Investment matter? Ask dad

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Indian families need to educate their children to not just be school-smart but money wise as well

Last month, I was in India for a family emergency. When there is a marriage or death in an Indian family, all of the relatives come under one roof for a few days; the ritual can stretch to weeks.

I have been in Australia for 15 years, and found that all my little cousins had now grown up, and were earning six-figure salaries. Many of them have been educated in top institutions in India. All of them are either engineers or doctors and married to professionals.

They travel the length and breadth of the world as well. During my recent trip, I spent quite a bit of time with them. We spoke at length about everything from dressing styles and shopping centres to cars, and internet technology (of which I realised they had the best the market had to offer).

I was surprised to see some of my cousins, who are from the country (village) using apps to book a taxi, buy movie tickets and do some online shopping. Fewer years ago, they wouldn’t come out of the house to buy an onion on their own.

After a lot of discussions, I wanted to check their knowledge about investing. I asked my cousins who earn in six figures a few questions.

How do you invest your money? What percentage of your money have you been investing?

Surprisingly, most of them were not investing and did not have much knowledge about investing. They all wanted to buy a house to live in some time in the future, and that was about the only idea they had about investing. Buying a home to live in is looked upon as investing. Most said they were going to invest where their parents wanted them to.

Can you name a famous investor?

All of them said the only investor they knew was their father, who was going to help them invest in a house.

Name an app you have used or book you read for investing?

From their answers it looked to me like they had spent countless hours reading up on politics of the country and religiously watching movies every weekend and analysing all the shopping centres and food joints, where they could spend their money. No one had an app on their latest smartphone or read or contemplated reading a book on investing.

What is the current Reserve Bank of India interest rate?

No one knew.

Most of them are not even aware that they are eligible for a bank loan. Most are unaware of property insurance or landlord insurance, where they can be protected from non-payment of rents or destruction on the property.

In my opinion, Indian children should be educated on finances and armed with the tools they need to secure their financial future.

All parents would like to see their kids do very well in their life, financially and socially. We are spending lots of time and money training them to become good employees. What about as future investors?

The writer is a successful property investor and strategist in Australia and India. He manages a group of companies involving exports, farming and real estate and is the Secretary and Founding member of Festivals of South Asia Inc, Which is among the largest not-for-profit organisations in Melbourne. In 2008, he received the Victorian Parliamentary Friends of India of the Parliament of Victoria “Award of Excellence” for Youth activities.

He does not sell property, loan products or endorse any commercial entities dealing with real estate. His analysis is independent and unbiased.

Disclaimer: The author’s views are intended only to inform and illustrate. No reader should act on the basis of any matter contained in this publication without first seeking appropriate professional advice that takes into account their own particular circumstances

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