On Personal Finance & Swiss Army Knife.
Why Personal Finance has to be akin to a Swiss Army Knife?
I love listening to sales guys because that's where you can gain knowledge for free, whether a car, residential property or financial products — sales guys, in general, are geared up with a good amount of expertise to sell their products. However, there are obvious limitations to it. You should not just listen to the music they play on their products but also gain insights on why not their competitors.
Let's take an example of my recent interaction with an insurance sales agent.
According to her, one can plan for all their financial goals and get wealthy by 'investing' in endowment health insurance policies. While I know that it is not valid, I was curious about their opinion on equities and bonds. In most cases, such sales agents do not know these financial instruments, yet, they boldly proclaim the products they sell are the only and sure-shot way to become wealthy.
Likewise,
- A mutual fund sales agent may not explore real assets like properties
- An insurance sales agent may not research mutual funds or equities
- A Portfolio manager may not explore term insurance & other insurance products
