Category: Money Managment

Kaun Rahega Crorepati?

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.

How can you Buy Happiness with Money?

How to spend money to buy happiness?

“Money Can’t buy happiness”

is a lovely popular quote that is most certainly wrong says Dan Gilbert, Harvard Psychologist and author of ‘Stumbling on Happiness’.

Money provides an “opportunity for happiness,” the authors say, since moneyed people can live longer and healthier lives, enjoy financial security, have leisure time, and control what they do every day.

Dan Gilbert in the paper titled,

‘If money doesn’t make you happy then you probably aren’t spending it right.’ – talks about the right way to spend money to optimize happiness. So how do we do it?

(1) Buy Experiences instead of things

The best memories I have of my childhood were those I was on vacation with my family. The best memories of my adult life were also in obscure mountains and long road trips. However, I don’t think our trip around the could have been any better if we had travelled in a sedan over a hatchback. We like experiences more because we anticipate and remember them, the research says, and we appreciate them longer.

(2) Spend money to help others instead of yourself.

The money we willingly spend on others gives us a greater joy over those that we spend on ourselves. Look around you and see who you can help out. The pandemic has given us all a opportunity to do that to those unfortunate around us.

(3) Buy many small pleasures instead of few big ones.

Random gifting of a single rose and love notes multiple times during the year would bring net more happiness to your spouse than an elaborate exquisite dinner in Taj and a DeBeers Diamond Necklace during anniversary.

(4) Buy less insurance for “GOODS”

Extended warranties, replacement guarantee for the LED display, generous return policies may actually under mine happiness as we get used to good and bad things equally fast.

(5) Pay now, consume later

We are in the culture of use now, pay later, but it is the delayed gratification of desires that gives the most amount of happiness for most of the happiness is in the anticipation more than it is possession itself. Planning a vacation was fun, saving for it monthly gives you the anticipation that prolongs it, rather than putting it on your credit card and having to pay for it later.

(6) Think about what it’s really like to own the thing you want to buy

The cabin in the woods would have mosquitoes, your swimming pool will need to be cleaned, your beach house will be dirty with sand the furniture will get spoiled faster with salty air. Owning things in actuality are not as good as they show in ads. So give it a long hard thought !!

(7) Stop the comparison shopping

What is otherwise known as keeping up with the Jones. Too many people end up with bigger than necessary houses, Tv’s, Car’s because they are trying to impress somebody like parents, spouse, Ex’s, colleagues etc. If you let your buying decisions be determined by the matching or bettering what someone else has- that my friend is a bottom less pit.

(8) Ask your friends.

Your friends know you better than you know yourself. Your friends can tell with better accuracy who you should date, which of your relationship is likely to work out for you. You are too invested and bit to blind to see those things for yourself. So next time do ‘ask a friend’

It’s not the toys that makes the child happy but the play. It’s the same with you too. Rather than adding bigger, faster and fancier gadgets (toys), spend your money well and buy happiness.

Based on : “If money doesn’t make you happy then you probably aren’t spending it right.”  by Dan Gilbert