Momma, there's a book in my closet

I was sitting in a clinic last month waiting to see the doctor. On the phone next to me was a lady who was speaking to someone about her book. She was also furiously writing in a dairy all the time she wasn't on this call. Book on the way.

I take these evening classes on Sunday and it's all high tech as our professors are beamed from another city on our computers. In my class in front of me is a young girl and she wasn't paying attention to the professor talking about balance sheets. She was browsing a page instead on how to get a book contract.

I visit a bookstore and there are at least 5 new titles from Indian writers that I had never read of.

The lady from the waiting room. The girl from the class. The bookstore. The message is clear - there is a revolution in the making and it's been written into a book across generations.


Nnot just any book. A sweet love story or a tragic account of life as it is. Both good subjects in themselves that could be made into Bollywood (3 Idiots) or Hollywood (aka Slumdog Millionaire) movies. But there's a fat chance of that!! Then what are all these writers hoping to achieve?

As someone who works in the publishing (ok not books but publishing nevertheless) industry I can surely say that money can and should not be the main motive. There's hardly any royalty to be made and distributions costs big time and sucks not to mention.

Perhaps they are misguided by the success of one Chetan Bhagat - he of the ordinary writing, extraordinary connection with the masses. But one Chetan Bhagat does not make a revolution or inspiration. So maybe it's Arundhati Roy. Or Vikram Seth. Salman Rushie could it be? Hmm suddenly it dawns on me that we have quite a few literary celebrities.

Not so many Indian scientists or sportspersons are internationally known but between AR, VS, SR there some formidable reputation and talent we can boast of.  I'm not sure the case can be rested but it is some sort of an answer. Do you have a better one? Comment please - you are allowed to anonymously if you please. It will be nice to know.

What's your retirement plan?

It's that time of the year again....when every cubicle dweller in India and perhaps elsewhere too has to get his or her investment proofs in order and deposit them with the finance department lest for the rest two months of the fiscal the take home is smaller than the tax witheld.

While we all do diligantly what needs to be done to avoid an immediate loss I wonder how many of us are doing what should be done to secure our future.

Let's face it - we do not have the cushy (once you factor in the never ending dearness allowance linked pensions) govt jobs our parents had. And we are unlikely to have the kind of children who provided for their ageing parents (like our mom and dad did). For those who have grand delusions about ageing in an egalitarian society I would like to remind you that the Indian govt says that 32 Rs a day is all you need to be above the poverty line (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15542957) So don't expect much from the state of India given the numbers it is dealing with.

The bottomline is that if you don't plan wisely for retirement early enough you just might not be able to afford it when you get to the right age.

From all the reading I've done on the topic here is some distilled wisdom to get you started:

a) Take a go at retirement calculators - they can make a good starting point and help find out how much money you need to save so that you can maintain your current standard of living in the twilight years. Remember it's just an estimation. Don't get depressed and log off when you see the crores and crores you need to save. All said and done it's good enough if you start saving some more and definitely better than not saving at all!

b) Start early - the power of compounding should never be underestimated.....EVER...specially by the young who stand to benefit from it the most. Have a go at the various compounding calculators floating on the Internet and get dazzled and inspired. And don't fool yourself by saying you'd rather wait for the time when you have reached your peak earning potential to save. There is a peak to earning but for most of us that's also the peak for spending. Yes, you can.

c) Public Provident Fund Please -- If you stay in India and have access to PPF - open an account now!! In all the 13+ years I've been working my only consistent savings have been in the PPF. The PF - you will withdraw or forget about, the NSCs and stuff you will take as a mini lottery or reinvestment kitty, the money from insurance, infrastructure bonds etc will seem like a blip in your savings account - the one thing that's locked and hence stays stocked is the PPF. So whether you have excess cash to spare or not - max the now one lakh PPF limit every year - save every month for god's sake. Don't be swayed by people who say you can earn much more elsewhere - in reality you may or you may not -- but where ever you put the money as an alternative it's unlikely to stay put there in time for the cause that needs you the most. Yourself, 21 years down the line.

d) Stock up -  focused bit by bit. Unless you have the time and balls for day trading, zero in on a few select stocks and buy them month after month -  it's best if you have a demat accont and set up your savings accont so that some amount automatically gets transferred to this demat a/c every month like a SIP...this is your trading kitty. Your advisers are on TV and on the web (take everything but PE with a pinch of salt..maybe even PE) or you can simply turn the SIP in the favour of a trusted Mutual Fund. Personally I love tuning into TV expert shows but the best is the web with sites  like www.moneycontrol.com because you have all the tools you need to do  proper research -- from company notices to trends etc. Top up your chosen stocks or MFs when they are down and stay put in the market. In the long run if the fundas are right the stock and your net value is bound to soar. I have stocks in 3 companies - believe me on some days when they are going in opp directions on the bourses I feel 3 is too many. But overall there is a nice story building on the returns side. It takes a while in the kind of irrational years we've seen but it does happen.


e) Buy a house. Don't wait for a dream house, perfect location, mera wala blue, just go out and buy the first decent, ready to possess (preferably) house you can afford -- ideally somewhere habitable and close to commercial offices (like Gurgaon and Whitefield) so the value goes up faster. Somehow in India property is just going up, up and away from the reach of the common man. So buy your first house as soon as you can. You can always sell and trade up later. Waiting (beyond 2-3 years) may mean you are totally out of running for the property that was once within your reach and wringing your hands not to mention moaning your luck. In fact I would go a step further and advise - get debt free on the first house and go ahead and buy a second house or commercial property for a steady rental income while you are still earning a salary.

f) Get medical insurance and get the one that covers you life long or near the age you're planning to die. Because you will be between jobs sometimes. Because it's easier to when you are young. Because you are human and someday surely you will have to visit the hospital and that should be the day when your foresight makes you proud. Trust me!

g) Create a financial goals list for yourself with timelines and plan your spends and savings around it. If you're going ya ya someday dude I can only feel sad for you. From my sheet which I recently did  I know that I need to switch jobs in a year or get a handsome raise or write a bestseller or marry a millionar. That is to say I have a sense of purpose. 

Lifechanging, you can say. Quite like a good retirement plan!