Not just parents. Many financial writers, bloggers, even advisors try to give advice from their own experience. Oh that’s bound to happen, right? Yes. Sure. However, you must remember that all of them may not have had the same background that you had. You had a secure childhood, happy family, father CEO, grandfather IAS, 6th generation going to school, 4th generation with a professional degree – wow, YOUR success was written down the day you were born.

The person you are advising may not have had any of these. Broken family, father remarried, mother crestfallen, sad and weeping.

Can your advice be the same to both of them? Well some bloggers and writers think so. Remember what made one gen great is not what makes the next gen great. Do not say how great your gen was because they stood in a line to get milk or ration. Kids of today are undergoing far far more stressful lives. You have no clue about their stress.

What got me to this post is what one blogger says in his post – ‘I could do it, so could you’. No. Not true. If I give you a story of how I bought Wipro and held it for 20 years, IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN DUPLICATE. The blogger and the reader have to know that there has been a tremendous amount of luck in that transaction. So this is poor advice. I guess this is the reason why a Kapil Dev or a SRT could not make a good coach. A Coach need not be a winner, he needs to know COACHING. Similarly a financial blogger should not draw too much from his experience – UNLESS it can be repeated. I seriously do not know how much of my portfolio’s success is because of time spent in the market, the geography where I grew up, our family not having any unplanned expenditure needing selling equity at the wrong time, LUCK, skill, broker’s skill, skill in choosing the broker, luck in choosing the broker…………….the list is endless.

YOU need to know that good advice has to be given ONLY to the guy who will listen. My broker’s neighbor is a Tamilian born and brought up in Mumbai, a banker who has no equity in his portfolio. So wisdom can be flowing, but somebody has to take the trouble to drink it. History is written by the victors with a penchant for writing. Only when you meet the ‘investor’ or ‘speculator’ who blew his money (more often his father’s money) in speculative trades can you REALLY assess the impact of equities. It is easy for me to say I lived frugally – like my dad – but where does it capture the amazing contribution of my mother or wife for us to be able to live frugally? Should I not consider all this while giving advice? Well, it is not easy for a blogger who has not advised for fees. If personal finance is a hobby, damn it, it is a hobby. Ditto for Journalists. I love to see Journalists portfolios in the red – and their amazing explanation in ‘why I bought it’ stories.

Many of us have reached a goal without a map or goal posts. Now we are ‘connecting the dots’ and make it look like strategy. In more cruel words, I first shot the arrow and then when nobody was looking painted the bull’s eye. If I don’t mention the role of Luck, God’s blessings, and of course Survivorship bias, I would be cheating my client who comes for advice.

Let’s get some facts right. If you have had parental support and amazing finance learning and teaching by the time you reach college, 90% of your life is done. It is easy to preach and say ” don’t worry, when you are young, invest 80% of your income in equities’ . Great. I could do that because I was not supporting a widowed aunt or sister. I was not paying for the luxuries that my parents wanted but could not afford. It is easy to take risk when somebody has built a safety net.

I will never say “give up sugar” – I can’t. A friend who is also a blogger gave up sugar in one day. A niece of mine gave up sugar in a week – about 5 years ago. She is all of 28 now. I know many people who became vegan, I can’t. Get the drift? My personal experience is good, BUT NOT ENOUGH to be an adviser. You need training and experience as an adviser. Not just as an investor, blogger, or journalists. In fact most journalists would make poor advisors.

There are 3 pillars to wealth creation.

1. Earning well – this comes from some great education or special skill.
2. Spending smartly and Saving well.
3. Converting the saving into smart investing.

Honestly, I can’t do anything in 1 and 2. I have no role. I can only help you convert our savings to good investments.