Freelancer anticipates dry spells
Danilo Acquisto, TV and radio presenter on ’Afternoon Express’ and Good Hope FM, tells Brendan Peacock how he learnt to resist shiny objects and insist on the fine print
Do you manage your own financial affairs, and would you say you’re good at handling money?
Money is something I never really grew up with, so I have had to learn the hard way how to handle it. I manage my own finances, but I do have a few financial advisers who assist with investments, and I have an accounts firm that files my tax returns annually.
How difficult is it to manage your finances if you work for yourself?
I’d say it’s not “fun” to manage finances because I am a creative, so it’s always the last thing on my exciting-things-to-do list. That makes it quite difficult.
If you set up the right investments, which you need to be 100% involved and proactive about, open the right accounts and spend just enough time managing your income and expenses, it can be quite easy because all it involves then are regular check-ins and tweaks to make sure you aren’t overspending, and looking at the long-term financial goal to make the right kinds of sacrifices.
How do you get through rough times?
As a freelancer and entrepreneur, there are always go- ing to be “dry” periods in your career.
I was wise enough at 19 to set up an equity investment account and a buffer money market account for the periods when I needed the cash flow.
I haven’t really needed to tap into those as I have anticipated dry periods and kept a buffer in my account.
I’m very conscious about that, and so ensure I am proactive instead of reactive if ever those rough times hit.
What was the best money advice you were ever given?
The best financial advice I have ever received was from a man I consider my mentor, who told me when I got my first job and was considering which BMW or Mercedes to buy to celebrate my new success, that if I choose to forgo my instant need for something shiny, I could become a millionaire simply by saving and delaying instant gratification.
I remember him asking me what car I would buy then.
Needless to say, the idea of driving a few cars and owning a beautiful property one day and having enough money to fund a few NGO projects I wanted to start put me off spending the immediate money and focusing on investing in the long term.
Delay a bit of instant gratification and invest in future wealth.
It might not make sense right now because you really want something nice, but hold back just a bit and you can have even more.
Do you save or invest? If so, how?
I diversify my asset portfolios. I have a larger sum of money that I invest in equities, which fluctuates. I leave it in quite a highrisk portfolio.
I also have a money market account, which gives me a better interest rate than my cheque account. It is my “emergency fund” for in case anything drastic happens and I need liquid cash.
Then I am also setting up my retirement annuity, which I am hoping to put regular amounts of money into to get me ready for when I need to retire. Being a freelancer, it gives me tax benefits. I am also in the process of injecting some more funds of mine into a tax-free savings account that I will use for more investments in the stocks.
Have you ever taken on any work and thought “Never again”?
Most definitely. Being in TV and radio, my entire brand is my business. There have been times where sponsors have offered the world, but after the campaign the return on investment never completely fulfilled the promises that were made.
I learnt that verbal agreements mean nothing unless it is followed up with a paper trail.
We make most of our income through sponsorships and events outside of the work we do, so the “never again” moments are the ones where you feel companies or organisations try to take advantage of you. I like doing honest business.