How To Fulfil Your Destiny By Discovering Your P.A.T.H

 How To Fulfill Your Destiny By Discovering Your P.A.T.H
DISCOVER YOUR  P.A.T.H


William Arruda  said, “What makes you unique makes you successful”. The key to success is discovering your uniqueness and significance. Socrates said, ‘’man, know thyself.’’  The secret of success lies in self-discovery. There is a PATH that has been designed for everyman.
The Bible captured this succinctly in Proverbs 4:18: “But the PATH of the just is as the shining light,  that shineth more and more unto the perfect day”. The reason why some people will never shine in life and eternity is simply because they NEVER discovered their PATH.
Every man has a path unique to him and even customized for him. The journey of life becomes adventurous and impactful only if we carefully discern and follow our PATHs. You are specifically designed for a purpose, you are not mass-produced. The only time that failure is guaranteed is when you are trying to be someone else; when you are trying to walk in another man’s path. Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
One of the most fascinating stories that supports the fact that everybody has a PATH to follow in life is that of the screen goddess and media giant, Oprah Winfrey. Oprah’s path to stardom and prominence was smeared with rejections, abuse and self-esteem struggles but she held tenaciously to her passion and path. Oprah Winfrey once said, “Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility.” Born January 29, 1954, to a single mother, Oprah Winfrey could have been anything other than glowing titles she rightly deserves. Raised in poverty on a farm in Mississippi, United States, she suffered abuse and molestation, ran away from home and was sent to a juvenile home.
Oprah discovered her passion early in life; she began her broadcasting career at the age of 17 and she started hosting talk shows in 1978. The year 1984 signaled Oprah’s major breakthrough when she relocated to Chicago to host ‘A.M CHICAGO’. Under a year, the show’s rating dramatically improved and it was renamed to ‘THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW’ in September 1985. The talk-show was later named the highest-rated television program of its kind in history.
Dubbed the “Queen of All Media”, she has been ranked the richest African-American and the greatest black philanthropist in American history. Several assessments rank her as the most influential woman in the world. In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the former American President, Barack Obama. The height to which Oprah attained was not a sudden flight; it was simply because she consistently nurtured her passion, natural ability and talent. Joseph Campbell said, “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls”.
There is a PATH (Passion, Ability, Talent, Holy Spirit) that is peculiar to your way to stardom. People that will ultimately make maximum impact in life and eternity discover their PATHs very early in life with ardent commitment to stick with it. Your Passion, Ability, Talent and Gift coupled with the leading of the Holy Spirit are your effortless ways of blessing the world. Frederick Buechner   said, “The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and world’s deep hunger meet”.

PASSION

The easiest way to find purpose is to find ‘passion’. You will rarely succeed at anything unless you have fun doing it.  John Maxwell once said, “People don’t need to follow the common path to be successful. They need to follow their passion”. Your passion is your purpose! Passion is the only effortless path to discovering your purpose. Nothing great was ever achieved without great passion. When the Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, was asked about the secrets of success, he quickly responded, ‘’Find the thing you are super passionate about’’.
Your passion is your effortless way to stardom and limelight. Many people will live long and die unknown just because they never discovered the one thing that they are passionate about. Discover the one thing that you were created to be and be willing to pay the price to be it. The things that we were created to do excite us while things that we were not created to do exhaust us. Wealth eventually comes to people that make their passion their profession.
Your wealth will always come from what you enjoy doing. There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart, pursue those.  Oprah Winfrey said, “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you”.

ABILITY

Steve wonders said, “We all have ability. The difference is how we use it”. We are differently abled in something. We must nurture and grow our ability to impact the world. As a personal development coach, one of my core beliefs is that: There is no disability, people are just differently abled! Your education is important but the discovery of your areas of strong ability will take you far in life. One of Romans greatest minds, Cicero, said, “Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability”. You’ve got to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. Zig Ziglar said, “Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that we have”.

