Author: CAGRfunds Team

In order to properly balance living in a sometimes chaotic world, it is important for you to have beneficial attitudes. This is especially important when managing your finances. With very simple but effective steps, this too can be very easily done.

Here are a few ways of how some of our clients implemented a mental shift to achieve their wealth goals:

1. Mapping every saving to a goal – While plans don’t work often, having one in place helps anyways.

Goal-oriented savings create discipline and accountability in one’s behaviour which helps to remain focused on the objective. Savi & Vinod, a newly married young couple started saving up for a house as their long term goal. With an expanding family and a few emergencies that sprung up, at times they noticed that their contribution towards their dream home had to be re-looked at in a manner that they could still manage the rest of their expenses carefully and not ignore their ultimate goal or delay the time frame of when they charted out to achieve it. Today, after 8 years of starting to invest, they are very close to achieving their goal comfortably.

2. Starting to invest is important, even if the amount is small – Cost of delaying investment is a huge opportunity cost our minds cannot see.

Better late than never applies to everything good in life. We had a set of clients who realised the importance of savings only after the first few years of working. Being brought up in very privileged homes, while the awareness existed, it did not necessarily manifest itself in taking action towards it. Those few years when there was income generated but not invested was a missed opportunity to create wealth. However, now that there’s a start, there should be no looking back.

3. There is world beyond banks when it comes to savings and investments.

This is no new news but traditionally banks are the first thought that come to the mind when thinking of savings and investments. While some of our clients have approached us with the same mindset, they were quick to learn and understand the options beyond banks and have been reaping the benefits of it too.

4. There are no free lunches – Be comfortable to pay experts if you know managing your money is something you are not good at.

Handling money is very critical but you may not be always savvy of the best ways to do it. Luckily, you have us – financial planning experts. Engaging experts who understand your needs and wants and help you plan your finances accordingly, is very easy and doable. Just as practical as it is to pay a specialist who cares for some specific need of yours, paying financial planning experts for their services is no different.

5. Enjoy the process of savings – Just like we enjoy the process of using discount coupons against our purchases.

We create wealth not just to live a comfortable life, perhaps one of our dreams but also to ensure that we are secure in various ways. Being able to create that security for ourselves is empowering and should be a relieving feeling, not a stressful one. After all, working to achieve something is motivating enough when you know that it’s a reward that you’re creating for yourself over time.

Financial literacy among children

Education of a child begins at home and in India, I have not seen many parents talking about “money” and “finances” to children from a very tender age. The conversation is limited to what we can buy for them and vice versa. Conversations around savings, rising cost of living, goals is largely missing. As children, we did save a portion of our pocket money in our “Gullak” (a box where children lock away their savings). But we were not really taught about growing that money.

In my view, financial literacy is incomplete without connecting the dots. Asking the child to save his pocket money is just one part of the whole game. It probably only inculcates a habit of putting away a part of what he owns for future consumption. That is indeed a good start. However, explaining the concept of inflation and the fact that inflation will continue to be a reality is not there. Basic understanding of investment products is something children don’t understand even till they start working. And this lack of awareness throughout our early years – at home, school and college is the reason why financial savings penetration in India is miniscule.

We have started discussing a lot about making children aware of a lot of things. However, implementation is very low. Specially, till we do not see this being implemented as a subject in schools. Anything which is incorporated in schools is automatically taught at home too. A simple subject on “money” will prepare the next generation for financial planning in the right way.

Sonia Gandhi Limaye is the founder of Kalamwali and Rightwords Publications Pvt. Ltd. in Pune. Born and raised in a business family, she knew that she always wanted to be a business owner. But that said, she was also clear about establishing and running an organisation that would let her have a good work-life balance, for herself and for people working with her. Being very clear in her mind about not having to choose work over family, children, hobbies and social responsibilities, Sonia took the right steps towards founding her start-up.

Kalamwali was conceived as an idea in 2014 and relaunched in 2016. It is a platform for writers and an online publishing website that allows all kinds of writers to publish their work in the form of stories, experiences, poems, recipes, tips and much more. It’s a constantly growing community of readers and writers. Apart from an online existence, Kalamwali also conducts an array of literature related activities like storytelling and creative writing sessions for both kids and adults.

In 2016, Sonia released a self-published anthology called “The Best of Kalamwali” with the 50 best write ups on the company’s website. The book was a huge success and both the readers and the writers coveted its copies. This year she and her team are working towards publishing the second edition of the anthology.

Since writing is her passion, she started Rightwords Publications Pvt. Ltd. in 2017. A small and intimate set-up, they are a humble enterprise with a strength of four. With a focus on content related work such as content strategy for websites, brochures, Social Media pages, they are currently working with four very well-known clients based out of Pune.

Sonia’s passion to translate ideas into possibilities was her main inspiration to become an entrepreneur. Besides, she did not see herself in a 9 to 5 job especially feeling averse to the monotony that she thought would be attached to it. However, she like many other entrepreneurs had her set of fears while starting out on her own. “Failure of not being able to explain my idea through my work. Fear of realising that work is boring for my employees and they hate their job. To face an unhappy client at the end of a job work.”, she states were some of them.

Sonia’s entrepreneurial journey has been slow and steady. She funded her business from her savings when she started off and now it’s almost self-sufficient. She explains that had her capital investment been high, she would have considered options to raise money. But that would have come with a lot of pressure to pay off. She shares from her experience what all should one be cautious of while starting off on their own, “Have a clear idea of what you want to do and what you want to achieve with that. Don’t get carried away into something that may look very lucrative or easy. There is no such thing as an ‘easy business’ or fast money or quick success. Let your dream take its own course of time. Don’t trust anyone blindly with your finances. Do as much research as you can on your own about the various options to manage your finances. Consult a financial planning advisor once you’ve done enough research on your own. Take things in your hands. As soon as you accumulate an amount, however small, reinvest it in your business or invest it in something that will grow. Do not depend fully on someone you have hired to do something for you. Make sure you know how to do it even if it’s a basic version.”

Sonia maintains a straightforward approach to manage her personal finances and those of her business. She pays herself a salary to keep that distinction. In case of accumulation of funds or receiving monetary gifts, she invests them immediately. She does not give or take loans, which she shares is a very recent improvement in her and that she has learnt to save before splurging.

With years of experience of setting up an enterprise and running it successfully, Sonia generously shares her tips for budding women entrepreneurs. She says, “Have a clear idea about your scope of work. And a tentative goal. Neither short term, nor too long term. Like a three-year goal which is not difficult to speculate or set. Write and rewrite the business plan at least 3 times for better clarity in scope of work. FAILURE in the initial stage is important so as to never become complaisant. Face it bravely. Have sleepless nights, anxiety, endless brainstorming sessions with different people who will ask you the questions you fear. Have immense belief in your idea and love your business like your child. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not your cup of tea. Start taking your finances in your own hands and learn from scratch. Until 2015, I had never personally stepped into the bank for any bank work. I didn’t know how to write cheques or file returns. But I learnt from scratch and now even though I am not a master of it, I can do it by myself. Last but not the least, enjoy your work, and the wealth you’ll generate from it.”