The importance of an all-rounder

Ever since I have been writing  personal finance individuals within and outside my network have been reaching out to me for seeking advice about financial planning. Although I inform them to seek the guidance of a qualified financial planner, I do share my experience and insights on the same. Quit often, the best way to engage with an individual is to converse in a manner which he would understand.

One such person was Mr Anant. He would come to my office twice a month. For every hour that he would spend with me, for forty minutes he would speak about cricket. I used to be a cricket fan but not anymore. However old habits die hard and I continue to keep myself abreast about the game. However Mr Anant still followed the game as enthusiastically as most of us men did when we were young boys.

Once while explaining about different financial products I was trying to compare them with cricketers. So a small or a microcap equity fund could be compared with an aggressive batsman such as David Warner An insurance product that offered protection could be compared with a compact batsman like Cheteshwar Pujara. When the topic came to all rounders we invariably discussed about the glory days of all rounders like Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Sir Ian Botham and Sir Richard Hadlee. Even Gary Sobers – possibly the greatest of them all was paid obeisance to. The last genuine all rounder was Jacques Kallis post which the cricketing world has seen a dearth of these magical players. Mr Anant couldn’t help but ask whether there is an equivalent for an all rounder in the financial space. He felt that he hadn’t come across a product which could also help him with different aspects of financial planning as most of them focused only on one aspect which were either wealth creation or protection. I replied that there is. And surprisingly it is a life insurance product. Just like how an all rounder could offer a three in one option for his team – batting, balling and fielding; this product can offer protection, wealth accumulation and wealth enhancement.

I spoke about Edelweiss Tokio- GCAP. It is a guaranteed returns plan which also offers life insurance coverage. I informed Mr Anant that firstly this offers protection in case of an unforeseen event. Secondly it is a product through which wealth can be accumulated for important milestones in life as it offers good returns. Thirdly wealth is enhanced thanks to the loyalty additions which are guaranteed. The fact that this is a tax saving plan, which offers tax benefits [80C and 10(10D)], makes it a well rounded product.

Mr Anant seemed satisfied that we could complete drawing suitable analogies. And like most days, we could never figure out how time flew by as another interesting session came to an end.