The happionaires way to create wealth in a crash, slowdown or recession

Look at the tremendous amount of wealth people created whoinvested in China twenty years ago, when things were just changingthere.. But not having money right now shouldn’t stop you from

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1 I Have No Money!

2 What Is The Key To Financial Nirvana?

3 The Big Crash

4 What the 2008 Crash Taught Us About Exotic Financial Instruments

5 Was The 2008 Bailout Package Day Light Robbery?

6 Do You Want To Be Like The Monk Who Mortgaged His Ferrari?

7 The Rich Guys Are Telling Us The Economy Is Terrible (And What They Actually Mean!)

8 Was the 2008 Crash The Greatest Destruction of Wealth In History?

9 Every Ending Is Also A New Beginning!

10 What Is Keeping You Away From Cash?

11 Don’t We All Have Pet Elephants in India?

12 Is India Immune To Financial Crises?

13 Why Am I So Optimistic About India’s Future?

14 The Happionaire Way Of Understanding Financial Statements – Balance Sheets to Profit and Loss!

15 The Secret Of Free Cash and Free Assets!

16 The Monkey Who Didn’t Buy His Ferrari!

17 Do Most Things Actually Become Cheaper or More Expensive?

18 Should I Invest In Real Estate Now?

19 What Currency Do You Have In Your Pocket?

20 What Happens To Commodity Prices?

21 Professional Strategies – Put Options, Call Options & More!

22 Future Investment Opportunities

23 Analyzing One Of My Investments And Why I Made It

24 How To Detect A Crash Before It Comes!

25 There Is Nothing Like Unemployment If You Believe In Finding Opportunities!

26 The Solution To A Global Financial Crisis

Conclusion – This Isn’t The Last Chapter – But The First!

Financial Glossary

There was once a little boy, he had nothing, his family barely had any money, but what he had was love, laughter, joy, the power of goodness, love, humanity, spirituality and the blessings of God and his elders This boy went on to do everything he had dreamed and visualized He did it with a smile on his face and spread happiness

to all Deep down he still remains a little boy Aren’t all of us deep down like that little boy (or girl!)? We should ensure that little boy within us never dies and we continue to dream and live this life beautifully.

WHAT DO I DO WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH?

Every time our economy goes through challenging times, almosteveryone gets concerned about job losses, pay cuts, bankruptcies,stress, depression, slow downs, stock market churn and mutual fundlosses Everybody suddenly seems to feel poorer in his or her pocketwhen there is an economic downturn

History has shown that some of the biggest names in the world offinance, business and entrepreneurship, have gone bust or beentaken over in the West and fortunately, or unfortunately, India too hasbeen affected

Take the recent crisis as an example During this period, everybody,right from the biggest real estate developers and investment bankers

to the pav bhaji stall outside the Bombay Stock Exchange, said that

business was down and there was no work

Now while most people sit and worry and curse their luck, theeconomy, inflation, stock markets, mutual funds, capitalists, their

mother-in-law (I don’t think cursing your mother-in-law is a very goodidea; it could have very grave consequences!) and whatever else theycan out of frustration, there is a small minority who quietly and silentlybenefits and makes the most of such situations Almost every time inhistory, this group of people has taken advantage of such situationsand gone on to create tremendous wealth This book will help youthink like them, and hopefully make you one of them.

SEIZE THE MOMENT!

“Be Greedy When Others Are Fearful Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy.”

This is what the richest man on Earth, Warren Buffett, says, and most people still never seem to follow this logic.

Many of you may not believe it, but some of the best times for me toinvest, create wealth and capitalize on opportunities, have been timeswhen there is economic depression, recession and gloom

I have learnt from experience and from some of the richest peoplearound, that simply looking for opportunities while others are cursingtheir luck and the economy, can create immense wealth

When the world is turning one way, learn to turn the other Cursingyour luck, politicians, big institutional investors and people around youwon’t help your financial situation at all Instead, if you want to createwealth and succeed, you need to make the most of now, invest inknowledge and use this knowledge practically

I have never believed in waiting for opportunities to find me and thenknock at my door I would rather build my own house with severaldoors right in front of the opportunity and then pounce on theopportunity

The Happionaire’s way to CREATE WEALTH is meant for anybody

and everybody who wants to create wealth irrespective of whether thestock markets are up or down — irrespective of where inflation,interest rates, real estate prices are headed — and irrespective ofwhich economic cycle we are in Being in control of your own destinyand prosperity is very important

Everybody makes money when things are good But the truly wealthypeople, preserve, create and control wealth irrespective of theenvironment around them This book has been specially written forsomeone who might not have a PhD in finance, but simply wants toknow what to do when times get challenging and how to actuallybenefit in such times This book is based on the principles of being aHappionaire and creating wealth in a fun, simple and interesting way

THE STREET TEACHES US THE MOST!

