Many Nigerians today live below the poverty line not necessarily because they have
low incomes or poor salaries, but perhaps they lack savings and investments culture.
The Harmonized Nigeria Living Standard Survey reports that Nigeria spends about
N25 billion daily on food items. There is high propensity to consume but low
propensity to save. This is quite alarming for a developing nation. High consumption
would mean low savings, low investment, and low capital formation. If this persists,
the Nigeria populace will be engulfed in poverty trap. It is therefore necessary to
build among Nigerians savings and investments culture. A review of extant literature
revealed that people save and invest for several reasons among which are to enhance
the standard of living, take advantage of rare business opportunities, and meet
unforeseen circumstances. Savings can be done through piggy, stokvel, thrift
collection, credits unions, and banking system while investment is in the form of real
asset, financial asset, and foreign exchange investment. Whatever form of investment
one contemplates, it is very important to assess the risk-return trade off of such
investment. Savings and investments guarantee your future. No matter how small is
your income, you must learn to save to mobilize funds for investment. If the standard
of living of Nigeria populace must be enhanced, there is therefore serious need for
household savings and investment. Savings and investments must be our life style.
We however in this study recommended the credit unions method of savings for
Nigerians who belong to a field of membership.