Ups and downs, highs and lows – they’re all part of life. That’s
alright as long as one remembers to prepare for the lows when riding the highs.
And financial prudence – proper financial planning – is an important part of
that. If I have one deep regret in life, it’s the fact that I paid no attention
at all to planning my financial future when I was young. In the early years of
my career, I spent money like there was no tomorrow and made no effort to save
anything, much less invest any
of whatever little I earned.
While I started working in my early-20s, I only
started thinking about saving and investing money when I was already in my
mid-40s – a colossal mistake. But in any case, even if it was already very,
very late, I did realise my mistake and set about rectifying the situation as
best as I could. And for me, that was investing in mutual funds, which has
since then provided me with some decent returns. I’ll never make up for those 20
years I lost – spending indiscriminately when I should have been saving and
investing. But for whatever little it’s worth, I hope I’ve mended my ways for good and
now there might perhaps be some hope for my financial future.