Planning for a Successful Tomorrow

Mr. Intikhab Chougule

Most of us come from a humble family background, where our aspirations and goals have been restricted due to limited exposure and resources available. I do not have a slightest of doubt that our parents have always chosen the best possible options in their capacity. I remember well that in those days families were big and mostly stayed together due to many limitations that most of us had.

While I was growing up with my sisters and cousins in a house owned by my grandfather, it was my father who decided to buy a small but a separate house for his family. Resources to procure the financial support from institutes were very limited or nonexistent in those days. He decided to seek support from the company that he was working with and of course lot of support came from my immediate family members. For him It was a dream coming true, buying a house of his own for his family. But for years the house was kept simple, unfurnished and did not even have a television.

My sisters and I kept thinking about the decision that our father took and on several occasions wanted an explanation as to why we were made to move out of a house that was completely furnished, had all the luxury items like color television, imported music system and other electronics required. But in all honesty when I look back today, I am thankful to my father who was far-sighted and had made plans for his kids. At that stage of life no one including his immediate family could have understood his thoughts.

Later on in life I understood that he has been a man of principal and till the time he paid off the loans borrowed for house, our house continued to be a barely furnished with only the essentials available. In a way, he has helped me cherish and remember many moments of my life be it the first television set or my first music system. Many such memories and happiness in my life exist only due to his vision of Life and the plans he made for his family to survive in this city.

Realisation of the above fact change my outlook towards life and I, like my father started looking beyond the obvious and putting my calculations in times ahead of us. I am sure all of us today strive to do the same and our exposure and knowledge that we have gathered over a period of time has made us capable of planning for our needs and for other aspirations of our life. However, it is important that we must understand that a goal set for one’s future should not be based on unrealistic approach towards life.

In today’s environment we have advantages like structured financial services and other such options which will help you achieve your long term dreams in a more structured format. Financial planning like your career has to be done in a phased manner; let me share an example as a rule in most of the organizations you cannot be joining a new job and get promoted within a short span of time. There can be exceptions in rare cases but the fact remains that they are exceptions and not rules for the game in life.

One should never forget that there are ‘No free lunches in Life’ and hence the plans that you make for your future should be carefully thought about. They should be assessed by your own expertise and experience and then maybe opinions of like minded people could be sought. All of us aspire to make big in life, we might want to buy a house, a car, a luxury vacation with family and none of these is impossible if planned correctly.  

Given the existing situation, most of us can avail financial assistance but very clearly it should be used for a plan with potential of future growth of funds used and not to splurge or live-up your short term dreams. There will always be a cost attached to the facility that will be made available to you and you need to incorporate that within your calculations.

Taking calculated risk is a forte of successful people and I am sure most of us want to be successful, so let’s try and understand the basics of this success formula not from the books and the larger institutes but from the experiences of our life and then take the appropriate risk as per our capability. I am sure most of us have faced many a situations in life and have learnt our lessons. Life is the biggest Institute and our learning should always come from this institute and people around us. In other words, success seems to be connected to actions. Successful people keep moving, they make mistakes but they don’t quit.

So my friends Dream big and while doing so don’t forget to look beyond the obvious and Plan to achieve what you really want. People around you may understand or they may not, but if you have invested your experience and planned something that you are convinced about then simply go ahead with it.

I strongly believe, ‘Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.’

Determine your tomorrow by the choices you make today and you will live a life of Joy and Triumph.

Information shared by : Mr. Intikhab Chougule.

Mr.Intikhab Chougle, is Associate Vice President with HSBC Group in India and has been a retail banker for past 12 years. He has completed his Bachelors in Commerce from Mumbai University and is currently pursuing his MBA with major in ‘Banking & Finance’. With a total working experience of close to 15 years in Mumbai, he has been an active member in social service in Mumbai for promoting causes like ‘education for girl child’ and promoting medical assistance for old and deserving people. He has also traveled to Malaysia, Paris, a part of UAE market for professional reasons and has acquired vast market knowledge about investments and business approaches adopted in different markets.

He believes, it is very important that we must return back to the community what we have earned and learned from the society and hence is willing to extend his support to the people who would want to seek his expertise in setting and achieving their financial goals.

He can be reached on his e-mail : intikhabchougle@hotmail.com