monthly.

3. Zenith Bank 

 

Provides various savings products with good returns, including the Zenith Bank High Yield Savings account.

Zenith bank has an account called Save4Me. Save4Me  is a savings account with a higher interest rate of 4.5% 

4. UBA (United Bank for Africa)

   UBA has competitive interest rates on its savings products, particularly the UBA High Yield Savings account.

The bank offers its UBA Target account about a 5.50% interest rate per annum.

5. Stanbic IBTC Bank  

 Offers a range of savings accounts with higher interest rates for premium customers, such as the Stanbic IBTC High Yield Savings account.

Stanbic IBTC offers a MaxYield account that provides the following benefits to the holders of the account;

Bonus interest of 0.5% plus 10% of MPR per annum if daily balance is more than N100,000. 

Interest of 10% of MPR  per annum if balance is less than N100,000 or more than 1 withdrawal per month.

Interest is forfeited at the 5th withdrawal in a month. Interest is paid monthly less 10% withholding tax.

6. EcoBank Nigeria  

  

 Known for competitive interest rates, EcoBank offers savings products like the EcoBank Premium Savings account.

The bank offers supersavers account and pays between a 9%p.a interest on N100000 mininum balance and 13%p.a on N100million and above.

But exceeding 4 withdrawals in a month will result in forfeiting all earned interest for that month.

7. Fidelity Bank

 Fidelity offers various interest-bearing savings accounts, with attractive rates in their Fidelity High Yield Savings product.

The Fidelity High Yield Savings Account offers tiered interest rate based on threshold of between 8.175%pa on N100,000 and 8,825%pa on N200m.

The regular monthly interest is Not applicable if customer makes more than 4 withdrawals in a month

8. Union Bank of Nigeria

 

   Provides competitive interest rates on savings, including the Union Bank High Yield Savings account.

Union Bank savings account attracts 5.55% interest per annum.

9. Wema Bank

 

 Known for its "ALAT" savings platform, which offers higher interest rates and unique digital banking benefits.

The Wema Personal Savings account has an Interest rate of 4.65%p.a 

Remember, rates and account terms can change, so it’s a good idea to verify the latest details directly with each bank .

Goldman says go for gold. Here are 5 Things To Know Before Investing In Gold.

 

Gold investment

 

Gold investment: Goldman says go for gold; sets a target of $3,000 by next Christmas

 

In a report on business today, Goldman Sachs analysts predict that gold prices will reach new heights in 2025 due to increasing central bank demand and anticipated US interest rate reductions.

 

The investment banking firm believes that a potential second term for President Trump could positively impact gold prices, especially in light of increasing geopolitical tensions and concerns about US fiscal stability.

 

Before you decide to either invest in Gold or not , here are 5 things to know about Gold investment. 

5 Things to know before investing in Gold.

 

1.       1. Gold and the dollar sometimes have inverse relationship.

 

 The gold price and the trade- weighted US dollar can have an inverse relationship.

 

What does the trade-weighted show?

 

The trade-weighted value shows how US dollar gains or loses purchasing power against its trading partners.

 

Note, this relationship is no longer as accurate as it used to be in the  past under the gold standard.

 

2.     2.    You pay a premium when you buy a physical gold.

 

When you buy a gold coin with an ounce of fine gold from a dealer or a bank, you pay more than the gold price. The difference is called the premium.

 

3.      3.   You pay tax on collectible rates on physical gold.

 

Physical holdings in gold and other precious metals are considered as collectibles.

 

These holdings attract capital gains tax which is owed after you sell your holdings in gold.

 

This capital gains tax is is equal to your marginal tax rate up to a maximum of 28%.

 

4.    Physical gold is different from Gold stocks.

 

Gold stocks offers higher liquidity because they can easily be traded on public exchanges.  

 

But in period inflation spiral, physical gold provides more security and long-term stability.

 

Investing in either gold stocks or physical gold comes down to your risk tolerance.

 

5.    An investment in Gold does not provide consistent returns.

Why is Terry Smith not investing in Nvidia?

Stock

One would have expected one of the top fund managers in the world to be impressed by Nvidia stock that has almost tripled in 2024.

 

But this hasn’t been the case.

 

Terry Smith, UK's answer to Warren Buffett is not as positive on Nvidia Corp.’s stock as Wall street analysts are . Hes not interested.

