Browse Category: Networth

Wealth Mantra: Buy assets and avoid liabilities

Wealth Mantra: Buy assets and avoid liabilities

 

Is there any formula which can make me or someone like me wealthy?

Keep on accumulating assets and keep on avoiding liabilities – This is a fool proof mantra to become wealthy.

 

Asset and liability

OK, but can you elaborate as I can not understand this? The terms liabilities and assets are too technical for me.

Don’t go into too much technical details about ASSETS and LIABILITIES. To keep things simple and easy to understand let’s consider asset as something that generates a positive cash flow regularly. This is something that was explained by Robert Kiyoski in his famous book Rich Dad & Poor Dad. Also, we will consider anything that takes money out of your pocket as liability.

The above assumptions are quite simple as you have a very clear demarcation between assets and liabilities. Let’s scan through some of the common items and check if they add up as your ASSET or qualify as LIABILITY to you.

HOUSE:
I am sure like everyone you also must be having a strong belief that your house is your biggest asset.

Yes, I have a big house with a big monthly payment going out against the home loan/ mortgage I took out to purchase it. It is indeed the biggest asset I have till date.

Keep our initial definition of ASSET and LIABILITY in mind. Let’s go through the expenses associated with a house.

  • You take out home loan/mortgage to buy a house. You pay processing fees, lawyers fee and several other charges while purchasing
  • You pay monthly maintenance charges to Association/Society for the upkeep of the common area and housekeeping charges for the common area
  • You pay sinking fund
  • You pay annual property taxes
  • You dole out money to keep the house in proper shape – maintaining cleanliness inside the house, make sure all taps, fittings, fixtures etc are in proper working condition.
  • You pay money for the repainting job every couple of years


The list can be pretty long. If you see, every single head mentioned above results in money going out of your pocket. Now if we go back to our original definition – it says anything that gives you regular return or puts money back into your pocket qualifies as an ASSET.

Now here we have our house which is not fitting in the definition of ASSET.

Sure, you can say that house price will appreciate in due course. But the appreciation can not match the kind of money that goes out of your pocket month on month to maintain the house.

So the house is a kind of liability. To counter the liability factor, one must buy the house which is of right size. The house which fits your need in terms of space and pricing. The moment you buy a bigger house than you need, money starts going into drain. Here I would like to add that if you have a rental property, then it is your ASSET not LIABILITY.

Oh, I was under the impression that I have a big house and it’s a big asset for me. Your arguments seems to be logical.

Let’s take CAR now:

It is said that the moment a car comes out of a showroom, it loses about 15% of its value.

On top of this, your car consumes money in

  • Fuel
  • Regular maintenance, oil changes, servicing etc.
  • Car depreciate with the passage of time
  • Wear and tear of tyres, other parts
  • Annual insurance premiums
  • Road tax

Here again we see that the car is consuming your money regularly. Hence your Car is also your LIABILITY. The takeaway here is unless you are super rich, don’t buy a bigger, expensive car. Remember a car is a mere tool to take you from point A to point B. So here again buy what you need, not what your neighbor drives. More details can be found here – Your car is not your asset

 

Hmmm sounds right. What about the items I owe like my belongings etc?

Now list down all your belongings. They are your LIABILITIES as they lose value over time. Be it your furniture, appliances, gadgets, books, DVDs, gaming devices etc. All depreciate. We have seen it earlier too here 

liability is bad

You have listed down almost all my possessions under LIABILITY column. I am now curious to know what qualifies as ASSET?

  • Your assets include your investments (FD/RD/ULIPs/Mutual funds, shares, ETF, Bonds)
  • Any commodity (Gold/ ornaments)
  • Collectible items
  • Art (paintings etc)
  • Rental properties
  • Cash you are holding

All the line items listed above generate income over a period of time. They put money into your pocket regularly so they all classify as your ASSET

The key here in accumulating assets is to make financial goals, stay focused and never crib about your income but keep investing regularly.

Now, let’s see something interesting based on the classification of ASSET and LIABILITIES. Let’s see what poor, middle class and wealthy people do.

Poor: They mostly own liabilities and keep spending on feeding their liabilities.

