Stocks To Riches by Parag Parikh

CHAPTER 1

Investing

 Investing is a challenging game and we are all into it at some time
 or the other. The clearer we are about it, the more successful we
 will be at mastering it.
 Let’s eavesdrop on this dinner conversation between a father,
 mother, son and daughter.
 Son: Dad, give me some money. I want to invest in the stock

 market. All my college friends go to this broker who provides
 terminals where one can invest.
 Dad: Invest?

Son: Yes, my friends make a lot of money. They buy stocks on the

 broker’s advice and when the prices rise, they sell and make
 a clean profit.
 Dad: Well, this is the age for you to study, get good grades so that

 you can get a good job that will secure your future. I don’t
 want you to get into speculating in stocks.
 Daughter: Dad, you have to give me some extra money this month, as I
 need to buy some gold jewellery. I will be getting married in
 a couple of years and I need to start building my jewellery
 collection now.
 Mother: Baby, look at yourself in the mirror. You are putting on so
 much weight. If you want to look good wearing gold jewellery
 you require a good body. Why don’t you go to the gym for
 regular workouts instead of wasting your time watching
 TV? It’s high time you start watching your figure if you
 want to get a good husband and settle down in life.
 Daughter: Oh mom, my boyfriend is a big investor. He buys and sells
 commodities. He knows how to make money. We have
 decided to get married. You need not worry about my future.

Son: Oh, so he is a commodity investor? Great! Dad, I told you
 it’s a great business. I want to be a stock investor. You
 don’t understand what a big thing investing is. You can
 make a lot of money through it.. See dad, you slog the whole
 day at your factory. Become an investor and we will become
 rich.
 Mother: Children, your dad works so hard at his factory, which is
 why we have a comfortable life. It’s wrong to run down
 your father. He chose to set up this factory. So what if he
 did not get into investing?
 Son and Daughter: But we can make big money through investing. Why should
 dad work so hard at the factory when this is a better
 option?
 Mom: I don’t want to get into this debate but I am happy to have

 inherited from my father some stocks and a real estate
 property. I get my regular dividends from my stocks and the
 rent from the property. Why should I bother about investing?
 Dad: Well, I think I will go to sleep. I am really confused about

 this. Investing is a difficult subject. Good night.
 In the conversation, no one understands ‘investing’. The son
 and the daughter talk about it but do not know what it exactly is.
 The father has invested in the factory and asks his son to invest in
 his education. But he does not know what investing means either.
 The mother asks her daughter to invest in her body by exercising
 regularly. The daughter too does not realise that buying gold
 jewellery is real investing, not commodity trading. The mother is
 the real investor in stocks and real estate. Yet, she does not know
 about it.

What is Investing?

Investing is a very exhaustive subject. It means different
 things to different people. At some point of time we all are investing
 in something. It may be relationships; it may be a marriage or a

Stocks To Riches by Parag Parikh