OLM 50: It’s Back!

Recently, I met a friend, who is a professor in Delhi, at an iftaar party. He triumphantly told me that he had finally opened a systematic investment plan (SIP). I had been encouraging him to invest in mutual funds for some time to start his goal-based investments for his daughter’s higher education with the help of a financial planner. I congratulated him for finally giving thought to planned investing and casually asked him which mutual fund he had chosen to invest in. To my surprise, he drew a complete blank. He didn’t even clearly remember the fund house’s name, forget about knowing the scheme’s past performance, track record or other details. It finally turned out that he had ditched the idea of going to a planner and had instead gone to his agent, a “trusted” uncle, who had tied him into an expensive life insurance policy with a monthly premium,...