Psychology of Money: Morgan Housel
Yes… definitely, today I am going to talk about this book. But in a different way! Books that explain how to become wealthy are always a big hit among people. When I was in college, a book called Secret came out. It was sold and promoted mysteriously. People read it and then dismissed it. We don’t have data on how many people might have become like Kuberamoorthy (God of wealth) because of it. Currently trending is this book Psychology of Money. Surely, you will find at least four ideas in this book that your mind will like because all self-improvement books that came before also contain those ideas.
But the last question that arises is: how much are these advice suitable and practical to follow? After reading, some may do a quick rush to earn money and then lose it. After that, they return to their usual life without turning back to that path. From my personal experience, to say something about accumulating money: if you want to build wealth, first you need to avoid spending it. But in our daily lifestyles, only a few can manage that. This book talks about that as well. First, the value of money is not the same for all of us. I am not talking about the difference between dollars and rupees but the difference between one rupee and another rupee.
Have you noticed a difference in the value of money between one town and another? This is called the Cost of Living—the price you need to live by. If a middle-class family needs Rs. 40,000 to live in Chennai, the cost doubles in Bangalore. But that would be half for a family living in a small town. So, someone who earns Rs. 80,000 in Bangalore and someone earning Rs. 40,000 in Chennai are, depending on the city, spending about the same to live. Both expenses and income vary depending on where you live.
The book discusses unnecessary expenses created by such lifestyles and what the value of your money means to you. Then, it explains the importance of saving and the benefits of investing. Overall, in 19 chapters, the author speaks about the psychological impact of money. In the final chapter, he discusses his own life and savings. This is a book not just for someone but for everyone—as long as it applies to our lives! However, most books of this nature are written by English authors from the United States or other countries.
This raises the question of how useful this information would be for someone situated in India, with its complicated political and economic environment. For example, this book does not talk much about the major monetary needs people face here, such as building a house, marriage expenses, the pressure to settle down by 30, education expenses for children, etc.
But considering the huge expenses we face on this terrain—for poor families, it is definitely debt—they manage this somehow. So although this book might seem like a beautiful apple tree with far-sighted views, it cannot provide a fully satisfactory answer for everyone. You might relate to some parts. Or if you are someone who spends without knowing what to do with your monthly salary, this book can help you understand the necessity of saving. It is a good book. But it is deeply written in the context of the US and its economic history strongly linked to people’s lives.
If someone well-versed in the Indian terrain writes a book on Psychology of Money from an Indian perspective, it might help us greatly.
