By Emmanuel Akrong, CEO and Founder of CedisPay

I’ve always believed that the greatest lessons in life are born out of struggle. The foundation of my journey to financial wellbeing was shaped by one of the most devastating experiences a person could endure: the loss of my wife and son. But what truly transformed my pain into purpose wasn’t just the grief—I realized, in the face of this profound loss, how much my financial decisions had contributed to the stress and suffering.

Through this journey, I discovered that the right financial decisions, made at the right time, could have made all the difference. This realization became the cornerstone of my mission to empower others to achieve financial wellbeing. Out of this personal pain was born the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps, a framework designed not only to help individuals achieve financial security but to protect them from the pain of financial hardship I experienced.

My Journey: Lessons Learned the Hard Way

We all know that life has seasons. And much like the process of planting and harvesting, timing is everything when it comes to personal finance. If you plant at the wrong time, you won’t harvest. And sometimes, the pain of a delayed harvest—when your investments or efforts don’t pay off immediately—can be worse than the initial pain of planting.

For me, the most painful realization came after I lost my wife and son. At that time, I believed that I had been doing everything right. I had life insurance in place. I was investing aggressively. I thought I was setting myself up for a stable future. But the reality hit hard: while I had been making investments, I hadn’t followed through on two crucial steps.

• I didn’t reduce my debt to below 30% of my income
• I hadn’t set aside an emergency fund

These two mistakes led to an avalanche of financial hardship when my investments didn’t yield immediate returns. I was already struggling with the emotional weight of my loss, and the financial burden felt like salt in an open wound. The grief I was experiencing was inevitable, but the financial stress was avoidable. This experience taught me a crucial lesson: Don’t skip emergency funds and reduce your debt before investing.

The Birth of the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps

I created the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps not only as a financial framework but as a roadmap born from my personal pain. I didn’t want others to suffer as I did, and I wanted to offer a solution that could prevent this kind of hardship. These seven steps represent a system designed to bring order to the chaos of personal finance. They are not just steps on paper—they are lessons learned from years of painful experience

My life lessons and purpose are wrapped in the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps. They’re the result of trial and error, sacrifice, and personal growth. The goal is simple: to guide individuals through financial security, free them from debt, and help them secure their futures.

The CedisPay 7 Baby Steps: Your Roadmap to Financial Freedom

Here’s a closer look at each of the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps, which can help you establish a strong foundation for financial wellbeing:
• Protect Your Loved Ones – Secure their future with life insurance. Life insurance isn’t just a safety net—it’s a legacy for your family. When you’re gone, your loved ones should not have to worry about their financial security. Life insurance provides peace of mind, knowing that your family will be taken care of financially after you’re gone.
• Save GHS 1,000 – A starter emergency fund for immediate financial shocks. Life is unpredictable. Emergencies happen when we least expect them. Whether it’s an unexpected medical expense or a job loss, having a starter emergency fund gives you the ability to manage life’s curveballs without spiraling into debt. CedisPay offers a starter emergency fund tool, which helps you quickly save this amount and prepare for the unexpected.
• Reduce Debt – Keep it below 30% of your income for financial flexibility. Debt is like a weight around your neck, preventing you from making forward progress. Keeping your debt under control is critical for financial flexibility. CedisPay’s debt tracker tool can help you monitor and manage your debt, ensuring it doesn’t exceed the recommended 30% threshold.
• Build a 6-Month Emergency Fund – Your real safety net for bigger challenges. Once you’ve saved the starter fund, it’s time to build a 6-month emergency fund—a larger buffer that will protect you during significant financial setbacks. This step is essential for true financial security. CedisPay offers a budget tracker tool that helps you plan and save effectively, ensuring you’re able to build this emergency cushion.
• Invest for Retirement – Allocate at least 15% of your income to long-term wealth. Retirement planning isn’t just about saving—it’s about investing for the future. The earlier you start, the better. CedisPay has a built-in retirement planning tool, which helps you allocate at least 15% of your income towards your retirement, ensuring you’re building long-term wealth that will serve you later in life.
• Save for Education – Secure your children’s future. Education is the key to a brighter future, and saving for your children’s education will give them a head start in life. CedisPay’s education fund planner helps you save efficiently for your children’s schooling, ensuring they have access to the best opportunities.
• Build Wealth & Give Back – Grow your assets and contribute to your community. Wealth isn’t just about what you keep—it’s about what you give. Building wealth is important, but so is giving back to your community. CedisPay encourages a wealth-building mindset with its wealth growth tools and inspires users to contribute to causes that matter to them.

The CedisPay Tools that Make it Easy

At CedisPay, we understand that putting these steps into practice can feel overwhelming. That’s why we’ve built user-friendly tools to help you every step of the way:
• Emergency Fund Calculator: Track and build your emergency fund.
• Debt Tracker Tool: Monitor and manage your debt to stay below 30% of your income
• Budgeting Tools: Plan, track, and save effectively for both short-term and long-term goals
• Retirement Planner: Ensure you allocate the right amount of your income to retirement savings
• Education Fund Planner: Save efficiently for your children’s future education
• Wealth Growth Dashboard: Keep track of your assets and monitor your progress towards financial freedom
These tools are designed to help you stay on track with the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps. They provide guidance, clarity, and support—just as they did for me when I was rebuilding my life and my finances.

The Power of Purpose

In the end, the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps are more than just steps—they are the foundation of financial freedom. They are the direct result of painful lessons I had to learn the hard way. But I want you to learn them without the pain. I want you to skip the mistakes and move directly to financial security and peace. This is my mission: to help others avoid the financial struggles I faced and to guide them toward a life of financial wellbeing and freedom.

Conclusion

The pain of losing my wife and son was inevitable, but the financial strain I faced could have been avoided. That’s why I created the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps—to help others secure their financial future and avoid the mistakes I made. You don’t have to go through the same struggles. By following the CedisPay 7 Baby Steps, you can create a foundation of financial security for yourself and your loved ones, and ensure that you’re prepared for whatever life throws your way.