Today, we are living in a world of consumerism. Everything that we need is available at the click of a button. From groceries to clothes to gadgets – everything can be bought in a minute with the help of technology. Technology definitely has a lot of advantages but it also brings with it certain challenges that we tend to ignore. Since we don’t have to step out of the house, spending money has become extremely easy.
Let’s go back 20 years when shopping was a family activity that was planned days in advance to ensure the time was spent efficiently and everything needed was bought at once. As kids, we would get new clothes on a festival and new toys on birthdays. No other demands were adhered to and we were left to wait for those special occasions to get our demands fulfilled. Our parents’ generation definitely had lesser options to spend money on and was extremely wise with every penny that they spent.
Our generation is facing a 360 degree turn in terms of spending. Kids these days don’t necessarily have to wait for festivals or birthdays to get their wishes fulfilled. With smaller families and higher disposable incomes, parents tend to spend more on kids and on themselves. This trend indicates that the future goals are compromised on for short term happiness. By the end of the month, most families that are not disciplined about their savings are left with minimal or no savings and most of them wonder if they are earning enough. It is never about the income. It is about the spending. Savings require discipline and patience.
The amount that an individual saves can be directed towards various goals that an individual might have and can be channelized in different investments products based on the need. As an example, with education expenses going up, it becomes immensely important to save for our children’s higher education. If we take a simple example of an MBA degree, here is how the expenses have grown over the years.
Some of the other goals could be travel, retirement, children’s marriages etc. All these goals would require money and if not planned today, it will get very difficult to achieve these goals in the future.
Investing money is a simple but structured process that requires discipline and patience. The money saved every month should be invested in the right investment products. In general, the earnings of an individual are directly proportional to the amount of time he/she invests physically in doing certain work. But investments work round the clock & do not need your physical presence to grow!!!
Globally the general thumb rule for savings is;
The end Goal of any investment is to give you Financial Freedom! Reach the financial goals without any stress or sense of burden.
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