Fear is your best Companion, Embrace it!!!!!

I was holidaying in Goa in the 1^st week of October 2019. I took my family of 6 to this beautiful place for some fun family time. Indeed, we had a blast. We hired a villa in South Goa which is known for its clean beaches & its serenity. One of the beaches there offered parasailing & before leaving to Goa I had decided that I wanted to parasailing there. It’s not that I was doing it for the first time. I had experienced this adrenaline boosting experience for the first time in Malaysia. I wanted to do it again & may be every time I have an opportunity to do so.

When I first attempted parasailing in Malaysia, there was so much of fear in me & many thoughts came rushing to my mind. I was standing there by the beach seeing many of them going for it, enjoying & landing safely. As I was standing there, I was thinking what if I am the unluckiest one who might just drift away in the sky due to some technical issues, or what if my chute gets punctured & I fall from a great height into the sea or on land. Though the fear was engulfing my mind strongly, a larger force was driving me to DO IT. I faced my fear head on & decided to do it all alone … without a helper (who accompanies you while parasailing).  They instructed me for about 2 mins and let me know how I could land easily on the sand. Then I went up, still with some fear in me.  Once I was in the sky, the beautiful clear sea below me, the beach, the people and landscape from above mesmerized me. But the feeling of accomplishment was greater & NO FEAR. This was the experience of my lifetime. Now, when it was time to land I was told about the process & I don’t know whether I did it right to the T. I landed in the water just a few feet away from the shore.  I got completely wet & my partner was laughing her guts out. It might have been the most embarrassing thing for some but more important was the confidence that I gained through this experience.

Fear exists inside of you & not on the outside. As the great Mike Tyson once said “Fear is like a cotton candy, it melts upon contact”. Well after that experience in Malaysia & my recent one in Goa, I say that “Fear is your Best companion, Embrace it”.

In life, as in trading/investing in the stock market, there are risks you take. Many want to embark on a trading/investing journey, but they don’t because of the fear of losing their capital. Some come to the capital markets with many objectives & their journey stops abruptly because of FEAR. Fear tends to either stop you from excelling or it stops you from starting/moving forward as you over think what is supposed to be a simple process & make it a complicated affair. But, once you have understood the process & learn how to keep it simple, it’s easy.

Trading/Investing needs to be kept simple. It is not at all complicated or a rocket science as many fear. Once you embrace what Trading/Investing is & follow simple processes, you will be on the most memorable journey you have ever experienced.

Now, back to the Goa scenario … After landing, I also wanted my father in law, who is 65 years old, to experience this as I had seen some signs of interest in him as well. I tried persuading him but he just said “It’s ok, maybe next time”. I didn’t stop, I knew that he was interested (he & my dad spent nearly 45 mins watching others parasailing) but it was the fear which was stopping him & may be the same kind of thoughts which I experienced in Malaysia. My persuasion finally worked and I succeeded in getting him into the suit to go parasailing. In Goa, you don’t go alone, there will be another person from the company who will accompany you on this journey. My FIL went & experienced the beauty which I had explained before & he thoroughly thanked me for convincing him to go for it. More importantly what I could see in his face upon landing was the big smile & the confidence he gained through this experience which you cannot explain.

What this person did was simple. He embraced the fear & turned it into his companion. It was not because of me that he went parasailing but because he convinced himself that he could do it.

Embrace FEAR. Make it your ANTHEM!!!!! Start Trading/Investing by learning the process first. It will turn out to be your best companion and you will cherish it throughout your life.

