Prior to World War II most people in the world were happy living in rented houses. This gave rise to concepts like ‘pagdi’ where you paid a sizeable deposit and a small rent. Mumbai used to be full of such properties . In fact this gave rise to sayings like ‘Fools build (buy?) houses, Wise […]
Have you wondered why doctors are not really rich? They do earn well. Even in a lower middle class suburb of Mumbai they do charge reasonably well. For example a specialist (pediatrician) doctor practicing in Navi Mumbai would charge Rs. 250 for a visit. This is not too bad for the 20 minutes that the […]
I had to speak at a Church (Parish) in Mumbai on Investing. In a religious gathering it was necessary to keep in mind what the scriptures said about investing. So the topic I chose was ‘Scriptures and investing’. The Christian community is quite conspicuous in its absence in the financial services field – especially in […]
Why is Navi Mumbai real estate so expensive? Or is it correctly priced? Well answers are difficult to get. A decent 2 bedroom apartment costs upward of @Rs One crore. Even for a professional who has a nice starting salary of say Rs. 500,000 gross income (per annum) the cost of a flat is about […]
http://www.subramoney.com/book-written-by-me/ Surely when somebody approached Mr. Dinanath Shinde and Mr. Afzal Maknejia for buying life insurance, they must have said: a. I do not need life insurance or b. At my level I cannot afford life insurance. Agents hear this day in and day out. Little did they realize that a drunk Nooriya Haveliwala would […]
Mumbai has a peculiar problem- exhorbidant real estate prices. However this does not mean economics is at work. I would know of many people who live far, far beyond their means. How does this happen? Well their parents are cash-flow poor, but asset rich. The children are asset poor, but have some cash flow. Take […]
Mark Mobius the famous fund manager (incidentally he runs the most disciplined scheme ever in India – Templeton India growth fund, the only fund in India that has been ALWAYS true to label) says the next ‘Dubai’ could be in Mumbai or Shanghai. One kid in our office excitedly rushed to me (working on the […]