Know How To Invest For A Better Tomorrow?

Married with a young son, Omendu traces his roots to a Gorakhpur village from where his father’s transferrable job, in the government water supply department, brought the family to Lucknow where they built a home and settled. Omendu studied at NIFT, proceeded to Bangalore to study fashion design for three years and secured his first job with Pantaloons in Mumbai. As part of the design team he moved from one department to another before launching his own business.

The journey and motivation for every generation, he says, is always the same--- rush to the capital city, find your space and build assets. What’s different is the ‘attitudinal change’ in how ‘we are engaging with money’. Recalling that though his father’s generation laid great stress on “investing in children’s education, securing a ‘sarkarinaukri’ that offered job security, post-retirement pension and paid enough to save for a rainy day, their overall financial behaviour was a manifestation of their socio-cultural history, illness and traumatic incidents in the family.”“Every generation in my family insisted on saving. As Srivastavs, our cultural background entails things like dowry, buying your own house -- so you save for these milestones,” Omendu shares. “My parents invested in relations, family, in assimilating experiences within the community. But they also lived through their ‘rainy days’ fears and insecurity. We learnt from poverty, our lean times. Due to the impermanence of security the family experienced, they felt strongly about having something solid in hand—gold, not so much as an investment but as a reason to stay a little secure,” he adds.“There weren’t many investment-related discussions in my working-class family, onlycareer-related talks. If you have good knowledge andtalent then you are secure.” The turning point in his financial outlook came while sharing a Mumbai apartment with friends. “Our salaries were modest, rents high, but there were lots of discussions about money, investment and financial advice. A roommate bought a Blackberry and was also never broke by month end! It’s then I felt that it was important to not just save for the rainy days but invest for a better tomorrow. That gear shift took me to where I am today,” he says.Towards ‘investing for a better tomorrow’ Omendu consciously began investing in himself!“In tutorials. I used my first credit card to pay for online tutorials where I had to pay with dollars. I started wearing good clothes, writing with good pens, experiencing better things. When my colleagues were talking about investing in real estate, shares, I was investing in courses, books, cameras, which also cost money. I could’ve saved, been richer but that investment gave me an ability to earn now. It literally translated into money---that is what self-investment gave me.I was investing in my talents, in my tools,” he adds.

His advice to the present generation: “Invest in yourself first. Be a better version of you every day. That is more important. Your bank balance will come. The investment that you make for yourself is the positive future you are building for yourself.”

So, what is his financial motto? How did this confidence about the future impact his attitude towards money, loan, investment and insurance?

“Money gives a sense of security that things are working. You have to work, do ‘something’ for some people. A healthy bank balance and financials matter.”

There is also a sense of responsibility. “To me, a sense of security is that you don’t possess anything in your hand, that can be taken away—a fallout of the dacoity at his Gorakhpur home where all valuables were stolen. I started working at 19. The first thing I did is I got a locker.The first loan for my Lucknow home was taken at the age of 21 and EMIs cleared by 24!Then came the bike loan, paid for from my bonus and subsequently the second home loan, all paid up. At 33 years I have my own house. Debt free. My office EMIs are also getting over.I know how to earn from my talent. That surety allows me to take these decisions. It has neither adversely impacted nor compromised my lifestyle.”The best thing about taking loans is that “you can experience that future desire – the ownership of something – in the presentand live it today. The downside is having to pay the interest – at least on home loans. A loan is a good thing. But being in debt forever is bad,” he adds.Omendu’s first investment was “equity linked. But I realized that instead of investing in anybody’s stock or equity-linked savings scheme, I should invest in my own business and hire better talent. So, I am managing my money. I have two health insurances for myself and a family floater, a critical illness (cancer) insurance policy for my wife and me. I researched, took a term loan for three crore and because I smoke, the premium is high.”These policies “strike off the fear quotient, are an assurance that if I’m not there my wife, son and parents won’t have to compromise on their lifestyle. I also have some SIPs in mutual funds, a bit of shares and a lot of purchasing in gold. These investments allow me to produce better results as an organization and better business as well. I seek advice from friends on stocks and shares and have an independent financial consultant to guide on investment/financial products.”He feels that financial institutions “should hold more workshops and seminars, free of cost without pushing their products,” to enable people to learn and understand the basics of investments.
To ensure that he has “money for life”, Omendudreamsof “owning a couple of houses in different cities and regular rental income.Money for life is that which is continuously coming to you. Everything else is just investment.”

The information contained herein is generic in nature and is meant for educational purposes only. Nothing here is to be construed as an investment or financial or taxation advice nor to be considered as an invitation or solicitation or advertisement for any financial product. Readers are advised to exercise discretion and should seek independent professional advice prior to making any investment decision in relation to any financial product. Aditya Birla Capital Group is not liable for any decision arising out of the use of this information.