TALENT & GIFT

The meaning of life is to find your gift; the purpose of life is to give it away. Myles Monroe said, “When you discover your gift, you find your arena of authority in life”. You could get fired from a job but you can’t get fired from a gift. Find your gift and you’ll always have work to do! In life, you will only shine in the area of your gifting and to know the right places for people, we must know their areas of gifting. Brian Tracy said, “The very best way to develop yourself is in the direction of your natural talents and interest”.
Until you discover and nurture your gifts, you will continue to travel in another man’s PATH. Wealth does not come from your job; it comes from your personal gifting. Never desert your line of talent. Be what God intended you for and you will succeed. The key to personal success is the discovering of your personal gifting. Leo Buscaglia said, “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.”

HOLY SPIRIT

People that walk with God always reach their destination. The Holy Spirit is our perfect guide in the journey to destiny fulfilment.  The Bible says in Psalm 32:8, “I will guide you along the best PATHWAY for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Henry David Thoreau said, “When it is time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived”. Many people are living a life that is not theirs. Our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is paramount to discovering and staying on our PATH in life. It takes the leading of the Holy Spirit to walk in the right PATH. Many people sympathetically spend the whole of their life walking in another man’s path.
A combination of your passion, ability, talent and the leading of the Holy Spirit is your unique recipe to living a productive, impactful and fulfilling life.
A fulfilled life becomes elusive without an healthy blend of these four. There is a genius inside everybody because everyone is a genius in one area of life or the other. Life major assignment is to discover that area of your gifting, talent, ability, passion and to consistently do those things that bring that gift to peak performance. Then a genius is formed!
Maya Angelou said, “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes of you”. Have you discovered your PATH? Are you sure you aren’t walking in another man’s shadow? Those that never discover their PATH in life always fall apart. They fall apart in their career, in their marital life and in their ministry.
That journey that you have started might send you into oblivion if it is not your PATH. It doesn’t matter how far you have gone! Steve Jobs said, “Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life”.
 “What set you apart from the rest is the discovery of your path”-

Photo Speaks: Hmm, Oyibo Family Wears Aso Ebi As Nigerian Lady, Benin Princess Marries A white Man.

The family of her English groom who came all the way to Nigeria to honour the couple surprised all the guests as they showed up in their own Aso Ebi.

Wow, so cool as the photos from the elegant wedding ceremony have been going viral on the social media in the past 24hours.

Drama As Woman Returns Stolen Manhood In Port Harcourt To Escape Jungle Justice

A security guard who helped a lady to lift her travelling bag around 6am yesterday raised alarm after he felt his manhood had been stolen.



His cry for help caught the attention of area residents of Mgbuola area of port Harcourt who order the alleged ritualist to return the stolen manhood or risk her life and right there, the security guard regained his manhood.

Mr Joshua Nte Rogers had to Narrate what he saw

What could have been a mob action today was averted in port Harcourt following quick intervention by some residents and police operatives. The Trouble started when a private security guard, attached to a gas plant behind Dominion City Church, Mgbuoba in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area raised alarmed that his manhood was missing after assisting a lady lift her traveling bag at about 6am. The Private security guard was said to have regained his manhood after concerned residents forced her to reverse her alleged action.

RMD Set to host African Film Festival in Dallas Texas

May 12, 2017

Nollywood actor Richard Mofe-Damijo has been named as the host of this year's edition of African Film Festival (TAFF).


The festival holds at the Dallas city performance Hall and will be opened to the general public from Friday June 30. It will climax on July 3 with the awards night.

According to the organisers, the three-day event will showcase films made by Africans, as well as a few made by non-Africans about issues important to different regions of the continent.

Last year, Patience Ozokwo aka Mama G, was one of Nollywood stars that was honoured with the African film Legend award at the festival.

The Woman, the Ape, and the Child Nigerian Folktale

Okun Archibong was one of King Archibong's slaves, and lived on a farm near Calabar. He was a hunter, and used to kill bush buck and other kinds of antelopes and many monkeys. The skins he used to dry in the sun, and when they were properly cured, he used to sell them in the market; the monkey skins were used for making drums, and the antelope skins were used for sitting mats. The flesh, after it had been well smoked over a wood fire, he also sold, but he did not make much money.

