The Three Seed Theory for Wealth Creation

I have been in financial services for over three decades now. As I was reflecting on my career, a question crossed my mind, “What would I have done differently at the start of my career (in terms of investing), if I had all the knowledge and experience that I have today! Would I have invested differently? What would have been the impact on my personal wealth?

I have put all my investment insights together and bundled it in what I term “ The Three Seed theory for Wealth Creation!”

The First Seed – Your Profession!

I believe that the first seed that you plant is your career. This is the seed that eventually leads to generating a lot of surplus, which if invested well, can make a big difference to your wealth. This is where you should focus the hardest and ensure that you are the best in whatever you choose to do. This is obvious, isn’t it? All of us know this! By stating the obvious, all I want to do is to re-emphasise that you must keep investing in yourself and stay relevant in your profession. Getting this part right will help you generate enough income to plant the next two seeds of wealth creation.

The Second seed – Create an Investment Portfolio!

If I can state the formula for wealth creation in a line, it would be Start Early! Save Regularly! Invest in Equity Mutual Funds!

A simple example would illustrate this point. If you invested Rs 10,000 per month for the next 20 years, you will end up saving Rs 24,00,000.

If you invested this money in a debt instrument (like Fixed Deposits, PPF etc.) and earn 8% p.a., your investments will grow to Rs 59 lacs.

An equity fund is risky and volatile but has the potential of delivering higher returns in the long run. It is the growth engine in your portfolio. If an equity fund delivered 12% p.a., your investments would grow to Rs 99 lacs and at 15% p.a., your investment will grow to Rs 1.5 Cr.

As you would notice, you could end up anywhere between Rs 59 lakhs or Rs 1.5 Cr depending on the investment returns you can generate, with the same amount of money saved.

In the real world, your income grows over time and hence your ability to save and invest also grows proportionally. If you can learn to invest, it will have a significant impact on your finances in the long run.

The challenge with equity funds is that it is volatile and you can experience significant losses in the short run. You can expect to succeed only if you can select the right fund and stay invested when the going is not in your favour. Like any other skill, you can learn it yourself or seek the help of a Financial Advisor to ensure that you nurture this seed effectively to create wealth.

The Third Seed – Create a Personal Stock Portfolio

This is a risky strategy and many of you may not want to tread on this path. But if you can get this right, it can be a game changer in your life. Taking the earlier example, if you could earn 18% p.a. with your direct stock investments, Rs 10,000 invested every month for 20 years could grow to over Rs 2.3 Crores. It is certainly worth your while to learn investing directly in stocks.

This will demand some time and commitment and you can pursue this only if you are willing to do that. The good part is that the rewards can be significant, if you are successful.

The first and the second seed ensure that you lead a comfortable life. The third seed can transform your comfortable life in to a luxurious one!

Conclusion

Seeds do not grow to tress overnight! You need to nurture them and give lots of time and effort for them to grow. Our careers and investments are no different!

Get started now! You can either learn everything about investing on your own – there is a lot of material out there on the web on this subject. If that is too daunting or you do not have adequate time for it, you can also consider taking the help of a Financial Advisor.

I am sure most of you have already planted your first seed and are already nurturing it. So when do you plan on planting the other two seeds?