On Money / / By

Why Learning Money Changed Everything

On safety, self-trust, and quiet confidence

A Moment of Resolve

I made myself an intense promise when I got employed for the first time. I had just joined my first job and was in a period of training and shadowing my seniors for a month at the hospital where I worked.

I have always been someone who has a tendency to do things well or not at all. I have been working on this particular rigid trait every day, even now, but I think that was what pushed me to learn about personal finance thoroughly.

In fact, I was so dramatic that I vowed to myself that before I received my salary by the end of the first month, I would learn the basic concepts of money and at least have an idea about how to invest that money.

Money, like everything else, needed attention, not fear.

Money I Never Looked At

Money was always something that I did not fully look at. Ever since I was a child, I used to see the finance section of the Deccan Chronicle newspaper that was delivered every day to my home, absolutely clueless about the numbers and big companies that were mentioned there.

I did not have any knowledge about any financial instrument except the fact that I had a bank account and that there is a thing called a fixed deposit where people save their money in the bank.

To be honest, I never even thought that I would ever learn these concepts, let alone understand them.

Why I Needed to Learn

The reason I was so dedicated to learning about financial matters was that I had been born and brought up in a middle-class family. Sometimes I feel that there were definitely days when we seriously hovered around the poverty line, not even able to afford basic things like rent, medicine, and food.

There was no planning or structure around finances in our home. We just took each day as it came.

And when you live through such uncertainty around money all your life, you are obviously intent on changing things as soon as they are in your control.

So that is what I did. I made a promise to myself that I would never again be helpless in my financial situation.

Learning One Concept at a Time

In the first month of my work, I devoured books on personal finance like a person who spends an entire day in the sun devours water. I googled the best books on the topic in India and read them.

I felt more confident with every chapter that I finished. The relief I felt in naming things clearly was unmatched.

I learned basic concepts one at a time and discovered that I actually loved this topic. I had thought that understanding how banks function or how interest rates go up in our economy would be something that would just pass over my head, but I was so enthralled by how everything in finance works.

I found myself wanting to reread areas where I could not grasp the concept the first time.

From Avoidance to Control

I realised that I now felt a sense of control instead of avoidance. I happily checked my bank account statements for any possible errors, started verifying my CIBIL score regularly, and got my health and term insurance just as I had learned from the books.

There was such overwhelming ease in knowing that my finances were coming into order.

Despite the financial freedom, sometimes I felt a bit of hesitation before deciding because I was the only person responsible for my finances now. Of course, sometimes my planning went wrong, but I readjusted my strategy and started again.

Before I decided to learn about financial security, I had enquired online and at my bank for investment options, and the schemes they proposed sounded very impressive.

But after learning about financial planning, I realised that those savings plans were, in fact, giving very poor returns and that I would benefit from investing my money elsewhere.

Being able to understand how a specific policy works and makes us money, I noticed, is a very important skill, without which we could incur huge losses long term without even realising.

How Confidence Spilled Into Life

I started feeling a lot more confident, even in life, after learning the basics of wealth management. I started making my own financial decisions with no need to ask for or take permission from anyone.

As a matter of fact, taking these monetary decisions without doubt gave me the steadiness to take other decisions in my life with conviction as well.

This self-belief showed in how self-assured I felt when talking to my peers and seniors. It even spilled out in how I held my head high while walking and not second-guessing myself before I spoke.

I could not believe that managing my financial life would help me look at myself so differently.

It Was Never About Wealth

During and after my voracious reading on fiscal concepts, I realised it was never about wealth; it was about creating a life that was safe.

I had never experienced financial security in my entire life. So that was what I had tried to build for myself.

To know that I can take investment decisions all on my own, spend mindfully, and save and invest money for my dreams and the future, so that no matter what situations I have to face in life, I will never be unprepared.

Because being unsettled and always on edge was what I felt about money throughout my childhood and into my late twenties, before I had a job and money of my own.

A Change Quiet Enough to Last

The change that I felt was slow enough to feel ordinary and deep enough to last.

I still read books on monetary planning once in a while, although not that frequently anymore, to keep me on track. I record my expenses diligently and invest in mutual funds.

I follow our country’s budget every year, and I am even excited about it.

I no longer chase brand names and focus instead on buying things of good quality that last and add value to my life. I do not chase luxury anymore and have understood the understated concept of simplicity.

We never know how that tiny spark of interest in an alien subject can amount to the biggest changes in our lives.

If this resonated, you might enjoy Letters From a Slow Writer, my occasional newsletter on autonomy, solitude, and living deliberately.

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