Okun Archibong married a slave woman of Duke's house named Nkoyo. He paid a small dowry to the Dukes, took his wife home to his farm, and in the dry season time she had a son. About four months after the birth of the child Nkoyo took him to the farm while her husband was absent hunting. She placed the little boy under a shady tree and went about her work, which was clearing the ground for the yams which would be planted about two months before the rains. Every day while the mother was working a big ape used to come from the forest and play with the little boy; he used to hold him in his arms and carry him up a tree, and when Nkoyo had finished her work, he used to bring the baby back to her. There was a hunter named Edem Effiong who had for a long time been in love with Nkoyo, and had made advances to her, but she would have nothing to do with him, as she was very fond of her husband. When she had her little child Effiong Edem was very jealous, and meeting her one day on the farm without her baby, he said: "Where is your baby?" And she replied that a big ape had taken it up a tree and was looking after it for her. When Effiong Edem saw that the ape was a big one, he made up his mind to tell Nkoyo's husband. The very next day he told Okun Archibong that he had seen his wife in the forest with a big ape. At first Okun would not believe this, but the hunter told him to come with him and he could see it with his own eyes. Okun Archibong therefore made up his mind to kill the ape. The next day he went with the other hunter to the farm and saw the ape up a tree playing with his son, so he took very careful aim and shot the ape, but it was not quite killed. It was so angry, and its strength was so great, that it tore the child limb from limb and threw it to the ground. This so enraged Okun Archibong that seeing his wife standing near he shot her also. He then ran home and told King Archibong what had taken place. This king was very brave and fond of fighting, so as he knew that King Duke would be certain to make war upon him, he immediately called in all his fighting men. When he was quite prepared he sent a messenger to tell King Duke what had happened. Duke was very angry, and sent the messenger back to King Archibong to say that he must send the hunter to him, so that he could kill him in any way he pleased. This Archibong refused to do, and said he would rather fight. Duke then got his men together, and both sides met and fought in the market square. Thirty men were killed of Duke's men, and twenty were killed on Archibong's side; there were also many wounded. On the whole King Archibong had the best of the fighting, and drove King Duke back. When the fighting was at its hottest the other chiefs sent out all the Egbo men with drums and stopped the fight, and the next day the palaver was tried in Egbo house. King Archibong was found guilty, and was ordered to pay six thousand rods to King Duke. He refused to pay this amount to Duke, and said he would rather go on fighting, but he did not mind paying the six thousand rods to the town, as the Egbos had decided the case. They were about to commence fighting again when the whole country rose up and said they would not have any more fighting, as Archibong said to Duke that the woman's death was not really the fault of his slave Okun Archibong, but of Effiong Edem, who made the false report. When Duke heard this he agreed to leave the whole matter to the chiefs to decide, and Effiong Edem was called to take his place on the stone. He was tried and found guilty, and two Egbos came out armed with cutting whips and gave him two hundred lashes on his bare back, and then cut off his head and sent it to Duke, who placed it before his Ju Ju. From that time to the present all apes and monkeys have been frightened of human beings; and even of little children. The Egbos also passed a law that a chief should not allow one of his men slaves to marry a woman slave of another house, as it would probably lead to fighting.

The King's Magic Drum

Efriam Duke was an ancient king of Calabar. He was a peaceful man, and did not like war. He had a wonderful drum, the property of which, when it was beaten, was always to provide plenty of good food and drink. So whenever any country declared war against him, he used to call all his enemies together and beat his drum; then to the surprise of every one, instead of fighting the people found tables spread with all sorts of dishes, fish, foo-foo, palm-oil chop, soup, cooked yams and ocros, and plenty of palm wine for everybody. In this way he kept all the country quiet, and sent his enemies away with full stomachs, and in a happy and contented frame of mind. There was only one drawback to possessing the drum, and that was, if the owner of the drum walked over any stick on the road or stept over a fallen tree, all the food would immediately go bad, and three hundred Egbo men would appear with sticks and whips and beat the owner of the drum and all the invited guests very severely.

