Hyperventilating every time you see your bank balance isn't healthy

Save for emergencies and unforeseen events like sudden death and accidents or sickness, many expenses don’t come as a surprise. [Courtesy]

Just how deep do your pockets need to be to join the top one per cent of the wealthiest people in Kenya? Apparently, not very much. At least not as much as I expected the figure would be. According to the 2021 wealth report by Knight Frank, if you have assets and cash (minus debt/mortgages) worth Sh2.2 million (20,000 USD), then you, my friend, are doing extremely well, at least by Kenyan standards.

In South Africa, you would need over nine times that amount (Sh19.4m) and over two times more in Nigeria (about Sh7.5m) to join the top pack. I was horrified by the report. One, because it shows the high levels of poverty in the country as if we weren’t so poor, many people would have a net worth over that amount, and joining the wealthiest one per cent would be harder to achieve.