Bad times are the best times.

Posted By: Admin

Am sitting in April 2030, a good 10 years after the corona virus scare rocked the earth and killed many people and scare the Sh*% out of the rest of the population. People were forced into locked down and spent at the very least 2 weeks and in some cases 2 months at their homes away from work. I was then 45 years of age and was a senior professional in IT sector India, I was always busy morning to late evening attending either client meetings or my team meetings.

On the hindsight, those times were the best of times. Why ?

You see I was not a great investor, and had pretty much invested in as high as 7-10 Life insurance policies as a savings option, I was into several stocks which was bought on the stock markets ( I used to get tips from my colleague at office) and several Mutual Funds that I bought as a new fund or on an SIP mode.

Lock down was the first time I realized the fickleness of one’s existence.. my company could easily end up sacking hundreds of us if business prospects did not improve and then I thought to myself , if I was financially planned and ready for the uncertainty ahead ? That prompted me to start planning and seeking a financial advisory to help me plan my 10 year journey.

The break time also enabled me to organize all my personal investments better and sell all the junk investments and re channelize them into better investments and same with stocks .. helped me pick up blue-chip ones at great prices.

I got rid of all my savings oriented Life Insurances and bought a large term cover and channelized the early encashment into my investment portfolio. Also made sure that I bumped up an add on health insurance policy for a higher value.

By re-balancing my portfolio when the times were bad and also reviewing my financial plan, I was able to chart out a good plan for investing to secure my future which made all the difference. This is a fictional account of an individual who has decided to use the lock-down time to his / her advantage.

So as I mentioned, bad times can also be the best of times if we are able to harness the time to do the the 3 Rs –

REVIEW YOUR PORTFOLIO

RE PLAN YOUR FINANCES

RE-BALANCE YOUR EXISTING INVESTMENTS.

Am sure you would also consider the CORONA Virus break as the best time for getting your personal finances in order.