Why do we lose money? Why are we generally not happy with our financial decisions? Why did it have to happen to me? Why did it happen when I invested my money? The answer is really simple but it is going to be very hard to digest.

Either we are complacent with what we have or it is just that we do not want to take the effort.

This is a plain cold fact. If I had to put a number to this divide a reasonable estimate would be 10% v/s 90% i.e. 10% people are just complacent while 90% just do not want to take the effort. What makes things worse is that this 90% people want short-cuts. Just quickly give me an investment tip, what’s the best investment, what’s new these days, where can I get the maximum returns, what is safe but can give very high returns… I have got so and so investment, what are the prospects, what is the future? These are normally the questions most people want to ask. Everyone wants a quick fix and no one is really interested in spending time or effort.

Remember there are no short-cuts and nothing worthwhile in life is ever free. The next time you get something for free just pause to think if there is really much value, commitment and credibility if you were to act upon that piece of information. Free offerings may be alright in case of groceries and consumables as that is part of promotions but consequences of acting on short-cuts and free information in financial matters can be grave.

In my view if you want something you have to work hard for it. Plain and simple! Then you have to spend time and money. There is no other way.

Say if you want to do things yourself you have a lot to learn first. Spend money in educational courses, buying software, books, magazines etc. This is a lot of hard work. Get involved in the process and don’t depend on friendly neighbourhood advice or the advice of your friend’s friend who is a broker / agent. Just think if you had to buy vegetables for 50 rupees you would check prices with three vendors. But you would not blink to invest 50,000 on a hot tip!

Now if you don’t have the time and patience to do things yourself the least you can do is invest time in searching and hiring a good financial advisor. Basically, if you can hire lawyers, chartered accountants, doctors etc for their service why do you want to risk your hard earned money? Invest time to talk to 10 or 20 or 30 experts if you want but finally choose the one you like and you feel most satisfied and comfortable to work with. Don’t waste your time with agents and brokers who are merely product distributors. To do this is also a lot of hard work. But it will be worth all the time spent. Is that too much to do for a lifetime of peace and financial control? Just invest this time once. This is a short-cut you can afford to take.

Do you see why we lose money or are not happy with our financial decisions? For something that we want the most in our lives i.e. money and more money we spend the least amount of effort & time. We want to enjoy spending money but do not do enough to ensure that we have enough of it forever. We are not prepared to work hard; we are not prepared to seek the right advice. These days information is so easily available and geography is irrelevant. All one needs to do is take the first small step i.e. to decide to invest time & effort for personal financial matters.

If you don’t take care of money, money will never take care of you. It’s that simple.