Notes

I’d been typing and backspacing the texts for forty-five minutes until I finally got the wording perfect.

There! I think to myself. I’ve complimented my friend's concerned inquisitive thinking, made my own contribution without making a slight towards his, and I’ve included my thoughts on why I don't listen to financial advise from family and friends.
All that in under three sentences!
I mentally congratulate myself for coming up with what, in my opinion, is an even better reaction to my friends than my previous response to my uncle when he tried to smuggle in antiquated investing advice.
I hit the send button.
Closing my messaging app, I wonder why these folks assume that financial issues are any similar to parenting issues and that I'll heed their totally unsolicited advice simply because I'm inexperienced. For the past decade, I've been managing my finances and investments quite well, with decent returns. What gives them the confidence that they are more qualified to manage funds than a person who makes their livelihood managing the financial portfolios of other people?

My screen flashes with a new message notification. Excitement slides my thumb down the screen to peek at the message preview.
Initially, I'm unsure if I was meant to be the recipient of this text. Surely, my friend knows just how much I detest stock suggestions from others. Surely, he knows I do not appreciate people meddling with my financial affairs.
But instead, what meets my eyes is a rather condescending text from him, "You know nothing, Raveena. NIIT is gonna go up, you should totally consider buying some 50-something shares."
I feel a punch to my gut.
Then, denial offers its salvation.
Perhaps he will delete the message and reply with a sincere apology for sending an improper message to the wrong person.
I stare at my screen, willing the three jumping dots to do their dance, but they don’t show. This feels uncannily familiar, like I have heard this same thing from my uncle.
Then it hits me: this is what my landlord said when I disregarded his counsel the last time this topic was rehashed.
Maybe I'm overlooking something here Maybe the stocks they recommend aren't necessarily loss-making. Maybe people have had better experiences with sharing their financial issues with their families. Just maybe. So, I google "Should I accept investment advice from friends", which then leads to searching "are bro-kar's suggestions reliable." I’m scrolling through the results when something intriguing grabs my attention.
It’s a Quora post about someone who’s had a similar experience. It reads: I started investing in mutual funds in my late 30s and bagged decent gains. Later, a colleague of mine suggested investing and trading in f&O. I knew this category would generate excellent returns, way more than MF, so naturally the offer was tempting. The colleague quoted his figures, and that made it all the more irresistible. Before I knew it, I started dabbling in F&O. And then COVID-19 hit, and the long bull-run came to an agonizingly sluggish bear crawl, completely wiping out the capital as well as the gain.
To put this into perspective, I suffered a total loss of 25 lakhs at the age of 45 when I was nearing my retirement age and my broker squared off the position ;) I scroll through the comments, and so many people are having similar experiences in their lives. I feel partly relieved that this is not just me, but the more I read, the more frustration rises in my chest.

So many people dish out unsolicited and unsound financial advice, whether it's a "multi-bagger stock' or other investment products.Finances have always been seen as a taboo subject that should only be addressed with close friends and family because of its intimate nature.
Peers can therefore have an impact on our stock market involvement and asset buying choices.
The problem is that not only are they unqualified to give this advice, but they are also unaware of our financial situation, so it’s clearly unsuitable for us.
But those people swear that it’s paid for them (ik we're trained to take this counsel with a grain of salt, but honestly the statistics are so ecstatic) and this inspires confidence in us. These folk suggest products that have worked for them, i.e., the risk-to-reward ratio was agreeable to them. These people have no idea what our risk tolerance and capacity are, and I found out the hard way that trading high-risk, high-volatility F&O in my 40s as a new trader wasn't a wise move.
b) They have no idea what our financial goals are, and the thing about investing or trading is that we should plan it after considering the goals we want to achieve. As a result, the advice these family members, friends, and brothers provide doesn't take the person's time horizon into account.


They are therefore ignorant of our financial goals, the time frame in which we must attain them, our risk tolerance, or the best investment option for us, and yet WE TRUST THEM WITH OUR HARD-EARNED MONEY and uncalculated risk.
(Put in a red flag emoji) )

Next time your friend tries to slip in these "tips", with all due respect, ignore it and you’d be better off.
Lesson learnt: Do your homework and conduct your own research.Nobody can access your financial needs better than you. Nobody knows your risk profile better than you, so stop relying on this ignorant advice from ignorant people.
2.8K upvotes!!!
I couldn’t agree more with this. Although I haven't had the same experience, the truth in the post is significant.
This has gone beyond just me and my friend, I think to myself. This cannot keep happening to us. Somebody must raise awareness about researching your own investment options.
I consider what I can do to help these people.
After more internet surfing, more pacing, and some more googling, I finally realize what needs to be done. I sit at my work table, fire up my laptop, and open Google Docs to write what I consider will be a historically significant medium blog on why we should ignore Bro-kar's biased investment advice.