Middle class: They have some assets but they keep on buying liabilities and spend their chunk of income in feeding their liabilities. They avoid investments and usually spend money to buy and maintain things they don’t need.

Wealthy:They generate a lot of income from investments and keep reinvesting. They accumulate good amount of wealth which can be passed to their next generation.

Now financially independent class: This particular class has plenty of good assets and income from investments is enough to take care of all their expenses. They constantly look for investment opportunities and never averse of buying good assets.

Bottom-line is one must keep buying good income generating ASSETS and avoid LIABILITIES like plague. If you stick to this, none can stop you from becoming WEALTHY. As you go on accumulating good assets, you get more freedom to take calculated risk in order to go for higher gains.

 

Happy investing !!!

Financial success : It’s not about the Stuff you gather

Remember: Financial success is not about the Stuff you gather

Financial Success

If I ask you “What are the the changes you would make in your life if more money starts reaching you – that is you have a better job paying higher salary than existing one?”

Most probably the answer would be

 

  • Buying a better smartphone
  • Upgrading the laptop
  • Buying a bigger house
  • Taking a nice vacation abroad
  • Upgrading your car

 

 

The list would be infinite. Isn’t it?


Yes, that’s true. But I need to buy these things as these things will add comfort to my life. Since I am earning more, don’t you think I deserve these? Others should also know that I am doing well in life.

 

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” — Will Rogers

 

It’s easy to spend money to buy stuff, to buy things that make us look cool and gives impression that we are well off financially. But the truth is most financially well off people do not need to show that they are well off. They know very well that their financial success is not indicated by the money they earn and spend it in buying the stuff every year. It is indicated by how much they earn and keep for growing it year on year.

 

Yes, true but I need to buy a decent SUV as I had a dream of buying it when I was in college. True that I can not afford it outright but I am eligible to buy it on monthly payments.

You are looking to buy a SUV which is not meant for city driving conditions and costs you a bomb. Any sports utility vehicle is expensive & comes with a huge list of expenses with it. Expensive car means more monthly payment, more maintenance cost, more insurance premium and expensive spare parts. Moreover, you will not be able to use majority of its features when you use it as a daily commuter vehicle. Instead of buying you can always rent it for a spin or two when you feel so. Read here why your car is not you ASSET

 

Hmm sounds good. But if I am not having a big house, an expensive car and latest gadgets, how will others know that I am doing well. Also I need to justify to myself too

Right but this is your life and why you have to buy stuff to show others that you are doing well in your life? You can not spend your hard earned money simply to please others. Remember, money is merely a tool to attain happiness, money itself is not happiness.

 

True, I agree but how to measure financial success? How anyone can come to know that he is heading towards financial success?

A simple and quite accurate measure of financial success is NET-WORTH. If you have a reasonably high positive net worth and it’s growing at a decent pace then it means you are doing well financially.

 

“net worth is really everything you own of significance (your assets) minus what you owe in debts (your liabilities)”.

 

  • Do you have a house which is mortgage/ loan free
  • Do you have a sizable emergency fund
  • Do you have a vehicle which is paid cash
  • Do you have no consumer finance
  • Do you are covered adequately on insurance front
  • Do you have an investment account and you are regularly investing
  • Do you have a positive net worth and a retirement fund which will give you regular income post retirement

If you have “YES” as answer for most of the above points, yes you are doing well financially. Do remember, age also plays important factor in the points listed above. But even if you are young, a positive net worth indicates that you are on the right rack and doing well financially.

 

Remember – you are accountable to yourself. Do a tight scrutiny periodically on your finances, on your investments, on your budget. If you honestly (you can not lie to yourself , right?) find that your net worth is growing, you are heading in the right direction.

 

You have some valid points. But all seems too much complicated. How can a beginner like me can proceed and implement this to my finances?

It is not complicated. You need to move step by step.

 

Always remember

  • Money alone doesn’t bring happiness but it sure can help
  • You only have to take care of your money and ensure that it grows – none else will do it unless they have their own personal interest attached to it
  • Money can not solve all your problems. Yes but it can help you sail through most of your problems

Happy investing !!!

Why I need diversification of investment?

Why do I need to diversify my investments?

