Informative Article by Gaurav Mashruwala, on MoneyControl.com

Spend like a child, Give like a youth, Save like an elderly

There are three things we can do with our income – Spend, Give Away and Save. Currently I am reading one of the scriptures where our ancestors have very nicely explained how to use our income.

In the scripture, these three have been linked to our life stages of Childhood, Youth and Old Age.

A child is unknowingly selfish. If he is given a banana, he will eat it without even offering it to his mother on whose lap he is sitting. He will alone derive complete pleasure from it without sharing. We should spend our income like that. We should spend our income on ourselves and our near and dear ones. When we are spending we should be selfish and ensure we get complete pleasure from it.

Youth is a symbol of carefree attitude. Youth is also daring and raring to go. When time comes to helping needy ones and offering support to the society, be carefree. Do not think about what will happen to you and your near ones if you spend your income caring for others. Be the first one to pledge support and do it enthusiastically. Trust in God, if you support others in need, God will ensure others will support you in your times of need. And if God does not support you, then no other support will be worthwhile.

Lastly, when it comes to saving your income, behave like elderly. Old age symbolizes carefulness, maturity, patience, and wisdom. When it comes to saving our income, all the above characteristics are needed. We have to be careful while we select our investments and act in a matured manner. We should not get swayed away in Ponzi Schemes. After having invested we should carefully preserve all the records.

Further we should restrain patience and allow our investments to grow.

Spending, Giving Away and Saving are three activities that can be pursued with our income. To derive maximum benefit from our income one must pursue all three. It is like a tripod. If a tripod has to balance then it needs all three legs, it cannot choose one over the other. Similarly to derive maximum benefit from our income we must balance on all three.

We must spend our income on ourselves and our near and dear ones for meeting our necessities and pleasures.

Next, it is our responsibility to support our society. Wealth only stays with those who support poor people, artisans, teachers, elders, orphans etc. Think of all those families and even business houses that have remained wealthy for several decades. These are families and business houses, which have always supported society.

Lastly Save. Save for our future responsibilities and uncertainty. Saving is one way of preparing ourselves for the future.