Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - May 2009 - Index

revolution in India with subsidies
and incentives to farmers.
Soon, the country was self-sufficient.
Not only was a potential
famine averted, within three
years, India was exporting wheat.
And Bahl, who was not yet
10, learnt a valuable lesson.
During challenging economic
times, we must not only save, we
must learn to be productive.
He was to apply that lesson
many years later, thousands of
miles from his childhood home.
A lady walked into his store in
Toronto with two young kids. She
was a single mom with not much
money to spare, she said frankly,
but she wanted to give her children
healthy, nutritious food.
That should not be a problem,
said Bahl, and asked her
what her weekly budget was.
Fifteen dollars, she said.
“I said, ‘We can feed all of
you on that if you promise to
spend an hour in the kitchen in
the morning and another in the
evening,’” says Bahl.
The woman was a bit surprised,
but she agreed.
Bahl suggested honey ($1 a
pound), peanut butter ($1 a pound)
and a five-pound bag of rolled oats,
etc. She also wanted a portion of
chicken or fish. In exactly fifteen
dollars, she had enough food to
feed her family for a week.
For those who are rubbing
their eyes in disbelief at the
prices – honey for a dollar a
pound? – this was a quarter of a
century ago.
But even today, many people
find they don’t have much left
over for food after they’ve paid
their rent.
According to newspaper reports,
while the average weekly
food bill in Canada is $140, a
family on welfare would be left
with just $25 to spend on food
for a week.
“It’s very hard, but it can still
be done if you buy in bulk and
are willing to cook from
scratch,” says Bahl.
“What do the two examples I
gave – of Shastri and of the single
mom – teach us? They teach us
Old school ways
to fiscal fitness
Grandparents’ common sense
manifesto for today’s financial woes
The big banks and mega corporations have the best
brains at work, crunching numbers. As the spectre of job
losses hovers over thousands of people, CEOs have been
persuaded to take pay cuts. Everyone from Paul Volcker,
former chairman of the United States Federal Reserve,
and author and economist Thomas Friedman has
weighed in on what went wrong and why. The consensus
is that consumption – ours and that of our governments’
– is higher than our production.
Our sins have caught up with us.
According to Bank of Canada figures for 2007, debt
reached an all-time high with Canadian households
owing $1.25 for every dollar of disposable income. Personal
bankruptcies have gone up by over 50 per cent.
Analysts are predicting it’s going to get worse as businesses
close and people are laid off.
If conspicuous consumerism got us here, then isn’t it
time to cut back? But if wealth generation is the goal,
and if consumer spending revives a moribund economy,
then how do the curbs make sense? And who decides
how much is responsible spending and how much is
too much? Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has called it a
crisis of confidence.
Is this the time to spend? Or is it time to hunker down
and ride this out? What are mere mortals to make of
this economic downturn we find ourselves in?
“Listen to your elders!”
exhorts Ravi Bahl.
that with a clarity of mind and
purpose, and with a healthy attitude,
anything is possible.”
Be ready to do what is asked
of you, he extorts.
“We have become an overstimulated
society. We need coffee,
cigarettes and alcohol to
even start thinking and planning!
My suggestion? Be rational,
avoid all three, save your
money and enjoy a healthy body
and mind!”
One used to be told to set
aside 10 per cent of one’s income
for retirement, says Bahl,
but he thinks five per cent is
sufficient in Canada.
“Here, the socio-economic
structure is such that I have kept
aside only five per cent. Invest
that money in RRSP, RESP for your
kids or grandchildren, or in the
new TFSAs. Have an insurance
policy that builds up a nest egg.
That way, it covers you while it
saves your money.”
Borrowing is a strict no-no.
The only exception should be
for a mortgage when your
mortgage payment is equivalent
to your rent, as this helps you
build equity rather than lose the
rent money month after month.
Along with things we can do
as individuals (see box on page
13), Bahl advocates never losing
sight of our duties towards
our fellow beings.
“Look at the big picture.
What are your duties towards
others, towards society at large?
Ten per cent of your take-home
salary should go towards charity.
What Barack Obama is
saying, asking younger people
to get more involved in their
communities, that is the way to
go. When a community benefits,
everyone benefits. There
are 500 billionaires in the world.
If they donated just 10 per cent
of their wealth, there would be
no poverty in the world.”
Bahl is part of a seniors’ fitness
program at India Rainbow
Centre that meets once a week.
“We generally discuss social
issues when we meet, but
people will come in and share
useful information and money
saving ideas. Recently, we were
all talking about the dental program
the government of Ontario
is offering seniors – another
way to save money!”
S
hanta Sharma recalls
being encouraged to set
some money aside for a
rainy day.
“We grew up with the habit.
The kids today, they think, if
you have it, spend it! My 18year-old
grandson dreams of
buying a Ferrari. I tell him to have
his feet planted on earth rather
than his head in the clouds, to
put a down payment on a house
when he has the money. Property
goes up in value, a car goes
down, I tell him.”
May 2009 Desi News 11