SHARE OF SHARES IN OUR PORTFOLIO

 SHARE OF SHARES IN OUR PORTFOLIO

In the book that I wrote for the Financial education of Seafarers I broke a few well established beliefs.
This was not on the back of any complex calculations as the modern day economists are used to coining but simply on the back of two things:
1. Common sense as applied to self.
2. The result of the risk and experience that I took and benefited.
In times when even the AMCs themselves are expounding the benefits of SIPs I advocated STPs- that too the weekly and daily types.
Another area that I tried to encroach and dispel the notion was advocating Equity diversified MFs instead of direct stocks.
I did ruffle a lot of feathers of the established brokerage firms , few of which were of good friends.
But this recommendation was based on some very simple facts:
We the merchant navy personnel have a  very intermittent stream of cash inflow in form of salary. It is mostly 6 to 7 months  year. Upto the time that we complete our last exam which could be as late as the age of 30 there are prolonged periods when income is ZERO. This is unlike the landbased people who invariably get paid for all their training and exam periods.
Hence it becomes imperative that we try to save / invest our funds in best avenues which can create a corpus for our immediate and long term needs.
I will not dwell upon the inefficient avenues like Small savings , PPF and even Insurance policies that people get sucked into.I will simply elaborate upon the smart ones who recognize the power of equity due to whatever influenced them. 
These wise men ( and I actually mean without sarcasm) start buying stocks with the help of  tips from colleagues , friends on shore or brokerage firms. Few of these stock purchases make them some profit in short term further encouraging them to pump in more funds. Our friends do learn few nuances about share purchases but largely do not learn about technical analysis of the companies.
It is in fact not easy either to learn about Equity Analysis and then confidently invest in a handful of companies based on that knowledge.
As a a result our seafarer does invest in stocks , but the quantum as a percentage of his total earning is not very large- at best I have seen about 10-15% of the salary being invested. The remaining earning stay in either NRE savings or FD accounts. Some in FCNR too. This amount which stays in Fixed returns and small savings actually works counter productive to the health of his wealth as it brings down the total return due to tax and inflation.
Now, all the stocks do not have the ability to become multi-baggers , and most of them appreciate by about 15- 30 % . If you calculate the percentage of equity in his entire portfolio, it is not even close to being noticeable.
So in effect though he has invested in equities, the asset class will hardly make any benefit to his planning. In fact we can hardly blame him, even by my own standards...
I started investing from the first year of my sea career, and since stocks were only option - I had obtained 200FCD (Fully convertible debentures ) 0f L&T. The selection was largely based on "engineering identity and compassion" since I myself was an engineer and thought that only a engineering company can help in building a country- how naive I was?
Over last 29 years , I have held my first scrip and it has paid me rich dividends and has grown more than any real estate that I could have held. Similar story about another company that I bought 10 years back because my relative worked there- has grown  39 times in 10 years.
But when I analyse them in relation to me total portfolio , they form less than 10% of the total corpus.
In addition the above 2 stocks have made you starry eyed- I have not yet told you how many stocks that I invested in have turned out duds and a large number of them have gone unlisted.
In comparison , Mutual Funds have given me a broad based selection ground. Where I can simply select 4 funds of various Capitalisation and my selection of Equity as a Asset class is complete. My money does not stay waiting for an appropriate opportunity in bank accounts.
I simply kept putting my entire salary in debt funds and created STPs into corresponding good Equity funds of those fund houses- as long as I earned. Sometimes I checked the underlying stocks in those MFs and was surprised to find companies that I had overlooked , and also a ot of companies that I had never heard of when they were listed and have turned from small caps to Mid caps and from mid caps to Large Caps in last 15-17 years.
To wrap up the argument, my case has not only been investing in Equity class but also of investing substantial and majority of the saved income. If you have proper guidance , then by all means invest in direct stocks- but ensure that the guidance is reliable and proper . How you will ensure that the guidance is proper and just- is your outlook.
If however you cannot decide if the guidance is fair and just- stick to Mutual Funds. You simply have to chose from about 10-15 Large Cap, equal No. of Mid and Small Cap and Multi cap funds.
Yes there are over 1800 funds but you don't have to go through everything - do you?

