The New Problem- Problem of Plenty
Before I start this article I must clarify at the outset that though all people have started seeking me for assistance in planning their finances, my specialisation or rather focus remains for Mariners .
It is not because there is any difference in the numbers or the kind of money being handled but because I understand (or at least SELF-claim to understand) the psychology of my junior colleagues, their life and challenges.
It is without unfailing regularity that at least one or two senior officers are reporting achieving their retirement corpus every month. This is become certainly faster than what was happening earlier and the credit that I give to is the aspect of time or duration of the investment . They have been investing for and have remained invested.
Most of these people are young Masters and Chief Engineers who have just got their promotion and in many cases they have not even reached that top rank.
The reason why they phone and I come to know that they have reached their corpus is because after having reached their milestone their next step is automatically in the form of the question, "can I take up the shore job in the office of my company".
Last week itself there were three people within a span of 24 hours who phoned for this reason but I would consider that a coincidence or a one off thing.
This is certainly a very beautiful problem where the person has achieved to accumulate what is required to spend a comfortable life and from this stage onwards if he does not touch this amount and let it grow it is going to reach some dizzying heights.
Now to deal with the question of plenty...
Whether the person should take up a shore job or not?
I have already made a video on this for Merchant Navy Decoded (you tube channel) But let me deal with this in readable words.
Mostly my advice to them s to evaluate for themselves that do they need that job for a reason or are they considering it the next step in their professional career.
Is it because they feel that they will get more time with their family or is it because they have seen their contemporaries doing so. The sailing life has certainly become a lot more challenging (read as TOUGH) than before and almost certainly risky too with the fast changing Geo-political conditions.
But leaving a career or changing stream only for this cannot be a smart move. By moving to the shore management you will not be able to escape the ship visits even though the duration on ship may reduce but number of visits maybe more than before- taking the travelling time to be higher than before.
Another important aspect that one must consider ( and this is based on the first hand experience of my other contemporaries) that the nature of job ashore will not change with the new designations in form of promotions that you will get.
In line with the above statement my advice to those trying to change their career graph are two:
- If you stay in shipping career (even though ashore)- Keep your licenses and documents valid and not let them expire.
- Use your time ashore by gaining extra qualification - preferably in non shipping stream. You may gain the qualification within the shipping stream but try to get the best higher education.
Now suppose after reading above you decide that you do not wish to leave shipping to settle for a shore based career for whatever reason it may be. Then please do not suddenly go off track and lose control on yourself and start splurging your resources, and by this I don't only mean spending on expensive things but also by starting a business in unrelated areas simply on the behest of your good friends or gooder relatives.
The risk that I have pointed out in " The Seafarer's Story " in the begining of my book - still lurks stronger now because you have the resources now which act like honey for the bees.
You maybe inclined to try your hand at business- but it maybe a good idea to do it without your own money or learning about it by working for someone in that field. Entrepreneurship certainly does not mean burning your on money. In fact as I understand- it is all about finding ***atic who can lend it to you for burning.
These are things that I have warned you against not doing but it will be unfair if I quit without pointing out where you should or could find your bearings.
You can certainly start by doing the things which you could not because you did not have sufficient time or maybe not resources to buy the necessary equipment. You could start by writing that book or making that long travelogue.
Discovering yourself by looking inwards Through various meditation techniques could certainly help you in focusing or other than spreading yourself very thin.
You could certainly start studying for a different courier all together as a lot of people have done earlier. Engineers have become lawyers and navigators have become company owners and educationists. There is certainly no limit today and the limit can only be because of your imagination.
So please solve your problem of plenty in a holistic way which can benefit you , your family and certainly the society which has helped you become what you are.
Posts