Very often we come across the phrase “you must diversify your investments in order to save yourself from swinging markets” while going through personal finance articles or during a meeting with financial adviser.

I am new to personal finance. The term “Diversification of investment” sounds quite confusing to me. Why to make my life complicated, if I have a bagful of money, I should go and purchase high performing stock of XYZ LTD and be done with my investments, sit back, relax and enjoy my retirement years? Right?

diversification-of investment

 

I do not know what is diversification of investment?
Diversification of investment is a common practice where your investments are spread across different asset class such that your exposure to any one asset class is limited. In other words you are not dependent on only one asset class to give you returns. This saves you from extreme swings in your net-worth in case of any financial turmoil in the economy

 

Ok, understood. Now why do I need diversification in my portfolio? How it is going to help me?
If you are inclined to stocks for the kind of returns they generate and If you keep investing all your money in stocks then you run a risk of exposing yourself to the volatility of stock market. What if when you need a chunk of money and stock markets crash just when you are about to withdraw? Similarly if you like to play safe and invest all your money in fixed deposits then you are reducing the value of your investments as inflation will eat up your money gradually. Hence you need a balanced approach based on your investment horizon and your risk appetite. You need to arrive at an optimized combination where you are not dependent on one asset class and also you are beating inflation so that your overall wealth increases. Diversification of investment if exploited can help you in wealth creation which in turn will help you in racing towards financial independence.

 

Ok, now tell me what are my options for diversification?
Broadly speaking there are asset class like share market, Government bonds, bank deposit schemes, commodities, real estate.

  • Stocks give high returns but there is a high risk factor associated with stocks.
  • Bonds are safe, they have guaranteed returns but the returns are very low. It is difficult to beat inflation when you are invested in bonds. Also bonds come with lock in and not easy to liquidate.
  • Bank deposit schemes give different returns based on the tenure of investment and the product you invest in. They are easy to liquidate and can be used to park cash effectively.
  • Commodities like gold and silver do not appreciate much but they neither do depreciate. They are usually stable even during market crash and also very safe during economic meltdown and in warlike situation.
  • Real estate is a big ticket investment. It gives you good returns over a period of time. Also the biggest drawback is that you can not part liquidate the investment from this. Though through REIT it’s possible now but if you own a property you can not part sell it.

Based on your risk appetite, you should gradually diversify your investment across all classes mentioned above. There are mutual funds that comes in all sizes and covering all asset classes which you can choose to invest your money. But you need to study a little in order to get yourself acquainted with the asset classes and mutual funds. This is not a rocket science but a study will help you to make an informed decision.

 

I am a conservative investor. How can I take benefit of diversification?
If you are a conservative investor, still you have to plan your investments such that you beat inflation which is the biggest killer of your money. As a conservative investor you need to pick the mix of Bank deposits, bond funds, debt funds based on the tenure of the individual investment. Also you will need a certain exposure to stock market so that you can beat inflation. This can be achieved through investing in balanced mutual funds or a small exposure to diversified equity funds. You can have a folio where you invest 80% in bond funds/ bank deposits / debt funds and remaining 20% in diversified mutual funds. Diversified mutual funds will reduce your risk by investing in a range of stocks across sectors and will give you returns which will make your overall folio beat inflation (hopefully)

 

I am an aggressive investor. How do I diversify?
Being an aggressive investor you should focus on generating maximum returns. Also at the same time you should be careful enough that you do not lose money during economic meltdown or stock market crash. You can have a good 60% – 80% investment in stock market and 20% – 40% investments in bond / debt funds / commodities. Here again mutual funds can help you as within stock investment you can further diversify by investing in diversified equity funds, sectoral funds like banking funds, pharma funds, infrastructure funds etc. You can also use mutual funds as vehicle to invest in bonds and debt funds. This will reduce your risk from exposure to uncertainty of stock markets.

 

Ok, all this is fine but what are major concerns with diversification?
The biggest concern with diversification is “over diversification”. It’s human tendency to worry a lot. If as an investor you worry a lot and over diversify yourself by investing across all asset classes with investments in too many sub-classes like all sectors covered by buying top 10 stocks from them. This will create a huge portfolio which will be difficult to manage over time. And also it is difficult to study each sector and re-balance portfolio if you have too many stocks with you. Also there is a cost associated with buying and selling calls each time you execute. Hence it is always advisable to keep the diversification to a level where you can manage it profitably.

