In my meeting with people and talking about money I get to hear the following nonsense about their attitude to money. I see some of these actions – and amazing rationalisations to justify their actions. Stunning.

  1. I gave up my medical insurance which we have been paying for 14 years: And this person does not have a very big kitty to fall back on or very successful children on whom they can fall back. When I asked why..she said ‘I do not think anything will happen to us’ – so why waste Rs. 37000 a year on medical insurance?
  2. I had some money lying in the bank so I bought a ULIP. No further explanation.
  3. ‘Subra, IRDA has now made ULIP cheaper and better. You must have a look afresh. Your views are stale’.
  4. When I need money I remove money from the fund giving the best returns – after all this is a nice way to book profits.
  5. ‘Subra I removed money from ‘Xyz fund’ – i remember we had done it for RETIREMENT. She is 52 years old.
  6. They ‘gift’ or ‘loan’ money to ‘well off friends’ for a ‘MONTH’ and with no paper work at all.
  7. They quit their jobs and go to a Grad school WITHOUT A BACK UP plan.
  8. They go to a GRAD SCHOOL to escape taking up a job.
  9. They fund their kids MBA knowing fully well that the college and degree are both useless if not done well.
  10. They think and rationalize a home as a good investment.
  11. They choose mutual funds on their own, but invest through their bank website.
  12. They have no clue about the price that they pay for the financial services that they need/ use.
  13. They invest in schemes because of the FEAR of missing out. When a salesman says ‘this scheme is closing…on..’..chill.
  14. When the credit providers call, they close their eyes and ears and do not take their calls WHEN THEY OWE MONEY TO THEM
  15. They keep money in bank FD and take a housing loan because of ‘TAX BENEFITS’
  16. They invest in NPS because of the extra Rs. 50,000 80C deduction

 

and there are more….this is an unending list like Hanuman’s tail….so lemme stop…at sweet 16.

  1. lakshminarasimman

    sir can you explain point 7?
    I know a close relative who is doing the same thing. he is 36 with 2 children.
    logic is his pay will double once he comes out. placement is assured

    what should be the backup plan.

  2. what happens if he does not get a job? i mean a new job at a high salary? Just because u got a degree from a big college IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU WILL GET A HIGHER SALARY. Is he ready to GO BACK TO THE SAME JOB that he is now leaving?

  3. Point 14: I often do it, but, do we really need to listen to credit providers when you don’t need a personal, car or home loan ?

  4. Dear Subra,

    Please explain point 14. I see nothing wrong to not take Credit providers call, if one is not interested in taking credit. Dont we all reject these calls offering Bank loans?
    Also, if one is clear that post retirement, their income will fall, what is the harm of investing 50k in NPS (needless to say that this should be as per goal requirements)?

  5. #15 is awesome… happy to pay tax on interest income & ensure tax deduction for home loan. one loves to cut the nose to spite the face 🙂

  6. Ameya Gondhalekar

    Hello Sir.. Didnt understand this one.” They choose mutual funds on their own, but invest through their bank website.”

  7. Can you please explain why this is not correct “They choose mutual funds on their own, but invest through their bank website.”
    Yes there are bank charges involved, but at the same time there is the convenience of doing KYC only once instead of multiple with each AMC.
    How is it any different from doing it with an agent.

  8. @ Ameya, Priya

    If someone choose funds on their own why we need to go to Bank by them. If you Route it through Bank then it is Distributor rather it need to be direct so that reduce fund expense charge.

    I believe Subra trying to say that to my opinion.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>