Genesis of Financial Disability

Default Financial Living Design:

By default design of living we tend to remain in our comfort zones. This reflects in each and every area of our life. Those who break open the comfort zone are able to accomplish extraordinary feats in their lives. There are many authors/poets, economists, scientists and social scientists but few Nobel laureates, many cricketers but only one each of Sachin, Bradman, Richards, Sobers or Lara, etc. So ordinarily most of us are in our comfort zones most of the times and hence, are living an ordinary life.

In the domain of personal financial management this living style manifests as Financial Disability. With reference to financial management, we tend to operate in different spaces depending on how much we tend to remain in our comfort zones:

1.            Majority of us do not save.

2.            Majority of us who save, do not invest.

3.            Majority of us who invest, do not invest with a purpose.

4.            Minority of us invests with a purpose.

a.            Majority of us who invest with a purpose, do not stick to the purpose.

b.            Minority of us who invest with a purpose and also stick to the purpose.

Category 1 and 2 persons are in plenty and suffer the most severe Financial Disability. As you go from space 1 to 4 you minimize the financial disability.

Category 1 people earn, spend and splurge.

Category 2 persons keep the entire surplus in a bank savings account earning taxable 4% pa (some banks offering more up to 7%) with inflation hovering at around 7 - 12% and food inflation in double digits.

Category 3 people invest in bank Fixed Deposits or other similar debt instruments in the name of risk free investments, but in fact, are not aware that they are in their comfort zones. Such investments also earn a negative return when taxation and inflation are taken into consideration. Moreover as no purpose has been assigned to these “so-called” investments, whenever such investments mature the immediate want is taken care of like TV, Refrigerator (or other consumer durables), Clothes, spending in Marriage in family or relatives, etc etc. These people also buy gold or silver jewelry telling themselves that they are investing for a rainy day. But in fact, they are not (I shall explain it some other time). Here it is enough to mention that if you invest in Gold it should not be more than 10 – 20% of your entire portfolio and that too in the form of Gold Funds or bars never jewelry.

Category 4 people are very few, who foresee their financial goals, and invest for such goals. But again, majority (Category 4a) does not stick to the purpose of investment. Highly prevalent example is withdrawing money from provident fund savings (meant for post retirement life) for spending on kids’ marriage and spending quite beyond their means in an attempt to “look good” in the society. Quite often they spend beyond their means in relative’s marriage in the name of “social obligations” like marriage of sister’s or daughter’s kids. Thus digging deeper into their retirement savings.

Only minority in Category 4b tend to avoid financial disability in life, who provide for specific investments for all specific financial goals in life, like owning a house, educating and settling kids, taking care of post retirement days, etc. If some expenditure comes up that had not been planned for, then that is taken care off without tweaking the other investments, tagged to specific purposes.

You must have noticed transitioning from category 1 to 4b requires a great deal of commitment and gradually increasing degree of being in action. That, in other words, means being out of your comfort zone. Of course, one may have created many reasons to remain in one’s comfort zone: like market place is risky, I’m quite young and it’s too early to save and invest, let me enjoy my life, life will take care of itself, what is destined for me will come to me, etc.

These are basic people types that suffer varying degrees of Financial Disability and also many other deficits in other areas of their lives depending on which category they belong to.

In my subsequent posts I will be discussing about what other factors or blocks come in the way of financial planning and wealth creation.

Disclaimer:

Whatever I am sharing or going to share is/will be in the nature of general guidance only to give an overview of basic concepts of Total Rehabilitation. It is aimed at sensitizing the reader to healthy lifestyle habits or basic concepts of financial planning. It should NEVER be treated as substitute for professional advice, which can only be given by your physician/ investment advisor after personally assessing your specific condition/ financial status.

Rehabilitation & Living Your Dream!

Abha (name changed), a beautiful, 12 years old girl belonged to a humble farm laborer’s family from a remote village in Jharkhand. Abha had got infected with polio in early childhood, even before she could learn to stand & walk. She wanted to walk to her school as with advancing age it was becoming more and more difficult for her parents to carry her on rough rural terrain.  Her father carried her in to my consultation chamber back in late 2005. Her initial polio illness had long gone but had left her with a combination of PARALYSIS, multiple DEFORMITIES and PAIN, with permanent stiffness of her hip, knee and ankle on both sides. She also had significant shortness of one of her lower limbs. With so many deformities she was, what we call in our medical jargon, a great rehabilitation challenge. Considering that she had never stood erect and walk it was literally habilitation rather than re-habilitation.

On interacting with her I found a great desire of standing on her own and walking to school (she was fortunate as her parents used to carry her to school). We chalked her rehabilitation management plan. Did operate on her both hips, both knees and both ankles in multiple sessions, to rid her off the deformities. She was re-assessed for the limb shortness and found it to be too much to overcome by raising the shoe only. So a limb lengthening procedure was also done that alone took around 9 months to get completed. In all, she spent around 3 years to reach this far. Then started long ordeal of practicing standing and walking along with training for taking care of her personal needs. In view of her significant trunk weakness we trained her to walk with calipers in both her lower limbs with support of a walker. But she was not satisfied at this. She continued her exercises and walking practice, as walker was not suitable for rough landscape that she had to walk through to her school. One fine morning last year, after her exams, she again walked in to my clinic, determined to get rid of walker and replace the same with crutches. This time she stayed with us for almost 5 to 6 months and with continuous hard work on her part, combined with that of my team of therapists, she got discharged, walking with calipers and crutches.