Efriam Duke was a rich man. He had many farms and hundreds of slaves, a large store of kernels on the beach, and many puncheons of palm-oil. He also had fifty wives and many children. The wives were all fine women and healthy; they were also good mothers, and all of them had plenty of children, which was good for the king's house.

Every few months the king used to issue invitations to all his subjects to come to a big feast, even the wild animals were invited; the elephants, hippopotami, leopards, bush cows, and antelopes used to come, for in those days there was no trouble, as they were friendly with man, and when they were at the feast they did not kill one another. All the people and the animals as well were envious of the king's drum and wanted to possess it, but the king would not part with it.

One morning Ikwor Edem, one of the king's wives, took her little daughter down to the spring to wash her, as she was covered with yaws, which are bad sores all over the body. The tortoise happened to be up a palm tree, just over the spring, cutting nuts for his midday meal; and while he was cutting, one of the nuts fell to the ground, just in front of the child. The little girl, seeing the good food, cried for it, and the mother, not knowing any better, picked up the palm nut and gave it to her daughter. Directly the tortoise saw this he climbed down the tree, and asked the woman where his palm nut was. She replied that she had given it to her child to eat. Then the tortoise, who very much wanted the king's drum, thought he would make plenty palaver over this and force the king to give him the drum, so he said to the mother of the child—

"I am a poor man, and I climbed the tree to get food for myself and my family. Then you took my palm nut and gave it to your child. I shall tell the whole matter to the king, and see what he has to say when he hears that one of his wives has stolen my food," for this, as every one knows, is a very serious crime according to native custom.

Ikwor Edem then said to the tortoise—

"I saw your palm nut lying on the ground, and thinking it had fallen from the tree, I gave it to my little girl to eat, but I did not steal it. My husband the king is a rich man, and if you have any complaint to make against me or my child, I will take you before him."

So when she had finished washing her daughter at the spring she took the tortoise to her husband, and told him what had taken place. The king then asked the tortoise what he would accept as compensation for the loss of his palm nut, and offered him money, cloth, kernels or palm-oil, all of which things the tortoise refused one after the other.

The king then said to the tortoise, "What will you take? You may have anything you like."

And the tortoise immediately pointed to the king's drum, and said that it was the only thing he wanted.

In order to get rid of the tortoise the king said, "Very well, take the drum," but he never told the tortoise about the bad things that would happen to him if he stept over a fallen tree, or walked over a stick on the road.

The tortoise was very glad at this, and carried the drum home in triumph to his wife, and said, "I am now a rich man, and shall do no more work. Whenever I want food, all I have to do is to beat this drum, and food will immediately be brought to me, and plenty to drink."

His wife and children were very pleased when they heard this, and asked the tortoise to get food at once, as they were all hungry. This the tortoise was only too pleased to do, as he wished to show off his newly acquired wealth, and was also rather hungry himself, so he beat the drum in the same way as he had seen the king do when he wanted something to eat, and immediately plenty of food appeared, so they all sat down and made a great feast. The tortoise did this for three days, and everything went well; all his children got fat, and had as much as they could possibly eat. He was therefore very proud of his drum, and in order to display his riches he sent invitations to the king and all the people and animals to come to a feast. When the people received their invitations they laughed, as they knew the tortoise was very poor, so very few attended the feast; but the king, knowing about the drum, came, and when the tortoise beat the drum, the food was brought as usual in great profusion, and all the people sat down and enjoyed their meal very much. They were much astonished that the poor tortoise should be able to entertain so many people, and told all their friends what fine dishes had been placed before them, and that they had never had a better dinner. The people who had not gone were very sorry when they heard this, as a good feast, at somebody else's expense, is not provided every day. After the feast all the people looked upon the tortoise as one of the richest men in the kingdom, and he was very much respected in consequence. No one, except the king, could understand how the poor tortoise could suddenly entertain so lavishly, but they all made up their minds that if the tortoise ever gave another feast, they would not refuse again.

