GACHAGA: Let your money work for you for financial freedom.

You’ve got a decent job. You’re not missing meals. You’re probably paying for Netflix and hosting five cousins on your account (plus someone whom you cannot explain to the missus). Your shoes are clean, your phone is not embarrassing, and somewhere under your HR’s desk, there's a retirement account with your name on it. You’ve even told yourself that your Sacco shares (all Sh20,000 of them) are a “solid investment”.

Welcome to the middle class.

It’s a warm, familiar space, not flashy, not too tight. You’re not rich, but you’re not struggling either. You can replace your phone screen when it cracks, but the fridge? That one needs a payment plan. You go to Java, but you probably check your M-Pesa balance first. You go for the rally with your new seven-year-old car, you overlap because you got to conserve fuel, its 2.4 litre guzzler after all. Your landlord sends you a Christmas card, unprompted. Life is alright.

But here’s the trick about being alright, it can lull you into standing still.

Many of us followed the script (damn you 8-4-4-…….): go to school, get a job, buy a car (on loan), get a mortgage, join a chama, contribute to a harambee or two, maybe buy a plot in Kitengela you’ll “develop” someday when the stars align (talk to Kago, the guy can build a house….and on a budget!). And listen, there’s nothing wrong with the script. It’s built on hard work, discipline, consistency. It’s served generations.

The only problem? It rarely teaches us how to build. It teaches us how to earn. How to spend. How to survive. But wealth? Freedom? That part’s left out of the curriculum.

Here’s the truth about the financial middle: it’s a strange in-between space. You earn just enough to qualify for fuliza, but not enough to ignore interest rates. You’re too “comfortable” for subsidies, but one fuel price hike away from, a “you guy my guy saidia” phone call. Your money is always moving, school fees, insurance, loan repayment, mbuzi for someone's pre-wedding, but it’s not always multiplying, if ever!

And again, it’s not your fault.

A lot of what we should’ve learned wasn’t made accessible. We weren’t taught about cash flow, passive income, or how lifestyle creep is the enemy of long-term wealth (that slow upgrade of your shoes, car, lunch spots, and holidays, until your salary’s moving but your savings aren’t). We were trained to stay afloat. Maybe maintain. Not necessarily rise.

But what if we looked at this differently? What if we saw the middle class not as a trap, but as a launchpad?

That comfort you’ve earned, the ability to meet your bills, live a little, sleep without checking if Fuliza has you, is your greatest asset. It gives you space. Space to make different decisions. To press pause on the next upgrade and the next iPhone (and for God’s sake, don’t send that fare) the difference into an asset. To keep your expenses steady even after a raise (I know, revolutionary). To invest outside of what you’ve always known, even if it feels boring or unfamiliar.

The next level doesn’t start with a windfall. It starts with intention, deliberate and strategic.

Audit your lifestyle. Are you spending to impress people who won’t help you during an emergency or are you spending in line with your goals? Are you avoiding debt completely because of fear or are you learning how to use it strategically? Are you relying only on your payslip, or have you started building income that doesn’t rely on you showing up every day 

Middle class comfort is not the endgame. It’s the halfway point. And you’ve worked too hard to stop halfway. Because here’s the quiet truth, if you always need to work to make money, you’ll have to work until you die.

That’s why the next chapter is about building income that doesn’t depend on your daily grind. Start investing, slowly, consistently, intentionally. Buy assets that pay you back: rental units, money market funds, dividend-paying stocks, a small side hustle that grows without your daily presence. Build streams, not puddles. Let your money report to work, even when you don’t. Regular readers will remember the power of compound interest, call it to order.

Passive income isn’t just about luxury (although luxury is not a bad thing, just ask my wife about Scuba spa) it’s about options. It’s the difference between retiring on your terms and chasing contracts in your sixties. The middle class gave you breathing room. Now use it. Because financial freedom doesn’t come from how hard you work (read that again) it comes from how smart your money works for you.

So, here’s your gentle nudge (I am being polite, it’s not gentle, move your a$$): don’t park the car just because the ride is smooth. You’ve earned this level, no question. But freedom? That comes when you take comfort and use it as a foundation not a ceiling.

Alfred Gachaga is a compliance, risk and fintech executive

“Until next week — stay curious, stay bold.” https://grcapex.com/