For the first time ever, June 21st was celebrated as the International Day of Yoga across the world led by India. Yoga is perhaps the only discipline that focus on a person's well-being holistically, including physical, mental and spiritual aspects. This brings us to another aspect of our lives – our financial well-being for which we are constantly strive for and are more often than not, in stress. We have often talked of how doing a financial planning is a must for financial well-being. Just to refresh, financial planning, in brief, is a process of identify your financial objectives , then preparing and following a financial plan to achieve those objectives. Drawing a parallel between these two distinct yet homogeneous ideas promoting holistic well-being cannot be missed. In this article, we take a look at similar characteristics between the two...

1] The idea of Unity: Our PM introduced yoga as an unity of body and mind, thought and action and as the journey discovery of self more than being just an exercise in the UN General Assembly speech. Financial planning too is a journey of discovering your own financial self, understanding your risk appetite, your net worth, your income, expenses and your financial goals in life. It is also about creating a unity and synergy between your income with your expenses, your wealth with your financial goals and your present with your desired financial future.

2] Being Universal: Yoga is truly universal in nature and it holds the same promise for every individual irrespective of age, religion, occupation, ethnicity and even health. Financial planning too is very universal in nature and can be effectively carried on for every individual irrespective of gender, wealth, occupation or the level of financial awareness. Depending on one's situation, the financial plan can be customized to focus more on specific areas /aspects as one may feel need for. The areas we are talking here cover all wealth and financial aspects of an individual like cash-flow management, investments, insurance, taxation, and estate planning.

3] Need for Patience & Discipline: To realise the true benefits of yoga and of financial planning, one has to be patient and exercise discipline in pursuing them for a long period of time. Whether it be achieving a healthy mind and body or your financial goals in life, the importance of discipline and patience for continuous and proper practice can never be less emphasised. In financial planning you have to take efforts to ensure that you are saving, spending and executing the plans continuously as planned while regularly reviewing and making amendments to your plan.

4] There is No Contest: Yoga does not specify any targets for you and you do not have to face any competition with anyone else. Financial planning is also just for you, customised and as per your own assessment of your needs. When you plan your finances, you are looking are your own risks, financial goals and cash-flows. You do not need to think about others and what their plans are. The financial plan is for you and only you will be able to judge the progress and enjoy the benefits of achieving those goals. Your achievements are also relative in nature depending on your own strengths and weaknesses.

5] Focus on Form & Process: Yoga stresses a lot on proper form, posture, breathing and the process of carrying out any aasanas. Only when we carry out the aasanas in its' proper process can we unlock the true benefits from t h e m . F i n a n c i a l planning too has focus on following the process and executing the action plan, properly and on time, continuously. A proper financial plan cannot be made unless the process is followed sincerely and this includes defining the scope of the planning, understanding the expectations, disclosing all relevant facts and assessing cash flows and financial goals properly to being with. We cannot expect our financial objectives to be met unless we adopt the the process and make regular reviews. A financial plan is not a product but a process to organise our finances just like yoga is about organising our own selves.

6] Going Beyond Body: Yoga is beyond just body and exercise. Financial planning too has a bigger picture and it deals with your financial behaviour, habits, sensitivity and awareness. Adopting and following financial planning in our lives can potentially also alter our way of looking at financial decisions and situations.

An awareness of our financial strengths, weaknesses and our goals in lives can dramatically change our approach to savings and spending. With increased financial awareness, we can see a change in our comfort level and approach to different asset classes and financial products. Over a period of time, we will also begin to see ourselves as more disciplined, steady and logical when in comes to money.

7] It's A Journey: Both yoga and financial planning are not to be seen as one time tasks or surgeries where advantages can be visible overnight. They are to be seen as journey towards self discovery, unity and ultimately well-being. Financial planning is a discipline or organise and plan your finances so that you are are aware and in control of your future. Thus, as a continuous process, it will slowly but steadily lead to much better and improved financial well-being over time. And there is no end to this.

Conclusion: The idea of finding similarities between yoga and financial planning is to evoke the sense of importance and respect for the latter, which we often neglect in our lives. Perhaps by highlighting the similarities we would be motivated to understand, appreciate and finally adopt a financial planning in our lives. It can potentially be very rewarding just like the rewards of yoga which we are talking about today. Nothing can however be more beneficial than adopting both yoga and financial planning in our lives. That way, even the missed part of financial well-being by yoga would be aptly taken care of. By adopting both in our lives, we would embark on a more fulfilling and complete journey of self discovery and well-being.

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Ever wondered how a wealthy person might be thinking and organising hislife? Well, while the question may sound very subjective, it certainly does evoke some curiosity in us. Most of us see ourselves as not 'rich' enough and are desirous of becoming very rich. Well, the good news is that this article is just for you. It carries 10 ways /ideas, screened from few studies & books, on the characteristics of the rich people. While adopting them may not guarantee you wealth, but it certainly would make you a tad wealthier some day than what will be the destiny by ignoring them...