When the tortoise had been in possession of the drum for a few weeks he became lazy and did no work, but went about the country boasting of his riches, and took to drinking too much. One day after he had been drinking a lot of palm wine at a distant farm, he started home carrying his drum; but having had too much to drink, he did not notice a stick in the path. He walked over the stick, and of course the Ju Ju was broken at once. But he did not know this, as nothing happened at the time, and eventually he arrived at his house very tired, and still not very well from having drunk too much. He threw the drum into a corner and went to sleep. When he woke up in the morning the tortoise began to feel hungry, and as his wife and children were calling out for food, he beat the drum; but instead of food being brought, the house was filled with Egbo men, who beat the tortoise, his wife and children, badly. At this the tortoise was very angry, and said to himself—

"I asked every one to a feast, but only a few came, and they had plenty to eat and drink. Now, when I want food for myself and my family, the Egbos come and beat me. Well, I will let the other people share the same fate, as I do not see why I and my family should be beaten when I have given a feast to all people."

He therefore at once sent out invitations to all the men and animals to come to a big dinner the next day at three o'clock in the afternoon.

When the time arrived many people came, as they did not wish to lose the chance of a free meal a second time. Even the sick men, the lame, and the blind got their friends to lead them to the feast. When they had all arrived, with the exception of the king and his wives, who sent excuses, the tortoise beat his drum as usual, and then quickly hid himself under a bench, where he could not be seen. His wife and children he had sent away before the feast, as he knew what would surely happen. Directly he had beaten the drum three hundred Egbo men appeared with whips, and started flogging all the guests, who could not escape, as the doors had been fastened. The beating went on for two hours, and the people were so badly punished, that many of them had to be carried home on the backs of their friends. The leopard was the only one who escaped, as directly he saw the Egbo men arrive he knew that things were likely to be unpleasant, so he gave a big spring and jumped right out of the compound.

When the tortoise was satisfied with the beating the people had received he crept to the door and opened it. The people then ran away, and when the tortoise gave a certain tap on the drum all the Egbo men vanished. The people who had been beaten were so angry, and made so much palaver with the tortoise, that he made up his mind to return the drum to the king the next day. So in the morning the tortoise went to the king and brought the drum with him. He told the king that he was not satisfied with the drum, and wished to exchange it for something else; he did not mind so much what the king gave him so long as he got full value for the drum, and he was quite willing to accept a certain number of slaves, or a few farms, or their equivalent in cloth or rods.

The king, however, refused to do this; but as he was rather sorry for the tortoise, he said he would present him with a magic foo-foo tree, which would provide the tortoise and his family with food, provided he kept a certain condition. This the tortoise gladly consented to do. Now this foo-foo tree only bore fruit once a year, but every day it dropped foo-foo and soup on the ground. And the condition was, that the owner should gather sufficient food for the day, once, and not return again for more. The tortoise, when he had thanked the king for his generosity, went home to his wife and told her to bring her calabashes to the tree. She did so, and they gathered plenty of foo-foo and soup quite sufficient for the whole family for that day, and went back to their house very happy.

That night they all feasted and enjoyed themselves. But one of the sons, who was very greedy, thought to himself—

"I wonder where my father gets all this good food from? I must ask him."

So in the morning he said to his father—

"Tell me where do you get all this foo-foo and soup from?"

But his father refused to tell him, as his wife, who was a cunning woman, said—

"If we let our children know the secret of the foo-foo tree, some day when they are hungry, after we have got our daily supply, one of them may go to the tree and gather more, which will break the Ju Ju."