 

To Sum up the diversification of investment
There is no generic diversification formula which you can apply to your investments and run your investments on autopilot mode. There are dependencies on time horizon of investment, risk appetite, investment goals, your knowledge about investment and your experience in the investments. All put together, it’s always better you yourself arrive at the diversification distribution of the asset class for your portfolio.

But one thing is sure, if you diversify well based on your risk appetite you can be sure to create wealth over a period of time and you can cut down the risks of wealth erosion due to economic meltdown or share market swings. This balanced approach will also help you in achieving financial independence quickly.

Happy Investing !!!

Accelerate your NETWORTH , Here’s HOW?

Here is a post on How to accelerate your Net Worth & achieve Financial Independence. Increase in net worth will accelerate your journey towards Financial Independence

Net-worth gives a clear measure of your wealth. In accounting terminology, “net worth is really everything you own of significance (your assets) minus what you owe in debts (your liabilities)”. Assets include cash and investments, your home and other real estate, cars or anything else of value you own.

 

how to increasse networth

 

Now when it is clear what is net worth, I am sure you would want it to keep growing at a healthy rate. A healthy growth rate in net worth will give you a confidence in your life with respect to your finances.

Here are some of the methods I am listing down which can accelerate growth in your net worth. All these steps are simple and you can implement them in your financial plan to stay on top of your finances and off course net worth.

 

  • Work towards paying all debts.
    Kill the debt with highest interest first. Usually the personal loan which we take for some holidays or some family function carry the highest interest rate. Same is with the credit card debt. Make sure that you get rid of personal loan and credit card debt. Then focus on getting rid of consumer loan which you took for buying that 85 inch cool TV, auto loan for your cool SUV. The EMI on these loans might look small but if you do that math you end up paying a lot in interest on them. Remember the price you pay for any item bought on these loans are the cost of principal plus the cost of interest. Once you are done with all high interest loans, target home loan. Yes, though you get benefit on home loan but a loan is a loan. The feeling of having freedom with no loan is something out of the world.

  • Increase your contribution towards the Employee provident fund.
    If you do not have PF – Provident fund account with your company, open a PPF account with any public sector bank and max-out the limit of yearly deposit in the first month of every financial year. These account ensures that over a long run, you accumulate enough corpus which can help you plan your retirement years they way you want.

  • Make a budget.
    This article details on how to make a basic working budget. Once budget is made, trim your unwanted expenses. Remember you will not be able to trim your unwanted expenses unless you make a budget. Be on top of your expenses and cut down all unnecessary expenses.

  • Do not let your extra cash sitting idle in low interest savings account.
    If you have huge amount sitting idle in savings account, it is losing its value. Currently savings account give only 2%-3% interest. And the inflation is 6%-7% which means your money is losing its value. Immediately put your money to work harder through mutual funds, sweep in deposits, fixed deposits, stock market based on your risk appetite. The returns in these investment streams are higher than the regular savings account and money in them ensures that you are beating inflation and not losing value of your money.

  • Start building a mutual fund portfolio.
    This is from long term perspective and invest into this through systematic investment plans across a diversified range of mutual funds consisting of diversified equity funds, balanced funds, large caps, mid caps. This does not need expertise, it only requires basic knowledge which is available freely on the internet.

  • Reinvest all the income generated from your investments.
    Do not blow away the gains from your investments. If you keep re-investing, it will help in increasing your investment corpus considerable and that too quickly. Also this exercise of yours coupled with the brilliance of compound interesting will accelerate your net worth growth.

  • Invest a fixed amount regularly, every month.
    Pay yourself first – this should be the mantra. Automate your investments. Suppose you receive your salary in the first week of the month, keep your systematic investment plan SIPs automated for the first week of every month. This will ensure that you keep investing every month without a break. Remember – the one who invests regularly and over a long duration reaps the benefits.

