This past December, I thought about going home for Christmas. “Home” is the village. My brothers and I call it home because our parents have always thought about the village as home. Like we were on some kind of journey through Lagos and everywhere else we live.

My cousins and their kids will be “home”. I imagined what the best gift could be for over 15 kids. I couldn’t come up with one that would impress the kids.

I thought about many different gifts. The one thing that would have made the most difference is an investment. I imagined having over N30 million to give to those kids. We could hold a family meeting to determine the modalities. We could also elaborate on the meaning and depth of my gift.

I am sure their parents (my cousins) would expect that the money for their children would be sent to their accounts. As if it is some sort of reward for being parents.

It might shock them to hear that I would rather save or invest in their kids’ names instead of transferring cash to their accounts. The money could be invested in shares or bonds, depending on what our financial adviser says about it. I would ensure that the kids can only access the dividends when they turn 18. This means that whatever interest is accrued during the period in question would be re-invested until they are of age to change that decision or keep the re-investment going.

It wouldn’t make sense to the kids and even to the parents. But it would be a legacy to stay long after I am gone. I would be laying a solid foundation of wealth in the whole family.

The kids would probably be told to say “thank you, uncle”. They wouldn’t understand what having an investment of N2million means. This investment would feed on the profit made over 8 to 10 years before they can start cashing on it. But when they do, they will remember me.

Conclusion

I currently do not have N30,000,000 to give away, but it feels nice to imagine what that kind of investment would do for the family. I let the imagination run for a while, and I enjoyed it while it lasted.

You can invest for children; maybe yours, maybe orphans, or even your nephews, like in my imagination.

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