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Successful Bollywood fashion designer/stylist Shaahid Amir’s funda in life is that while “earning money is important” it is equally important to “multiply what you earn without being conservative. Spend, but invest a percentage of it to multiply!”A runaway kid, who at age 16, broke free from the shackles of a well-to-do but conservative Mumbai-based family, to experience ‘freedom’, be a badass, experiment with life and all things unconventional, Shaahid’s philosophy and his apparentblasé attitude towards money has its bearings in his conventional upbringing and his intense resentment of the same.
“My parent’s attitude towards money was strange. I was brought up saying ‘When you earn, you buy.’ We would get two outfits and shoes for the year. We quietly wore what was given to us without any question. But as I grew, I felt, ‘this is so sad’. I just wanted to get out of that entire structure with my parents. So at 16 I left home, sat for my Boards, danced in the play called Evita and was the cool kid. I understood very early that I wanted to be free.”
But to be free “you had to have money. So I did everything I could to earn money. It wasn’t a planned thing.
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}I told my dad I wanted to become a designer and he was like, ‘what a loser, he wants to become a darzi’! In my family you become a lawyer, doctor, engineer, or a dentist, it’s respectable, so I just left the house. Did catering and stayed with a school senior and friend, a Professor at Sophia Bhabha Catering College.”Inspired to try out his baking skills, with some crucial baking lessons and financial aid from his Mom, Shaahid decided to invest in his friend’s small venture, and baked his “first professional black forest cake”.
“Mom gave us money. We set it up and within a year we were booming. I was 17-18, and I bought my first Maruti, cash down. I did it for about four-five years and went to London. I got bored of the business and nobody taught us franchise. Then I started learning and doing make up under Mickey Contractor, but I got bored in six months and joined Begum Sahiba (boutique). It has been pretty much stable from then.”About his parents’ generation and their attitude towards money, Shaahid says “My parents--very honest, straightforward and simple people taught us good values. They were generous, but did not know how to be ‘rich without feeling poor’. As in, why should your attitude come from deprivation.My father was doing very well. He did the interiors of The Times of India building, the airport and many big hotels but he could not take ‘Panvel’, from where he came, out of his head. We haven’t brought up our kids with guilt or fear. ‘Whatever you want to do you do and do it well and its not demarked by money’.”.Over the course of the conversation Shaahid labours to make the point that though
“money is important, I have never given it that much importance, rather I have given what I can buy with money more importance.”
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}Indeed, the designer has happily relinquished the responsibility of all his personal money matters to his sister, an investment advisor, who “values and knows how to make money, has secured all of us otherwise we would have nothing. We were wild kids on a very fast pace.”But the shift in attitude and a sense of responsibility came during the bleak years of “no work and no money. That’s when I understood that it is important to first level your work and your money. I have since, gone in for a lot of mutual funds.”Things got back on an even keel after Shaahid started designing corporate clothes. “If I hadn’t done that, I would have been like my filmy friends, trapped in a world which I wasn’t meant for. I wouldn’t be open to anything.”“Every weekend and holiday, I am with my kids running, trekking, mountaineering, camping. I’m very much into animals, plants so a lot of my attention goes there. I may work like a maniac for two days but I will do what I want to do,”he says.His attitude towards money has also become more considered and responsible and he credits his sister for this. “Now I’ve started calculating.
You need X amount a month. I make sure that I do certain things which gives me that X amount. That gives me freedom to do what I want.
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}What I like to do more is giving back to the universe in terms of taking care of animals, planting trees, taking care of my road. How can you help anybody unless you are secure yourself? Eventually, I’d want to move to a country home and make it my permanent base. The whole family is working towards it.”“My sister is my financial advisor. It took me seven years to understand what she was saying--save X amount of money, multiply it rather than put it in a fixed deposit. She made me understand fixed deposit is a not-so-happening thing to do but opt for SIPs. So, now I put my earnings in shares and her office follows upon the dividends, reinvestment, insurances, mutual funds etc.”“If I were to take a sabbatical after five years, my financial advisors would tell me whether I can do it or not by calculating my savings, the returns and its feasibility. A little education on money definitely buys you freedom.”Very clear that he wants to “neither understand nor be bothered about investments, insurances as long as my sister is alive,”Shaahid says, “when I make some money, I tell her to park it. She brings to the table a sensibility, a reality check that you can’t live in your idealistic world.”Seemingly clueless about “which insurance” he has, relying totally on his sister for advice, he says, “I do not understand insurance products and most of the insurance money you get is after you die, so it’s for other people. What’s the point?” Similarly, “I’m a boy of the 80’s. I’ll take loans I can pay. I can’t take loans and be stressed.I’ve just taken a car loan and saved on taxes.”Wary of seeking help of financial institutions and their agents, he says “I would be very apprehensive, because you are selling your product. Your personal advice would be related to the enhancement of your product. It’s not directed towards my betterment or future. It is more of a deal and I have a repulsion to that kind of thing.”Averse to sermonizing, Shaahid encourages his daughters to “save and seek clarity on matters financial with Mona” his sister.So, what’s his personal financial motto?“Money should buy you freedom of living, thinking and a little bit extra to enhance what you want to do.”As individuals, we all have different approaches to money. Some of you may think saving is the best option as it is less risky; a few others perceive investment is the best as it helps to multiply your funds. All of us have preferences when it comes to personal finance, depending on the circumstances.Whether you are a saver, investor, or spender, money should be used wisely. Saving is a good option for risk-averse investors, but it doesn’t help you to multiply for your goals. This is why investments should be a part of your financial planning. When it comes to investment, you should also be cautious where your money is being invested, whether you’re doing on your own or through an intermediary.
Key Takeaways
- Systematic Investment Plan or SIP: Parking surplus cash in mutual funds through the SIP method is an affordable way to grow your money. As compared to the fixed deposit, mutual fund investment yields better returns. It is one of the best products that can beat inflation in the long run. With SIP, you can start with a minimum investment amount of Rs.500 monthly.
- Insurance: Buying insurance is also one of the financial investment strategies to save on taxes and ensuring that your family has monetary help when you’re not around. Ideally, you should be opting for both life insurance and health insurance products. The significance of purchasing the latter product is that the medical expenses are rising continuously, and the insurance cover will protect the health of your loved ones.
- Whether you’re employed or a business owner, you need to accumulate a certain wealth if you’re taking a sabbatical or retiring. In the end, money should give you freedom of living, and it should be able to enhance what you want to do in the long-run.
DISCLAIMER
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.