  • Invest all the windfalls you get. Do not splurge.
    Gifts and inheritance money can be very helpful in accelerating your net worth.  Remember more money you put in investment, more your investment corpus would be and more money it will generate.

  • Do not go crazy about new vehicles every few years.
    Remember that vehicles are merely an instruments for going from point A to point B. Also remember there is a huge cost associated with the new vehicles in terms of insurance, maintenance, running cost etc. And it is a fact that a vehicle loses about 20%-25% of its value the moment it comes out of the showroom and it is a depreciating asset.

  • Do not accumulate loans to purchase stuff.
    Every new loan you take is a liability and is a hindrance in your plan to financial independence. Every new EMI / monthly payment added to your monthly income will surely decelerate the net worth growth.

If you follow the above listed steps diligently and track your progress, I am sure you will see a positive movement in your net worth. You need to improve, evolve your approach constantly in order to see your net worth moving northward. Each one of us has different lifestyle, different expenses but what is discussed in this article are basic building blocks to improve your net worth.

Improvement in net worth will result in creating wealth and early financial independence. Don’t you want the same?

Focus more on increasing net worth

In the journey to financial independence, the most widely accepted approach is to earn more and more in due course. The formula is quite simple. Earn a good professional degree, gain experience and keep moving up the corporate ladder. This growth will give you thrust in your income too. So more your income is, more you have money.

 

networth & wealth

 

However there is one more catch. What if you are earning INR1, 00,000 per month and your monthly spend stands at INR1, 00,000 per month. This is something which is worrisome. This will be a kind of status-quo where you are placed extremely well in the corporate ladder and earning a handsome paycheck every month. However on asset / net worth front you are ZERO. You will not be able to create any asset which will appreciate and give you good returns in due course.
So, increase in income does not necessarily mean increase in your net worth. On the road to financial freedom, you must focus on increasing net worth and track it month on month so that you have all figures about your financial growth at hand.

It’s great to have a 6 figure monthly income but not focusing on net worth will make you work like a workhorse till you die. Instead of focusing only on increasing income, once must focus on increasing net worth as net worth again will keep increasing thus making a substantial gain on monitory front through investments and asset appreciation. Here you must note that more your income is, more your tax liability will be. However assets you make are taxed in different bracket which is quite less when compared to your tax on income. You are taxed on what you earn, not on what you own.

Off course I am not undermining the importance of increasing income, but if this increase in income is coupled with serious attempts to increase net worth, your hard work will bear fruits much earlier than anticipated.

Why you should focus on net worth:

  • The major component of the tax is computed on the income, not the net worth
  • Higher net worth gives you much more financial security compared to high income levels.
  • High income can be spent easily and loose its value, but higher net worth is not that easy to dilute and spend. This way the assets, equity you create is safe from impulse purchases
  • Net worth always keep growing – the components will keep on working and giving you passive income hence overall net worth will keep increasing

 

How to increase net worth?

  • Practice frugality: This is the first step. This will ensure that your expenses are always less than your income
  • Pay down your debt on war footing: Debts are trap. They suck money in terms of interest. Though monthly payments look small for any debt, especially consumer debt, but if you consider the entire cost of debt, it is indeed a high figure.
  • Track your expenses: This will give you a very clear picture where your money is going month on month. If you keep tracking, it will give you clear alarms about money drains.
  • Have an emergency fund: This will help you in fighting emergencies like car break down, home repairs, sudden job loss etc. You need not to break your fixed deposit or take out money from retirement savings for emergencies.
  • Start investing based on your appetite and with proper asset allocation: This will help you grow your net worth and in turn your wealth. Also a proper investment portfolio gives you a good passive income month on month and is your best buddy in the race towards financial freedom.
  • Find ways to increase your income and keep investing religiously all the raises you get: This will help you in avoiding lifestyle inflation. Believe me lifestyle inflation is the biggest wealth killer. If you divert salary raises towards investments, you are enhancing your wealth in the longer run.
  • Track your net worth month on month: This will give you clear picture of your performance towards your financial freedom. Also this will tell you every month whether you are moving in right direction or not?
  • Look at starting some side hustle, or some side business in addition to your day job: Again this will bring additional money which can be invested again to increase your wealth. Anything which contributes to your wealth speeds up your journey towards financial freedom.
  • Avoid any consumer debt: Again consumer debts are traps. They force you to pay higher amount for the goods and come with processing charges. Plan to pay cash and learn to live within means.

