Book Review - Dream Big - Welcome to Sarath Babu's Lifestyle Blog

Title - Dream Big

Authors - Dr Mukesh Jindal & Arunraj VS

Genre - Finance / Self Help

Publisher - TV18 Broadcast Ltd

ISBN - 978-938406164-7

When I purchased this book, I never knew that I would be taken onto a journey of my lifetime with regards to money & investments. When I say money, it is a real wider aspect since anything and everything can be done with the help of the money these days. While we all work hard to earn, there are lot of aspects that goes into saving.

I wouldn't say I am a "Saving Wizard" but atleast I thought that I am one until I started reading this book. This isn't a MAGIC but when you finish reading it, you would surely become a Magician where you would know as to how to control your finances - especially with regards to the outflow.

Firstly, I liked the quality of the book which is hardbound and the paper quality was equally good. This has been complemented with the Red & White coloring scheme which looked appealing to me. To top it up, the book also features some cool pictographs that adds more value to the content.

The book in itself is real vast but has broken down the complexities of finances into smaller areas/parameters. We would be seeing a lot of people talking about inflation but they are the ones who may not necessarily be knowing a to how to beat it because if they did, they wouldn't be cribbing about it. The value of compounding growth and to ascertain the future value of the money has been clearly explained.

Then comes the darling of the investors - Mutual Funds and Equity Funds. Many are averse to this and we always have the notion that these are risky. While the latter is true to some extent, authors have described it beautifully as to how SIP could work wonders for the investors and they have also busted the myths with regards to MF's.

Then comes the Equity Funds where you would get to know more about ELSS, Sector and Thematic Funds and how Equity Funds fare better compared with Real Estate. The book doesn't end here but it goes deep into these by giving information on Debt Funds, Types of Debt Funds and how they are better compared to FD's.

How many of us are aware about Dynamic Asset Allocation?

Do you know the difference between Balanced Funds and Monthly Income Plans?

Do you know about NAV and how to read Mutual Fund Offer documents?

The answer to all the questions raised above lies in the book.

If you think you are done, you need to relax a bit because we completed only half of the vast subject(at least in this book).

You get to know more in detail about Insurance, Types of Insurance, comparison between ULIP and Endowment Policy, Health & Term Insurance to name a few.

Other investment options like PPF, NPS, NSC has also been discussed in this book.

The key investment strategies like risk profiling, asset allocation, portfolio review and re-balancing, tax implication on investments(subject to change every year) along with Financial Planning were given in great detail in this book.

To put it simply, you don't have to seek the help of a wealth advisor or a professional but to some extent you can do it on your own when it comes to investment but the authors also in the end has talked about the importance of having a Certified Financial Advisor(CFA). The book is a treasure trove and shouldn't be missed.