You are “NOT” doing OK if…….you haven’t read this book!

Simple tips to work on your money, Monika Halan’s book is an eye opener.

I have come to know about Monika Halan mam from her famous column “Expense Account “ in Mint. I have been reading this paper over the last four years. When it comes to personal finance, she is a well know and trust worthy face among Indian masses.  She has been working in this “Personal Finance” industry over the last two decades and this time she has come up with a book “Let’s talk money”

When I was reading this book, I was completely stunned and with each page I was questioning myself, “What am I doing with my money for all these years”?  This book is a powerhouse for beginners, salaried employees and those who have their own businesses. She has come up with simple formula to have three separate bank accounts for every individual and they are: - 1. Income account 2. Spend-it account 3. Invest-it account.  She also said that each product which we buy should serve some purpose; otherwise it’s wastage of our hard earned money.  She has focused on savings no matter what our age and what is the amount we are able to save. She claims that this book will not make you rich overnight. It’s all about financial freedom or precisely I would say “financial empowerment”.

Her style of recommending tips right from having emergency funds to building our own protection to having retirement kitty with the completion of will is absolutely commendable. Simple calculation of all the funds like your emergency fund, medical cover, life cover etc  with how much do you need to keep does make you little worried about your money but at the end you will be winner who will be aware about all the mistakes which we all common people have been doing in our lives.

Her book also covers topics like investing, equity, debt, mutual funds, Mr. Sensex etc. Thanks to her book, I will never ever have ULIPS in my money box. She simply says that “if a 30 year old guy wants a life insurance policy of let’s say 1.5-2Lakhs then he has to pay premium between 9-12k annually where the risk the cover is just 2 lakhs( maximum) and if the same guy switch to term plans then he will get a sum assured of 1 crore in the same price with added cover benefits of critical illness”.
 

Her famous yet simple rule of thumb “never invest in a product which you don’t know” is a real eye opener which stuck with me throughout this book.  She also talked about the existing system/belief in our country where in an insurance agent comes and start pitching his products with dummy benefits in front of our parents and they end up buying it and getting churned again by the same agent just because the agent should get his commission on a timely basis.

After reading this book, I have certainly moved on in my journey from being an FD hugger to money yogi (My mother made sure that I should never become an ostrich when It comes to managing cash flow ) I would recommend this book to everyone who should know how to take care of our hard earned money and how not to fall in the dirty traps of insurance agents.  As far as ratings is concerned, I would suggest – don’t miss this book for any reason!