Who is taking the Risk and who is giving the advise?

Well there are financial blogs by the tons, FB groups, Yahoo groups, Agony aunt columns, etc. I do read many of them and even follow a few and have always enjoyed reading them. I either learn or I chuckle.

“I am going to Dubai for a job, and my wife is coming too. She will not have a job there…is it a good decision or a bad one?”

“I am 47 years of age, have Rs. 2 crores in savings/investments and a house in Kerala. I am planning to retire – is this enough”

“I have this portfolio, am I doing fine?”

“I have 2 houses in Powai Mumbai and one house in Coimbatore. I am planning to rent out the 2 flats to my 2 daughters and live off the rental income. Does it sound good?”

When I am in a group in a get together I never have to answer these. One of the other people will themselves answer it and I have to just watch silently and push off. I can chuckle, but not loudly. And the answers are:

“Of course yaar…Dubai is a great place to work..there is no Income tax there”

“Sure, Real estate does not fall in price, and you can trust your daughter …..”

Is there a downside? Should one look at that?

Well if the advise does go wrong? How does it matter? the blog writer is now a business story teller and has stopped blogging.  Anyway he did not charge a fee did he? So what if the advice was biased? wrong? incompetent?

What if the others did not consider risks? What  if your ‘new’ country had severe restriction on women? It would be stifling for her no?

What if the rents in Dubai are worse than the taxes in India?

The best answer I can give a stranger for all these is “I do not know”. I have no clue how good the company in Australia, Bahrain, Canada or Dubai…is. I have no clue how much you will earn and how intelligently you will invest. I know that in India your wife was earning about 25% more than you, so it is a big sacrifice. I also know that your kid is 17 months old and you will need somebody to babysit.

I seriously have zero competence in giving any advise. People who know me personally know that I can slice and cut through your ego when we talk about returns, financial habits, financial behavior, etc. So what can I tell a person online without really knowing that person?

Recently whena friend was going abroad permanently I told him “Seek an adviser, see if he is appropriate for you AND competent, then the money paid is worth while. If the person who is telling you something, you have to make sure that you know him and he knows YOU, not just the subject.

Lets take a simple case. Mr. X has a home loan of Rs. 90 L and a ctc of about Rs. 20L and his wife has an income of Rs.8 lakh. He got a lumpsum of Rs. 10L – what should he do? repay or invest?

I can give BOTH answers and prove both right. As a novice you will have a tough time telling the ‘correct’ story.