an old article being reposted. Look at both these stories from a personal finance point of view…I believe Naushad wanted his family to go through a lot of trouble, but not confirmed…read on….

There are two news items in today’s Times of India – both related to personal finance. One is about Naushad (who knew the perils of not making a will, but STILL did not make a will). The film industry is full of people with wrong products.  “I know my children, they will never fight over money” is the STUPIDEST comment that I have heard from my customers. However I do not run a counseling centre – I tell once then ignore / just note down in my remarks column. The line between advising correctly and doing a hard-sell is thin and I would like to keep it that way – and refuse to hard-sell any product. Some people may even see this as a weakness – or lack of ability to convince a client, but that is how I am built.
I know of a young producer who died of cancer. However his  life insurance company did not pay – because he had not told them that he had cancer and was cured of cancer! Obviously the agent had not asked. Since the amount insured was more than Rs. 20 lakhs, his widow could not go to the Ombudsman.
Here is how the news item starts:
“MUMBAI: The heirs of one of India’s foremost music directors, Naushad Ali, have ended up in court in a squabble over his property. The composer passed away in May 2006 without making a will, leaving behind nine children and prime property worth roughly Rs 43 crore in Bandra.”

The second news item is about a man killing his wife and daughter – by hitting them with an iron rod. He still has one daughter left. He has a housing loan, personal loans, no employment prospects (he will surely spend the next 14 years in jail if he is not hanged). All this and a 15 year old daughter to look after…
“………Preliminary probe conducted by senior inspector Pramod Khade have revealed that Kumar was under tremendous pressure as he had defaulted on his loan repayments and a row with Sangita on Tuesday led to the savage murders at their Prakruti Park flat near Ghodbunder Road.

Kumar claimed that he was angry at his wife’s spendthrift ways and that his joblessness since the last six months made matters worse…………….”
What was the problem? Simply living beyond their means!