I believe that life and the street are our greatest teachers Myuniversity has been the street and practical experience I started not

by enrolling for a financial degree, but by actually investing andlearning from my mistakes and making losses I’m not ashamed orafraid to accept the fact that the losses I made in my early days have

in fact, been a blessing as they have taught me the importance ofseveral things

Never be afraid of tough times, but be afraid of being afraid of tough

times.

It is very important to be fearless when it comes to failure, losses andtough times Those who stay cool and do not lose hope are usuallythe ones who get ahead in every field Whether it is sports, war,relationships, business or investing, not giving up is what makes youwin

As the erstwhile financial crisis has shown, rules are meant to bebroken and rewritten.

A new genre of books has spawned, one that breaks away from theold ways of understanding and playing finance

The very small minority, who know these rules, will end up benefitingthe most It is up to you to make the most of this rare opportunity inhistory, or a few years from now, you will look back in regret and say,

“I wish I had done this and I wish I had done that”

WHY THIS BOOK IS FOR EVERYONE

One of the main reasons for a financial crisis is a lack of practicalfinancial education and literacy What I’m talking about isn’t sometheoretical course that teaches you about quick ratios and liquid ratios,but something that teaches money management in a basic andpractical manner

Today, money is a basic tool needed for survival It is almost likeoxygen, water or food Yes, most certainly money isn’t everything But

it is something without which you won’t be able to survive

If more people learnt and understood how money works and treated itwith respect, hordes would be financially free and independent Ifmore people were financially independent, they would certainly behappier than when they are financially dependant

Being financially secure does make things easier

A few might not agree, but I can certainly tell you from experience that

I have experienced both — being financially secure and beingfinancially insecure I would chose being financially secure and free

any day! Of course, being wealthy is not at all a key to being happy;it’s just a tool that makes things easy.

To my mind, the 2008 financial crisis could have been avoided ifAmerica and Americans had had more financial literacy andeducation If they had been taught the value of money, saving andinvesting wisely, economies may not have crumbled and people wouldnot have lost their jobs and livelihoods When people earning only

$2,000 a month go out and buy houses worth $500,000 and carsworth $50,000, something is terribly wrong I found this very strangethe first time I went to the West Almost everything people bought was

on credit, and even though on the outside, everything looked nice andfancy, they had empty bank accounts and virtually no assets

The Hugo Boss suit, expensive cars, first class air travel and fancywatches weren’t assets I had somehow always known that one daythis wasteful and illogical spending would come to an end, and allcrumble down like a deck of cards

Most crises can be averted if there are more financial literacyprograms for everybody If more people were made to realize thedisastrous effects of buying expensive cars and gadgets on loans andEMIs, the global economy would be better off I hope that people learnfrom these mistakes and take the time to become financially literate.Most people are smart and hard working, and have grown because ofmerit and entrepreneurship I’m sure with the right decisions andsteps, any person can ride out any crisis and grow and prosper

If today we don’t ensure that Indians are financially literate, then Iwouldn’t be surprised that in 10 to 15 years, India too faces ameltdown Letting more people know that taking that holiday to Europe

on credit probably isn’t the best financial decision you can make,would be sound advice

Instead, saving and investing wisely, will let you take that holiday toEurope by paying hard cash just a few years later — absolutely stressfree.

