Where to Invest your Money & Earn Multiple Streams of Passive Income

Where to Invest your Money in Nigeria for Passive Income – High Yield Short and Long Term Financial Investment Opportunities in Real Estate and Property Development, Dividend Stocks, Treasury Bills, Fixed Deposits & Mutual Funds

Mike, a business consultant in an IT firm, often wondered how his closest colleague, Efe who was on the same executive level, with the same annual benefits and who also had the same skill and working experience could afford to migrate from his place of resident to a decent place at Lekki, buy a new Toyota Camry and even take his wife on a trip to some of the best places in Lagos and Abuja while he (Efe) was still struggling to make efficient use of his monthly pay and have some to save in a savings account.

Mike has been very smart about how we could use his salary to generate passive or side income. He didn’t just save his monthly earnings in a fixed deposit account, that earns a low-digit interest return while his money is lent to qualified corporate borrowers at a higher rate, but explored some double-digit interest return opportunities  only a few know in Nigeria, with the extra cash flow credited to his account month on month, quarter on quarter and year on year, he is on his way to achieving a total freedom from salaried job or monthly paycheck while securing his kid’s education and family’s fortune.

The salary Mike earns from his work is an active income because it requires his active participation in his company’s operation while the extra-income earned from investing his cash or savings is a passive income. Everyone longs to become financially free without knowing that such freedom can only come if they earn more passive income than active income. Put this in another way, your financial freedom is achieved if you can finance your daily,  or monthly expenses with your passive income and still have extra to invest or keep.

If you are still middle-age, one of your goals must be to save and invest your active income or use it to create additional passive income which is often the only source of funds available to when you retire. Take your time to calculates the percentage of your active income required to create passive income by using rule 110.

Rule 110 requires that you deduct your age from 110 and whatever you have left is what you should use to estimate your investment capital. Let us say you are 30 and still working, it means at least 80% of your cash should be used to create a passive income.

Where to invest your money for passive income in Nigeria:

• Invest in Real Estate Opportunities Without Buying or Managing Physical Properties

When people hear real estate, they become scared or think that they need a huge capital to invest or start the business. Did you know that you can invest in residential or commercial property via crowdfunding platforms, who brings real estate developers seeking capital to develop lands or properties in high-brow areas, rent it out to tenants and pay you up to 25% rental yield? This is a great opportunity for those seeking long term annual cash flow without committing themselves to legal requirements and property documentation in real estate domain.

This real estate opportunity is a members-only scheme that is designed to attract private equity for real estate development and promises up to 25% per annum ROI, a return that beats CBN Treasury bills, FBG Bond and can’t even be matched with your return on fixed deposit investment.

Here are some the juicy yields you can take advantage of right now.

There are three packages available to interested investors;

• Cashflow: you earn a 20% yield is paid upfront for 2 years.
• Capital Appreciation: where you earn 25% at the of the end of each year and
• Lumpsum: where you accumulated interest is paid at the end of 2 years.

The fund generated by this platform is managed by Union Trustees Limited, SEC licensed mutual fund manager with over 60 years experience, while assets insured by Ensured Insurance Plc.

Here is how it works:

• Create your account and complete your profile in a few minutes.
• Choose a Project that you would like to invest in. You can invest in multiple projects.
• Invest a minimum of N250k to purchase 1SQM to co-own the property of your choice.
• Start earning an annual rental of up to 25% of your equity from your tenants.
• Copy this ref code –  “ogedanny” – you will be required to enter the code during registration.
• Click here to get started

• High Dividend Yielding Stocks

One of the oldest and easiest ways to generate passive income is to gradually build up equity ownership of well-run high-cap companies by buying shares on a monthly or annual basis. These companies regularly pay dividend its shareholders via direct credited to their account. The idea isn’t just to buy shares in any company but to do your due diligence and ensure that the returns are double digits ranging from 10-15%.

Although some yielding stocks may be a result of falling share prices which signals impending problems, you are strongly advised to analyse the fundamentals of your selected stocks by checking their policies driving the sector, historical revenue, profit, consistency of dividend payments and cash flow.

