Whether to Invest or Expend ? - PART - 1

Hello readers! Good to be back after a long while.

What would be your instant reaction when you get an SMS from your bank saying ‘Your account has been credited with Rs.1,00,000’? No doubt, anyone feels elated and happy seeing it.

Next question - Now that you have so much money with you, how do you think you should use this money? Should you spend or invest?  There are ‘n’ number of ways in which you can spend money and there’s no need for me to tell, what money can’t buy today. But do you think it is worth that you spend all the money that you have earned or do you think the entire amount you have earned should be invested?

Neither should you spend all the money that you earn, nor save it all!

At this juncture I would like my readers to know the difference between INVESTMENT and EXPENSE.

Investment means putting money into an asset with the expectation of a reward for parting your money. This reward may be in the form of capital appreciation, dividends, interest or a share in the earnings/profit. Most or all forms of investment involve some form of risk, such as investment in equities, are subject to market risks, property is subject to fall in the market value and even fixed interest securities which are subject, among other things, to inflation risk.

What is the best type of investment? The answer to this question certainly varies from person to person and the risk appetite of that person.

I would like to share a quote here, ‘Higher the risk, higher the return and lower the risk, lower the return’.

Hence it is essential to assess your risk appetite before investing. If you are willing to take calculated risks, then do so with caution, as the rewards may be proportionately high for such kinds of risky investments.

I would like to elucidate on the different types of investments and also a few avenues of investments:

1. High Returns but high risk investments: Shares, Mutual funds etc.

2. Medium Returns and medium risk investments:  Shares, Mutual funds, Deposits in Debentures and bonds of companies etc.,

3. Low Returns but low risk investments: Fixed Deposits in Scheduled Banks, Investment in Government Bonds etc.

With this I think I have given a brief view about investments for beginners.

Next comes Expense, which I will explain in my next blog. 

What have I achieved?

“What have I achieved?” that’s the question which starts bothering a person who has achieved his goal but failed to dream about the next. He might have achieved what he dreamt of, but he is not satisfied with himself. This is the kind of situation I was in, a few months ago.

I recently graduated as a Chartered Accountant (CA) or CPA from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and secured 75% overall score in my Bachelor’s degree, which I simultaneously completed while I was pursuing my CA course. After I completed both of them, I felt very happy thinking that I had achieved my dream. It was my dream to pursue Chartered Accountancy and my bachelor’s degree together. But after I graduated as a CA, I lost the sheen of dreaming of what I wanted to be next, as I had already achieved what I wanted.

As days passed by I started to have a strange feeling, “What have I achieved in life?” and many other questions occurred to me for which I had no answers. A few days passed by as I thought I would feel better after I started to work. I started to compare myself with others and was feeling low thinking that I had not achieved anything. This feeling kept increasing and started bothering me more and more. This feeling of mine made me think I could not achieve anything in life, I’m loser et al. It started to demotivate me and negativity started to fill my mind.

Once I was discussing this situation of mine with my fiancée. What she said was amazing and life turning. She said, “You have achieved something that very few were capable of achieving, you should be proud of yourself”. She advised me saying that, “You need to reward yourself for what you have achieved, which would act as a catalyst for you to aim for much higher goals in the future”. She also reminded me to think of all the things that I had achieved in my life so far.

This interaction with her made me think of what all I had achieved in my past years which I had forgotten by the influence of negativity and de-motivation. It made me realize that there is potential in me to do anything that I wanted and also that it is never too late to dream for what I wanted to become in life. I would like to share here a statement which she said to me, “Always thinking positive, gives positive results”, that’s so true, to be frank.

After this, I tried out the things she said. The results were amazing, it worked wonders on me. I started feeling and thinking positive about myself. My work life and efficiency started improving. Whenever I felt de-motivated or low, I just thought of what all I had achieved in my past. This positive feeling fuelled the energy in me to dream big and make me feel good about myself. This made me realize that, “A person should have self-confidence and should like themselves for what they are and not to compare with others”. 

So that's the message I'd like to convey to my readers. Comments are welcome!

Wasting Time = Wasting Life, agree with me?

Have you ever encountered a situation where you are forced to stay at home, without any work?? Well, today I encountered this situation….

Many of us have encountered this situation at least once, trying to make sense of what to do.

When I started to think what to do alone at home, couldn't think of anything. Watched TV for a while but got bored of it. Stood out in the balcony for a while, still didn't feel any better. After a while of thinking, began to feel that I was wasting a very good part of my workable lifetime. This feeling of boredom led me to think about the amount of time I have wasted in the past many years.

After a point of time I got bored to the core, remembered my fiancée telling me that reading a book made her very happy when she was alone, so immediately tried reading a book, believe it or not, I felt happy reading it. It was something relating to my profession (Taxation). I couldn't believe myself that I had the capacity to read such a boring topic/subject with such enthusiasm when I was bored to death. It was the first time that I had tired out reading a book when I was bored, after completing my studies. :D

So thinking positively even in the most boring or most trying situations, gives a person instant solutions to overcome such situations. Also having positive people around you make you feel positive and helps you in using your time in the most productive way and also makes you feel happy that you accomplished something. I wish to quote here a beautiful line said by my friend SUJIT LALWANI “When you go to bed at night, think whether you have accomplished something useful today”, this line made so much sense today.

Finally I realized that “WASTING TIME = WASTING LIFE”. Think twice before wasting time, as time lost once is lost forever.

Your comments suggestions are welcome…

A dedication on Women's Day

A Woman, a synonym, an epitome and a symbol of mother earth. I compare her with mother earth because, I feel that a woman is blessed with unlimited amounts of forgiveness, tolerance and patience, to name a few. She, of all people has the capacity to bear the pains of gifting life and also take that gift through the rigors of life; to make that life gifted, a successful life. She takes many roles - a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, etc.

When I hear the word woman, two people come to my mind. First is my mother. So caring and so loving. Always puts others before her and does the work without expecting anything in return but for the love and care of her family. She takes on the roles of a caretaker, a babysitter, a nurse, a cook, a wife, a banker, a teacher, a comforter and many more. I wonder in awe, how she manages so many things without the least bit of hesitation and always has a smile on her face. I once asked her why she does so many things even though she is not remunerated for her service, the reply what she gave was astounding; she said ‘all the work that I do, is out of love and care and not for money’. This made me realize that there are some things in life which cannot be bought but can only be given out of love and affection.

Second girl/woman is my would-be wife, whom I met recently, but changed my life for good. She is a multifaceted and a multi-talented girl who loves work and keeps herself engaged in some or the other useful activity. She made me change the way I treated life. I wonder from where she gets all the inspiration required to be happy and see the positives in every situation. Every time she talks, she does so with so much love and happiness that makes the other person forget all the problems and enjoy talking to her. She has been kind enough to have directed me to see the positives of the worst of the situations. One of her favorite line which I quote here is “Everything happens for a reason”.

These are the two main women who have influenced me in my life. So I take this opportunity to thank these two women who have brought about positive changes in my life and also wish them a very “HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY”.

My respect and salute to them.

“HAPPY WOMENS DAY” to all!