But the envious son, being determined to get plenty of food for himself, decided to track his father to the place where he obtained the food. This was rather difficult to do, as the tortoise always went out alone, and took the greatest care to prevent any one following him. The boy, however, soon thought of a plan, and got a calabash with a long neck and a hole in the end. He filled the calabash with wood ashes, which he obtained from the fire, and then got a bag which his father always carried on his back when he went out to get food. In the bottom of the bag the boy then made a small hole, and inserted the calabash with the neck downwards, so that when his father walked to the foo-foo tree he would leave a small trail of wood ashes behind him. Then when his father, having slung his bag over his back as usual, set out to get the daily supply of food, his greedy son followed the trail of the wood ashes, taking great care to hide himself and not to let his father perceive that he was being followed. At last the tortoise arrived at the tree, and placed his calabashes on the ground and collected the food for the day, the boy watching him from a distance. When his father had finished and went home the boy also returned, and having had a good meal, said nothing to his parents, but went to bed. The next morning he got some of his brothers, and after his father had finished getting the daily supply, they went to the tree and collected much foo-foo and soup, and so broke the Ju Ju.

At daylight the tortoise went to the tree as usual, but he could not find it, as during the night the whole bush had grown up, and the foo-foo tree was hidden from sight. There was nothing to be seen but a dense mass of prickly tie-tie palm. Then the tortoise at once knew that some one had broken the Ju Ju, and had gathered foo-foo from the tree twice in the same day; so he returned very sadly to his house, and told his wife. He then called all his family together and told them what had happened, and asked them who had done this evil thing. They all denied having had anything to do with the tree, so the tortoise in despair brought all his family to the place where the foo-foo tree had been, but which was now all prickly tie-tie palm, and said—

"My dear wife and children, I have done all that I can for you, but you have broken my Ju Ju; you must therefore for the future live on the tie-tie palm."

So they made their home underneath the prickly tree, and from that day you will always find tortoises living under the prickly tie-tie palm, as they have nowhere else to go to for food.

Follow The Money

Dav tries to follow the money to gauge where growing worldwide debt & money printing might lead us.

Was the wealth effect in NZ just a game of musical chairs?

