We complete 73 years of Independence as a country and enter into 74th year now, its time to feel proud to be an Indian. The journey has been exciting, full of achievements, many milestones achieved yet as a country there is a call to do even more, set new milestones, create new benchmarks, go even faster and achieve what is still left to be achieved for the benefit and welfare of each Indian specially the ones who are left behind to match the pace in terms of Food, Water, Bank Accounts, Electricity, House, Healthcare and Roads.
Important aspects that we take into consideration to feel satisfied as a well off nation drives from the indicators like foreign reserves available in the country, our GDP as well as Import & Export ratio. In order to progress even faster in the years to follow and show to the world our real strength there is a slogan of “Aatamnirbhar Bharat” to be a self dependent and self sufficient and even to be a growth engine for the world. How does this sound as a country of 130 Crore plus people…quite exciting, yes?                 Without even an iota of doubt there is a great message for every bread earner and every family who has been fighting day in and day out to be Financially Independent. If country of 130 Crore plus can why can’t a family of 4?
Financial Independence means when there are no worries for day to day and next 20 years to follow, when as a family you achieve a status of not applying for any loan, when you don’t have to use any credit card to buy the things you need or desire, when your children no longer have to worry about their college fees, when you know your lifestyle, your car, your house, your interiors are best in class given your rank and circle. When you know two holidays in a year is okay but beyond that you will have to manage time, when you know any health emergency is god’s plan but paying the hospital bills will never be a problem for you, when you know even if you are not around, your family will have happy going………as a country of 130 Crores also we are thinking the same way (Not to buy weapons from out side, not to import too much, have excellant roads, good healthcare facilities, good foreign reserves etc etc). The word Financial Freedom sounds very exciting but then it needs lot of planning, utmost discipline, lots of sacrifices and on top of it you need to give up a lot……….I believe Freedom also came to this country the same way and that’s why we celebrate this day called Independence Day. So will, your future generations celebrate Financial Freedom but ball starts rolling now & with you.
Saving becomes a top necessity on your way to reach financial freedom. Once you start the process of achieving Financial Independence, you need to actually learn the art of saving, what can be better way to learn the new definition of Saving than this quote from great Mr. Warren Buffet who rightly makes it simple to understand                                          “Saving is NOT what is left after Spending…Spend what is left after Saving”.                                                          Developing this habit is not an easy one, you need to understand your needs & wants. If one thing this pandemic (Covid19) has made us learn is the fact that our needs were never big but these are unneccessary wants that created whole lot of stress in the society. Once you learn this new definition of saving and apply this to your day today life…..congratulations!!! you are well on the way to achieve your Financial Freedom.
Savings you make on day to day basis actually works like a raw material, which needs to be further processed under expert supervision (Advisor) and in very fine tuned conditions to give you an excellent finished product with lot of value addition done in whole process. They say it takes little longer for a particle to become a diamond so are your Savings they need good investment patterns.          Â
These 7 important aspects are sure shot, time tested and proven methods to achieve Financial Freedom
1. Time – Time plays an important role in this whole process. Start early, the best time to set a solid foundation for your Financial Freedom process is between the age of 24-50 Yrs (26 Yrs time is good enough to write a great success story for yourself)
2. Convert your Savings into Investments – You need to learn the art to convert your Savings into Investments, be it investing in Gold, Real Estate or in Equities you need to keep in mind that return on your investments should beat inflation (present inflation is 6-7%). No FD/RD/NSC will be good enough. You need equities and you must prefer to go for Mutual Fund SIP that has the capacity to give you 10-12% returns over a longer period.             Â
3. Set Goals – Unless you set your goals on your way to achieve Financial Freedom, the exercise will never be complete. Clearly define Goals like Building a House, Child Higher Education, Daughter Wedding & Your Retirement.
4. Needs & Wants – Prioritize your needs and evaluate your wants. Dont keep shopping for things that you just buy because they are available at a discount. By not buying certain things, you are working on your own Financial Freedom and by buying in Panic or unneccessary 2+1 offer, you are actually helping some one else to achieve his Financial Freedom. Decide if you want Ambani, Birla or Tata to become rich or your family achieve Financial Freedom.
5. Term Plan – Who knows god might have different plans and your family is just not prepared. Make sure you buy yourself a Term Plan equal to 10 Times of your yearly income or even more.
6. Health Cover – Any Health Emergency in family should not be a reason to use your savings & investments to pay hospital bills. Make sure you have a Family Health Cover of min 25 Lakh
7. Retire Rich – There will come a time in life that your working energy might have exhausted but your desires to live life in utmost comfort would be at its peak. You will need lot of money at this time. Make sure you build an adequate retirement fund that creates regular income till the time you live on this earth.
Families who set a time bound plan to reach Financial Freedom are known to be the ones who live a very happy, healthy, long and enjoyable life. There is gteat charm, increased energy and passion in every family member, the level of excitement thus created is bound to create happy families, happy society, happy cities and happy country. Aatamnitbhar Families will certainly create a Aatamnirbhar Bharat.
This is approprite time to take a call, be very emotional yet very calculative in taking first step. Dont be worried if yiu just make Rs. 10000 earning every month. Even a smallest amount of Saving is good enough to start journey to to your Finacial Freedom……Good luck for your journey to Financial Indepemdence Independence.
SaveFirst – Khushian Har Pal
Kamal K Sharma is Founder at SaveFirst. http://www.savefirst.co.in | email – savefirstmail@gmail.comÂ
