If you work in Africa’s finance world long enough, you start to see the same pattern. Two people. Same salary. Same contribution rate. Same number of years saving. On paper, they’re doing everything “right”. Yet when retirement finally arrives, their outcomes are miles apart. One has a portfolio that still buys real things – school fees, healthcare, travel, dignity. The other has a statement full of big numbers that don’t stretch nearly as far as they should. The difference o