Life is full of twists and turns but there are some things, which we never forget. One such landmark in everyone’s life is his or her first investment. While some invest with their salary, others might with their pocket money. Whatever the source of income, the lessons from these investment choices stay with us for life.
We spoke to a few financial advisors to know where they made their first investment and how it worked out for them.
Kolkata-based Bharat Bagla, of Beas Network
My first investment was when I was 23 years old. I invested in NFOs. I will never forget this investment. I had no idea about these funds but I blindly invested Rs 3,000 in each NFO. The investment did not work well for me. That is when I realised the folly of investing blindly in a fund.
Mumbai-based Jayant Vidwans, of Vidwans Financial Advisories
When I was 18 years old, I invested in a convertible bond of Tata Locomotives (Now Tata Motors), with my pocket money. My family was not at all happy with this. However, I was very stubborn and invested any way. I made four applications, but the company allotted bonds only on two applications. My parents were thrilled that at least two applications were rejected. Later the company had allocated four equity shares to me on these two applications. The investment worked out reasonably well. The success of my first investment helped me develop a conviction in financial investments.
Chennai-based D Muthukrishnan, of Wise Wealth Advisors
I had made investments in Alliance Capital's 'New Millennium ' scheme. I was merely 23 then and drew Rs7,000 as a monthly salary. I borrowed Rs50,000 and invested in the scheme based on an investment tip. Initially, the price of underlying securities moved up, but after a few months the price of the fund fell drastically to reach Rs2. I had to repay this loan from my salary. This incident taught me that it is not prudent to invest with borrowed money, especially in new schemes which have no track record.