Be Persistent & Focused:
Being persistent is a personality trait that can be converted into a habit if put to regular practice over time. Rich people are not the ones who will easily give up on something which they believe in. They are much more likely to fight, find solutions, work harder, get smarter in face of adversities. They are also very focussed on one thing at a time.

Have Respect For Time:
If it is one resource which is valued the most than others, it is time. In fact the rich are very likely to think of what they earn on an hourly basis rather than on a monthly or yearly basis. They then compare on an hourly basis how much they are making money or loosing money by not doing any productive work. Also the rich are much less likely to procrastinate and would most likely finish the job or take the decision in the least possible time required.

Setting Challengeable But Attainable Goals All The Time:
A challenge is a big motivation and opportunity to excel and to grow. The rich often set goals, in all matters from work to play. They even set goals to become rich. The act of setting goal itself is a rewarding exercise and it helps one to visualise and feel what is to achieve it.

Having A Mentor In Life:
Most rich people have some mentor or ideal who they listen to, read about, consult or follow. They can be even heroes in their chosen industry who would inspire, motive and help avoid mistakes. They are however careful in not following the mentor blindly and adapting any advice to their own situations and beliefs.

Staying Positive And Confident:
It is very rare to find a rich person who has self doubts and has a negative approach to things. The rich have a positive approach to life, they are happy, upbeat and are also grateful for the things they have in life. Very often you find that the rich are happily married, they love their chosen job, are healthy, they avoid taking negative or gossiping and lastly they believe in great possibilities and opportunities. Because of their self belief, positivity and a habit of achieving goals, they are also much more confident.

Keep Learning And Growing:
The rich are more likely to be masters in their business /jobs and on top of the things. To remain so, they keep interacting, observing and engaged in things of their interest. Most are also very avid readers often reading books on biographies, self-help books, money and those related to their own trade and business. After reading, they take be of actionable points to implement in real life thus helping they grow personally.

Tracking Progress And Making Improvements:
If we walk without knowing where we are headed and what change we need to make, we are sure to end up nowhere. For eg., if you do not know how much savings you need for your retirement, you will never safely retire. The rich make it a habit to measure their goals after making them. Thus, most rich people will also likely balance their bank accounts on a monthly basis and follow a to-do list on a daily basis. Some may be obsessive and even measure how much kilos they lost, miles they ran and calories they ate during a month!

Surrounding Self With Successful Persons:
One becomes the company he keeps. Of course we are often surrounded by the people like us. But the real difference is in the company you want to keep. The rich aspire to keep a company of more success oriented, positive, knowledgeable, networked and powerful people. They intuitively understand the importance of these relationships and are intentional in nurturing these positive relationships by investing the required time, money and energy. It can be said that relationships are the currency of the rich and the successful.

Take Calculated Risks:
The rich people like taking calculated risks in their endeavours. The idea is not to experiment but to grow, excel and exploit opportunities before anyone else. This personality trait makes them appear bold and courageous. The risks are well calculated, often the result of proper research, consulting or brainstorming. At the same time, the costs of failure are known and the risks are well spread out; never putting all the eggs in one basket.

Spend Much Less Than What You Earn:
It may sound very simple, but the secret to becoming rich is by spending much less than you earn and making the money saved to work hard for you. The problem with most poor people is that when the income rises, they also increase their expenses, often buying better gadgets, cars, etc. There are many rich people around us who would never appear rich to us, often living within means much below than they can actually afford to. Spending less, starting to invest early, saving regularly, saving increasingly more and investing in the right asset classes are some of the timeless principles of wealth creation we should all adopt in our lives to become rich. This method is the most practical one which literally guarantees you wealth in future.

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Word ' DINK ' has become very famous in 21st century urban India. This defines 'Double Income No Kids' generation. Generation of people born just before India started it's economic liberalization process in 1991. These are young just married couple, aspirational, living in modern India, spending weekend at swanky shopping malls, using latest gadgets, driving a four wheeler and may be planning to buy a house, which their previous generation would have never thought of so early in their life. This is surely encouraging and gives a strong foundation to domestic consumption based India growth story, but there is other side of this aspect which is mostly ignored : And that is keeping check on spending and start investing early in life.

Most common phenomenon is living or relying too much on credit and finding it really difficult to set aside even a small amount of money for investment at the end of the month because monthly commitments towards EMI for car, home and even the latest smartphone or LED TV take majority part of monthly income. Ever wondered how our parents with only one earning member in the family and mostly larger family size, used to manage all expenses with limited and fixed source of income. Surely inflation has taken its toll and prices have gone up but so has our income level. Today, all luxuries have become necessities and stressful professional life requires higher spending on discretionary spending. What is missing in this generation is the practice to prepare and follow a strict budget.

