With the entire country welcoming the God of prosperity and invoking him for his blessings, this may be the apt time to learn some money management lessons from him. While we pray to Lord Ganesha to grant us success in our endeavours, it is time to learn how each facet of his existence is synonymous with essential money management tenets.
Early investing
You cannot work on any new endeavour without having prayed to Lord Ganesha. He is the God of all beginnings and that he is worshipped before starting any new, be it a job, business or investment. Sri Ganesha values time and expects his devotees also to start early in life. This underscores the need to start saving and investing money as soon as you start earning. You can choose from any of the available investment opportunities including fixed deposits, recurring deposits, mutual funds, post office savings schemes, public provident fund (PPF), etc.
It makes sense to invest in equity early in life so that you have more time in hand to enjoy the magic of compounding. As goes the famous adage, “The time spent in the market matters more than timing the market”.
Keep learning
Lord Ganesha is respected for his immense knowledge and intelligence. Expertise comes from learning every day. This explains the need to seek knowledge. You cannot rest on old techniques alone to further your growth. Experience and expertise rest on new learnings and relying on your daily ordeal. Learn about new investment options, compare them and then decide accordingly. However, for this, you must be financially literate and aim to continue learning so that you may discern between short-term and long-term financial goals and then park your funds depending on your risk appetite and investment tenure.
Tackle your obstacles
Lord Ganesha is also called “Vighnaharta” or the “destroyer of obstacles”, thus, stressing the need to look for ways to destroy barriers. It is good to shield yourself and your loved ones from unwarranted hurdles. One way is to buy insurance, which means that you must use a part of your earnings to buy a health insurance plan and an adequate life insurance policy. If you own a vehicle, you may consider buying a motor insurance policy too to secure your loved ones against damages from untoward accidents.
Dealing with money problems
Do away with the possibility of financial uncertainty in the near or distant future by starting an emergency fund. The size of the corpus must be equivalent to six months or a year of expenses, thus, allowing you enough financial leverage in case of no employment or a sudden emergency situation. With his huge belly, Lord Ganesha signifies his ability to digest problems. This is possible only if you have enough emergency funds to deal with unforeseen situations or circumstances that may cause you to face financial challenges.
Optimise resources
Pay attention to Lord Ganesha’s Vahan, which is a small rodent. This underscores the need to optimise resources for better returns. Never go overboard with your expenses. This you can do by avoiding careless expenses. Curb the tendency to buy on credit. Using your credit cards for every kind of purchase does not get you things free of cost; it rather defers your expenses and sometimes adds on to them if not repaid on time. It is okay if you want to gift your loved ones this festive season. However, you can show your love in inexpensive ways. Never appeal to relationships at the cost of your hard-earned money. Also, keep a track of how much you spend on a daily basis. This will help you keep a tab on your everyday expenditure.
Assess well
The sharp eyes and concentrated gaze of Lord Ganesha have a lot to tell. Use your analytical skills to evaluate various investment options and choose from the one that will help you earn more in the long run. Assess the risk-return ratio in each to avoid landing in financial trouble. If you have decided to put your money in mutual funds, take care to check their past performance, portfolios, performance ratios and other parameters before deciding to put your money in them. Also, how long you wish to stay invested has a deciding effect on the nature of your mutual funds and their market capitalizations. So, decide your investments with a definite financial goal in mind. This is only possible when you critically analyse the pros and cons of the various investments that you make.
