Foreword
A couple of years back, few of our college friends came together along with their families. We cut a large cake, and children are yet to come to pick a piece. A couple of my friends are struggling to make their ends meet, and a couple don’t know where to invest their extra money! They had a huge debate, whether it is good to become a business partner or to invest on land. I was just listening. They asked me, if I have an opinion. I said, “I don’t rub my opinions, but I have an insight if you want to frankly answer”. They readily said yes. Meanwhile, I took a large chunk of cake which they kept it for children, as children started arriving. The children were looking helplessly in displeasure and surprise at me. I didn’t care, and put it into my bag, carefully. Then I said to my friends, I know a weed dealer, who will give 100% return in one month. Will you be interested?
They: What? Are you kidding?
Me: No, will you?
They: No! That’s not legal.
Me: If it is legal would you do?
They: Its playing with people’s health.
Me: Good! So even if it is approved, you wouldn’t do something that’s messes up people’s lives. Right?
They: Exactly! Now, stop the nonsense and put the cake back on the table for children.
I pulled out the cake from bag, and put it back on the desk and said, “well, I guess you got my point. Just like this cake, land is limited on this planet, and more so, in India. Taking a large piece, just because we are powerful, or rich, will only make it unavailable to others. Now, this is legal, but does your conscience agree to damage other’s lives? If yes, that is also fine, just be truthful about it to yourself. Don’t pretend.”
They said, if we don’t somebody else does. Then we are on loosing side.
I said, whether someone is gluttonous or not, it is their quality. It should not determine yours. They went into thought.
Now, when we dissect and expose the underlying problem of a well-accepted practice in society, nobody wants to listen, because their profitability is at stake. I don’t mind disturbing profits of few men, for a larger cause . Hence, I time and again say:
Creating bad impression by being vocal, and right is more relevant than being silent and making a good impression.
Now Investment
Investing in land is very systematically implanted into the minds of men, across the world, and especially in India. There are many people who don’t want to invest in land and property are compulsively dragged into that, and they are suffering unable to maintain those properties. I also know many cases of people who could make some extra money, unable to decide where to invest, put into agricultural land, and left it barren, now that’s a blunder. Agricultural land must always be in shade of crops, wetness, otherwise soil will lose its fertility and becomes permanent desert. Reality just made lakhs of hectares of agricultural land into barren or constructed concrete jungle, which doesn’t send a liter of rain into the soil. This is simple common sense, no study is needed, isn’t it? When you travel to your hometown by bus or by train, do you see the change over the last two decades, how landscapes have changed from green to brown? Do you think everything is still fine? If you agree with my argument, you can study further, if not, you may want to close your eyes and pretend nothing wrong is happening in society, so reading further, my arguments, would be a waste of your time.
Why not to invest on land!
The incessant question, how to invest is with everybody who has a few thousand to millions of rupees in hand.
Don’t run the rat race of investment, just because somebody is running ahead of you in “riches” or “number of properties”. They are insecure about life.
Fundamentally, our operational procedure of life should be these, whether you accept or not, do a retrospection. Subsistence, Shelter, Physical and Mental Health(Self and Family), Education, Skills, Activity, Travel Convenience, Life convenience, Small wishes, Luxuries/Hefty Bank balance/Investments
Some people are struggling for subsistence, and some for Shelter, and some for health. It is unfortunate, but true. We must be thankful to nature for keeping us at a level higher in such a struggle for existence.
When a friend of mine asked me to invest on land, for my children’s future, I said, I will make them capable to earn for themselves, than spoon-fed by me! He never talked to me again! It is a luring way to convince you to grab something that you don’t need. I am interested in agriculture, or want to build a house there, I would go ahead and do it. But I don’t have both plans. Yes, land appreciates in value, that doesn’t mean, I buy every land that comes at low cost, snatching it from the mouth of every other needy person. What is the point?
People who invest heftily to multiply their money are insecure. They are not doing right things in life, so they are sure life will boomerang. And the cushion or the savior would be money and investment. Isn’t it? Well if you want to setup your own business, that is a different case altogether!
