What is a billion dollars worth just sitting there? Toke Makinwa on why expensive is not the same as valuable

In a thoughtful conversation on Master of Craft, the media personality argues that not everything costly is an asset, and that anyone who does not understand the value of what they hold is bound to waste it. 

A price tag tells you what something costs. It does not tell you what it is worth to you, or what it can do for you over time. Toke Makinwa puts that gap into one blunt question: "What is a billion dollars worth if it's just sitting there?" 

Appearing on Master of Craft Episode 3, presented by Pawnshop by Bluradish, Toke offers a principle that applies as much to heirlooms as to handbags. "The purpose of a thing is unknown; abuse is inevitable," she says. "If you don't know the value of what you have, you're definitely going to abuse it." 

She applies that thinking first to inheritance. Toke points to people who were handed valuable things and squandered them, people born with "silver, gold, platinum spoons" who struggled when real opportunities arrived because they never understood the worth of what they were given. A gift can be a blessing, she says, but working toward something and owning it by yourself is where you understand "the trueness of value." In her view, it is hard to truly value something you did not work for. 

The argument then moves from objects to money, and this is where it gets practical. Toke describes money as a visitor. "It comes, and what you do with it is what matters." She says most of us have had the phase of wanting to blow it all, but as you grow older, you realise that money sitting in a bank account is not doing anything for you. The size of the number does not change that. 

Her answer is not reckless. Toke says that investing in bonds and stocks and understanding the market is part of what she calls the science of money. She is also honest about what most people do not say out loud: nobody has every answer. "If you don't have all the answers, ask questions," she says, pointing to financial institutions and advisors whose job is to answer exactly those questions. She admits that risk-taking with money is where the real gamble lies, yet she believes you never fully understand the value of money until you use it. 

There is a quieter lesson in how she talks about the things she buys. Toke defines quality as durability. One jacket that survives the years beats five pieces that keep breaking down. "Quality for me is something that stands the test of time," she says, adding that she is a big believer in investing for exactly that. Her point is not that expensive things are bad. It is that cost alone proves nothing. A costly purchase that loses its use, its condition or its relevance is a weaker holding than something modest that keeps serving you.

Taken together, her comments challenge a habit that is common in many places: treating anything expensive as an investment. An asset earns its name by what it does over time, not by what it cost on the day it was bought. 

That is why the conversation sits comfortably with its host. Pawnshop by Bluradish offers pawning and loaning services, and its work begins with a simple question that Toke's interview keeps returning to: what is this item actually worth? For people holding something of real value and facing a need for cash, selling is not the only answer, and understanding what you own is where every good decision starts. 

Master of Craft was designed to bring that kind of thinking into the open, through honest conversations with people who have built lasting careers. Episode 3 may well be its most quotable yet. 

The full conversation is available on the Pawnshop by Bluradish blog and YouTube. 

The conversation is part of Master of Craft Episode 3, presented by Pawnshop by Bluradish. 

Watch the full conversation and read the blog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCNck-xtl-0