However, when it comes to buying investments — investments that involve thousands and lakhs of rupees, investments that continue for years and decades — the involvement of an individual is practically next to zero.
I don't want to sail in the same boat and so I constantly remind myself of the golden words once said by Benjamin Franklin “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Conversely, I spend some time everyday in educating myself.
Now, please don’t say that finance is a complex subject. Trust me; it is a lot simpler than the mind bending algebra, geometry and calculus that we studied in school.
Did you know that one of the world’s richest person and a legendary investor, Mr. Warren Buffett never invests in anything that he does not understand?
It is a well-known fact that even though the world’s best fund managers were pouring billions of dollars into dot-com companies during the late 90s, Mr. Warren Buffett unwaveringly refused to buy any of the technology stocks. He was candid enough to admit that he did not understand this form of ‘eyeballs’ business and he would rather prefer the good old ‘cash profit’. The rest, as they say, is history. A few years later, the dot-com mania went bust and countless investors lost innumerable billions.
Well, I guess that is an excellent example for all of us.
I am sure you must have bought that smart phone in your hand after doing extensive research on the screen type, size and resolution, its operating system, the CPU speed, camera, memory, multimedia features and battery-life.
Even for the humble refrigerator sitting in the corner of your kitchen you would have considered its capacity, number of doors, defrosting system, energy rating and other special features such as a water dispenser, deodorizer, etc.
So next time you buy an investment product, study its specific features beforehand. Please do not follow Jarod Kintz’s belief-system “I’ll do anything for money. Anything except work.”
The bottom-line is; Don’t Understand, Don’t Buy! Know or No!
...Know the five key attributes of any investment and how to buy the best investments in my forthcoming Quick and Easy Guide 'Your Guide to Finance and Investments'.
