From achievers to leaders to the glamorous, in this web series, Outlook Money brings you the views on money matters from some of India’s most influential. The first month of this year is approaching its end. Several of the New Year’s resolutions made this year may have been already broken. But who says you need to wait for planetary revolution to make new decisions that can make tomorrow slightly better than today? Inspiration can come from anyone at anytime. These individuals, each a leader in their respective field, talks about their life, both financial and personal, and lets us know what it takes to make it big in this beautifully scary world. We hope their wisdom empowers you to know how to better secure your financial future.

Best selling author gives the best financial advice

Forbes India had ranked him among the top 100 celebrities in India four times in a row. His work, the Shiva Trilogy, was the fastest selling book series in Indian publishing history. He is an IIM graduate who worked with several top financial institutions before becoming a full-time writer. He is Amish Tripathi, one of India’s most popular and bestselling authors today.

Talking about money lessons that he has abided to his whole life, he says,” You must always keep your expenses in check, especially when you are starting out. Avoid borrowing to meet personal expenses altogether. Do not take a loan for anything other than buying a house and not to fund consumption expenditure; not even to buy a car or a bike - the moment it rides out of the showroom, it depreciates in value. Buy them only by using money from your pocket.”

Being someone who clearly understands and is interested in money matters, Amish considers compound interest as the most powerful financial force in the universe. According to him, the second powerful one is double income. He says, “If both the husband and the wife earn, they have the capacity to truly save. My wife and I come from middle class backgrounds and we had to start from the scratch.”

Apart from being wildly successful, his background in finance makes him a credible source to take money advice from. He considers his decision to start a monthly SIP from the very first year of his career his best financial decision. “Your investment portfolio should be determined by your life-stage and risk appetite,” he says.

olmdesk@outlookindia.com