The most awaited festival of the year, ‘Diwali’ is just round the corner. Each year the festival is looked forward to and celebrated with enthusiasm & with the hope of lightening our lives. It’s the time to exchange gifts, meet friends and family and celebrate happiness. The festival celebrates triumph of Lord Rama over Ravana, Good over Evil, Faith over Fear and Knowledge over Ignorance.
On this day, Hindus worship Goddess Lakshmi, who is a symbol of wealth and prosperity. It is a belief that Goddess Lakshmi visits our homes and showers blessings of wealth on us.
Following are some key points which we can learn from the festival, and bring prosperity into our lives by incorporating them into our saving and spending pattern:
Cleanliness: We start cleaning our houses weeks before Diwali, and we eagerly wait for the day when the Goddess will come and bless us. It is said that the deity visits and disburses wealth in neat and clean homes only. You must have seen the Swachh Bharat Ad featuring Kangana Ranaut as Goddess Lakshmi, who disappears from photo frames kept in places of worship, of people who litter. We believe that the deity will visit our homes only if we keep it clean.
Just like we clean the house for Goddess Lakshmi to grace our dwelling with her auspicious steps, we must review and clean our Portfolios for Goddess Lakshmi to come & grace our Portfolio and multiply our long term wealth. So, as they say, Diwali is the victory of good over evil. So you must carefully review your portfolio, clean it; remove the evil, i.e the products which are non performers and are not expected to perform in the future and keep the good ones.
Mahurat: According to the Hindu mythology, Diwali time is a good mahurat, i.e. the time when the stars are on our side and anything initiated during this time, will be a grand success. So, if you haven’t started investing yet, start now. It is the time when the stars are on your side, you must start investing to build your long term wealth. And if you are an experienced investor, it’s time you must review your portfolio, set newer goals and make new investments. This Mahurat time is exploited by people by trying their luck in lotteries, gambling, card games and other speculative activities. A special ‘Mahurat Trading’ session is conducted on major Indian stock exchanges on Diwali, and it witnesses humongous participation each year. But you must remember that luck cannot be trusted and hence you should focus on long term wealth creation. Yet if you wish to keep the tradition going, and you decide to take the plunge, play with small amounts so even if you lose, the spirit of the festival is kept intact.
Dhanteras: Dhan = Money and Teras = 13th day of Kartik month. People purchase gold, silver, electronics and other assets on this day because it is trusted to be lucky and it is believed that wealth will keep coming into the house for the following year, just like this day. Every Dhanteras, we purchase gold jewelery, pay huge making charges, only to dump it in the lockers of our banks and then incur wastage charges, in case we sell the gold subsequently. On this Diwali, let’s go for intelligent gold, go for dematerialised gold if you “insist” in investing in gold. Gold Funds/Gold ETFs are better options as they come with no physical risks, no making charges and it is easier & cheaper to liquidate at any time. So capitalize on the luck of this auspicious day by investing in “non-physical gold”.
E-commerce sale: Diwali brings in happiness, but it is a costly affair. We give gifts, we spend on sweets, crackers, puja, new clothes for everyone in the family, etc., all these factors contribute to loss of money. To make matters worse, the latest addition to Diwali rituals is the online shopping festivals. The e-commerce giants try to lure us with mouth watering offers and discounts, and we end up overspending, buying stuff which we don’t even require and disturbing our budget. So, our advise to the readers is Control your emotions and don’t get carried away by the discounts. You can even cut down on crackers, gifts and other Diwali expenses, and bring the money to more productive use by investing. Remember, ‘A penny saved is a penny earned’
Diwali bonus: Some of us get our annual bonus during Diwali time. This bonus is intended to enable us provide for the extra expenses that we incur for the festival. The amount is generally much more than the extra expenses, and since we have more money, we tend to spend more money. We get this bonus once a year, and this is a reward for our hardwork. The money can be blown in a day or can be saved & invested for your future. It is a better option to save for your future and not waste your hard earned bonus in extra crackers during Diwali. You can use this bonus to repay your old debt, or make fresh investments for your future goals.
So, the bottomline is, this Diwali keep your emotions under control, do not overspend and invest for yourself, for your future. Be safe while playing crackers, remember that such auspicious occasions don’t come everyday, and you must utilize the opportunity by wisely managing your expenses and investments.
Have a Happy and Prosperous Diwali!