Be Your Own Investment Advisor

Spend each day trying to be a little wise than you were when you wake up,” the quote by legendary investor Charlie Munger tells us the importance of knowledge and learning. While there is a need to seek professional expertise when it comes to investing, divorcing yourself from the process completely can be injurious for your money. You should be able to perform basic supportive tasks on your own. For instance, you need not call your financial advisor for an account statement of your mutual fund. Get more involved in the planning process itself. Do basic calculations such as the amount of insurance you will need. After all, it’s your money and nobody understands your financial situation better than you.

Further, concealing your financial information from your spouse or other family members might be a bad idea! According to data available till 2018/19, ₹64,000 crore lay unclaimed with financial institutions. The number would have gone up by now. There are inactive accounts as well. So, to ensure your hard-earned money does not land up in the list of forgotten accounts after 15 or 20 years, take charge of your investments, now.

There are three ways to achieve financial independence — be active during the planning stage, implement your financial plan and make provisions to transfer assets to the next generation. The idea is not to remove financial advisors from the process, but to get more involved.

“People get so engrossed in making money and investing, but most of them do not care about