I often hear people talking about how much they are going to be millionaires at a certain age, or certain timeframe, and for me, some of those numbers are too astounding. Not because I don't believe people can make any kind of money they wish but because it is clear to me that a large number of people out there are not aware of the variables involved in being a millionaire in this country.
Firstly, The Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) released research data in August this year. The research states that to be among the richest 1% of South Africans, you need a household income of R48,753 per month (after-tax).
With this data alone we can deduce how not so simple it is to be a millionaire if the top 1% of the country is making a Net Income of R48, 753 pm. On that 1% we all know that a massive chunk of that is white people, so as a black person, which percentage would you fall under?
The so-called "middle class" citizen is likely on 10% of the richest people in the country. The richest 10% take home R7,313 a month. So if you earn R7000.00 you are in the top 10% of high earners in the country. With that income how possible is it for you to be a millionaire while you're still alive? How long would it take you to be a millionaire, if that will ever happen?
Furthermore, more than half (55.5%) of the population lives below the upper-bound poverty line, which is currently at R1,227 per person per month.
With all these realities, it is clear that being a millionaire is really hard in South Africa, worse when your skin is black, even worse when your skin is black and you are a female.
With this, of course, I do not take into consideration the politicians, entertainers, and athletes because those are the special case - which we shall discuss some other day.
So I write on this to provide some sort of an indication to show how hard it is to be a millionaire in this country. We all have ambitions, we all want wealth, and these realities of our socio-economic conditions tell us how hard we must work towards reaching that million rand mark.
To me, it is astonishing how people's actions do not match their ambitions. People have multimillion-rand ambitions while they have a hundred rands actions.
For us to reach those millions we are ambitious to make, it calls on all us to scrutinize what we really do with our time, energy, and resources, as that is the ultimate indicator of how quickly you can reach the million rand mark, if ever you're going to reach it.
I included, I have come to that realization that reaching a million in my income will require way more than what I'm doing. Every day I'm aware I need to put more work and energy behind my ambitions and aspirations.
And I believe that if everyone else can stop being delusional as I once was, thinking they will reach a million rand mark without investing an unimaginable enormous amount of their time, and energy in acquiring that, that will be the greatest step for us to really ensure we create wealth for our families because the fact of the matter is that the odds are against us.
The socio-economic conditions we are facing prove that the odds are against us, and that calls on all us to start matching our ambitions with relevant actions because there's a lot of people who are delusional.
The uncomfortable truth is that a majority of people who see themselves being millionaires in the future will actually go six feet under without having tasted that million, not even half of it.
Make sure your actions match your ambition, that is the only possible way you can reach that which you wish. I only wish everyone gets to live their dreams, but people need to start working for their ambitions and dreams. Claiming you will be a millionaire without equally relevant actions, likelihood is that you may never ever taste that million based on the facts I have just outlined.
Remember, the top 10% of the richest people in South Africa make an income of R7000 pm. Remember, the odds are against you. The onus is on you black child, stop the delusion, and profusely get to work.
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