Mental attitude decides lot of things. It decides how we feel physically. We may feel high sometimes and act as if we are full of energy – both mental and physical. This is good, but maintaining the same tempo is very tough. In fact, it is next to impossible.
We must have one thing deeply engraved in our mind is that we have limited supply of time and energy. And so, we can perform limited number of activities during the day. Once, we acknowledge this truth, one thing becomes clear in our minds, that we need to prioritize the works we have with us. The most important task must be done at first. Next important thing comes next, and so on.
This attitude also relives us off the overwhelm.
Although, prioritizing will relieve us from overwhelm, it is also important to have a cool and calm mindset. This will help maintaining the overall mental and physical balance and help us sail through the day peacefully.
যিখিনি কথা কবলৈ ওলাইছো সেইখিনিৰ বাবে হয়তো বহুতে মোক গালি শপনি পাৰিব। কিন্তু নকৈ নোৱাৰিছো। আজি কেইবছৰমান আগতে মোক আৰু কেইজনমান সহকৰ্মীক কোম্পানীৰ ফালৰ পৰা এটা ট্ৰেইনিং দিয়াইছিল। ট্ৰেইনাৰজন আছিল পাঞ্জাবী মানুহ। দিল্লীৰ ইণ্ডিয়ান ইনষ্টিটিউট অফ ফৰেইন ট্ৰেদ(IIFT)ৰ প্ৰবক্তা। নাম – ড০ ৰাম চিং। প্ৰথম দিনাই পুৱাই ক্লাচৰূমত সোমায়েই সকলোকে গুড মৰ্ণিং বুলি কোৱাত আমি সকলোৱেও গুড মৰ্ণিং বুলি কʼলো। মানুহজন যেন থমকি ৰʼল। আমাৰ মাতত উৎসাহ নাইকীয়া যেন অনুভৱ কৰি তেও আকৌ গুড মৰ্ণিং বুলি কʼলে। আমি এইবাৰ আগতকৈ অলপ জোৰকৈ কʼলো যদিও এইবাৰো তেও সন্তুষ্ট নʼহোল। অৱশেষত তেও খোলাকৈ কʼলে – হম হিন্দুষ্টানীও মে উৎচাহ কি বড়ি কমি হ্যে .. চাইনীজ লোগো কো দেখো। ঔৰ বুৰা মত মান্না দোষ্টো, – নৰ্থ ইষ্ট কে লোগো মে উৎচাহ কি কমি ঠোড়া জ্যাদা হি হ্যে। আমি শুনি আচৰিত হʼলো। মুখৰ আগতে কোনোবাই আমাৰ জাতীয় সত্বাক জোকাৰি যোৱা কথাটো সহজে লব নোৱাৰিলো যদিও ভিতৰি ভিতৰি যেন উপলব্ধি কৰিছিলো যে তেও সত্য কথাই কৈছে।
মাজে সময়ে বিভিন্ন পৰিস্থিতিত ড০ ৰাম চিঙৰ সেই কথাষাৰ মনত পৰে। তেও ঠিকেই কৈছিল। আমাৰ অসমীয়া মানুহবোৰ কানীয়া-সোৰোপা বুলি নাম আছে। “আচাম ইজ এ লেণ্ড অফ লাহে লাহে” বুলিও কথা এষাৰ আছে। এই কথাবোৰ এনেয়ে চলি থকা নাই। আলশ্য আৰু উৎসাহহীনতা আমাৰ হাড়ে-হিমজুৱে সোমাই আছে – ইয়াক নুই কৰি লাভ নাই। আজি প্ৰায় আঠ-দহ বছৰমান আগতে ফেচবুকত বহু সংখ্যক অসমীয়া গোট আৰু বহু সংখ্যক অসমীয়া ই-মেগাজিনৰ জন্ম হৈছিল। কিন্তু কালক্ৰমত দেখিবলৈ পোৱা গৈছে যে সেই সকলোবোৰ অসমীয়া গোটতেই সম্প্ৰতি ইউজাৰ এংগেজমেন্ট(User Engagement) খুবেই শোচনীয়। তাৰে ভিতৰত বহু কেইটা গোটৰ সদস্য সংখ্যা পিচে সত্তৰ হাজাৰতকৈও বেচি। ই-মেগাজিনবোৰৰো একেই অৱস্থা। ২০১০ ৰ পৰা ২০১৩ মানৰ ভিতৰত জন্ম লাভ কৰা প্ৰায়বোৰ ই-মেগাজিনেই আজি বন্ধ হৈছে। সেই সময়ত যি হাৰত অসমীয়া ই-মেগাজিন আৰু অসমীয়া ব্লগ/ৱেবচাইট আদি সৃষ্টি হৈছিল সেয়া দেখি খুবেই ভাল লাগিছিল। অসমীয়া ৱিকিপেদিয়া খনো আজি বহু বছৰ ধৰি দহ হাজাৰ প্ৰৱন্ধৰ শ্ৰেনীলৈ উন্নীত হব পৰা নাই। অৱশ্যে অসমীয়া ৱিকিপেদিয়াত কেইবাজনো dedicated লোকে নিৰলসভাৱে লাগি আছে আৰু ই খুব মন্থৰ গতিৰে হলেও অবিৰতভাৱে আগুৱাই গৈ আছে। সম্প্ৰতি ইয়াৰ প্ৰৱন্ধৰ সংখ্যা দহ হাজাৰৰ সীমা স্পৰ্শ কৰো কৰো অৱস্থাত। এনেধৰণৰ দুই এক উদাহৰণ আৰু ওলাব। কিন্তু এয়া কিছুমান সুন্দৰ ব্যতিক্ৰমহে। এয়াই আমাৰ জাতীয় পৰিচয় নহয়। আমাৰ জাতীয় পৰিচয় হʼল “… আপ লোগো মে উৎচাহ কি বড়ি কমি হ্যে” … অথবা “আচাম ইজ এ লেণ্ড অব লাহে লাহে”। এয়াই সত্য আৰু আজি একবিংশ শতিকাতো আমি আমাৰ এই জাতীয় পৰিচয় সলনি কৰিবলৈ সক্ষম হোৱা নাই।
For those who prefer video over reading, here’s the YouTube video on the topic.
For those who like reading, here’s the actual post.