Now, Abha can stand & walk to school, negotiate gentle ramps, go up and come down stairs, play with other children, do household chores and is becoming a productive member of the society once again. Of course, she still has disability but by accepting the same “as such” and choosing to concentrate on her abilities she has achieved this much.

 

Disclaimer:

Whatever I am sharing is of general guidance nature to give an overview of basic concepts of Total Rehabilitation. It is aimed at sensitizing the reader to healthy lifestyle habits or basic concepts of financial planning. It should NEVER be treated as substitute for professional advice, which can only be given by your physician/ investment advisor after personally assessing your specific condition/financial status.

About ME & Total Rehabilitation!

My Profession:

I am a Physiatrist, a physician who has specialized in Rehabilitation Medicine (also known as Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in many parts of the World, including India). I have around 20 years exposure in this medical specialty. Rehabilitation Medicine is an independent discipline of Medical Sciences. The patient spectrum catered to, in this field includes all the conditions that are associated with either or combination of PAIN, PARALYSIS and/or DEFORMITY. The age range is practically from womb to tomb. Here, in addition to medical diagnosis we also make a Rehabilitation Diagnosis that includes mainly, but not limited to, functional limitations posed/left by the disease condition. In addition, an assessment of left over and potential abilities is also done to optimize the same for overcoming functional limitations (read disabilities) to maximum possible extent.

Physiatry is a team game where Physiatrist leads a team, mainly comprising of Occupational Therapists, Orthotists-Prosthetists and Physical therapists. In addition to being responsible for above diagnoses, the Physiatrist also sets realistic long-term functional goals aligned to person’s aspirations. He plans and strategizes attainment of these goals by defining intervening milestones. The execution of the plan is a dynamic process, where every team member contributes his/her defined function and periodically communicates amongst themselves, with the Physiatrist, (team leader) and most importantly, the person being treated. These communications help to maintain cohesiveness of the team effort and provide opportunities for course-correction as we proceed to execute the physical rehabilitation plan.

The final aim and objective of comprehensive rehabilitation is to re-integrate the physically challenged person, as a productive member, back into the society. To this end the Physiatrist also ropes in Clinical Psychologist, Social Worker, Vocational Counselor & Trainer, Remedial Gymnast, etc. Physicians from other medical disciplines may also be required on case-to-case basis.

Some conditions that are treated by Physiatrists include, Aches & Pains (Backache, Neck Pain, joint pains, etc), Different types of Arthritis, Head Injuries, Stroke, Paraplegia (due to any cause), Movement Disorders, Amputations, Spastic Children (Cerebral Palsy), Congenital Deformities (like Club Foot), Post Heart Attack/Surgery/Angioplasty cases, terminally ill persons, Sports Injuries, etc.

Some conditions that are NOT handled by Physiatrists include, recent onset organic pains (like Acute Pain in abdomen), Headaches (where neck involvement is ruled out), Acute Heart Attack, Drug Addiction, etc. Nevertheless, even in such cases it is always better for the treating physicians to involve Physiatrist (not just physiotherapist) from the very beginning to minimize many of the future complications.

How I got interested in LifeStyle Rehabilitation:

Over the years I found that it was easier and economical to prevent disabling conditions rather than treating and rehabilitating them. Most of the conditions were a result of unhealthy lifestyle practices, faulty postural habits, obesity leading to early osteoarthritis, cardiac ailments, diabetes (further leading to neuropathies, amputations, etc.) and sedentary practices, etc. Since unhealthy lifestyle was already a part of one’s personality by the time he/she came for my medical attention, I started to target lifestyle factors in addition to specific treatment for the specific conditions. Later I started enrolling people with unhealthy lifestyle practices before appearance of physical symptoms and impairments to impart Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) for preventive purposes. This also helped me in maintenance of optimum functional state in persons already having impairments and who got stabilized following institution of rehabilitative measures. That is how I developed special interest in LifeStyle Rehabilitation.

My Hobby:

Since childhood and early teenage I used to be fascinated by my father (who is also a physician) managing his tax returns and investments himself, without taking help of CAs or other taxation advisers. With time, I also developed interest for financial numbers and started reading about different aspects of taxation, investments, etc. At that time I also intended to be like my father, managing my own financial affairs. But, over the years I found that Dad had missed on many potentially decent investment opportunities in concentrating on tax planning only and going for just risk-free investments, even when he was young.

That induced me to go deeper into personal financial planning concepts. Later, as a Physiatrist, I found a great analogy in rehabilitation and financial planning. Physiatry deals with prevention and treatment of physical disability while Financial Planner deals with prevention and treatment of financial disability. In both the processes one needs strategizing, periodic reviews, course-correction to optimize returns (functional or monetary).

So now, I practice conventional Rehabilitation, LifeStyle Rehabilitation and Personal Financial Rehabilitation. That’s my TOTAL REHABILITATION and me!

In coming days I shall be dealing with different aspects of Total Rehabilitation as guidance for adopting healthy lifestyle practices to avoid physical and financial disabilities.

Disclaimer:

Whatever I am going to share will be of general guidance nature to give an overview of basic concepts of Total Rehabilitation. It is aimed at sensitizing the reader to healthy lifestyle habits or basic concepts of financial planning. It should NEVER be treated as substitute for professional advice, which can only be given by your physician/investment advisor after personally assessing your specific condition/financial status.