You could be a doctor, engineer, fashion designer, musician, artist,homemaker or someone who hunts for ghosts for a living Beingfinancially literate is as important and basic as knowing how to eatfood or drink water It is a survival skill needed in the modern dayworld The Happionaire™ Way is dedicated to spreading this message

in a way that connects to everybody It is all about making finance andmoney simple, fun, interesting and relevant to our daily lives

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES IN

HISTORY FOR US

I know many of you might not believe it and several of you might evenbrush it off as an overly optimistic thought But before you do that,read about the wealthiest men in the history of mankind – right fromLaxmi Mittal to Warren Buffett to Dhirubhai Ambani and how theystarted their journey of wealth creation All of them grabbedopportunities where others didn’t see them Just because othershaven’t noticed an opportunity, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist In fact,since most people haven’t noticed the opportunity, you can probablybenefit multi-fold by taking the chance

I shared my knowledge about how many of them created wealth in ourfirst book, “Invest The Happionaire™ Way”

The ideas shared in ITHW, today can very easily be put in practice byall of us since there are so many assets that are available almost forfree Yes, you heard me right: not cheap, but FREE! Not everybodyknows where and how to buy these free assets I will share a few

secrets and actually let you know how you can acquire these freeassets.

I can’t guarantee that these assets would be free once I share themwith you – as people might rush to buy these assets, and thus theywould no longer be free Even though a secret is no longer a secretonce it is shared with millions of people, you can still use the sameknowledge and technique to discover several other free assets

Many of these opportunities might never be available again Today,irrespective of what people might say, India is just starting to grow Wehave one of the highest saving rates in the world and lots of localmoney in bank FDs, gold and cash Over the next few years, we willsee incredible economic growth and I foresee one of the largest andmost incredible bull markets in the near future simply based on factsand fundamentals This one will take everyone by surprise, and allthose who are able to ride it successfully, will become some of theluckiest, most fortunate and wealthiest people in our history

Imagine what happened to all those who bought land that had oilunder the deserts of places like UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the1950s or 1960s It changed their entire lives from being camel riders

to multi-billionaire oil barons

Look at the tremendous amount of wealth people created whoinvested in China twenty years ago, when things were just changingthere Anybody who bought land or invested in a place like Shanghaitwenty years ago is sitting on a pot of gold today

Today the same type of opportunity, which comes once in a lifetime, isthere before us: the opportunity to be a part of India’s tremendouseconomic growth in the coming years Today, the stock markets,mutual funds, commodities and real estate market may be buffeted byuncertainties A few of you may even have suffered losses and vowed

to never ever invest again, but studying history will show you howsuch times are in fact, some of the best times to create wealth.

Right from 1909, the Great Depression of 1929, the Harshad Mehtascam, the Real Estate Bubble, the Ketan Parekh scandal or the ITBubble, all those who bought quality assets when others were selling

in a state of depression, frustration and panic went on to be rewardedhandsomely

Look for opportunities where others have given up You will alwaysbenefit!

BUT I HAVE NO MONEY TO INVEST AT ALL HOW DO I

DO IT?

A few of you may have lost some money (or a lot) by investing in thestock markets, mutual funds or real estate, having bought them athigher prices But not having money right now shouldn’t stop you frominvesting or creating wealth As a matter of fact, not having moneyright now is even more reason for you to learn more and acquire theknowledge needed to create wealth I believe that knowledge is one ofthose few things that is recession proof!

When I started investing, I didn’t have a lot of money I startedinvesting when I was 16 with Rs 750 but I realized that if I had theknowledge, money would run after me If I knew how to buy Re 1 for

50 paise, I could do very well for myself

Of course, it takes patience, persistence and the desire to learn inorder to succeed Not giving up when times are tough, especially afterone has failed, is very important Not being fearful and being optimisticare some of the attributes essential for creating wealth Listening andbelieving in what you feel is right, irrespective of what people aroundyou say, and staying balanced are extremely important traits too

“You Cannot Be An Investor If You Aren’t Optimistic About The Future.” – Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, one of the richest investors in India who started investing with Rs 5000 and went on to create several thousand crores.

The Happionaire’s way to CREATE WEALTH has been written

keeping in mind the fact that cash is extremely scarce these days, andeven though assets are available very cheap, you might not have themoney to buy them immediately I wasn’t born with a silver spoon andthat is why I understand the value of money very well At the sametime, I also understand that there is a lot of wealth around us – billionsand trillions of dollars that are constantly moving between people allthe time All we need to do is try to figure out how we can get a smallpercentage of this I believe that everybody is intelligent and canaccomplish wonders if given the right opportunities and knowledge

I’m sure all those of you who have read the previous Invest TheHappionaire Way, would recall how a 21–year-old created a milliondollars in less than a year, with just a simple idea and how DhirubhaiAmbani created wealth by trading in coins Most people who succeedaren’t born with tremendous amounts of wealth but instead use theirknowledge, creativity and hard work to succeed