He had grown up learning that an asset’s value was a measure of its earning capability.
But the rule book had been thrown out in the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Global economies sped on a money highway with no traffic rules.
Absolute worldwide debt was bound to exceed the $43 trillion that had been borrowed last year in 2016.
That was already $6,500 owed by every man, woman and child on the planet, a vast majority of whom earned nowhere near enough to repay a debt of any size.
Standard & Poor (S&P) were forecasting total global sovereign debt of around $7 trillion in 2017, with USA at $2.2 trillion and Japan at $1.8 trillion expected to borrow almost 60% of that, followed by China, Italy, and France.
S&P's chief sovereign analyst Moritz Kraemer’s calendar analogy provided an insightful perspective on the comparative scale of borrowing of nations.
If it were distributed evenly across the year, U.S. issuance “would have already covered Switzerland's 2017 borrowing needs at lunchtime on Jan. 1; Brazil's on Jan. 30, and Italy's on Feb. 17," Kraemer said. “It would then have passed China's and also the rest of the world's by Feb 28.”
What kind of a debt was this? Riskier than before, and getting riskier by the day. Only 7% of these borrowed 43 trillions now carried a AAA rating – an all-time low.
According to the Bank for International Settlements, which was the central bank of central banks, global debt-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was now at a record high and debts of governments, households and corporations since 2000 had gone up... everywhere.
Despite wishful thinking that the world would deleverage post the GFC and mend its borrowing ways, debt was up 63% in the USA, and up an average of over 50% in the Eurozone, Japan, U.K., Canada and Australia. In emerging markets, led by China, leverage was up 85%.
Central Bankers of the world had pumped the world with liquidity, printing fiat money, ostensibly to avoid having another Great Depression, penalizing savers with negative interest rates in the process, in the name of the greater good.
Now, almost a decade later, no one seemed to be in a hurry to arrest this increased use of debt - anywhere. The next debt default was inevitable. The disciplined savers, who provided these loans, had another lesson coming.
Or did they? For any loan to exist, there must be a loan-maker, who traditionally had been the saver. But it was a print and lend world now. With ever increasing debt ceilings, as boundaries got pushed out every year.
In this brave new world, nobody needed to save. Almost everybody could borrow. And almost everybody could default. Without any real consequences.
In fact, it was even becoming fashionable to expect to be bailed out every so often, at everyone else’s expense. Today was all that mattered. Tomorrows had ceased to exist.
Bailouts were now legalized. Institutionalized. Internationally. As wealth creation had just got a whole lot easier. No sweat and blood needed now. Ink or keyboard strokes sufficed.
 What should he do in this game of musical chairs? The music will stop, he knew, but until then? He was still in the game. Not playing was not an option.
Should he have less fixed interest then, and more stocks and property, which were riskier but inflation protected? Should he stay local in New Zealand or continue to diversify internationally?
New Zealand had emerged relatively unscathed from the GFC. Yet, almost all of its finance company sector had perished in the GFC. Globally, there had been no place to hide, for any asset – anywhere. Cash had been king. Would Cash and Gold be still safe when the next tsunami hit?
What had the rest of the Kiwis been doing? Borrowing, it seems, as well as salting away their cash. Kiwi Households were flush with NZD 162 billion in cash held in bank accounts, up almost 11 bln in a year (up 7.1%). Probably baby boomers cashing up, while the youngsters borrowed to buy houses.
Reserve bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) figures at the end of Dec 2016, showed Kiwi household financial liabilities (mostly mortgages) at NZD 263 billion, just a 100 billion more, net of our cash. Not bad, yet most commentaries implied that the country was going broke due to private borrowing.
RBNZ figures also revealed a Household disposable income of NZD 156 billion. Household debt as a percentage of household disposable income was now up to 168% - A new all-time high!
However, considering our cash holdings and total Household disposable income, the total net loan could be repaid within a year or two. Another thing was clear. Historically, Kiwis shied away from borrowing, and had lived within their means.
Our mortgage only borrowing of NZD 230 billion dwarfed our outstanding business credit of NZD 95 billion, as well as our agricultural lending of NZD 61 billion. But what to do? The Aussie Banks lent easier on housing.
Still, the RBNZ had been cornered into fast-forwarding the 60% LVR (Loan-to-Value Ratio) rule. Forcing investors to come up with 40% deposit on houses was having real impact, although owner-occupiers and first home buyers had picked up some slack.
Sure, in the past 12 months, NZ household debt had risen by 8.4% (NZD 20 billion - housing loans up 9.1%, or NZD 19.2 bln, and other household credit like credit cards was up 4.1%, or NZD 0.6 bln).
This was almost double the rate of increase of our disposable income (up 4.4%, by over NZD 6.5 billion). And almost double the rate of growth of our business and agricultural debts.
Yet, the household debt burden was now more affordable than it had ever been, due to interest rate reductions. Debt servicing cost only 8.6% of disposable income, down from 9.4% a year ago (13.9% in Dec 2008). It was expected to stay down for decades, despite the recent scaremongering.
In the previous 12 months, to Sep 2016 (collection of these figures lagged a bit), the value of NZ houses and land had also risen almost 16% (over NZD 750 billion), making our total household net wealth over NZD 1.2 trillion.
So, over the nine years from 2007, Kiwis had basked in this wealth effect, spending 57% more on eating out, 60% more in insurance, 67% more on rent and 50% more on transport, even though our income had only grown 32% over the same period.
We had spent record levels on credit cards. Because we had never been wealthier. Thank you, Quantitative Easing, Immigration, Globalization! But one can't drive a car by looking in rear view mirrors all the time.
Looking forward, wages weren’t expected to rise by more than CPI (Consumer Price index, or Inflation) in the next few years, putting limits on rent rises. But immigration was expected to remain high and new house builds low. Demand and supply situation remained favorable for the vendor, despite the rhetoric.
It was in no one’s interest to crash the property market, and Bill English had already declared that he had no intention of doing so. Should he buy more houses then? He looked blankly outside his window, staring into an invisible crystal ball.
Follow the money, he told himself. You will discover what to do…