We all have heard about people like warren buffet, Charlie Munger or Peter Lynch. They have one thing in common .. They’re all billionaires made by stock market investment. People like them, who’ve made billions from stock market are very rare. Primarily because it is very tough to make billions from stock market. Also, if you already don’t have millions in your pocket, it becomes next to impossible.
But, making some amount as a passive income from stock market is not very hard. You’ll require some basic understanding of stock market and some corpus amount that you can invest in the market.
Earning from stock market
Primarily there are two sources of earning from stock market. One – The appreciation of the value of the stocks you are holding, and Two – The dividend received against the stocks you are holding.
Now, let me explain it one by one.
Say, you have bought 10 shares of “X” company at 5 Rupees per share, spending total of 10×5 = 50 rupees. Now, after some days, or weeks or months you’ve observed that the price of the share has increased to 6 rupees per share. So, now if you sell your shares, you will be getting 10×6=60 rupees. So, you’ve earned 10 rupees from stock market.
This is the simplest example for the purpose of understanding. There will be some other charges such as brokerage, tax etc. due to this, the amounts will not be exactly 50 and 60 rupees. And your gain will also not be exactly, 10 rupees, it will be something less than that, maybe 9 rupees or so. But, I’ve excluded all this, for the sake of simplicity.
Overall, this is how stock market works. Now, you may buy, more than just 10 shares, or you may buy shares of multiple companies. Share prices don’t move linearly. It may fall after your purchase, so, in that case your invested amount will reduce. Or some shares can reduce, and others can increase. These are unpredictable things that comes along with stock market investment. These are the things that makes stock market investment risky.
The second earning source is the dividend.
Now, companies earn profit every year. Dividend is distribution of some of company’s profit to its shareholders as decided by the board of directors. So, the obvious question that comes to our mind is why dividends are paid. Answer to that is, dividend is a reward paid to the shareholders for their investment in the company. That’s all.
Now, how to calculate the earnings from dividend of a company. That’s very simple. Say, you have bought 5 shares of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) last year. As on date of writing this article, the “Div. Yield” of IOCL is roughly 9%, and the current share price is 116.30 rupees. The dividend amount is calculated by multiplying the number of shares you have by the price per share and Dividend Yield %age.
Dividend Amount = No. of shares you have x Price per share x dividend yield %age
So in your case, The dividend amount will be 5 x 116.3 x 0.09 = 52.335 Rupees. You might be thinking, such a small amount … only 50 rupees ,…. Seriously ????
But just remember, this is the amount from dividend only. Many investors do not even consider the dividend income. They only focus on the value appreciation from stocks which is considered to be the main source of earning from stock market.
