The Hindu Business Line : Wealth for women

As a woman, it may be normal if you are looking for a man and money in that order. But it may be worthwhile, instead, to begin thinking of creating your own wealth, because “without money of their own, women struggle to have and do and be what they want,” as bemoans Joan Baker in ‘A Man Is Not a Financial Plan’ ( www.vivagroupindia.com ). “Income from work is not enough – the money stops when the work does. Women need to create enough wealth so that some day they have enough money to live comfortably without needing to work.”

Divided into five parts, the book guides women in planning for wealth and freedom, creating wealth through investment, managing risk, allocating investments, and taking action.

Any action, no matter how small, is essential for moving towards your desired results, the author emphasises in the final chapter.

Begin, therefore, by making a phone call to an adviser, or joining an investment group, urges Baker. “As someone once said, ‘It’s not because things are difficult that we do not do them, it’s because we do not do them that things are difficult!’”

Empowering directions.

A break-up of focus

Focus is good, you may know. But do you know how you should split the focus of your time and energy? Focus 70 per cent on strengths, 25 per cent on new things, and 5 per cent on weakness, instructs John C. Maxwell in ‘The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader’ ( www.pearsoned.co.in ). To be successful, focus on your strengths and develop them, he advises.

“Effective leaders, who reach their potential, spend more time focusing on what they do well than on what they do wrong.” The second component, that is, the 25 per cent, is necessary because change equals change, reasons Maxwell. “If you want to get better, you have to keep changing and improving. That means stepping out into new areas.

On the last, the 5 per cent, he says that nobody can entirely avoid working in areas of weakness. “The key is to minimise it as much as possible, and leaders can do it by delegating.” For instance, you can begin by identifying three or four activities necessary for your job that you don’t do well; then staff the weaknesses, or share responsibilities with a co-worker.

Plenty of practical tips.

Top worries

Across income and age classes, household investors prefer investing in shares to mutual funds, finds a recent survey by Society for Capital Market Research and Development ( www.scmrd.org ). The lower popularity of mutual funds is due to lower returns, caused by entry loads and management fees, says the survey, titled ‘The Changing Investment Preferences of Indian Households.’ Interviews of households were conducted by college teachers, and every completed questionnaire was checked for internal consistency, informs L.C. Gupta in the preface.

A disturbing finding in the survey is that ‘too much volatility’ worries about 50 per cent of the respondents. The second-biggest worry is ‘too much price manipulation,’ impacting about a fourth of the interviewed. Other anxieties include: ‘unfair practices of brokers’ and ‘corporate mismanagement and fraud’. Reassuringly, however, ‘the bulk of the respondents regarded the overall quality of capital market regulation in India as quite good on the whole’.

Insightful exercise.

Three roles

Doubts about the ability of your own self can arise any time and, if entertained, they can damage your performance, warns B.P. Bam in ‘Winning Habits’ ( www.pearsoned.co.in ). “Imagine a court case, in which a lawyer puts forth his side of the case, the opposition lawyer argues in favour of his side. Finally, the judge considers both the sides and gives the judgment,” he explains through an analogy. For, when you are facing a challenge, your mind plays all these three roles – the two advocates and the judge, adds Bam.

“It is your mind that raises the doubts about inadequate practice, fitness or your ability to face the particular opponent. Then the mind itself makes an attempt, mostly feeble, to argue that you can face the challenge and finally the mind only sits in judgment. If it gives a decision in favour of the doubt, you have already lost the match.”
Recommended addition to your fitness routine!
Rich in retirement
Balance your life, not just your cheque book, exhorts Douglas R. Andrew in ‘The Last Chance Millionaire: It’s not too late to become wealthy’ ( www.landmarkonthenet.com). “What concerns me occasionally is that even after I have helped clients save grundles of money, they still feel they must scrimp and save,” he frets. “I had clients who were naturally so frugal that they unscrewed every light bulb in their bathroom except one to save money… and then the husband would cut himself shaving because he couldn’t see well enough!”
It is only when people recognise that they have both the time and the money to enjoy the fruits of their labour and their assets, they feel invigorated, guides Andrew. “Retirement is not a time to coast but to fly,” he cheers.
A book you can’t postpone reading.

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com
D. Murali

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