When I meet older people aged say 45 or more ..they have amazing things to say…why they do not have money…as a younger person I may have passed value judgments…but now I am just enumerating them…

• Subra I earned less: a very common refrain from qualified as well as unqualified people! A qualified person who chose a wrong profession or a person who did not study much ALWAYS tell you that they earned less than what they could have actually earned
• Subra I had to support a lot of my sisters, brothers, cousins as well as my parents – this meant I did not get a chance to invest even though I wanted to…
• My broker cheated me in 1993 when he defaulted and I lost about Rs. 3 lakhs – and wiped out my capital – or most of it anyway.
• My father made me buy many LIC policies and put money in bank deposits so I had no investments in equities
• My wife wanted to buy a big house, so I had no money for investing – all that went in paying EMI
• My wife and children spend a lot of money on eating out, vacations, etc. so I have very little money for investing
• My Provident fund is a big amount and that is a compulsory saving which is lying untouched
• A lot of my money got spent due to the illness and hospitalisation of my parents /sibling / spouse / kids…so..

What I have NEVER heard are the following:kn

• Subra I wish I had learnt more about the power of compounding – I am paying the price for not learning about compounding. this meant I have less money
• I did not BOTHER to learn the difference between Savings and Investments so I just saved did not invest
• I did not BOTHER to learn that Income funds helps one to defer tax by a huge time and that would be smarter
• I did not BOTHER to learn about medical insurance so ended up footing the whole bill myself
• I did not BOTHER to tell my ……..that I will help them only for essentials NOT FOR extravagant functions/festivals
• I did not BOTHER telling my relatives about medical insurance – so I   had to bear their medical expenses/emergencies
• I did not BOTHER to find out that LIC policies were good for the agent and not for me
• I did not BOTHER to find out what my broker was doing so I actually do not know whether he cheated me or it was my GREED
• I did not BOTHER to sit and calculate and tell my wife how much we need for our other GOALS – so we bought a big house
• I did not BOTHER to tell my wife and children what kinda wedding / education we could afford
• IT HURT MY EGO to tell my daughter that I could not pay her fees for studying abroad
• Till I saw your blog (which was when I turned 43) I did not know that my PF was not ENOUGH for retirement

Simple message: Take responsibility. Take charge of your money. Take charge of your money life.