short stories on risk….2
This is another story on risk…if you remember I wrote one a few days back. This is the story again of a doctor. In all his wisdom this doctor bought a ‘second home’ in a gated community about 100 km from his house. No, it was not a hill station, but had beaches about 5 km away.
He got a caretaker to look after his house..and allowed the caretaker to stay in the outhouse. Obviously. The caretaker was staying there with his wife – cooking and eating there. His wife was also doing some ‘ghar ka kaam’ for a couple of houses nearby. So both of them had an identity card..and had ease of access to the property. Fairly obviously they were using the facilities inside the house – fridge, television, etc. That was not the problem.
The doc used to send his friends for weekends/weekdays and the couple were getting handsome tips. Nice life, nice salary, nice tips.
Then the doctor went abroad. So even the friends trips went down..but still from once a week it went down to once a month. Now the caretaker got greedy.
The house was now being used by young boys..and girls…!! you know what was happening. The building society did not even have the phone number of the doctor or his family!! Obviously illegal activities have illegal consequences. Fighting inside the house became bad – and a big TV broke. One head cracked.
Police came in.
After that what followed is not for this blog, it is for a crime thriller.
The caretaker’s bank account had Rs. 23 Lakhs.
Need I say more?
Wake up doctors. When i do a session priced at Rs. 4000 doctors find it expensive. They have no clue how expensive it is NOT TO ATTEND a workshop on risk.
madhur
Why do you have so much love for doctors? Show some love for software engineers too 🙂
anam
Software engg. are over smart 😉 lol !!!
subra
they are surely smart….maybe over-smart….surely over-paid 🙂 why should they need me? No software company ever engages me to teach them finance…so I guess they know everything….Lol
P
Software engineer are not over paid in current world.
Supply is more then demand.. That may be the case when software industry started..
Companies consider software engineers as just a resource to be used to produce output and engaging people like you is just a expense without any return for them.. So they don’t spend.. Sad situation but true… Infact this industry has financial literacy even less then doctors……
Anil
I agree with P.
Software industry is no longer overpaid. The biggest problem is that there is no family time. Since the Advent oF laptops, there is nothing like work timings.
The old days of desktop were so much better where we could work only for specific time.
pradeep
Software Engrs are thought to be overpaid but simply they are benefiting from the cost arbitrage between dollar and rupee. The catch here is this arbitrage has reduced over the years with reduced billing rates and increasing salaries. A lot of them are overworked too. All this means the software engrs might not have a long career (early 40s they could be out of jobs) as the doctors do. So its more important for them than the doctors to plan financially while they earn.
I am not sure why companies should spend for teaching personal finance to their employees. They should themselves learn especially with so much online materials available. They can go to financial advisors too. Free lunch nowhere.
Meena Shivram
Very True, Pradeep. Being in the Software Industry for the last 25 years, I have seen the industry evolve. By late 40s/early 50s, you are overworked and want to get out to do something with a better work-life balance even with a much less pay. And all the more reason to be personal finance literate. Also why should companies spend money to teach you Personal Finance. Treat Personal Finance in the same way you upskill/reskill yourselves in the latest technologies to stay relevant in the IT industry. This would really help you in planning the pre and post retirement years of your life in an effective way
P
Meena and Pradeep.. Companies should invest in employee welfare… Which will help them remain focused on work.. Online materials are available for everyone.. Then why even any other company is doing that? It is not same as upskill or re-skill.. Today IT industry is spending on one part which is health of employee.. They do have tie ups with right organization for physical and mental health of employee.. Finally mental well being is being recognized as most important thing…so many it companies are providing confidential services for treatment or avoidance of depression etc.. As per logic in your comments company should not spend om these things as well but they do as there’s recognition of employee health physical earlier and these days mental too.. I am hoping soom they will recognize financial health of employee as well..
There are lot of indirect benefits to company due to that.. Employee will become stable and won’t look to change employer due to financial stability.. IT industry has one of the highest iteration rate… And factor is money for that as there is not much savings…
Open for comments.. That was just my viewpoint
Meena Shivram
P, Agree that several IT companies invest in the well-being of their employees which includes several physical and mental wellness programs. There is a lot of self-interest involved here as physically and mentally fit employees improve overall productivity. But Personal Finance as the name suggests is very personal in nature which is open to gross mis-selling. I have seen many bank relationship managers, Insurance salesmen, credit card salesmen, home loan companies who set up a stall in IT companies peddling unsuitable products to employees who have little or no idea on personal finance. Guiding an individual on how to fulfill her life goals keeping in mind her psychology and life situation is the role of a Financial Planner and companies cannot take that role due to their limited bandwidth.
pradeep
P,
If you turn your comments around, you will see that most companies already do a lot of employee welfare activities such as offering good medical insurance including the family, doctors and counsellor availability, subsidised gyms, shopping discounts and many more. Its a case of glass 90% full and one has to applaud the companies for that. Software employees are the most online employees going around and if they cant put some effort into their own well-being in personal finance, what good is their smartness for?
To cap it off, the attrition rate is the highest in IT industry which means these employees dont exactly love their companies for their life. So its high time IT employees spend some of their own money for their own welfare by hiring an advisor if they cant put some DIY time on it..
Ruminating Optimist
Subra sir, IMHO, Software Engineers of today will greatly benefit from your sessions. There are many of the breed I have met, especially in last couple of years … they are completely disconnected with the world of Financial Planning, risks they are themselves running on account of their professions … or they are simply in a denial mode. Gone are the days when everyone was paid really well.