Sir Benjamin Franklin has said, “ A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned” and exercise of penny saving starts with a properly defined budget. Budgeting is nothing but to list down all your expenses and source of income on a monthly basis and write it down on a piece of paper or in excel sheet.

As can be seen from above sample budget, even after earning decent income of 63000 per month, this family is not able to save anything at the end of the month. In fact their total expense (both fixed and variable combined) crosses their monthly income and result in deficit of 2500 per month. This requires them to cut down on their variable expenses to bring their monthly budget in balance. List down your entire monthly income across various sources. Divide your monthly expenses in fixed and variable categories. There will be some fixed expenses like EMI payment, Insurance premium, kids school fees and variable expenses like grocery bills, utility bill payment, conveyance etc. There will be certain discretionary spending like eating out, movie, shopping etc. Clear listing down of income and expenses will help you in two ways: 1. To arrive at monthly surplus/deficit amount which you can set aside for investment and 2. Kind of expenses which you can avoid or expenses which need to be cut down. Initially when you start with, you will face problems as many items will be missed out. Therefore it is suggested to carry out this exercise on a monthly basis to make it a habit.

Income - Saving = Expenses :
Another method of inculcating savings habit is to estimate your monthly investment requirement first in consultation with your financial adviser to achieve basic goals in life like creating investment kitty for kids' higher education, marriage, medical emergency and retirement. Invest this amount at the beginning of every month and leave only balance amount in your account for monthly expenses. It is easier said than done but slowly and gradually as you try to follow this, you will be able to put control on your expenses and start investing for your future betterment.

Preparing budget can broadly help you :

• To list down all your expenses and source of income under various heads.
• To analyze type of expenses and where to cut expenses if need be.
• To realise the exact amount of savings/deficit at the end of the month.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure:
Emergency can strike anyone at anytime. Don't forget to create an emergency kitty. How much one should have as emergency fund is a topic in itself for discussion but if you are a salaried individual then funds equivalent to at least 6 months expense and for a businessman funds equivalent to at least 12 months expense should be saved as emergency funds. As you are not going to use this money unless an emergency strikes, you can put this money in liquid/money market funds to earn return better than your savings account.

Some Important Points to Consider:
Try to minimize usage of credit card If used, make sure to make full payment of credit card bill by due date to avoid any penalty/interest charges as late payment charges are on a very higher side in credit card bills. Do not fall into 'Debt Trap' Try to pay off unproductive, high interest bearing loans like personal loan, credit card bill and even car loan as these are the loans which are not used to create any asset. Always remember, no matter how small the amount of savings is, every amount saved and invested can multiply and add to your wealth due to compounding effect.

You may find budgeting boring to start with, but once it becomes a habit, this activity will bring immense benefits in the form of good savings and investments for your future goals. Take inspiration from our mothers who did a commendable job in budgeting and managing our family’s expenses. After all it is for you and your family's financial betterment.

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Our fast paced and sedentary lifestyle takes a toll on you and your family's health . Children tend to choose unhealthy and take away snacks over home made nutritious food. Free time is utilized watching cartoons on TV or playing games on mobile/tablet rather than physical activities with parents or other kids. As a responsible parent, you need to step back, take stock and make a conscious effort to steer your family towards a healthy and disciplined lifestyle.

Let us briefly review some golden rules for healthy living:

1. GET UP AND MOVING !

Children require regular physical activity for their overall growth,development and well-being. This also applies to parents as kids look upto to them as their role-model and source of inspiration. Parents who are lazy and unhealthy can expect their children to be fit and active.

2. NO TV !!

Watching TV, surfing the net or playing games on the tablet is leading to a sedentary lifestyle. Kids are becoming overweight and lazy. Screen time should be restricted to max. 2 hours a day. Encourage the child to take part in physical activities or games, either indoor or outdoor.

3. HAVE MORE LIQUIDS !!

Water is the best liquid you can have as it satisfies our thirst and does not have any additives or preservatives which are more harmful to the body in the long run. Similarly, low fat milk is a good source of calcium for kids. Coconut water, which is high in potassium and antioxidants, is an excellent alternative to fruit juices which have a high sugar content.

4. CONSUME MORE VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

They boost immunity and reduce the risk of may chronic diseases. Each meal that your child eats should contain some servings of vegetables and fruits. Fresh fruits can also serve as a healthy snack option rather than wafers and chips. Low fat dairy products and whole grains are also healthy choices for kids. Avoid chips, cakes and chocolate as they contain a lot of fat and and are high in sugar.

Key Takeaway:
An Apple a day keeps the doctor away. A Healthy Family is a Happy Family.