Are We "Robbing Peter and Paying Paul"?

Niraj: Hey Anurag, why do you look so tensed and depressed? Is everything alright?

Anurag: What to say Niraj !! There is no humanity left in this world.

Niraj: Really ? Why do you say so?

Anurag: As you know we are approaching March end, my Banker approached me to buy some insurance policies from him. I don’t trust him, so I called up a friend who is a financial advisor. I asked him if I should buy these policies. He said that I should not buy them.

Niraj: I think he is right.

Anurag: Yes, I know he is right. But then my banker started forcing me to buy at least some good mutual funds from him. I again called that friend and told him the situation. I asked him to suggest me some good mutual funds. He refused to do so. How selfish is that !!

Niraj: Why is that selfish, If I may ask?

Anurag: My Financial Advisor friend is saying that I always seek free advice from him, and give the business to Banker. Thus, he won't give me advice now.

Niraj: Oh !! So you have already done this earlier?

Anurag: Yes, I have been doing this from last 2-3 years. I ask him names of some good funds and then invest through the banker.

Niraj: Aren’t you “Robbing Peter and Paying Paul”?

Anurag: I didn’t get you. Can you please explain?

Niraj: Why don’t you take advice from your banker?

Anurag: No Way !! These bank RMs change every 2-3 years. Who will trust them ? I don’t have an iota of trust on him.

Niraj: And why do you take advice from your financial advisor ?

Anurag: I know him from a very long time. He has been in this profession from quite some time. He is well qualified and a very trusted person.

Niraj: Well well !! Then don’t you think you should be giving business to your financial advisor friend.

Anurag: I never thought that ways. But even if I want to, I need to give business to my banker to “maintain relations”.

Niraj: Great. And why do you have to “maintain these relations”? Do you have / need any loan from the bank?

Anurag: No-no. In fact, I keep getting calls if I want to take a personal loan / Car loan from the bank.

Niraj: Then why do you need to maintain relations with him ?

Anurag: As humanity, as a gesture.

Niraj: And what about the person, who has been showing this humanity to you from last 3 years?

Anurag: But he refused me this time.

Niraj: Yes, because he might have got tired of showing this “humanity” to someone who is taking him for granted.

Anurag: So in your opinion, what should I do?

Niraj: In my opinion, we should be very careful if our actions depict “Robbing Peter and Paying Paul”. This means, we take for granted a person who helps us, and unnecessarily favour a person who is only looking to exploit us.

So let’s reverse the equation. Let’s identify and acknowledge the person who is helping us and ensure that he gets incentivized for his good act. At the same time, let’s chuck the person out of our life, who doesn’t have our interests on priority, who is only looking to exploit us to fulfil his targets.

Anurag : Thank you so much Niraj for making me realise my mistake. I will ask the banker not to disturb me now. I will only do business with someone I fully trust.

We look forward to your feedback and comments on the above article.

The Author Prof. Saurabh Bajaj (BE, MBA, FRM, CFGP) is CEO with Nidhi Investments, Mumbai. His articles have a readership from 78 Countries across the Globe.

He may also be contacted at CEO@nidhiinvestments.com.

The views mentioned in the article are personal opinion of the author. The characters used in the article are real with names changed.