Dangerous Financial Advice: What Happens When You Start Playing Diwali Inside Your Head?

You get a truckload of expert, but totally lame, advice. For example: This Diwali, invest in equity without risk (a must read).

To summarize: I start with INR 500,000. At the end of three years I still have … surprise … INR 500,000. In between, I speculated (actually, gambled) INR 88,000 by dumping it in a mutual fund, believing that the past is “the indicator” for the future. If the mutual fund turns out to be a genuine circus monkey, so what? Remember, I just made 0% on INR 500,000 in three complete years! Yay! Just look at my financial wisdom.

But here’s what I would do: If I had INR 500,000 today, I would straightaway put it in a five-year fixed deposit and earn 9.50% interest (as on today). At the end of five years, I’d approximately have INR 787,000.

It’s a classic case of “Yaardo Duddu Yellammana Jaatre.”

What do you think?

Further reading:

1. How to Choose the Right Financial Investments to Reach Your Financial Goals — Part #1
2. Lame Advice: What’s The Worst Equity Investing Advice You Have Heard?
3. How to Choose the Right Financial Investments to Reach Your Financial Goals — Part #2, Short-term Goals
4. Dangerous Quotes In A Bull Market #3
5. Tip Tuesdays: The Company You Keep Affects Your Financial Situation and Thinking to a Great Extent

Tagged as: thoughts