At some point in time, all of us feel that we could have done more with our savings. We regret a lot of things we did in the past. We wonder what could undo the mistakes and revive missed opportunities. We are unclear about whether our finances are in good shape or if we are running late towards financial freedom. We don’t know exactly where the money went, even after earning well for many years. Life circumstances, sudden bursts of big-ticket expenditure, and expanding budgets make us wonder if everything is alright. A crisis triggers fear.
Rahul felt exactly that when faced with an unexpected health event in the family. He was financially unprepared for the event and had no option but to contribute significantly towards hospital expenses. While the health outcome was positive, the damage to Rahul’s personal finances was significant. He was now uncertain how he would recoup his finances to good health. His other financial responsibilities to his immediate family were imminent, and he needed to think and act fast. But he was clearly lost.
At the age of forty, for the first time, he decided to consult a financial planner. His friends suggested doing a financial plan to sort out his finances and get the much-needed clarity. The first thing that Rahul learnt was that he had actually missed out on a lot that he needed to do in his 30s. Now, he needed to speed up things so that he could catch up on some of what he had missed doing. His goals were fast-advancing, and most of them could not be put off to a later date.
The financial flexibility that he had in the 30’s was not going to be available to him in his 40s. Rahul had to catch up on the fast-approaching goals like higher education and still try to produce more out of his present income. Clearly, doing more in less time needed precise planning, prescient actions, and proper strategy.
When you need to produce more with less time, a lot needs to change in your life. So, what could Rahul do differently to rebuild his personal finances? He needed to take his finances seriously and work on them continuously. Productivity and efficiency are watchwords usually not associated with personal finance. We relate them more to producing goods or delivering services. Yet, personal finance needs more of the two than anything else. After all, you are providing for your future. We never realise how productivity and efficiency can significantly improve our finances.
In financial planning, this is especially true of late bloomers. When you are on the clock and need to grow your money with precision, you need to ensure that savings are strong, investing is efficient, and the investment process is productive. You will need regular reviewing, monitoring, course corrections, and repurposing of investments. One cannot follow a more casual spray-and-pray approach like regular monthly SIP investing. A specialist must keep watch over your finances, their performance, the evolving needs, and guide you every step of the way.
Rahul knew he needed help. And he accepted that he could never do everything by himself. Usually, most people struggle with this acceptance. By recognising this in a timely way, Rahul decided to move forward and fix his finances. The planner would guide him every step of the way and ensure that he got to where he needed to in a time-bound manner. He could not afford delays or failures and knew it only too well. Reaching this state of decision-making is what will take your finances forward. The gains you need are probably much more than just financials.
If you see Rahul in yourself, it is time you do something serious about it.
