It happened few weeks back. I was travelling to Mumbai for
some work in a train and unfortunately my train was late by 4-5 hours. Just
opposite to me, a husband and a wife were seated. I was quite bored by
listening to music and eating, so I thought to just casually strike a
conversation with the elderly couple.
As we were talking, I found out that he was a business man
dealing with beauty products and in additional was planning to start a grooming
parlour. Our conversation started becoming interesting when he mentioned about
his Financial Plans.
Well truth be told, he
had none!
To my very surprise he had no financial securities; he was
running on debts and all his money were spent simply on luxuries. When I asked
him why didn’t you hire a Financial Planner if you didn’t know the solution to
your money issues? He said,”Aaj kal to sab internet se hi pta chal jata h,
planner kya kar lega.”
By now you must have understood why I chose this topic to
address you all. I have seen a number of people, be it my friends, my family, my
colleagues and even strangers, using their own tricks and tips without proper guidance.
It’s simply like having an imaginary friend. You think he is listening to you,
but in reality you are just babbling to yourself.
I have assembled the most committed top 5 mistakes which
originally I have heard from you guys and I respectfully ask you guys to stop
doing it.
1) Seeking advice from friends and relatives.
Okay now! You love your friends and relatives; you share your
food, your laughs, and your personal belongings but when it comes to ADVICE
especially FINANCIAL ADVICE, please draw a line there. What you need to know is
no one knows your situation better than you. No one is going to take the
responsibility of the losses for you. STOP listening to people, in this case I
would rather suggest, Start hearing them.
2) Seeking Free Services.
We Indians are obsessed with free things. No it’s not a human
thing. IT IS AN INDIAN THING. Your desire for free food, free clothes, and free
accessories is OK, but stop this desire immediately when you see a free
financial advice. Remember this thing always, Generic recommendations cannot
and will not work for all.
3) Forgetting the GRS!
This is my own made acronym, so please don’t Google it.
The first and the most important step while planning your
finances is-
Make your GOALS, Understand your REQUIREMENTS, Analyse your
SITUATION.
Every single person has different risk appetite, different
amount of money and different wishes to be fulfilled. You have to understand
your own GRS to make the best plan for yourself. Trust me it does wonders to
your returns.
4) Being Impatient.
Whenever you are sick, you wait for the disease to cure
itself, magically.When it doesn’t happen you see a doctor. He prescribes you medicines.
Medicine intake starts. In a day or few or may be weeks, you get better and well.
How long this curing process takes?
A lot I guess.
What is the one thing that you lack here, which obviously
everyone hates when they get sick?
BEING PATIENT!!!
In quite a similar manner, you need to have patience while
waiting for your returns. It’s not easy and not sometimes possible to get fast returns.
Your money will grow eventually based on where you are investing. But you have
to have patience for it.
5) Piling up liabilities instead of assets.
You are trying to hold a rose, but a thorn gets stuck in your
finger and you start bleeding. What will you do to decrease the bleeding?
Obviously you will try removing the thorn first. You would never put more
thorns in your finger.
Roses are the Finances that would like to hold. Thorns are your liabilities. You have to concentrate on increasing your assets always. Learn to distinguish between them. Most people think their liabilities are their assets. The classic example is taking huge amount of loan for building your own house.
I hope some of these points will be with you forever.
Be clever with your planning. Trust your planner the way you
trust your chef.
Happy Investing!
BY ALISHA DAS
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