No doubt focus on increasing income is important in creating wealth. But income is only one part of the overall equation which contributes in creating wealth. But focus on net worth will make you an individual with multi pronged approach on creating wealth.

9 Ways you can ruin your wealth creation plan

 

In spite of being well educated, well traveled across – still we are prone to making mistakes in life. Some mistakes can be corrected easily but some have long term impact on your life. In financial journey too, there are some mistakes which have long term negative impact and after a point it’s impossible to come back from red zone into the green zone.

Worst money mistakes one can make

The journey to wealth requires a series of correct steps at right times pertaining to your finances. However there are a set of mistakes that exist which can ruin the hard work & self control of years.

I am listing them down below, they are not in sequence, but randomly placed. Anyone of these can ruin your financial plans and rock your retirement years

  1. Over spending: Overspending means spending more than you earn. This will keep increasing gap between your income and expenditure and ultimately the black hole will such all your resources.
  2. Not working to grow & maximize your career: Basic education is required and it is a must to embark on journey to wealth creation. Education helps you in understating things better, take rational approach, take timely decisions, plan strategies etc. Aim should be to maximize your career through education so that you have steady income for expenses and investments.
  3. Waiting to invest till right time comes: There is a Chinese proverb, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” The same goes for investing. Albert Einstein was amazed by the power of compounding and called it the eighth wonder of the world. The key is to start as soon as possible and to stay in the race as long as possible. You cannot time the markets hence the right time is now to start investing.
  1. Not saving enough: Unfortunately there is no magic figure or magic formula that if you save X% of your income you will become wealthy. The perspective of X% differs for a fresh graduate starting job and someone who has spent 30 years in corporate world. Most of the people make mistake in assuming “Things will work out eventually” They absolutely ignore inflation and rising costs of housing, costs of healthcare, education. These costs can make a big dent in your savings.
  1. Marrying the wrong person: Creating wealth is a team effort involving family members. Once you start working, gradually you tend to settle in life by marrying, planning for home, kids etc. It is very important to choose life partner carefully. A careful selection can make or break your plan of becoming wealthy. Both the spouses should be on same page as far as road to financial freedom is concerned.
  1. Not having enough insurance (life as well as health): People usually tend to ignore insurance. They take insurance to save tax and mix insurance with investments. This leaves them neither here nor there. Result is they are neither covered adequately nor their investment cum insurance policy sold to them by their trusted advisor is yielding any positive returns post inflation deduction. By doing this they are leaving their wealth creation plan in limbo.
  1. Investing heavily into real estate: Real estate investments are usually advisable once you are done with all other investments with proper asset allocation. House/flat for self consumption is not counted here. Reason why because real estate investments are big ticket purchase. Also the returns are usually good in long term. The process of buying ad selling could take up to 6-12 months. This makes them illiquid to certain extent. If you tilt your asset allocation towards real estate, you may run a risk. What if real estate pricing falls? One should take holistic approach towards real estate. Also since ticket size is big and you cannot sell part of the asset if you need money unlike stocks/mutual funds/bank deposits.
  1. Not having a will: No matter what’s your age, you must have a will. Creating a will is not grandpa / grandmas job. Whatever you have earned, whatever wealth you have accumulated so far should be passed on to your successors in case of something going wrong with you. Will also prevents strife in families at a later date. Even you should have nomination forms properly filled with banks and financial institutions where you have deposits. This makes life easy for family members in case of something going wrong with you.
  1. Buried deep in debt: Easy consumer loans lure you to fall into temptations of buying what your neighbors buy. This keeping with Joneses syndrome can be a big debt trap. Buy 80 inches 3D LED TV when you deserve, not on EMIs. Buy when you are ready financially. If EMIs are taking ac hunk out of your monthly income, you are not going to succeed in wealth creation. Have a practice of buying with cash.

 Avoiding above mistakes is not a rocket science, but takes a balanced well planned approach. As I said earlier, any one of the above is capable to derail your train to wealth creation.