Friday, October 26

An adventure to save ...


I have always closely observed two sections of men and women in my everyday living: those who spend and those who save. There is another category of men and women too: those who cannot spend because they aren’t rich enough to do so. I often think, if these men and women were rich, they would buy the whole Himalayas! Like a bridle on a horse, the empty wallets hold down these people. 

The other day a smart-looking early middle-aged man walked into my office.  He came near me and was preaching to me about his ideas on spending and living. From the way he was putting it, I understood that he wanted me to spend more. “Abraham, you can’t take it all with you! Before you wink your eyes, you will be bedridden with all the riches you have made in the hands of your children. They will squash away from the way they want. Do you wish that in your life?”  As this man left the office, one of my staff came to me and said, “Sir, When did Azeem acquire all this wisdom to teach you personal finance?” 

On reaching home, I went to my library and picked up a book that spoke to me something about spending and saving :

    You will meet people who will urge you to spend your money freely; they will tell you, “You can’t take it with you!” As you get older, you will probably have friends who eat at expensive restaurants every night, buy the latest electronic gadgets or fashion trends, and spend vacations at fancy beach resorts. You must avoid the trap of spending money willy-nilly simply because you can. Not only is this a road to financial ruin, but it can also cause you to forget what’s important in life.
    I am not saying that you should never travel or buy anything nice. I am merely suggesting that you should think wisely about whether the thing you are contemplating doing or buying is really worthwhile or whether its benefits will be, at best, fleeting. I was once married to a woman who was always nagging me to buy a new sofa, a new TV, and so on. I’d explain that if we save and invested wisely, one day we could afford ten sofas or whatever. Needless to say, we did not stay married long, and now I am lucky to have your mother who shares the same attitude towards personal finances.
     Happy, you already have five piggy banks, and you love putting money into them. Please continue to save. Those who save and invest wisely will face fewer financial woes throughout life. And please help us teach your new sister, Baby Bee, the importance of saving.  


The above quotation is from Jim Rogers, a millionaire and one of the most successful investors in the world. His words keep talking to me. When he wrote the book, “A Gift To My Children: A Father’s Lessons for Life and Investing”, he must have really thought about what it is all to “think wisely” about saving and spending.

The Kerala State Electricity Board's
power distribution poll
could be
more 
complicated
then some of today's
saving instruments!! 
It is said that many people just don’t know how and what and when to save. I think the gift of saving is the greatest gift that one can gift oneself.  As a child, I too had piggy banks: two of them. I aggressively stashed away all the coins that I found here and there at home into these metallic boxes. They had great keys. Impatiently I would open these piggy banks very often to see how much was collected.... and that was growing up years. (Oh! I remember my poor grandma who kept some coins for charity had to lock her dear coins to save them from my piggy banks !!) 

Today, piggy banks have been replaced in my life with stocks, bonds, metals, commodity equity traded funds, mutual funds, fixed deposits, and real estate. True, they are more complicated than my simple humble piggy banks...yet the spirit remains the same: it is all an adventure to save!... and I laugh at those who need a bridle on their wallets to keep themselves off from foolish spending.     


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