Let’s just assume you had 100 shares if IOC. In that case your dividend amount would have been 100×116.3×0.09=1,046.7. Or you had 1000 shares, then the amount would have been 1000×116.3×0.09=10467.0. So, basically, the dividend amount increases with increase in the number of shares.
So, these are the basic two ways of earning income from share market. For the purpose of keeping this video simple, I’ve kept aside the complexities in many areas like impact of dividend on share price, Long term and short term capital gain taxes, brokerage etc. etc. Also, apart from shares, there are other instruments that can be invested through share market, which I’ll be covering is a different video.
For those who do not like to read through lengthy blog posts, here’s the link to my YouTube video on same topic.
For those who do not min long posts, keep reading.
What are credit cards? Why credit cards exists when debit cards could have served all the purposes. Okay, I agree, cards are more convenient in many cases than cash. But Debit cards are there. Then why Credit Cards are issued? To help you? Or there is something else at play?
People do not like it when money goes out of the pocket. But people like it when they get something new, .. maybe a new gadget or a new dress or something like that.
So, the main intention of the credit card companies, is to inculcate a habit of spending within you wherein, You do not feel the money going out of your pocket but can feel good about buying something, having something new. When this habit builds up within you, you start to spend more, than what you would have otherwise not spent. To make this even lucrative, credit cards often gives us “rewards” for using our credit card. Reward points, Frequent flyer miles, Cash Back, etc. are such kinds of rewards.
Now, in short term you get the feeling of buying something without depleting the bank account and in the long term you get the “rewards”. These two things subdue the “Credit card bill” that becomes due at the end of the month. This somehow feels like you are getting something more than what you have paid for. All these things makes you believe that the credit card companies have your best interest in mind. But are these cards designed to give the best to its users ? Or there is something else at play?
Well, a Credit card user may always feel like he or she is using the card judiciously and there is no unnecessary expenditure made just because he/she has the card. Well, that may not be always true. Since, there is no actual money spent while using the credit card, we do not feel the depletion of money from our account. But if we live on cash or debit card, there will be a depletion of money from our account every time we spend. This will compel us to be more cautious in further spending because we would have to live on the remaining amount till the time next pay-check arrives. This, works like a control mechanism and make us live within our means.
We may not feel any difference consciously because this control mechanism works in the back of our minds. So, in absence of the control mechanism, we may end up spending little more than what we would have spent otherwise. Credit card Switches off the control mechanism. When the credit card bill arrives, we feel little uncomfortable. Here also, the credit card companies have made things easy for us, ultimately, making their path of earning more profit, smoother.
Here’s how it works, … On the top of your credit card bill two things are written prominently. One is “Total Amount Due” and the other is “Minimum amount due”. Typically, the minimum amount due is 5% of the total amount due. Which is very low. But if you pay the minimum amount, an interest will be levied on the remaining amount and billed together with the next month’s outstanding. If in the next month also, you pay the minimum amount, the remaining amount will be charged with an interest in the next month’s bill … and this cycle will continue.
This trend will continue before you realize two things. One, that you have been getting away with paying a very small amount against your hefty credit card bill. And two, now your credit card bill is all time high. Since, you have been getting away with paying a very small amount, a sense of having abundant money has been built in your mind and because of it you have been overspending and living out of your means.
Credit cards also nudge you to convert your bigger transactions into EMIs. So, basically they are selling you a loan. While converting a transaction into EMIs will give you immediate relief, but it is not good for you in the long run.
So, these are the few basic ways, the credit cards can lead you to bad habit of overspending and also to unmanageable debt in the interest of the credit card companies. There are many other ways to this. but one thing is for sure. In credit cards, all roads lead to the same spot and that is the benefit of the credit card companies and not yours.
So, that is the story of credit cards and why credit cards exists. Let me know in the comments if you feel differently, and why.
For those who do not like to read through lengthy blog posts, here’s the link to my YouTube video on the same topic:
For those who do not mind long posts, get going.
No matter what profession you are in, it is of utmost importance to have a understanding of the aspects that affect your financial health. Here, I’ve outlined 5 important tips for better personal finance.
Most of us must have come across the term “Personal Finance”. Here, I will explain what exactly is personal finance and why it is important and also give you five practical tips for better personal finance.
Personal finance is about managing the finances in the most efficient way possible in order to meet both short term and long term needs and goals. To manage the finances efficiently, we need to adopt various ways like income generation, spending, budgeting, saving, investing, insurance, retirement planning, tax planning etc. With so many areas in hand, it is easy to lose focus, which in turn may take a toll on your financial health. That’s why it is very important to handle the personal finances in a systematic manner. Here are five important things to keep note which can help you manage your finances in a better way.
