The Story of Our Relationship With Money
We do follow stories and narratives. Life itself is an awesome story mixed with joy, pain and unpredictability.
There was a time, when money was in serious short supply. People couldn't fund even emergencies and basics. The story starts then was to save and save and save. Save at that time meant keep money in the cupboard. Then came better times. We did have emergency funds and money for basic expenses. So now we could go beyond save to invest. So we invested by giving money to banks. Then we grew richer and had a little more money.
Now was the time when the the word Capital started to show up and soon became very popular. We could now give money to the market to make a lot more money for us. The market said there is a cost of making more money and called it Risk. We were prepared by this time and could take a little risk in the beginning and a lot more later. The cost of making more money was also displaying patience and we did have that too.
Suddenly money which till now was the "means to an end" became "the end" in itself. Purpose of life became money and this clearly marked an inflexion point. And so was born the term "Returns". We became worshippers of "Returns.” Ever since we have been chasing returns for the sake of winning a race to nowhere. The hurricane of Human Greed started blowing away every logic and reasoning.
While costs of living went through tremendous change and people started inventing necessities, then luxuries, even super luxuries and exclusives. However, the nature of cost is limiting. We can't eat more, wear more, create more time or health with money. So the cost curve started to flatten. On the other hand the Compounding Curve skyrocketed and the Greed hormones ensured that we kept our foot on the accelerator pedal. People started equating everything to wealth
People got so carried away by this "Game of Returns" that they even forgot how to live. They forgot that they were greying and growing older and uglier in their looks and thoughts. People lost track that while their money may be immortal, they were not. Life is about doing the right thing at the right time. We marry at a particular age and have kids at a particular age for a reason. And that reason is the fact that we are human, we are born, we turn young, we reach middle age, then old age and ultimately back to square one with death
Having a child at the age of 40 is not just a biological challenge but also a huge social challenge. A child born to a mother at 40, has the challenge of having to cope with an old mother of 60 even though the child is only 20. A 50 year mother could help a lot more than a 60 year mother in bringing up a child. Thus as the society gets "returns" oriented it seems that it has forgotten its appointment with death.
So as we progress it is time to stop and recalibrate the journey of life. The story has to change. From "Returns" driven madness to studying life through the lens of Power of "Money Flow" and our ability to experience Financial Freedom. Because if we fail to take stock and keep chasing "Returns", we are likely to miss the opportunity to live life. Because unless we do the appropriate things at appropriate time the game of life will be lost and our chance to live gone forever.
As a Mutual Fund Distributor we have come a long way from asking people to save to asking people to create wealth and also to spend what needs to be spent for a better life. The Greatest tragedy is to see people Die Rich and Live Poor. The current relationship with money is of ascertaining the thirst quenching power of money flow/cash flow but this too will evolve with time.
The next milestone clearly is one where there will be residual money beyond cash flow requirements. There are many people who have enough money for the rest of their life and still plenty more. This brings us to yet another milestone of our relationship with money and that is to "part with our money.” This is the social responsibility that will hit us. We are already seeing our idols stepping forward. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Azim Premjee, Ratan Tata, Narayan Murthy, Akshay Kumar, Virat Kohli and so many more are stepping forward and funding society. This is the redistribution phase of society. Artificial Intelligence and Automation will kill jobs and few will have the money. The others will have a guaranteed basic income funded by both taxes and voluntary donation.
So to end this piece, let us get one thing clear. As your money coach we need to look at your relationship with your money. Along with SIP there is also a scope for SWP( systematic withdrawal plan ) use your money for yourself and SDP ( Systematic Donation Plan) use for social purpose -giving back to society.
The world is a zero sum game. We will die as we were born; with nothing
As a Money Coach we have transformed ourselves with the changing ecosystem and accordingly are adapting (like the storyline of Bollywood does across time and generations) to reflect the current needs.
Time for all of us to transform.
From needing to understand Money to needing to understand the relationship of Money with Life.
JYOTI WAKADE CFP
AMFI Registered MFD
9820150373
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