Four Financial Panning Lessons That Dussehra Brings Forth

Dussehra calls for big celebrations and is regarded to be a time to take a fresh perspective of life and marks the beginning of new things. As you spruce up for Dussehra puja this year, how about looking at your finances in a whole new way? In fact, Dussehra has some precious financial lessons that you can implement to have a better grip on your finances and plan for a better future.

Here are four financial planning lessons that you can learn from the festival of Dussera.

Cast away your bad debt
Dussehra is a festival that marks the victory of good over evil. And in finances, debts are considered evil. Win over this evil. If you have too much of credit card debt and are perilously close to reaching your credit limit, focus all your energies towards the repayment of this kind of debt. This is a debt of the worst sort and can be the real enemy of a financial plan. Not only is it a high cost debt, as you pay a steep rate of interest on it, it will also impact your credit score negatively over the longer term.

Lead a life of financial self discipline
Lord Rama advocated a life of “Dharma” meaning one has to be upright and responsible in life. The same principles are applicable to your finances as well. If you are an important earning member of your family, you must apply financial discipline in a manner that you take care of your family’s needs not just at present but in the future as well.

This means, you need to save wisely. Just like Lord Rama, didn’t deter in living a life of frugality when it was required of him, you too must learn to live in less than you earn. This will help you save enough for future needs, like education of your children, health and other emergencies, and most importantly have a comfortable and stress-free retirement.

Protect your finances
Dussera is a time when the Hindu faith is renewed in the divine promise that whenever there is evil prevailing on earth, a saviour will be born to protect humanity. You too should take a cue from this message and learn to protect your finances. By protection, we mean, you should have enough life, health and asset insurance. Mostly, people get so caught up in growing their portfolio that they keep insurance the minimum. On the contrary, it should be the other way around. You should first assess insurance needs of your family and then invest the surplus in other instruments to maximize your gains.

It’s a time for new beginnings
Dussera also signifies doing away with the old and getting a new lease of life. Apply this principle to your finances as well. If you don’t have a proper financial plan chalked out according to the short-term and long-term financial goals you have in life, there isn’t a better time to begin!
Dussera is a time of joy and hope, so make this Dussera an occasion of immense joy as you vow to approach your finances from a new and fresh perspective.

Rajiv Raj is the Director and Co-Founder of www.creditvidya.com