Mad About
Money
BEING RACHEL
The Indian youth has a significant disadvantage in terms of being financially independent . They live-off their parents as the latter ’ s cultural duty . There is a set trajectory that life takes , albeit at a different time for everyone . After school , college , job , marriage , childrenrepeat . There is little space for financial independence .
The space for financial independence that should , in theory , be free from all interferences of culture is actually saturated with it . The first thing a millennial in India needs to do is : Leave such a trajectory at the altar because it is antediluvian .
AS INDIA ASPIRES TO BE ‘ BRAND INDIA ’
The cultural influence on the idea of financial independence is enormous . Terms such as , ‘ middleclass ’, ‘ simple life ’, ‘ simple needs ’ are not only glorified but are considered legitimate goals to aspire towards . Even as India aspires to be ‘ Brand India ’, banking upon her absolutely gorgeous demographic dividend ; being a depositor , simple , average , middle-class person with a stable job ( a clear misnomer in the twenty-first century ) and small short-term desires are considered noble . Here is the second thing a millennial needs to do : break away .
The term ‘ noble ’ is as antediluvian as the trajectory mentioned earlier . The contradictions of traditional simplicity as a goal to aspire towards is not a choice anymore . The intoxication with the simple , sub-continental life ended in 1991 and more so in 1993 , when the Securities and Exchange Board of India was established ( more on this in the next issue of Mad About Money ).
YOU ARE SO LUCKY !
The world is standing at the cusp of a new beginning . More than the exciting politics of our times , it is technology that shall change the manner in which life operates . Did you know that by 2030 , privacy is going to be a thing of the past with the rental economy in its full bloom while your morning coffee shall be served with toast by a robot ? ( Check out the World Economic Forum ’ s website for more details ).
What this means is , you shall have enough money ( hopefully with a basic income if the governments decide in the affirmative ) to invest . The cardinal choice that you shall make 10 years later is not which course to study , but which skill to invest in !
THE THIRD THING A MILLENNIAL NEEDS TO DO
Lucky to be born in such exciting times , are we not ? So , the third thing a millennial needs to do : Skill up , and then diversify . The term ‘ interest area ’ or specialization as we know it today will undergo huge changes in the new economy . For instance , Political Science , Research methodology , Python ( or its grandchild ) in Data Sciences and Economics or Eugenics , Nanotechnology , Quantum Mechanics and Financial Market shall be ONE skill .
The change is evident in the new MOOCs one can find online . Mass production of skills is history ! Robots have it covered . And that gives the Millennials of today an unprecedented opportunity to be the risk-takers , history-makers !
UNO , ZWEI , TROIS !
A successful investment banker who works in the city of London leaves his job to start a juice bar that also sells quinoa in central Delhi . Be ready to hear more stories of the kind because profit , money , quality , passion and drive to succeed is going to converge in emerging economies like India .
Our advice ? Invest , invest in this new form of sustainability ! Uno ( success ), Zwei ( knowledge ) and Teroi ( happiness ): nothing is more real in the new economy than these three virtues .
In our subsequent issues , we introduce you to the options that are for the risk takers , the ones with the appetite for more-than simple . So the fourth thing a millennial needs to do is : subscribe to Mad About Money !
SKILL FOR THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY
Let us leave you with a problem that requires emotional intelligence and critical thinking ( an indispensable skill for the twenty first century ):
You start earning via freelancing as a writer / developer . You earn your first income , i . e ., twenty five thousand . It is not much . But it is your first . You have your eye on a new range of hair products by the ever-fantastic Body Shop . You have been longing for it . The money is in your account . You have three options : set up a professional website to showcase your work , invest in a SIP ( systematic investment plan ) or purchase the gingercastor-argon hair care range that you have longed for a year . Ponder away !
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