Is double-digit yield achievable in the stock market, you may ask? my answer is “YES”. For instance, Zenith declared a dividend of N2.8 in its 2018 result and as of this write-up, the bank’s stock sells for N25.5, which is 10.9% dividend yield for those that buy the share before the closing date. Assuming you decide to hold on to the bank’s share, as it has always declared impressive results, you may earn N3 per share the following year, this translates to 11.7% in year 2. By the time Zenith declares N5 dividend per share in 4-5years, you might sit on attractive 19.6% dividend yield stock and enjoyed some level of capital appreciation too.

For information on how to build a stable and high dividend yielding stock portfolio, see my 6 checklists for picking dividend income stocks.

The best time to build a profitable and passive income dividend portfolio is when the market is down, and stocks prices are low. During that period, yields on stocks with strong fundamentals are sound and attractive. This is how I have been accumulating stocks in my dividend portfolio.

Alternatively, you might want to consider a more aggressive approach to trading stocks which is risky but highly rewarding. This involves analysing stocks that can appreciate in price, buy sizeable units and sell after the price has increased by a target percentage.

In discussing the benefit of stock market investing, you can’t be assured of your capital as the market is subject to a high level of risk which is why dividend investing is highly recommended.

To get started in the stock market, you need to learn the fundamentals of equity market by buying books, reading financial newspapers and magazine, subscribing to professional advisory service. Your second line of account is to consider a virtual trading game like “Game.MeriTrade.com or EasyKobo.comThese platforms will help you master the art of stock market investing, study daily price movements and know how share prices react to economic news.

For more information on how to open a live trading account, you can connect with top and regulated stockbrokers like Meristem Securities, MorganCapital, Stanbic IBTC , etc.

• Interest Bearing Accounts

Interest is one of the basic and popular forms of extra-income readily available to everyone. It is either you earn a paltry interest from your savings account, fixed deposits or any other interest-bearing account managed by your bank.  Although, they are risk-free a greater setback of relying on the interest accrued to you from your cash balance is that they can’t finance most of your basic needs as it comes in low single-digit rates of 2-3%, except you put in a huge six to seven figure.

See – Untapped High-Yield Fixed Deposit Investment That Earns 20-39% p.a

See – How to Invest in CBN Treasury Bills from your Mobile

The best you could do for yourself is to diversify your cash to interest-bearing products that can keep pace with current inflation (between 11-12% p.a). Some of these options are:

• Treasury Bills

Treasury Bill is one of the safest places to invest your money. Backed by the Federal government, the CBN Treasury is offered in four (4) tranches – 30 days, 60 days, 180 days and 360 days.

See – Find more information about the CBN Treasury bills and how to invest in the money market instrument.

The best secret to maximizing gains from CBN Treasury Bill is to follow economic indicators like Oil price, inflation and exchange rates. Any perceived risk that precedes these indicators tend to drive yield upward or downward. For instance, bearish sentiments in the energy market mean implies lower FX earnings to government purse and a likely increase in debt financing via T-Bills at a higher rate. We saw how CBN T-Bill yield touched 21% at the peak of the recession in 2017 when oil traded below $40 at the beginning to half of the year. In 2018, the trend was reversed on increased oil price to $80 as the government saw little needs for domestic debt.

• PiggyVest (former PiggyBank)

PiggyVest, from my experience, is the best alternative to savings accounts, this isn’t because of the automated saving features designed to promote disciplined saving culture among its user but the extra higher interest rate offer available to users.

I have been using PiggyBank for a while and it has been an experience. Click here to find out more about PiggyBank

• Invest in FarmCrowdy

With the exponential increase in population which is projected to surpass 400 million in 2030, the demand for food is also expected to double, hence provide an opportunity for Agric-focused business and consumer goods firms to grow their top line figures. While some investors are taking advantage of this multi-billion Naira opportunity by acquiring farmlands and building food productions and processing company, you can leverage of technology-driven crowdfunding platforms. Just like the real estate platform earlier shared, these digital platforms empowers rural farmers by providing funds, farms inputs, training and a read to buy market for their farm outputs. With this model, farmers are able to access more acres of land and increase food production in the country.