1) Income – Expenditure planning(Or Budgeting)
The first point is Budgeting. Let’s just assume you have a stable monthly income. But since the amount you get on monthly basis is fixed, you need to keep a tab on the expenditures as well. If you keep spending more than what you have earned, soon you are going to run out of money. You may take a loan to cover up for the deficit. but ultimately, you have to pay back the loan with interest. The loan repayment will further squeeze the spendable income and thus force you to cut down your expenditures. Even if at this point you keep spending like before, soon you are going to get bankrupt. Here, budgeting comes in play. Budgeting not just helps you to avoid the above kinds of trajectory but also help you diligently build a healthy financial base for the future.
2) Investing
The second important point is “Investing”. Many of you might not be very sure about investing activities thinking that it comes with a lot of risks. Well, that’s not false at all. There are different different types of investment that comes with different levels of risks. You need to choose the type of investment that suits your risk appetite. But most importantly it is a must to understand why investing is important. Investing is important to grow your wealth. Now, you may think that your earning is sufficient to cover for your expenditures then why you need investment … especially when investment comes with some amount of risks? Well, your earning may be sufficient for you. But there is a thing called “Inflation”, which simply means overall price rise. Due to inflation the volume of product and services that you can consume with certain amount of money today will go down with time. For example, if the rate of inflation is 5% per year then you have to pay 105/- rupees today for things that used to cost 100/- a year ago. Or you will have to pay 110/- rupees for the same things a year from now. So, without doing anything wrong on your part, your money is losing its value over time. This means, your purchasing power is also decreasing over time. Investment is the only way to get rid of this cycle. If inflation rate is 5% and return on your investment is also 5%, then your purchasing power remains the same. And that is why investing is important for better personal finance.
3) Manage your debts wisely
This brings us to the next point – Manage your debts wisely. In the first point, we have spoken about budgeting. Budgeting is all about planning the inflow and outflow of money. To meet various financial needs, you may have to take loans etc. from time to time. But repayment of the loans along with interest will reduce the amount of money you have to meet other financial needs. So, be very cautious in taking debts. But the necessity of taking debts cannot be ruled out altogether saying that debts are all bad. Some debts such as education loans, house building loans may be good since, the education can bring you better earning opportunities. Similarly, with home loans you can build a house which you can rent out and get good amount as a passive income. There is no golden rule that can tell which debt is good and which one is bad. Many people tend to follow a thumb-rule that asset creating debts are good such as home loan, business loan etc. But liability creating debts are bad such as car loan, Credit card loans to buy expensive mobile phones etc. But this rule can only provide a broad guideline and not a hard and fast mandate to be followed. There are caveats to it and hence to be used wisely. In general, debts to be always minimized and if at all you have to take a debt, do it after proper ground work and detailed calculation of your finances. Here you can consider taking help from trained professionals too.
4) Financing the future
The fourth point is “financing the future”. While handling the finances, it is of utmost importance that we take care of the future as well. We all should have a long term goal in life and a feasible plan to achieve that goal. A substantial part of such plan will be pertaining to the finances. May it be Child’s education, Retirement, Relocation, Travel & Leisure or anything else, a viable financial plan is a must.
5) Build an Emergency Fund
The 5th point is “Build an Emergency Fund”. Life is full of surprises and we must stay financially prepared for any emergencies that may come our way. Emergencies may come in any form. Economy may go through a recession, You may lose employment, Liabilities may increase, Incur loss in business, natural calamity or ill health can take a toll on your finances. To cover for the unexpected situation and to provide a cushion for you till the time you manage to get back on track, an emergency fund is a must.
6) Bonus Point – Give yourself some credit and take a break
So these were the five key points for better personal finance. Since you have read it through so far, I have one bonus point for you. It is important to plan for the future, make the future secure, and invest to get ahead of the inflation. But there’s something about living in the present. Give yourself some credit for all the hard work you’ve done and take a break. Get together with friends and family and have good times. It is a proven fact that mental health is directly related to financial state. Mental health can affect the way we deal with money, similarly money problems can affect our mental health. This co-relation was prominently visible during the Covid Pandemic. So, get in shape, stay in good company, have good times with friends and family, stay positive and happy.
That’s all for today. Let me know in the comments if you feel, I missed any important point.
Britul's Blog 