Thursday 23 August 2012

Investment Lessons From The Thirsty Crow



I think every one of us know this story but still just to recap.
The thirsty Crow flew all over the land for a little water. Prolonged drought had sucked waters from ponds, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. The crow could not find even a drop to drink. Then he noticed a pitcher of water in front of a hut. He flew down on it to quench his thirst.
But there was only a little water at the bottom of the jug. His beak was too short to reach the level of water in the jug. But he did not give up hope. He picked up small stones from the ground and dropped them in the jug. As the stones gathered at the bottom of the jug, the water level rose. He drank to his heart's content.

Well what do we learn from this ?

Let us keep our self in the place of crow and also replace water needs by monetary needs, as crow is short of water we are all short of money throughout our life, this happens because we do not plan our monetary needs as in the above case crow did not plan for enough water before hand even when he knew that drought is near. Therefore its the first lesson we learnt that is planning is necessary when it comes to  monetary needs.One needs to forecast his needs well in advance.

Now after realizing that there was shortage of water crow started putting in small stones one by one consistently and regularly due to which after continues efforts the water level rose and he could finally drink the water. Similarly after realizing that there is shortage of funds if we start putting in small stones i.e. small amount of money consistently and regularly in Mutual Funds then when the time comes were you need money you would have enough money in your pocket to fulfill your dreams.The small investments made will hurt you like a stone but as and when the time comes you will taste the sweetness of water.Therefore the second lesson learnt is that you should not only plan your needs but also start working on them by investing systematically, consistently and regularly.

The best way of doing this is through Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) offered by various Mutual Fund houses.And in order to plan for future needs you can consult any Certified Financial Planner I am one of them.