Invest Patiently, Don’t Speculate

Shailesh Kelawala, 49, runs a textile business. His family consists of his wife, Vishali, and daughters Harnisha (26), Kruti (22), and Vishwa (18). Until 2007, when Kelawala was in his mid-30s, his investments were primarily into traditional instruments, such as fixed deposits, post office instruments, and insurance policies. However, the boom in the stock market between 2004 and 2008 attracted him to stocks, and he started investing in them in 2007, when the markets were nearing their peaks. Without proper financial advice and guidance, Kelawala jumped into stock investments and trading to make quick money, but ended up making huge losses, as the market crashed in 2008. His daughters were aged between four and 12 then. Kelawala then decided to stay away from equities or any equity-related instruments altogether, and began investing only in safe traditional instruments. Kelawala had set...