Does it mean investment is wrong? No, not at all, enhance your money, but not with Land. Land is limited, and there are millions who are just sleeping on footpaths. You don’t need to invite them to your home, but at least don’t keep buying properties, which could become their refugee camp areas, or shelters, or low-cost housing societies, or at least the land just wouldn’t appreciate, if demand decreases, so becomes accessible to the needy.
People want a strong seat of security. The seat to which they are fastened to feel safe. But remember,
An insecure mind will only take half steps in life, so it can never experience life fully!
Insecurities and Wise investments
We must clearly understand that when we invest, we must be with a thought to enhance the capital, not multiply. If multiplication is what we are seeking you will not only risk your capital, family’s security, health and peace. Now let us see why insecurities happen in life, and how can we invest wisely to overcome them.
Health
You can ingest or invest, harvest or climb the Everest, only if health permits
So it is very important investment as long as we live. Don’t take life for granted.
Life enjoys being with us, and doesn’t torture or leave us, as long as we take care of the protective layer called body and the navigator called mind
When we do right things in life, insecurity will be very distant from us. The fundamental thing to do is to keep our bodies and minds healthy. Healthy food, healthy habits. If we don’t, suddenly our conscience hints us, “if something happens tomorrow? You need money”.
Our blunders towards our health must be paid heavily, which is known to us, so we feel insecure
Nevertheless, it is always good to have a Health Insurance on hand, in case of emergency, disease, accident.
- Invest on your health, both physical and mental, rich food, exercise, and assure yourself longevity, and disease free life, for you and family
- Invest in the insurance of health, what for? To meet the expenses to bring back the lost health, for you and family
- Invest in the insurance for life, what for? To keep your family running, if you exit suddenly
Education and Skills
If we are not educated properly or don’t have skills, and doing some “white collar job”, without skills, by the grace of some one, obviously we are constantly in fear of loosing the job, so we need to invest for security reasons.
When we look at quality of roads, structures, we see how mediocre people work. They lack skills. But they want to live in palaces. Aren’t they?
Our skills should match our aspirations in life. If they don’t, there is a constant friction either within us, or with society and peers around us.
- Invest on Education and Skill development, both for you and your children
- Create a mindset and skillset, not money set foundation for your children
- Invest on tools and utilities that make you more skillful and productive
Your ability to perform, articulate, execute a task, solve problems for self and others, gives you back rich experience in life. If your telescope to search for experience is directed elsewhere, you will only follow mirages.
Shelter
It depends whether you see it profitable to permanently live in your working city, or want to go back to your hometown, in the next few years or later. You can always live in a rented or leased property and invest your extra money in mutual funds or buy a land for constructing house at a later point. You buy property that suits you, or change it later, but keep in mind, you not only keep large chunk of cake with you, but also your energies are constantly spent on maintaining the property. And it’s waste of your time, which is limited (Remember the packet: Time, Energy, Resources), unless you are a realtor!
You and your family need a shelter, your grandchildren don’t need a shelter from you. If you are thinking that you are providing them, then you are creating an incapable or senseless generation in your family.
No, no Vijay, “I will get rents from multiple properties”! Whether you get rents from properties, or grass blades from barren lands, your experience of life has zero enhancement, in fact it deteriorates with the maintenance and complaint overheads.Because,
That life is gone waste, which has no rich experience. You can buy comfort, not experience. Only exposure to different aspects of life and intense action brings you experience.
How to enhance my capital?
It is not wrong to enhance our money so that when we need it for emergency or to pursue a large dream of ours. But thinking of multiplying money is a high risk activity, which can boomerang and eat away our lives completely. It is like fishing in a river, standing on a mossy surface. Instead of catching big fish, we just lose our control.
1. When you see new promising constructive (not construction), business that comes up, you can invest as a partner, provided you know or estimate the business and market
2. You can invest in mutual funds either directly or via investment advisors.
3. You can also invest in stocks if you are well versed with them and have some risk appetite, or via investment advisor
4. Invest in Gold bonds (not Gold, but Gold bonds),
5. Invest in Secure bonds or debentures. If you can take a little risk go for Non secure bonds which have high returns.
6. You want full security but zero risk, Recurring and fixed deposits, Money back policies and so on.
My only say here is, please don’t grab bigger chunk of land cake, just because you can afford it and law permits it. Usable land is too limited and people are unlimited.