You are a typical Mumbaikar and do not know much about your neighbors. However you go for a walk around your building and you have a fair idea of the cars parked there. You always thought you were a ‘Middle class’ kind of a society, but now you have been seeing some nice cars. You suddenly saw a Mercedes. You didn’t know buy you 13 year old son said “Dad did you see that black Maybach? I believe it costs Rs. 3.5 crores. Hegde uncle has bought it”. Wow. Whistle. Is this not the same guy who bought his daughter a BMW for her 21st birthday. Well, well. He was running a rubber factory and also was a partner in a fabrication company. You then cursed yourself for being a “Vee Pee something in a BFSI company….

And your broker calls you tell you that “Sir..Flat K 1109 is going on a distress sale”…woh saab ko kuch thakleef hai. So a flat which would be costing Rs. 9 crores is likely to be available for 8 crores..if you make the offer in the next 24 hours. Your broker tells you that he was in the Jewelry business and used to take money from people and run “schemes”.

You do not know anything about the rubber business, fabrication business or the Jewelry business, but you always thought. You did not even know about your immediate neighbor who committed suicide because of his Futures and Options losses.

Welcome to the world of “personal finance” for businessmen. It is far, far more complicated than ‘personal finance’ for the salaried person.

When you look at business people you have no clue how much money they make. You have no clue how well they are doing. The local business council honors them. You read about it in your society wassap group.

The sad part is that many business people also do not know how well they are doing. They combine their family money and business money.

They do not have any Retirement plan.

They do not have adequate Medical and Term Insurance.

They just do not know finances – business and personal.

You are 44 with 2 children – one doing MBBS and the younger kid hoping to be a professional football player. Your parents are not exactly dependent on you, but they stay with you and do not pay for their food expenses. They pay for their medical expenses and you know that they have no real estate with them.

You are a copy writer in an ad agency and you have considered becoming a full time photographer. Your work has been well appreciated and you know that your friends will keep you busy. However, you have your pangs. You read Subramoney.com and you have estimated that you need about Rs. 7 crores for retirement. You are of course nowhere near that figure, but you expect to put together this amount by the time you are 55 years of age.

Must you? could you? What will be your bigger regret on your death bed – not trying or failing?

Seriously there is nobody who can guide you “financially” over such agonizing traumas that you have at 3 am. Your wife is DEAD against it, but your kids are pushing you.

trying to put together a series of articles…aimed at the businessman…