The Power and Promises Of Passive Income

How would we like our ideal future to look like? A relaxed, laidback lifestyle with family and no tension about the income. Sounds fabulous and too good to be true. It is possible if we can plan our life, centred on financial freedom.
“The key to financial freedom and great wealth is a person’s ability or skill to convert earned income into passive income or Portfolio Income”-Robert Kiyosaki. This speaks convincingly about the power of passive income in our life.
Many people dream of a cosy, stress free life where they can just enjoy and explore life and see themselves soaking in the abundance that life has to offer. But what about the financial aspects? Why worry? Passive Income is the solution for this! The path to passive income is not smooth. Agreed… but it is not tough either. The thought of having ample family time, enjoying the pleasures of travelling and other opportunities is unquestionably invigorating and delightful! Harnessing the amazing power of this passive income is a great way to enjoy a lavish lifestyle and peaceful life.

What is Passive Income?

Passive income is the money that is earned regularly without being actively involved in it. We may have to invest a little time, efforts and energy in it during the initial stages but later this income generates itself. The difference between active and passive income is that the active income requires constant input of time to generate income but passive income does not. This is the only income that sets you free from the rat race and which works for you whether you constantly work or not. As long as we can ensure our passive income outpaces our monthly expenses, we have the freedom of spending as you choose. This reduces our stress, anxiety and fear of failure. The anxiety of paying the next bill, and other ‘what if’ scenarios. Passive income helps to alleviate these worries.

The pros and cons of passive income:

Advantages:

1. Generating passive income provides many benefits: We can make money without using too much time. The key is to find the right balance for our existing lifestyle, so that we can make profit without too much being spent. Besides being a steady source of income, it gives also gives us the comfort of having a flexible schedule by not requiring us to work for the particular timings every day.
2. Financial freedom: Passive income helps in reducing financial stress and lets us focus on other important things in life.
3. Good retirement plan: This is a wonderful avenue to help us save more money every month. The retirement journey would be smoother, with passive income by our side
4. Opportunity for generating more passive income: Establishing one stream of income will enable us to think about one more source of passive income.
5. Success unlimited: Unlike traditional jobs, there is no limit for the amount of money that we can gain from passive income.

Disadvantages:

1. Low Income at the beginning: This is one of the disadvantages of passive income as it takes a while for the income to grow and it requires patience. This type of income has exponential growth and the benefits of waiting will outweigh the negative aspect of having a small income at the beginning.
2. Risky at times: Success is a part of this avenue but there are also possibilities of risks being involved, and so the steady income from this source is not guaranteed in some cases.

Creating the Passive Income:There are many avenues for passive income. Let us try to understand them.

1. Real Estate income: This is one of popular ways of generating passive income and occupies a significant place in this income domain. This can be achieved by investing in turnkey rental properties that are ready to be rented out.
2. Business Income: There are numerous businesses which can be turned into a passive income. There are many possibilities-
   • Creating a blog: writing is one of greatest talents and launching our own blogs can generate income eventually.
   • E-commerce: Selling products online can be a good source of income- commerce sites have made it easier to make money by selling online
3. Certificates of Deposits: This is advantageous, as there are no income or net worth minimums to invest. It gives protection to the hard earned capital. With good interest rates, this can be a good source of passive income.

Passive income through stock market:

1. Dividend stocks: This happens to be one of easiest ways of passive income because the investors get paid to own them. Part of the earnings of the company are distributed among the investors as dividend. This money can be reinvested to purchase additional shares.
2. Index Funds:They are mutual funds tied to a particular market index. These are not designed to beat the market. The index funds are passively managed and the securities included in them don’t change unless the composition of the index changes. They are known to perform better than the actively managed funds in the long term
3. Investing in Bonds: They are a great source of passive income as here the investors earn money from the activities of another entity. This stream sometimes pays a greater return than other sources.

Does this avenue of generating sound interesting to you?

Stock Market Institute, in Bangalore, offers many interesting and enriching programs to help you understand the intricacies in trading and guide you on investment strategies .

There are numerous courses to help you gain insight and expertise.

1. One day workshop on trading and investing.
2. Ms Finance program to spread financial literacy among women
3. Certified Program in Capital Markets  to impart knowledge about stock picking and commodity markets
4. Advance Technical program for robust trading strategies.