How to help a friend
For many people financial problems start with a good intention. Here is a case in point. One person I know has an uncanny ability to get herself into a financial mess. It would be difficult for many people I know to even imagine how ingenious she is in creating trouble for herself.
One example here. She is employed on a princely salary of Rs. 14,000 which she uses to support her widowed mother, pay for sister’s part-time MBA course (for which her mother’s jewelery has been pawned), pay her own educational loan. Needless to say she lives hand to mouth. Of course she has this ability to attract one ‘friend’ who has some financial trouble.
So he approaches her for a loan. It is not that she has a kind heart or a big heart, but she could not say ‘no’ to him. But she had no money to give him.
He suggested a brilliant solution. So she played along. She applied for a ‘personal loan’ from a bank (rate of interest did not matter, after all HE was going to pay the EMI, was he not?). So she took a loan. He played ball – and actually deposited the EMI amount in HER account BEFORE the amount was debited. Vow! However, this happened only for months 1 and 2. Month 3 he paid her 2 days after the debit, and with a lot of apologies. Month 4 he said I will pay you in cash..
That is the last she heard from him. 22 months have passed, and she has been paying the EMI. He is gone, simply gone.
So she did a smart thing, she went to his house and waited. He did not turn up. However the police turned up at HER house.
His wife had lodged a complaint that since the last 2 days AFTER this person visited their house, her husband is missing. She also reported the threats they received. LOL if you can. I DID.
Competence to handle finance is either there, or it is not there, that is all.
NPR
Sorry, females have less inclination to learn about personal finance. Not that males are better either. Just percentage wise, females are lower.
PS: This is not a sexist comment. Just observations.
Aniruddha
Sing the nasal genius Himesh Reshamiya’s ‘Aashiq banaya’ with slightly modified lyrics, if you please! 🙂
subra
npr,
ability to manage finance is a function of ego and willingness to learn. It has no caste, creed, gender or qualification bar. I will give u portfolios of people qualified as a CA, IIM-A graduate, IIT and IIM graduate, a perfect score GMAT candidate….and u will be shocked. Please do not give me the gender story. It does not work.
SAm
How about a post on How to help the “great Indian family”? If you are ever in need of reams of material on the same, I shall supply you with multi generational one!
NPR
Subra, I differ.
My point was that, in matters of personal finance or in general matters of managing money (outside of house finance), females are less inclined towards it. I am talking about a generic urban female, Graduate/PG/professional, working and fairly independent financially. Most of them, just hold a Bank account and money accumulates there OR they get themselves into situations as portrayed by your blog here.
I agree, IIM/CA/IIT does not matter. One just needs to have a nose for this.. and as you said, willingness to learn (willing to learn, by itself means one may not know much and hence less ego).
If you would see, most of the Personal Finance bloggers are Male :(-
NPR
Srinivas Muthadi
I know at least a person who gave guarantee for a friend’s loan which was a big amount. The friend defaulted. This guy had to clear all the loan. For this he had to sell his ancestral property and also a good portion of salary for decades. Thus denying a better opportunities of education and life to his kids.
There are always people ready to exploit ‘sentiment’. Money knows no sentiment. Better be cautious. Such things are not unavoidable.
Note: I actually know two : one from each sex.