 

What does Nvidia sell and why the surge in the value of its stock?

 

Nvidia sells computer chips, graphics processing units (GPUs) that processed data in AI software.

 

The rise of AI has led to increase in the demand for Nvidia's processors, known to be the most advanced among those available in the market.

 

Would the demand for Nvidia's processors continue to increase? Most likely?

 

So Why is Terry Smith not interested?

 

Maybe investing in Nvidia stock doesn’t align with his investment philosophy.

 

What is his investment philosophy?

 

Terry Smith has an investment philosophy that’s rooted in spotting companies with enduring business models.

 

The fund manger believes that such business model is the only way to build long term wealth.

 

Terry Smith gives two reasons why he’s not excited about Nvidia's stock.

 

His first reason in his words.

 

 

“It’s a company which has made – what people are calling in modern parts – a pivot twice in its business model, very successfully. You might say, what’s the problem? Well, because people who have to pivot in their business model sometimes get the pivot wrong.

“So, it moved from gaming chips to basically chips for digital currencies, very successfully. And then it moved from chips for digital currencies to GPUs for large language models and AI - very successfully.

 

“Jensen Huang – the founder, and the man who runs it – is clearly very clever – and they’ve done that very successfully, and all credit to them for doing that.

“However, bear in mind the following. On those two changes in the direction of what they were doing in the past, the stock went down 80% on both occasions. You’ve got to have a pretty strong stomach for that kind of stuff. And it does worry us that it’s not got the predictability that we seek in companies. One of the most important things we’re looking for is something that’s relatively predictable, and that doesn’t sound like it’s particularly predictable. Presumably at one time they may do that and it may go down 80% and it might not succeed. So that’s one thing.”

His second reason in his words.

 

“There’s only one thing more dangerous than being close to the consumer in a downturn and that’s not being close to the consumer.

“Because if you think it’s bad running a consumer products company in a downturn, when you might see a 5% to 10% downturn in demand, you can only begin to imagine what happens to people who are supplying to those consumer companies, particularly if they’re supplying capital equipment, which just goes on hold.

“They don’t have 5% to 10% downturns. They get properly strapped into the roller coaster at that point. That tends to be what happens to them. And there’s no doubt whatsoever that what Nvidia is doing is selling into a massive capital cycle. They’re building things which are going into people to put into data centres, to build models. They’re not selling direct to consumer. They’re two or three stages back from the consumer basically here.

“So, at some point, if the end demand for this falls, or even just doesn’t go up as fast as it has been going up, there’s going to be an interesting outcome.”

 

 

Why is capital gearing ratio important to business financing?

 

Business financing: Capital gearing.

This article first appeared on Ayi Post.

1. What is capital gearing?

2. Why is capital gearing ratio important to business?

3. Why is capital gearing ratio important to business financing?

Having a great business idea without a startup capital is like wandering a vast desert in search of an oasis. 

You are literally going to leap in when you see one. Then gulp down the water with all the impurities.

It’s wise to understand what capital gearing is before you decide to borrow or not to borrow to start your business.

What is capital gearing?

It’s a financial ratio that shows the amount of debt of a company to it’s equity. It’s a measure of financial risk. 

This risk increases toward volatility as the ratio of debt to equity gets higher.

The higher the gearing ratio, the more the interest payable on debt and the lower the earnings on equity. You may end up borrowing to service debt commitments.

The risk doesn’t end with sinking deeper into more debts, your control of the company could also be threatened.

Your creditors may want to teach you best ways to run your business profitably. 

This may come in the form of business partnership and so called, “business support”. In most cases, their way will not be on the same level with your vision.

Before you look to lenders for funding, have an amount of equity that would guarantee a lower capital gearing. 

Your capital gearing should be a ratio that keeps with you, the control and the freedom to be proactive and react quickly to evolving trends.

Only borrow when you’re certain you will have a positive leverage. 

That is, only when projections indicate that your earnings from the application of debt are going to be greater than interest payable on debt.

But should you even borrow to start a business? 

The answer is Yes. Debt financing is not a bad idea if you’ve sincerely mastered strategies that guarantee favorable returns on intended investment.

You must also be ready to work hard and proceed as if you were bootstrapping.

As a takeaway, keep the gearing ratio lower than 25 percent.