In today's times, people want to get the best of everything for their child, the best education, food, clothing and the best quality of life. They say kids of the Z generation are born with a silver spoon, since most often parents bestow them with all the luxuries of life, without having to worry about the means, kids are totally left out of the money talk. Kids of this generation may not have experienced the financial difficulties as the earlier generations did. Until adolescence, they believe that money is unlimited, since they have been getting whatever they have ever wanted, decorated on a plate. And then a bomb is dropped when they move out of the house and step into the savage Adult world. That's the time when you'd expect your kid to save and start investing for his/her future, but chances are he/she would be entrapped in the vicious circle of Monetary Negligence accompanied with ruthless spending, zero saving and high credit card debt. It would take some precious years of their age before realizing Financial Cognizance.

To avoid this situation, it becomes crucial for parents to inculcate financial prudence among kids from a young age. If they have a strong base built, they acknowledge money's worth, saving & investing will run in their blood. In this passage, we'll share with you ideas on how you can go about constructing this base.

Understanding the Role of Money: Kids should be able to connect the dots, that:

1. Things come for a price, the price is Money And

2. That the supply of money is limited, and that is the reason why out of the ten toys they demand, they get only two.

There are small things that you can do in your everyday lives, for making them conscious of money's worth.

For preschoolers, all that matters is a balloon or a toy, which probably they'd buy, but may hardly ever play with. As a parent it's important that you don't give in to their demands too quickly and also not always. When fulfillment of wants isn't easy, kids will learn to be patient and start valuing things.

When your kids accompany you to the ATM, they may be fascinated by how cash is dispensed, you must tell them it's not magic and that when money comes out, concurrently your bank balance is reducing.

Send them for small purchases like buying stationary, a packet of milk, popcorn in the cinema hall, so that they can sense the exchange between money and the stuff bought. They'll get to know the prices of various products and that some products are more valuable than others.

You can instill diligence in your kids by involving them in your routine affairs like checking restaurant bills, you can ask them to compare prices of the same product offered by different brands, while you go shopping for groceries.

Saving: They understand the connection between money and the goodies money can buy, but do they really understand the connection between money and bifurcation between the goodies and savings? Young kids must understand that you put in a lot of hard work and efforts to run the house. They should realize the value of thrift and savings, and should start taking their first steps of being financially savvy. Your role as a parent is to familiarize the kids with the need to save and guide them as to how to go the about the saving process.

Tell them Why to Save

Narrate to them instances that how your savings helped you achieve your goals, that your car, which your son loves to the core, came because you saved for it, or the recent vacation where your kids had a great time, happened because you saved for it throughout the year. Also narrate instances when your savings helped you in meeting emergencies, like when their favourite aunt got married, you bought all the beautiful clothes and gifts for the aunt from your savings. The idea is kids should realize that why should they save, before moving on to the saving activity.

Tell them How to Save

A small allowance for winning a competition, or helping out their mother in the kitchen, or for scoring well in exams, will not just motivate kids but will also help them understand the concept of working hard for money. Concurrently, they should also be explained that although they've earned the money, they shouldn't be spending it all, a portion must be saved. You can always attach a goal as a motivation to save, like buying a gadget or having a grand birthday bash next year from the accumulated savings.

Budgeting: A crucial element of valuing money is learning to live within a budget. You must tell them that you prepare monthly budgets and manage all the expenses within that budget, which helps you in saving money for your goals, that you could save for the annual family vacation because you lived within your budget. A great idea to have your kids have the hang of budgeting is through a simple activity like letting them plan a birthday party within a budget, while you monitor the progress by checking the expenses and the budget left, poke them if they are spending too much on an item and remind them of the budget left.

So, the bottom line is, kids must start learning to value money right from the time when they start learning the “basics” like learning to value our culture, respecting elders, being hygienic, being kind, among others. It's extremely important to expose them to money matters gradually from their early years. There are little things you can do, which can help them become money wise, to help them establish a connection between ends and means.

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In it's 6^th and the last of this fiscal's bi-monthly monetary policy review, RBI kept the Repo rate unchanged at 6%, three times in a row, announced on 7th Feb 2018. What does it mean for the common man?, is the question to be answered in the following passage. But before moving on to the impact of the rate, let's understand what does Repo rate mean?

So, Repo Rate is the rate at which RBI lends money to commercial banks, generally against government securities. Repo Rate is used by the Central Bank to control the level of inflation in the country. When the Repo rate is low, banks get money at cheaper rates and consequently the lending rates also fall, which leads to increased supply of money in the economy thus accelerating inflation; and vice versa, the Repo rate is increased when the inflationary pressure is high in the economy.

Now we have some key takeaways from this Monetary Policy Review for the common man:

> Inflation: The retail inflation accelerated to a 17 month high of 5.21% in the month of December 2017. The RBI has raised its forecasts for CPI inflation to 5.1% for the March quarter and to 5.1-5.6% for the first half of FY 2019, before stabilizing to around 4.5-4.6%.

> Loans: The interest rates have taken the downward staircase since the last 3 years, and a stable repo rate means they aren't changing course any soon. Low and constant Repo rate means it's an opportunity for prospective home buyers as they can continue to avail loans from banks at cheaper rates.

> Deposit Rates: Like Lending rates, deposit rates are also caught on the downward trend. 1 year Fixed Deposit rates have fallen from the 8.5% range to a mere 6.5% range from 2014 to 2017 for all major banks, and apparently the scenario for the upcoming months also look muted. Similar is the plight of other traditional investments like PPF, NSC or fixed deposits with shorter or longer investment periods.

In light of the above situation, it may not be wise to keep your money in banks or other low interest bearing instruments.

