“The illiterate of 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and re-learn.” – Alvin Toffler
1) It’s high time that we learn about compounding, unlearn about investing in fixed deposits for the long term and re-learn about equity investing for the long term.
2) It’s time we learn about scaling up our knowledge of digital media. Unlearn the ‘old’ paper based method of doing business and re-learn about technology and platforms that have made Geography History.
3) It’s time we learn about financial planning and goal setting. Unlearn about focusing only on traditional investments like traditional life insurance policies, real estate and gold and re-learn about the new products like Online Term Life Insurance, Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds.
4) It’s time we learn about our real purpose. Unlearn the art of complicating things and re-learn the art of simplifying things by simple easy to understand education.
It is easier said than done because it requires courage in the heart to “unlearn” and then re-learn!!!
Networking and public speaking can feel very daunting. It’s a space outside of people’s ‘comfort’ zone. Somewhere deep inside they know it is a vital ingredient of success. But it remains outside of their ‘comfort’ zone. So they choose to live in denial.
Similarly, no wonder scores of people are still in deep love with:-
1) Savings Bank Account
2) Fixed Deposits
3) Traditional Insurance Policies.
4) ‘Real estate’ is the ultimate asset class.
5) Gold accumulation.
All the above products are clearly sub-optimal but people prefer them over newer opportunities because they have become ‘slaves’ of their past knowledge. They fail to understand liquidity, tax efficiency, inflation and other inherent risks attached.
People don’t have the desire to cross the barrier of ‘comfort’ that they have got so accustomed to and learn about new things.
However, if people make up their minds to step outside of their comfort zones, they will feel a surge of new energy and knowledge that will give them the competence to deal with the next generation ; the source of all future business.
Past Performance is not indicative of future results.
Anil Kumble discovered that in Twenty 20 cricket you don’t bowl a continuous ten or fifteen overs spell, but that you bowl one ball at a time. And that each ball generated a result.
Batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar who had grown up putting a great value on their wicket, now found that they needed to take risks and that getting out beyond a point was okay!
Clearly the past had been caged.
In investing too, we need to leave the past behind and march on.
Investment products of the past like Fixed Deposits and concepts like ‘guarantee’ are a bit like Test cricketers who would hesitate to dive or slide on the cricket ground while trying to stop the ball, who would gladly settle for a tame draw and who, largely looked at the sport as a ‘gentleman’s game’.
New investment methods like SIP and asset classes like ‘equity’ have ushered in the Twenty 20 era of investing.
Gone are the days of ‘guarantee’ as we prepare ourselves to embrace ‘uncertainty’ and ‘volatility’. With ‘guarantee’ we get stuck up at a place and with ‘uncertainty’ and ‘volatility’ we move forward.
The needs of the times have changed and so have the products.
Just like cricket has moved on with times, so also investing needs to.