A very old Chinese proverb says ``if you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people``. There could not be a statement truer than this… and it is truer when it comes to financial education or financial literacy.
If you are reading this, you most likely belong to the middle to upper middle class segment. Hence you would be having a bank account, an exposure to the financial services in some form or the other and maybe more than a nodding acquaintance with financial products beyond a basic bank account, a fixed deposit, EPF, gratuity and such like products which happen by themselves if you are employed.
We believe strongly in the merit of engaging the services of a financial planner or taking professional help for managing your money. At the same time, we also believe that even if you have a professional looking after your money, you as an investor need to understand your finances and the basic principles that govern the actions of people managing it.
The oft quoted `I want to make my money work for me` should not only be a fashionable phrase for you but something that you understand how. Sure if you invest/lend money, there is a return or interest paid to you for your sacrifice in parting with that money for a period of time. But beyond that, you need to understand how inflation and taxation play on this return and therefore how this makes some investments give you less than your capital!
The importance of insurance not as a tax saving instrument but to protect your loved ones and hence its inclusion in your asset portfolio needs to be appreciated.
If you are reading this, you most likely belong to the middle to upper middle class segment. Hence you would be having a bank account, an exposure to the financial services in some form or the other and maybe more than a nodding acquaintance with financial products beyond a basic bank account, a fixed deposit, EPF, gratuity and such like products which happen by themselves if you are employed.
We believe strongly in the merit of engaging the services of a financial planner or taking professional help for managing your money. At the same time, we also believe that even if you have a professional looking after your money, you as an investor need to understand your finances and the basic principles that govern the actions of people managing it.
The oft quoted `I want to make my money work for me` should not only be a fashionable phrase for you but something that you understand how. Sure if you invest/lend money, there is a return or interest paid to you for your sacrifice in parting with that money for a period of time. But beyond that, you need to understand how inflation and taxation play on this return and therefore how this makes some investments give you less than your capital!
The importance of insurance not as a tax saving instrument but to protect your loved ones and hence its inclusion in your asset portfolio needs to be appreciated.
With the universe of investment options expanding a basic knowledge of the different options is vital not only to understand the rationale behind your planner`s selection of investments but also to safeguard your interests.
MITUL SHAH
9879586722
No comments:
Post a Comment