On Growing Old

                                                              On Growing Old

Was just reading an article by Khushwant Singh in his book " Not a Nice Man to know".
The article was titled "ON OLD AGE".
When KS passed away at 97, there were a lot of jokes on the media comparing his 97 to the 92 years that the great yoga teacher Ayyengar lived.
However , all jokes about his Geriatric merits apart- he does coin some nice acronyms related to advanced age and also few expressions with various disabilities that follow old age.
He makes such a casual fun of his own auditory disabilities, bowel and urinary movements that it sounds so matter of fact.
He also has advice for those growing old. He tells them to come to term with it and don't expect to have their children and grandchildren around themselves 24x7.
In fact that is  the topic that I have been trying to broach for a very long time.
I see innumerable posts on FB and whatsapp everyday ,where the people advise others about looking after their APs (ageing parents). There are others who put up photos trying to raise some emotions.
Firstly, it is incorrect to  advise people about their personal matters. It is not same as liking photos of gods and goddesses .
But more importantly it is the ageing parents and we ourselves who have to take care of ourselves.
We need to get a bit more introvert or inwardly seeking. Start living our lives by our own standards and for ourselves.
As Khushwant Singh says, if you are too old to do things for others, then start doing for yourselves.
Live correctly by your standards and what makes it more fulfilling for you, not what is considered as the ideal way.
It's nice to get up early go for walk, go to gym , yoga etc etc. But if you would rather avoid everyone and sit down and write, listen to music, paint- so be it. The outcome of Vipassna as I have understood so far is to keep observing yourselves internally and objectively for all the vast mount of changes happening at microscopic level. Now whether those changes are giving you pleasure or pain- just be unaffected by them and stay as an observer. This philosophy works very fine for the old and ageing. They do not give into the physical discomforts of their ailments and just accept them as matter of fact.
However, what has happened in our country has been quite unfortunate.
In the garb of family values, we have sacrificed our own lives for our parents and children alike.
We did not save anything for our old age sustenance. We assumed that our children will look after us and earned for them instead of ourselves. Had we brought our children up in an independent atmosphere and taught them to work for themselves and earn for themselves- they would have been independent and also proud of us about the fact that we were enjoying our old age.
We collected money to pass onto our children.We built house so that our sons could stay with us and in turn took away the virtue of self reliance from them.
We never gave any credence to independent thought or views.Everyone had to be guided by the collective wisdom and independent greed. It was impossible to think that any of the family members would go against the entire imaginary family value.Life was designed as per the Hindi movies of 40's and 50's.
We wanted our children to get educated and get good jobs but stay near us.
The marriage of the children and their better halves were considered a family property.
This could have and did work fine when the family had common business or means of earning.But even there it had long started falling apart as one or two of the children would start riding the bandwagon.
So could we say that it was actually the refusal of the patriarch which brought the bad times on. Had he taught independent endeavor to all of the offspring it could have taught him self reliance too. What he had done for his own parents in different ear and conditions , he expected from his own children 30-40 years down the line.
It was this expectation that was the crux of all miseries and self pity that we saw and continue to see.
So what is the need of the hour ?
WE all have to think about it!
Living with grace and dignity is the ultimate goal I think.
This grace and dignity will not come by simply wearing white clothes and sitting pretty- even though that will be a part of the drill. Personal hygiene and pleasant countenance will be important to start with.
Next comes a good accommodation which they must plan before hand.Whether it will be community or singular- that must be planned beforehand. The old age homes abroad are almost Five Star hotels with doctors and nurses on round the clock standby. Here we need to create those facilities. There are a few already but cost a bomb and may not be for even the upper class.
But more than the facility is a long term preparation that the seniors have to prepare in keeping themselves  to themselves.
The Indian scriptures recommend Vanprastha from the age of 50. Which means the begining of withdrawal from active social life. It may not be a great idea as most of the populace actually wakes up to worldly life after 50. But the stress is on giving the children a free hand in managing their affairs. Do not meddle and wait for your opinion to be asked. This again is so difficult to imagine in the Indian milieu where the parents are ready to live the life of their children and their spouses.
In the present context where the children are going away to different cities and countries , can they really be expected to do anything more for the parents and grandparents back home. When they head back home for 1-2 weeks of their annual leave- what can they really contribute to the well being of the latter.
At this time it becomes imperative that the seniors try to welcome them into their lives and make the children feel instead- that they are well and capable of taking care of themselves. This will remove any guilt that the children will be having in their hearts. This will also help the children to become confident themselves about their own future life.   They will also be able to gauge the actual requirement and expectation that their parents might have from them.
I think the time is ripe when in the common interest, parents let the children know that their life earnings are for their own comfort and remaining life. This will propel the children to exert on their own and become better achievers. A small help now and then may not be out of place but broadly it always must be one unto himself or herself if you want to keep your self esteem intact.
Instead of their own children.. the seniors must cultivate their neighbors and young people around. Help them during their own active life. Set up support and self help groups. This might- just might ease their own life later on. You help others and maybe the system you set up will help you back.
Setting up chain of procedures to be recalled  in case of medical emergencies ( phone nos of doctors, hospitals with insurance cards must be kept ready and handy for helpers to find). Keeping some cheques signed for fixed amounts and keeping either of spouses aware of them are some practical things that need to be done.
Finally the most touchy topic. Death- the ultimate reality. We must all be holistically and objectively aware of it . They must ease the last rite procedures so that even the neighbors can follow it as per their written desires.
The idea of my writing this piece is to effect that essential change in mindset.
We can never blame others for our condition; not even god.
But whether to derive sympathy or just to comfort our own being- we do exactly that- delve in self pity. This has to stop.