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Money Management
July 17, 2026
Rent is one of the largest expenses for many working Kenyans. For some households, it consumes a significant portion of monthly income, leaving little room for savings and investments.
For this edition, Money254 spoke to Simon Mwangi, a marketing professional based in Nairobi who earns Ksh200,000 per month and has built an investment portfolio that now generates enough income to cover most, and sometimes all, of his Ksh25,000 monthly rent for his two-bedroom house in Kinoo along Waiyaki Way. Here is the story as told by Mwangi.
In 2018, I had Ksh400,000 saved and one dream: to stop paying rent.
At the time, I was earning well and felt proud of finally having enough money to buy my first piece of land.
Like many Kenyans, I believed the first step towards financial freedom was buying a plot.
Every weekend, my WhatsApp was full of land adverts. Isinya. Matuu. Juja Farm. Konza. The kind of plots people jokingly call "buroti maguta maguta" because you buy them hoping development will eventually catch up.
I was ready to join the club.
The problem was that Ksh400,000 could not buy me land in a place where I could actually build and live anytime soon.
Most of the options within my budget were far from Nairobi and would probably remain idle for years.
Around the same time, I started paying closer attention to friends and family who had bought land earlier. My cousin, Alfie’s story, especially stuck with me.
He had bought a Ksh99,000 plot in Tinga, along Magadi Road. Five years later, he decided to visit it. Instead of finding development, he found a huge bush.
The only occupants seemed to be hyenas and other wildlife.
Everyone laughed. But I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Here was someone who had tied up his money for five years and had nothing to show for it except the title deed.
Also Read: How I Save for My Kids’ Ksh50K Fees Every Term Without Taking Loans
That is when I started asking myself a difficult question: Was I buying land because it would help me achieve my goals or because everyone else was doing it?
Rather than rush into buying land, I decided to keep researching while I continued saving. That is when I came across the concept of bond laddering.
The idea was surprisingly simple. Instead of putting all my money into one asset, I could spread investments across different government bonds with different maturity dates and interest payment schedules.
More importantly, infrastructure bonds offer tax-free returns.
I set myself a target of saving Ksh400,000 every year. Whenever the government announced a new infrastructure bond, I would invest the money I had accumulated. Since I started in 2018, infrastructure bonds have been issued almost every year, with the exception of 2020.
Saving Ksh400,000 every year was not easy.
It meant resisting lifestyle upgrades that many of my colleagues were making.
While some friends upgraded their cars and moved into more expensive apartments, I stayed focused on my savings target because I had become obsessed with building assets that could eventually generate income.
I did not build my portfolio overnight. Instead, I invested gradually over several years and across different bond issues.
Today, I have approximately Ksh2.4 million invested across six infrastructure bonds.
Interestingly, one of my neighbours recently bought an apartment in Ruaka for Ksh5.2 million.
Whenever we discuss investments, I find myself making an interesting comparison. My entire bond portfolio is worth less than half the cost of that apartment.
Yet the income generated by those bonds is enough to cover most, and sometimes all, of my Ksh25,000 monthly rent. This is an estimate of how much I get from the six issues:
As you can see, not every month produces exactly Ksh25,000. In some months, the bond income exceeds my rent, while in others it falls slightly short.
To smooth things out, I keep a Money Market Fund (MMF) where I deposit the surplus cash. When a month's payout comes in below rent, I simply top up from that account.
That system has allowed me to effectively turn semi-annual bond payments into a reliable rent strategy.
Also Read: All You Need to Know About the Sanlam Allianz Balanced Fund With a 32.3% Return
For years, rent had been something I automatically associated with my salary. Suddenly, I could see a future where my paycheck was no longer responsible for keeping a roof over my head.
That realisation changed how I viewed money. Instead of chasing assets simply because they were popular, I started focusing on assets that could generate income and solve real financial problems.
In my mind, wealth is not always about owning the biggest asset. Sometimes it is about owning assets that generate cash flow.
The funny thing is that I still want to buy land. I just no longer believe I need to rush into it.
Today, the Ksh25,000 that would have gone towards rent from my salary is being redirected towards my future home ownership plans.
I have already saved Ksh425,000 towards that goal. I know the area I want to live in, and I know the house I want to build. And because of that decision I made in 2018, I feel I have options. And that’s only because I have cash flow.
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