Diwali is a festival of lights is amongst the most popular festivals of the country and celebrated with pomp and fervour. On this occasion, people celebrate the return of Lord Rama after emerging victorious in a battle against the Lanka-ruler Ravana. Families get together, exchange gifts, binge of sweets, light lamp, participate in a ritual cleaning of their homes and burst crackers along with other forms of celebration. But, it is riveting how a festival like Diwali, can offer significant financial planning lessons.
Read to know 5 key lessons Diwali can offer to manage our finances better;
Dispel the darkness of ignorance
By simply lighting a lamp, we can eliminate the darkness surrounding us. Equivalent to this, we too can dispel our ignorance related to finances, investments etc. Metaphorically, a lamp signifies enlightenment and possessing knowledge is very valuable. So, anent our money too; knowing about cash flow, investment options, how to select investment vehicles, reading more about, financial planning is always a positive point that helps us dispel the murk encompassing our financial wisdom to be more financially empowered.
Planning in advance
Diwali, needless to say is the most awaited and grand festival in the country. Everyone is geared up to celebrate and make the most of the occasion. With regards to the festival, people plan their shopping, vacation and other requirements months in advance. One such example is booking flight tickets during the festive season. Had you planned your vacation and booked your tickets in advance; you would have paid 10x lesser than what you would be paying just days before Diwali. Thinking about the same, if one seeks to apply the notion of ‘planning in advance’ also on their financial and investment planning; especially by investing early then he or she get generate better returns. This way one can achieve their goals such as a peaceful retirement, the coveted international vacation, children’s education, lavish weddings, etc.
Goal-based investments
Diwali is a festival, wherein people apart from celebrating it with crackers and lamps also buy tonnes of gifts for their loved ones. Now when one ventures into a particular store for Diwali shopping, he or she keeps in mind the requirement, desire or a particular liking of the person to whom he would be gifting something. He may keep in mind the gender, age and personality of the person to be able to select a gift. Naturally, someone would definitely not prefer to gift a toy car or a doll to a 20-year old and similarly it would be hard for a 5-year old to make use or comprehend a book on Statistics, if that was gifted to him or her. So the same applies to investment and financial planning as well. Every investor has goals to distinct from others. They could be short-term or long-term and depending on the goals, they can plan and manage their finances. One needs to identify their goals to make the most of their investment vehicle and; otherwise the efforts are a waste.
Clean homes and cleaner portfolio
A few weeks before Diwali; people begin to start their yearly ritual of cleaning their homes and disposing goods they no longer require. Applying a similar approach on our portfolio could be positive to our investments. Glance through your portfolio and identify stocks that are not performing well. Ensure that the existing stocks are in sync with your goals or objectives. Just like in our homes, goods that are not needed end up in consuming a lot of space and have dust settled over them, our portfolio too could consist of ill-performing stocks that could adversely affect other assets too. Therefore, one needs to eliminate them too.
Prevention is better than cure
During Diwali, people buy a variety of crackers and burn them left right and centre. It creates a different energy altogether, however, with the thrill comes the dangers too (if not taken care of). While buying crackers we categorize them on how hazardous they are; so the less hazardous ones are usually what we purchase for our children. Besides that, while burning crackers one should be cautious about the kind of clothing he or the people around him are wearing and if children are around supervision should be ensured. Drawing parallels from the same, when we bring ourselves to invest in Mutual Funds, we usually look at the product labelling, scheme objective and its risk category that matches our requirements and risk appetite. Also, if we are not too sure on how to handle our assets then it’s advisable for us to consult a financial advisor. Blindly investing in any financial product that seems lucrative can lead to financial disasters.
