“Subra Sir I also want to get seriously rich, what can I do’?

This is a question that I am asked very regularly. One of the persons asking this is a 30 year old girl – and well educated at that. She is a Commerce graduate, and an MBA from one of the better colleges of India. And I have no clue what to tell her, so here is an open letter to her…

hi  S,

Thanks for your question again on what to do to get rich. I am sure you are past the Sarawati stage – Saraswati stage means the stage when you need to be told what to do. I am sure YOU also know what is to be done. The job of Saraswati is really over.

Now you need a Hanuman who is the Guru to hold your hand and take you through the process. Exactly how your T…..gym helped you reduce 9 kg of weight before your wedding. Remember the food journals that you maintained? and the replacement of carbs with protein? remember the frequent meals and dramatic increase in the number of meals per day? Or what the food coach told you how the body accepts only a little amount of food on a 2 hourly basis?

So in weight reduction – you identified the problem, you KNEW the solution, you engaged a coach, listened to the coach, and IMPLEMENTED the coach’s blueprint.

Now in life you KNOW what is to be DONE to get rich. I am sure you can implement it too (well, I am available for a fee) AND you will get rich. Now I know you have 4 sips of Rs. 3000 each, and I daresay your SIP amounts HAVE to increase and you need to stay invested over long periods of time. You have the money, a well earning husband (so your compounding will NEVER be interrupted) and a long period of time in which to build your wealth. The fact that you keep asking about investing, I am sure you have the blessings of Goddess Parvati – the Goddess of wisdom.

The problem is ‘knowing’ alone is not enough, ‘doing’ is important. Like your husband knows it is bad to smoke, but he smokes. You keep all your money in bank fixed deposits, and are now buying a property with a large borrowing. RE will not make you rich, it is a good saving product, not a good investment product, and the EMI is going to be tough. Actually what saves you from the blushes is that you do not have kids – well at least as of now. So the EMI will be affordable, along with your car emi of course. When I saw your father’s portfolio, I realized the greatest problem that a fat foodie like me and a poor investor like your dad face – there are simply too many choices in terms of both food and finance to be able to use your willpower  to make the right decision. You need rules in place to help drive that elusive behavioral change we all seek. For me to reduce weight I need to get rid of all the junk food that gets stored in my house. I just need to throw it out. In your case (as a family) you need to reduce the  number of mutual fund schemes (18), ulips (6), endowment policies (11). The total IRR of all this shit is a pathetic sub ppf kinda return thanks – to the large endowment plans.

If you had asked me earlier, I would have cleaned up the shit and reduced the home loan / car loan that you have committed to. You need to put a lot of checks and balances – in your investing. Take heart, I have been struggling with my weight. Do not expect results overnight. It is a steady climb to the top.

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