I think that @amorphous (or whoever he may morph into) has raised a very important point which all investors must not ignore. And that is - can one live off investments at the NSE? To maintain a middle-class lifestyle in Nairobi you need some 300k each month. So it means that if you are lucky to get a 10% dividend (before tax) to maintain the lifestyle, you need to have an investment of KES 36m at the NSE. I don't want to bring in the issue of capital gains or capital losses. So how many wazuans have invested 36m at the NSE?

The only wazuan to have declared his portfolio at NSE is @obiero. All the other wazuans list some amorphous percentages of their holdings so one can never know the amount of their investment at the NSE.

So let's look at a typical wazuan's portfolio, in this case @obieros last known portfolio: 5500 COOP, 2000 HF, 7500 KCB, 100000 KENR, 392,100 KQ. At today's prices (3rd June 2020) COOP (12.40), HF (3.74), KCB (34.95), KNRE (2.30), KQ (1.99), his portfolio is worth about 1.35m. If a miracle happens and he gets a 10% dividend, that's 135k pa, or 11k a month before tax. So how would he survive on such an amount? Even a mama mboga makes more than that. Is the 11K worth the time and stress involved monitoring the stock market performance every day?

Wazuans are in different stages of their lives. What was "crazy money" when one is 20 isn't the same at 30 or 40 or 50 even after factoring in inflation. Live your own life.

1) I don't think many start off "wealthy" but invest from their earnings (salaries, business, etc). I was lucky to have found mentors who taught me the importance of SAVING from my first job right after high school. Haba na haba...
Try to spend LESS than you earn. Don't worry about Mark and his new car. Or Juma and his new sofa sets. Or Jane and her new 50" TV. Or Owuor who is always at the hottest club in town.

2) Compounding. Very, very important. If you can work from 20-50 (30 years) and keep investing NEW money (part of your monthly salary) and compound (dividends and capital gains) the growth could be huge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svbkVpeuwE4 "Snowball Effect"

3) Kibaki era. I will openly come out and say it. This was the BEST time for me. I do not know how to describe the craziness for you. In 20/20 hindsight it was unsustainable. An announcement of a bonus (same cake, more slices) would make the price increase. It wasn't uncommon to double an investment in 3 months. Ridiculous and as I found out it was unsustainable.

4) LUCK. Yes, lucky. If one had investible income in 2003 onwards. For some, the value of their land shot up like crazy.
Looking back, I wish I had invested everything I had in 2001/2002 when people were still despondent during the Moi era.
LUCK in buying the right firm. Those days I didn't know much about PERs, etc. It was momentum investing.
No, I do not recommend it.

5) We are different. Different habits. Different stages of life. Different tastes.
If you own your house, a modest car, in good health, don't gamble, don't smoke/drink excessively, travel modestly and don't have kids at home isn't 300k more than enough?

Of course, if you are partying every weekend, drink the top-shelf stuff at Sankara, lease a new-ish Mercedes, rent a high-end house in Westlands/Lavington, holiday abroad, fly business class, etc, send kids to ISK then 1mn/month isn't enough!

Finally, I will address this "All the other wazuans list some amorphous percentages of their holdings so one can never know the amount of their investment at the NSE."

Many, including myself, investors are shy about "declaring" their portfolio for reasons of privacy. Many of us older folk were brought up to be "modest" and "private" in matters concerning finance.

It could be cultural. I don't recall my grandfather, father and uncles ever discussing money with their families. Times are changing and I think it's good we do so nowadays.

Even Warren Buffett doesn't really discuss his personal wealth but talks of his companies/investments, Berkshire, etc. He does that given BH is a listed and has shareholders/partners.

Of course, you are free to share your portfolio with us.

And @Obiero has other investments.

1. 11k a month is a decent amount to get without working. Remember millions of Kenyans survive on less than a dollar per day (3,000 per month).

2. Mama mboga makes more than 11k per month, true depending on who your mama mboga is. A big supermarket chain like Carrefour is just a fancy mama mboga. Retail net margins are generally around 5% so mama mboga has to sell mboga worth kshs 2.6m per year to have a chance of making 11k per month.

3. Wealth is generated by working assets (more on assets later) to earn an income. Income is used in three ways. Firstly, by spending on basics and luxuries. Secondly, by saving for re-investment or for a rainy day. Thirdly by re-investing in assets that will generate future income. Naturally, spending more than your income leads to net liabilities.

4. Back to assets. There are 3 broad classes of assets that generate income. Firstly, the human body. A person labours for his employer or his clients to earn an income. Highly skilled labourers get paid more hence the reason why labourers invest in education and training for more skills.The second class of assets is tradeable goods. Traders sell (turn over) raw or manufactured goods to make a profit. The more specialized the goods the higher the profit earned. Third class of assets is rental assets like rental property or money i.e. passive investments. You lend your property or money to labourers and traders and get back a return of rent, interest or dividends.

5. People start and live their lives differently. Some are born to capital owners and never need to labour or trade. Others are born to traders and continue trading to earn their living. Still others are born to labourers and peasants and lack capital to trade or rent out. The latter class has no option but to sell their labour for an income.

6. Labourers should be aware that a normal human being works for 20-30 years then is deemed to lack the energy to work. He can however expect to live on average an extra 10-20 years while lacking the energy to work. During this time a labourer relies on income from passive investments accumulated when he/she had the energy to work. Note that reliance on children in old age is a very risky bet.

7. In conclusion ladies and gentlemen of wazua, nse exists for three purposes i.e. for passive investors to earn their incomes/ living, for traders to borrow capital for expansion of their businesses, for labourers to accumulate passive investment to keep them going after retirement. Compounding, as discussed by chief @VVS is a useful tool for labourers seeking to accumulate enough passive investments for a later time.

The issue is not the message but delivery without decorum and basic netiquette

@obiero you drink na unasema umeokoka?:

Only aged whiskey.. Share the link where I said nimeokoka.. Im interested..

While I don't deny that one can make a decent income investing in the NSE, I think it takes special talent to do so. I am a good example of this. When I joined Wazua (or SK as it was called then) I had big ideas about creating a balanced portfolio that would earn me 300K per month, which is what I estimated would guarantee me a comfortable retirement one day.

I was an attentive observer of many of the investors here. However it took me a very short time to realise that investing required at least two sets of talent, which I did not have: attention to pattern, for momentum investing and attention to detail, for value investing. And patience.

After making many mistakes and losing quite a bit on the NSE, I had to admit I was simply not good at this game and I should try something that I could at least partially understand. I moved my attention to real estate investing. Despite its problems, and there are many, real estate is something straight forward and I have made some progress, to the point where I am gradually approaching that 300K monthly income that I initially envisioned. It has taken me 10 years and a base of about 30M in (mostly borrowed) capital invested (so that 10% yield is not too far off).

Could I have made better returns investing that 30M in the stock market? Maybe, but for me, it would have taken luck or market manipulation and I am not sure either is a good strategy. In any case I didn't have that 30M to start with and if there is one lesson I have learned from Wazua it is this: don't invest in the stock market using borrowed funds.

As for the NSE, I now use it like a bank account. I buy shares expecting to sell them when I need the money (whether they are up or down) but hoping to get a better return than from a fixed deposit.

My approach is similar though i combine with technical analysis to gauge entry/ exit levels.

This is good. But an undeveloped plot in Kathumaini isn't really a solid investment.. Best bet on real estate is in suburban areas