Here is wishing all our readers a very happy Financial New Year from the Investorshala desk. The calendar New Year is the harbinger of new resolutions and promises that we make to our selves. Some we keep and some are forgotten as the weeks pass by. This new financial year lets us make and try our utmost to keep some financial resolutions.
I have been recently reading a book and that led to a lot of introspection. Our day to day lives and our relationships with people around us can be so complicated and yet these can be made so simple by simply going back to basics. We are always on the lookout for solutions, be it for losing weight, sorting out or mending relationships, sorting financial issues, reaching out to people or any other aspect of our lives.
While looking for solutions we are never satisfied or happy with simple solutions that stare at us in the face. You need to mend a relationship…meet the person say sorry, you want to keep in touch…pick up the phone…you need to lose weight follow simple calorie control with exercise. But no we won’t do that. We will complicate things with our ego (why should I call first), embarrassment (how do I even face the person) and lack of self discipline (the diet starts tomorrow).
We keep forgetting that keeping things simple is beautiful and more often than not the best solution. Our love for complications follows us when it comes to making our financial or investment decisions too. Most of us don’t need huge complicated financial solutions to our money issues and yet simple solutions may not satisfy us. Many investors would rather have a complicated dossier with graphs and charts to go through rather than a single sheet plan.
So if simplicity works and is so beautiful why do we run away from it? Because we are creatures of habit and anything and everything that forces us to change our behavior will make us take a couple of steps away from it. We might find it easier to pay thousands of rupees every month at a health facility or gym but find it difficult to forgo that spicy samosa or the dripping gulabjamun and go for a walk every day, but we will do that each time we remember the fees we have paid! Some of us opt for magic diet pills or herbal supplements but don’t trust ourselves to be disciplined. All we need to do is consume less calories and burn more. All we need to do is go to the grind every day.
Simple solutions may not be sexy, but they get the job done. When it comes to financial goals something as simple as saving money, avoiding Speculative investments and doing this over and over again will help most of us build our nest eggs and save enough to take care of our long term needs.
Many of the investors are on the lookout for that one magical investment that will set them for life. Rather than save a little every month, they want a fantasy investment to help them take the leap in one go. Believe me such investments do not exist. Nothing can and nothing will ever displace hard work, discipline and patience. It is true for every aspect of life and it is true for financial investments too. This simple solution will have the largest impact on your financial investments over the years.
Simple fundamentals followed tirelessly over the years, again and again will steadily and surely take us to our financial goals. There is no secret formula to financial success; it is just a plain and simple everyday boring solution. Spend less than you earn, keep aside money for emergencies, keep your head well above debts and steer clear of large losses. That’s it. Definitely Simple but not Easy.
So this new financial year let’s promise to: Keep it Simple; Keep it Beautiful; Make it Successful.