- Liquid Funds for parking your savings: It'll be a better bet to park your extra cash or Emergency money in Liquid Mutual Funds, than letting them sit in your savings account for a meagre 4%. Liquid Funds can fetch you better returns than your savings account, plus it offers high level of liquidity also. In some funds, you can get your money in your bank account within 30 minutes of placing the redemption request.

- Short Term debt funds for lower horizon investments: When you have a short investment horizon of around 3 years, Short Term Debt Mutual Funds offer a better alternative to Fixed Deposits or other traditional investments, by offering marginally better returns as well as by offering indexation benefit which significantly reduces the investor's tax liability on capital gains.

- Equity Mutual Funds for longer term investments: After the recent announcement of Long Term Capital Gains Tax on returns from Equity, in the Union Budget this year, investors are skeptical about Equity. Just to put this into perspective, the tax will be levied at a modest rate of 10% and that too on the returns earned over Rs 1 lakh. So, if the returns from your Equity MF investment are 15%, 13.5% is still yours. Hence, Equity continues to remain an attractive investment option for long term investing, because of substantially higher returns than all other asset classes even after providing for taxes.

We know many successful people and it is often our desire to achieve the success that our idols have achieved. However, matching success is not an easy thing, even though we may follow their footsteps.It is not about acting or doing things but is more about absorbing the wisdom and implementing this wisdom to our lives. In this article, we fathom the minds of a few great personalities and bring to you the pearls of wisdom on being and living wealthy.

"If a rich man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it." - Socrates
Being wealthy in itself is not something to be very proud of. After all, wealth can be acquired by a variety of means or even by luck. The real question is how you manage and employ your wealth. Great fortunes can be wasted or lost or kept idle with the passage of time. Wealth can act as a great tool or medium through which one may pursue things that lead to value creation in money or in kind. When it comes to investing too, employing money rightly is critical as wrong investment decisions will only erode your wealth over time. There is a risk that you may also lose opportunity to build your wealth. Often, the risk is not doing anything is higher than doing something. Socrates thus believed that a person would be better praised for what he is doing with his wealth rather than how much he holds.

Socrates (470-399 BC) was a classical Greek philosopher and credited as one of the founding fathers of western philosophy.

"If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone". - Benjamin Franklin
At the heart of wealth creation is the idea of spending less than what you earn. Another way to look at it is that a money saved is money earned. This sounds very easy and often heard. But in practice it can be hard to do and hence the need to remind ourselves of it again. With higher spending, most of us find ourselves left with reduced savings and high debts in present times and an already committed future income. This a big alarm to us all and big hurdle in creating wealth. Financial discipline and controlled consumption are very important if one ever dreams of being wealthy.

Benjamin Franklin (1706 -1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and also known as the 'The First American'. A very dynamic personality whose image is visible on 100 dollar bills, he was an author, printer, politician, scientist, musician, inventor, civic activist and a diplomat.

"Individuals who cannot master their emotions are ill-suited to profit from the investment process." - Benjamin Graham
Our emotions can blind us while taking important investment decisions. Human nature is highly driven by fear, greed & hope which deviates us from taking the right decisions. Truly, a person who is emotional cannot practice decision making with objectivity, patience and common sense. Decisions taken in emotion would generally be self destructive. For success in investing, is is important to be able to shut down the emotional part within ourselves. An unemotional & disciplined investment approach,is a key to building long-term wealth.

Benjamin Graham (1894-1976) was a British born, American economist, professor & professional investor. He is regarded as the father of 'value investing' approach and had many great followers, including Warren Buffett.

"You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong". Warren Buffett.
Creating wealth is easy and can be done by any person. It is also something that does not require one to be an expert stock analyst or to be very informed or something that requires lot of effort. The simple, basic and yet powerful principles of wealth creation like investing in right asset classes, investing for long term, keeping emotions at bay, etc. can really help create true wealth. One doesn't need to be expert product choosers or market timers to create wealth. The way and the amount of wealth created by Warren is a testimony to this fact. As long as we follow these basic principles and not do something very stupid that wipes out our wealth, we will be well off. Avoiding mistakes is thus more important and something that we should all keep in mind when we make any financial decision.

Warren Buffett (born 1930) is an American business magnate, investor & philanthropist. Widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world, he is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and is among the richest in the world. He is known for his long-term and value investing philosophy to create wealth.

"Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections or trying to anticipate corrections than has been lost in the corrections themselves." - Peter Lynch
Markets are highly volatile in nature. Market fluctuations often cause investors to change their investment plans. Often we try to time the markets and move in and out of investments to profit from the market movements. However, it is almost impossible to predict how markets would behave. By attempting to do so, investors often also lose out on the returns they could have earned had they stayed put. Timing the market should never be the objective of an investor as it is the business of a speculator or a trader. Frequent changes in portfolio also comes at a cost. It is thus better to channel our energy to earn realistic returns over a longer horizon rather than aim for short term benefits.

Peter Lynch (born 1944) is a stock investor, author & a philanthropist. He earned fame in the investment world with his success as researcher & fund manager at Fidelity Investments.

"Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game." - Donald Trump
Another truth about becoming and staying wealthy is doing what you like most. It would only mean that you are doing something with passion and something that you are willing to learn and only become good at. At the heart of it you are not really chasing money but making money follow you by being good at what you are doing. It is also something that will ensure that you are on the right path and with much greater possibilities to create wealth in future. Further, money can be used to keep track of how well we are doing, acting as a tool for reference and comparison in many ways. When it comes to wealth management, the joy of managing and seeing your wealth grow over time would perhaps give a greater satisfaction than from just holding a fixed quantum of wealth. There is a strong case for you to start liking the process of wealth management today.

Donald J. Trump is the 45th President of the United States, (born 1946) is an American business magnate, real estate developer and author. His lifestyle and the role in the famous reality show 'The Apprentice' on NBC made him a celebrity.

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