7 Things I Learned about Money from My Indian Dad

My grandfather was a farmer. My father inherited his property but in Himachal, the land is not very fertile to cultivate enough crop to provide well for your family. My father took a different course. He started working with a local explosive firm. He retired as Managing In-charge. He raised two children, gave them the best of education, multiplied his property and has enough to maintain his lifestyle. He is very modern in his approach but behind the desire to send his son to America for higher studies are core Indian money habits.

My father taught us that to build a solid base we have to make the right choices. It is because of him that being in my early thirties, I am able to achieve what people dream for in their forties. The simple and easy-to-follow lessons I learned from my dad are:

Deferring Pleasure for Long-term Goals

For Indians, savings is next to religion. We try to save as much as possible. We even live below own means to save for future. But my father told me to look at it from a different perspective. He taught me the importance of sacrificing now to gain later. One lesson which inculcated the habit of saving very early in life. Like - I was told that I can’t have a new frock every other month if I wanted a bicycle on my birthday. I have to forgo instant pleasures to attain long-term goals. Even today when I plan to buy something big, the little sacrifices don’t hurt. I look at all my decisions from a long-term perspective.

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