Skip to main content

Do Not Buy a Depreciable Asset, Lease it!



Dear Speculators,

We all need to buy some important assets during our lifetime. Sometimes when the need arises, we are without sufficient cash and we need to borrow to acquire such assets for example cars, gadgets, etc. Quantum leaps in technology have continued to make assets like phones, computers, television, internet data etc cheaper and better. As such it will be somewhat unwise to purchase an asset which will immediately start losing value by paying in installments or with a loan. In essence, you will be paying more for an asset which is losing value. You must note that when we purchase certain items like vehicles with a loan for personal use, it produces no returns for the owner but only yields personal satisfaction. These loans bear interest rates and since you will be paying more for the depreciable asset with borrowed capital, it simply means you are spending more to get the same satisfaction. This utility will fall gradually as the asset wears over time.

Capital expenditure is an exception because it is able to produce returns for its owner. Any purchase as such can be categorized as an investment. Examples of capital expenditure are plants, machinery, equipment, amongst others necessary for business operation. Financing such investment with a loan is only reasonable if the return on investment (ROI) is considerably higher than the cost of capital.

Therefore, if you must purchase any asset for personal use, please pay with cash not credit. If the asset is a depreciable asset and there is a possibility that such asset can be leased, then lease it instead. This way you have the freedom to enjoy benefits of the latest technology without losing much. You save yourself from paying excess tax and you lose nothing when the assets start to depreciate. Only capital expenditure with a higher ROI than the market interest rate should be financed with a loan! An intelligent consumer will always prefer to lease than to buy if the assets do not have appreciating value.


Signed:
Emeka Ucheaga,
Managing Partner,
Emeka Ucheaga Advisory

Comments

  1. Nice work emeka. Keep this good work up. Am personally benefitting from these. Please more of it coming. Much thanks for the ones you shared already

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brexit: Why the Market Got it Wrong

Dear Speculators, After 40 years of being in the European Union, the United Kingdom will no longer be a member nation of the EU after the exit plans have been finalized. The gloomy market prediction by top notch investors and analysts has now become a reality. The British pound has been "pounded" in the foreign exchange market, falling significantly against virtually every currency on earth. Pound sterling currently sits at a 30 year low against the dollar after shedding a record 11% in just one day. The equity market is a mess all over UK and Europe, banks have suffered the heaviest beating. $2 trillion has been wiped off global equities. At this point it will take a miracle and much more than $345b promised by the Central Bank to save the economy from entering a financial  recession by 2017. Several market players were positioned for a stay in accordance with the opinion polls on Brexit even when the polls showed that a vote to remain wasn't significantl

CBN Floats the Naira and the Interbank FX Rate Takes a Dive

Dear Speculators, It is no longer news that CBN has liberalized the interbank foreign exchange market in Nigeria. This new fx policy will allow exchange rate for bank to bank transactions to be determined freely by market forces as against the previous fixed rate of N199. The CBN has also permitted foreign currency deposits in deposit money banks and discontinued the sale of foreign currencies to Bureau de Change in Nigeria. CBN has also promised to intervene periodically and in unpredictable fashion to clear up backlogs of foreign exchange demands whenever the need arises. Since Nigeria has still not devalued her currency, CBN intervention in this market may present an arbitrage opportunity for the primary dealers. In other words, any day could be Christmas for the banks. Obviously, the Central Bank now believes that the amount of dollars and other foreign currencies in circulation can provide much needed liquidity to satisfy the country's fx demands, thereby bring

Ten Surprises of 2018

Dear Speculators, Let's face it, 2017 was a bad year. The only things that went the right way in '17 were crude oil, equities and the decelerating pace of inflation. From fuel scarcity to periodic power outages, rising unemployment to terrorism perpetrated by herdsmen, Nigeria looked more or less worse of the same. As usual, the new year has started with a lot of hope but the long queues at filling stations is enough to beat out the optimism out of most realists. To help in putting the most important things into perspectives so we do not dwell less on minor things rather than channelling all our attention to major possibilities this year, we have put together 10 of the biggest surprises this year you should pay attention to. Ten Surprises of 2018 1. The stock market ASI crosses 65,000 2. Banks post record annual profits for 2017 3. 1-year TBills rates fall below 13% 4. Inflation falls below 12.5% 5. Nigeria's economy expands by more than 4% 6. Crude oil price exceeds $