INVESTMENT PLANNING: Attract abundance this festive season

This is that time of the year where so many of us pray to Goddess Laxmi for wealth and prosperity. Wealth signifies abundance in wisdom, love, money, and following dharma (leading the right life).

We all have an independent and unique relationship with wealth, which is a summation of our experiences, our understanding, and our circumstances. And, while this relationship is as unique as a fingerprint it keeps evolving with time for each of us. The basic idea of wealth management/ financial planning is to create an equilibrium between the money we earn/ spend/ invest and the life we lead on a continual basis.

Most of us hope, pray and work towards getting wealthier and more prosperous than what we were yesterday. While most of us would be wealthier (at least materialistically) than our parents, are we also happier than them? Are we at peace with the amount of wealth we have? Do we feel secure with the money we possess? Do we feel assured about our future? Have we struck the fine balance between the money we possess and the life we lead through that money? Does the money we have just control our minds, or our hearts too?

Our scriptures say "Santosham param sukham"; this means that contentment is the greatest wealth. While we pray to Goddess Lakshmi (the Hindu goddess of wealth, love, prosperity-both material and spiritual, fortune, and the embodiment of beauty) for wealth and prosperity we must remember that contentment is the greatest wealth and gratitude attracts prosperity.

By being content with what we have we experience joy, a sense of assuredness and feel fulfilled. This sense of security acts as an anchor and an inspiration for us to reach newer heights. It also spurs us to further action after pegging the current gains.

By being thankful for what we have we set ourselves for more prosperity. It leads to abundance. It unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It soaks us with peace. It also catalyses the process of giving and sharing, in terms of knowledge, experiences, skill sets or monetary aspects. And ultimately nature's laws stand true - what goes around, comes around.

This self-feeding cycle of contentment and gratitude creates a virtuous circle. It helps in establishing harmony between what we have and what we may not have but may aspire for. It also curbs the temptation to reach the end through crooked means and reminds us to be patient and persevere consistently in our efforts.

The key to the most important aspect transformation in our lives lies in action. Action expresses priorities. In fact, the battle towards any goal is half done with the first step taken. During these times it is important to remind ourselves of the following quote by Dave Ramsey, "You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you".

The bottom line is to be aspirational about money but, at the same time be mindful about things which money is incapable of buying (like, love, respect, gratitude, contentment, joy, happiness, the time spent with the loved ones, etc.)

The writer is a certified financial planner, founder partner of Srujan Financial Advisers LLP and author of 'Why greed is great'