Personal Finance Planning is often confused with frugal living, investment planning etc. What is it ? and What is it not?
What is Personal Finance Planning Not:
Not living Small
Personal Financial Planning is
Not about cutting back on your lattes or Kappis Not about Taking the public transportation Not about having a frugal wedding Not about being cheap Not about giving up your avocado sandwich or chappan bhog Not about buying a hatchback instead of a Sedan
Not Getting Massive Returns on your investments
Not about getting double digit returns with low or no risk. Not finding the next Multi Bagger Stock. Not about investing in exclusive opportunities known to no one else Not about buying at the bottom of the market and selling at the top Not about finding the one mutual fund which will fulfill all your needs Not about investing in a hundred different instruments in the name of diversification Not about becoming a millionaire/ billionaire.
What is Personal Finance Planning about then?
It is about
Knowing yourself. Knowing what is truly important to you and prioritizing it. Not compromising the long term goals for the short term impulsive wants. Taking responsibility for your commitments Protecting your family. Protecting your wealth. Having a plan for your wish list Ensure that you don’t have to live on hope and prayer or on alms due to any bad surprises in life. Designing your future the way you want it to be. And taking actions towards it and making course correction as we go along.
It is not about your money. It is about your life.
I was contemplating on why we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in such a weird way different from that any other festival. In general, the process of consecration of an Idol is extremely elaborate, has to follow numerous guidelines and can be conducted only by a few trained people. It also involves the use of resources of several kinds. But in Ganesh Chaturthi we bring in a Murti/Idol made of clay into our home every year, only to dump it in the sea or any other waterbody 10 days later.
On the surface this difference did not make much sense. But as in many things in sanatana dharma I realized how deeply thought through this festival was. While this festival addressed the economic concerns of potters whose trade temporarily ceases due to seasonal rains, Ganesh Chaturthi has a deep meaning for every family that celebrates it.
Creation of Ganesha and Wealth
Ganesha in the chaturthi festival is always made of clay. The clay that is otherwise freely available in the river banks and may collected by anyone without any licence or payment. With this clay, a beautiful murti/ idol is made. Ganesha is created from this through human efforts and dedication.
Wealth may similarly be created from freely available resources through efforts and dedication. There is a beautiful Jataka Tale of how a man became a big merchant starting from nothing but over heard advice and a dead mouse. While this has been true all along, it has never been more easier and common place than ever before. Billion Dollar companies that have started out from basement and a computer.
Manifestation of Wealth:
Ganesha is a very personal god. Almost all children are told to pray to pilliyar ummachi (an endearing way to address God used with children). In Chaturthi too Ganesha happily takes any form you want him to – from a military Ganesha, software engineer Ganesha, Ganesha playing classical hindustani to saxophone, nothing is quite out of bounds for him. Ganesha also happily uses instagram, whatsapp and is happy to adapt to current trends and technology.
Wealth too can take any form you want it. Gold ornaments, SUV, land, shares, PMS, Mutual funds, charities , business are all just various manifestations of your wealth. Wealth can take any form you want it to and can move from one form to another.
Celebration of Wealth:
Once Ganesha is installed Pooja is done every day, People are invited and Prasad is given. Every day is a celebration of the deity. People invite and visit each others house to take part in the celebration of the manifestation of God as well as take part in the blessings. They also contribute to the bigger mandals in the society, village, area etc.
It is not uncommon to see certain people believe wealth is accumulated only by depriving others. Unfortunately this thought was propagated a lot by movies of an era. However, Ganesh Chaturthi shows wealth too is a blessing that may be manifested through hard word, needs to be celebrated when possessed and shared among the community. When we can create God through our hands, what in the world can we not create.
Letting it all go:
Ganesh Visarjan
At the end of 3/5/7/11 days, Ganesha is immersed in a waterbody. Ganesha who came from the clay of the river banks, goes back to where he came from and he is sent off by each family with much fan fare and celebration. The families let go of their dear Ganesha who has become a part of their family, and brought in much grace and celebration, so that he can go back to where he came from.
As humans, we all back to where we came from. But even in the context of wealth, as in the four stages of life of a man – Brahmacharya, Grihasta, Vanaprasta and Sanyasi, man is to willingly give up the wealth earned through his work during his lifetime inorder to pursue higher realms of life. He does this willing and happily. He celebrates letting go of wealth, the way he celebrated manifesting and possessing it. He lets go not because he had to, as it leave it to his children after himself, but because it is time.
May this Chaturthi Ganesha bless us all with his immense knowledge to manifest, protect, grow and let go when it is time. Ganapati Bappa Morya, Managala Muti Morya.
Can money really solve your money problems? Can your sudden windfall of money be the worst thing that can happen to you in your life?
Does Money Really Solve your money problems? If not money, what else could solve it?
The Problem
Doesn’t that sound weird. How could a huge sum of money not solve all the financial problems I have today. I can hear many of you say, “Try me”.
I may not be in a position to conduct such a social experiment, but such things have already happened, many times before. Lottery Winners, Sudden inheritance, Prize show winners. Most of these people lose the money in under 5 years.
If you are still wondering, “How is that even possible. They must be really stupid, I’m not.”
An Example of the Right or the wrong Kind
Let us look at the life of Sushil Kumar.
In 2011, he was the first person to win 5 Crores in Kaun Banega Crorepati. Having come from a very humble background, it was more money than he had ever imagined. Certainly a person who won it in a quiz show like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ has earned it. He must be no fool either. And it is the kind of money, that one could be set for life. We aspire to build a retirement corpus half that size to be able to retire and live a decent good life.
Did he live happily Ever After?
Sushil says his worst period of Life was after he won the game show. Out of Peer Pressure and to be able to say something to the people interviewing him, he invested in businesses he had no idea about. As a result was cheated by his business partners and lost most of the money. He got depressed and became an alcoholic which put immense pressure in his relationship with his wife. His wife was tired of him spending all day watching movies, drinking and wasting his life away. She left him to be with her parents and threatened divorce.
Sushil thought he could win his wife by becoming a Movie director. Like most people think they can run a restaurant because they love food, Sushil thought he could direct movies, because he loved to watch them. He moved to Mumbai hoping to make his dream of becoming a director come true. He spent most of his time smoking drinking and writing movie scripts. He even managed to sell one for 20,000.
Realization and Learnings
After falling into depression and a lot of introspection, he realized he was ‘not seeking to fulfill his dreams but is running away from the truth’. This was Susil’s learning from his rags to riches to rags story:
– Real happiness lies in doing the work of your choice – One can never calm certain emotions like arrogance – It is a thousand times better to be a good person than just being a ‘big celebrity’ – Happiness is hidden in small things – One must strive to help people as much as possible that that must start from his/her own home/village.
My Learnings
And what is my learnings from this story.
If you had not learned how to manage and live well with the money you have, no amount of money can solve your money problems.
If you don’t know what you want to do other than work, you are not ready to retire.
What are your learnings and what actions are you going to take? Leave it in the comments.
