Rome was not built in a day..!. Review on Outlook India

I still find it hard to imagine that I will grow old some day. These silky black hair that mean the world to me will perhaps turn gray, or gone all together .That I will be eating the dreaded papaya and khichdi that I detest and that my grandchildren will think that I looked like the way I will – from the time I was born. But old I will be for sure, though I hate to think about it now.

Everyday countless agents flock to our company premises pleading us to buy all those puzzling policies, mutual funds and retirement schemes. I now see them as an early alarm that wakes you up to the reality that is inevitable – “someday you won’t be fit to be employed”. And I am forced to ask myself- Am I really up to it?

Outlook Money is a fantastic magazine which talks about the money matters which relate to you and me. The magazine has come up with a series of pocket size editions of some of the money matters that we ought to bother for and simply can not afford to be complacent about. They are titled “Layman’s guide to ….” And are dedicated to categories like mutual funds, insurance, buying a house, wealth creation etc. I happened to lay my hands on “Layman’s Guide To Wealth Creation” a few days ago and it was an eye opener of sorts for me. It asks me questions like – “Do you know how much you will need to put aside for living up to the age of 80, retiring at the age of 60, maintaining your current lifestyle?”

I had never ever given a thought to it and the figure proposed by them made me stand up in my chair. It will be a staggering Rs. 3 crores. (No I don’t live like a maharaja, it’s the damn inflation). One is inclined to just throw the book right at that moment in a dustbin as the author, it might appear, can not be anything but drunk while writing this piece. But a little patience here would do no harm if one bothers to read on and discover the detailed math they have put together to arrive at such a sum. Believe me, its believable, objective and very educative.

The book meticulously works out the living expenses a sample individual will incur, right from his birth to his death (maternity expenses included) to arrive at a prototype for anyone to compare his expenses against, lucidities some of the jargon we are exposed to by all those LIC agents and share brokers and upgrades you from being someone who might not know his way around his bank passbook to someone who can then understand and weigh different investment and saving options which are bombarded on him every single day by all sorts of financial agents. It makes you understand the implications and types of liabilities and assets, umpteen investment instruments like equity, real estate, govt. securities etc.

In summary it suggests you a path you can follow to accumulate enough wealth to enjoy your life till the very end without ever having to look up to your children for financial help. I loved this pocketbook as it was a breeze to read through, make me take a stalk to where I stand at present, clearly define my financial goals for at least the coming few years and woke me up to the inevitable which I had so gladly dismissed as something which only happens to others.

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I see a tiny ant on my table which is carrying a small piece of grain to dump it somewhere. Now I can see a whole new beauty to this tiny creature.

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