The Evolution of the Traditional Susu is Passive Income and this is The Ultimate Susu Our Community Needs

A traditional Susu is an informal savings club where members regularly pool a designated amount of money. One member receives the total pooled funds at a designated time, rotating this process until everyone has received the collective pool of funds at least once. It's a common practice in various cultures, fostering community and serving purposes like saving for expenses.  These systems involve collective savings and lending arrangements where members contribute funds regularly and receive payouts on a rotating basis, facilitating access to funds for various needs within communities without relying on formal financial institutions.

The practice of Susu has deep historical roots, with origins in various cultures around the world. While it's challenging to pinpoint an exact origin or timeline, Susu-like arrangements have been documented in different forms throughout history. Susu’s have a long history of creating opportunities that would not have existed if not for the community that committed to pooling its funds and rotating the reward among its members.   

Now, you may be familiar with the practice of community fund sharing but are not familiar with the term Susu. There are many other names for this practice so you may also know it as Esusu, Tanda, Chit fund, ROSCA, Cundina, Hui, Committee, and Box hand, Partna, and I’m sure the list goes on. Susu has a rich history in Africa and the Caribbean. Originating as a way for communities to pool resources and provide financial support, it predates colonialism and has been integral to community finance for generations. Today, Susu continues to play a vital role, embodying principles of solidarity and community resilience in the face of economic challenges.

Although this practice has been very supportive in helping many generations overcome financial duress, emergencies, and dreams to buy homes or relocate to North America it is also quite dated, and in 2024 we need to graduate from the traditional Susu of rotating the same funds around the same community. We need to start looking at Susu funds as a seed that needs to be planted. A traditional Susu is just saving your own money amongst friends. But why would you do that in this day in age when you can just set up an automatic withdrawal from your account to debit $100 from your chequing account and send it to your savings account every week that you get paid? Or you could go a step further to really discipline yourself and you can have the funds debit from one bank account and transfer to another bank account. Out of sight, out of mind, by getting a free account with Simpii Financial or Tangerine. Typically when you join a fund-sharing community like this you will be the final recipient of the pooled funds.  Let’s put this into practice with real numbers. A Susu has 9 members and you join as the 10th member. The hand is $100 and the payout is $1000. After you have given $100 a week for the next 9 weeks, on the 10th week you will receive the $1000 payout and then the rotation begins again. Alternatively, you could transfer $100 a week to a savings account each week, and by the end of 10 weeks you will also have $1000, and if you’re lucky even more if it is a high-interest savings account. The only benefit to joining a Susu in this case is if you lack the discipline to leave your savings alone. 

We need to move beyond moving the same funds around the same community. Instead, we need to work together to multiply the funds we have in our community. How do we do that? Pool our fund to develop a passive income stream that everyone can benefit from. The Ultimate Susu is passive income. 

Passive income is…..

If you’ve read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, then you’re familiar with the cash Flow Quadrants. About 95% of the population is employees and self-employed and they control 5% of the wealth. Yet, only 5%v of the population is made up of business owners and investors, and they control 95% of the wealth. If you are an employee or self-employed your income is typically tied to your time and in order to have money you must sacrifice a good amount of time. Alternatively, if you have a lot of time on your hand you likely don’t make a lot of money. So anyone who identifies as an employee or self-employed should desire to level up to become a business owner and/or an investor. This is where the time freedom is. Business owners don’t always have more time (in the beginning) but they have more money. Investors have both time and no matter how humble you are and how modest your lifestyle is, who doesn’t want time, freedom, financial security, disposable income, and wealth to leave for the next generation? 

So this may be overwhelming to you and you may be thinking where do I even get started? That’s where the TUSS community comes in. I strongly believe in the principle of working together for a common goal; I also believe in multiplication. So The Ultimate Susu encourages working together to make your dollar go further than the traditional Susu. 

Imagine you want to get into real estate but you don’t have the downpayment or the income to maintain the mortgage alone. Do you have 3 to 5 other friends who are in the same situation as you? Instead of starting a traditional Susu to help pay off a debt or save for a trip, why not pool your funds to invest together? Taking this approach allows more members of your community to move from non-investor to investor. This then, helps you develop a passive income stream that can replace a Susu or even a job over time. Of course, there are risks, but to be completely honest with you there are risks to the traditional Susu too, if you know, you know.

Acquiring wealth involves a combination of strategies and mindset. Key principles include financial education, setting clear goals, living below your means, diversifying income streams, eventually wise investing, long-term perspective, risk management, continuous improvement, networking, and maintaining a positive attitude. There are no hidden secrets to instant wealth, but following these principles can lead to financial success over time.

What do you think about The Ultimate Susu? Are you ready to take your savings plan to the next level and start building a legacy with a TUSS community? Find people just like you who are looking to become investors and find like-minded partners who are also ready to start investing.