Learn Financial Planning from Diwali
In many parts of India, and especially among India’s business community, Diwali symbolises the start of a new financial year as well. Therefore, we may find many traditions associated with Diwali centred on finance. It is considered a particularly auspicious time to acquire new assets and make new investments. Indian stock exchanges remain open during non-market hours for a special trading session called ‘muhurat’, scheduled at an astrologically significant time on the evening of Diwali. Besides investment, Diwali also teaches us a strong lesson on financial planning.
You can draw various inspirations from Diwali that apply to financial planning but let us consider just a few which are really important. First and foremost, plan in advance. The preparation for Diwali starts much earlier and we start cleaning our house and complete our shopping before the festivities begin. Similarly, when it comes to financial planning, any goal such as buying a house or planning for the marriage of your child or for the education of children needs to be planned much in advance so that investments can be made strategically. The second most important factor is to plan your finance to take care of any emergency.
Fireworks used during Diwali pose a threat to us and hence we stay prepared for emergencies such as keeping water handy or using long sparklers and incense sticks to light the high-velocity bombs and rockets, avoiding the use of metal and glass containers and using fireworks on open grounds. The same applies to financial planning where we always start with making provision for an emergency fund, which is used in case of any untoward event, as for example, the corona virus pandemic in the course of which many lost their jobs. Finally, we start Diwali with our annual cleaning process to get rid of unwanted things.
That is similar to an annual review of your investments. The funds or stocks that are not performing should be replaced with better options so that they serve the purpose of investing. The articles featured in our special Diwali edition are in line with all these principles and strategies of how we celebrate the festival and how we can manage our investments with more care and wisdom. The idea is to help you achieve the basics of financial planning, whether it is wealth creation along with risk management, diversifying your portfolio or making an all-weathered portfolio. Wishing you all a happy, prosperous and safe Diwali!
SHASHIKANT