One of such platforms is FarmCrowdy, the first of such model with over 11, 124 farmers already empowered,  8550 acres of land already cultivated and over 45,000 investors waiting to invest in rural farming.

These were some of the available farms you can invest in without getting involved in the physical farming activities and enjoy the attractive return of up to 25% above your bank’s fixed deposit return and even CBN bills.

While you may also consider the risk involved in sponsoring Agricultural businesses like this, FarmCrowdy works with LeadAssurance to ensure that your principal is secured in case of unexpected events.

• To get started with FarmCrowdy, go to their website and register with your social media account.
• Select the farm you want to sponsor and fund your account via PayStack or your debit card.

• Mutual Funds

A mutual fund is a good way to build a well diversified and professionally managed portfolio for yourself. This collective investment scheme was created to help individuals who don’t have the skill required to invest profitably or pick stocks.

See – Read my post on the best risk-free and top performing mutual funds to invest in.

Some of the best mutual funds you can try out at:

• FirstBank Money Market Funds

As an open-ended mutual fund, the FBN Money Market Fund invests in a broadly diversified portfolio of short-term, high-quality money market securities such as Treasury Bills, Commercial Papers, Bankers Acceptances and Certificate of Deposits issued by rated banks in Nigeria.

Benefits:

• Minimum starting investment of N5,000
• Low risk
• High level of security
• Competitive returns above the inflation rate.
• Higher rates than standard bank savings accounts
• Add funds to your investment account at any time

• FirstBank Fixed Income Fund

The FBN Fixed Income Fund preserves and maximizes return on capital while maintaining a high level of liquidity for its users.  The Fund allows exposure to a diversified portfolio of long-tenured debt securities issued by the Federal Government of Nigeria, state governments and highly rated corporate institutions.  The Fund may also invest in high-quality money market securities.

Benefits:

• Minimum starting investment of N50,000
• Low to medium risk
• Dividend payments every 6 months
• Competitive returns

• FirstBank Smart Beta Equity Fund

The FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund is a pure equity fund that invests your money predominantly in a portfolio of Nigerian companies, using a rigorous, research-based and tested evaluation system.  The fund provides long-term capital preservation by investing at least 75% of the fund’s assets (excluding cash and cash equivalents) in a diversified portfolio of high-quality companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.  In order to manage liquidity, the fund may also invest up to 25% in short-term money market instruments and deposits with financial institutions.

Benefits:

• Minimum starting investment of N50,000
• Competitive returns

See – More information on FBN Mutual Funds

• Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund

This mutual fund is designed for investors who want to take advantage of the upside potential in the stock market while protecting their capital against loss. The company provides a guarantee on capital investment if you hold your fund for a minimum of 3 months.

Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Fund invests a minimum of 60% of its fund in fixed income securities like CBN Treasury Bills, FGN Bonds, Commercial Papers and other SEC- approved instruments. Exposure to the equity market is limited to 40%.

• Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund

This mutual fund offers investors who have a bias for US dollar assets to invest in foreign currency denominated instruments. It is an open-ended scheme that primarily seeks corporate Eurobonds issued by the government or A+ rated companies and commercial papers issued by blue-chip firms.

By virtue of the currency, your investment is managed, you are automatically diversified and your risk from currency devaluation reduced. Besides, the long term capital appreciation on Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund is driven by rising USD exchange rate.

Every inquiry regarding Stanbic IBTC mutual funds should be directed to mutualfunds@stanbicibtc.com.

While I try to share opportunities to create passive income on this blog, I still think you have the final decision to take. We all have a choice as to how we intend to live our life after retirement which is reflected in what we spend today and save for tomorrow’s consumptions. But, through the power of compounding and re-investment, you can quickly turn those small savings from your monthly pay cheque into a sizeable passive income portfolio.

Feel free to share your comments and other verified and low-risk places we can invest.