The Happionaire’s way to CREATE WEALTH is about not giving up,

no matter how difficult things might seem and about capitalizing onevery possible opportunity In the past, I have been through variousphases of economic slowdowns and downturns At such times, I didincur losses, but I didn’t give up and instead used that time as alearning opportunity Today, I thank my luck and God for having given

me such opportunities

WHY YOU SHOULDN’T READ THIS BOOK

If you feel you can create wealth just by reading a book and doingnothing else, then this book would have solved the problem of globalpoverty instantly If just reading a book was the key to creating wealth,then almost overnight we would have had several million readers allbecoming millionaires and billionaires.

This book, or for that matter, any other book, can only give you theknowledge and tools that will help you understand money and wealthcreation better You can learn about how people invest, save andcreate wealth by reading books, but after learning and getting theknowledge, it is completely in your hands to make practical use of it

That’s what one of the readers of ITHW did, as the message she left

on our blog showed She told us how something she read in the bookmade her base a decision on that information and how because ofthat, she ended up saving Rs 20 lakhs

The Happionaire’s way to CREATE WEALTH will give you the tools

that will help you think and decide for yourself After that, you need totake action and decide what needs to be done

If you are someone who doesn’t have the burning desire to createwealth, succeed, learn and take action on your own, you shouldn’tread any further If you are simply looking for hot tips and ways tomake quick money and get rich overnight, please don’t buy this book.Keep it back in the bookstore or library or simply return it to the personyou borrowed it from

AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR FINANCIAL LITERACY

I’m glad that you decided to invest in yourself and read on Beingfinancially literate and ensuring that your decisions are balanced, freefrom any greed or fear, is very important

We have a wonderful opportunity ahead of us and I assure you that allthose of us who grab this opportunity will be much more prosperous inthe coming years The opportunity is right in front of you Now it is up

to you to decide whether you want to seize it or simply let it pass

It is my dream and goal to make every Indian financially literate andhave a country filled with Happionaires and I’m sure that we can make

it happen together!

May Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, always be there with youand may she bless you with Laxmi, the goddess of wealth Keepsmiling and happy wealth creation!

True Knowledge Is Real Wealth And Ignorance Is Real Poverty.

“The Man Who Makes No Mistakes Does Not Usually Make Anything.”

Edward John Phelps

It was 24 October 2008 Just another Friday evening when I went for

my usual jog to Joggers Park I find it one of the most relaxing places

in Mumbai — a lovely park sitting right at the mouth of the ArabianSea You can hear the waves splashing on the shore and feel the coolsea breeze even during the hot summer months Even though it isright in the middle of Mumbai in Bandra, it still feels so far away fromall the traffic, noise, pollution and hustle-bustle of the city

The serene environment along with the exercise gives me atremendous boost in energy and helps me to think more clearly

While walking, I met another regular at the park and started speaking

to him I didn’t know him too well, but I love meeting new people andspeaking to them, as I feel I get to learn a lot from other people andtheir experiences

“Hi, how are you doing Tarun?” I smiled and shook his hand.

“Hi Yogesh I’m good.” he replied, not sounding too cheerful though.

“That’s great So how is work going on these days?” I asked.

“Don’t ask…you might know very well how bad the economy is now Today the stock markets had one of their biggest falls ever In fact, our company is in big trouble,” he said, sounding worried.

“I’m sorry to hear that But what exactly happened to your company?” I asked, hoping I could try to help him in whatever way possible.

“We are in the outsourcing business and over the past three years, we heavily invested all our money into the stock markets, mutual funds and real estate.”

“And you have been affected because stock markets, real estate and mutual funds are crashing all over the world?”

“Yes Unfortunately, we invested everything we had and didn’t keep any part of it in cash Even business is being affected as companies in the West are cutting down on costs We had to lay off almost 20% of our workers It is hard even for them as they are unemployed now,” he said, as the sea breeze blew across our face and people jogged past us.

“Tarun, how come you invested everything you had and didn’t sit on cash?” I asked, very surprised.

“Now I know we made a big mistake To be honest, we were carried away and didn’t do any research or homework I remember you had told me to read a few good books and study balance sheets, but I never paid attention to any of your advice It seemed all so simple in the beginning that I thought why waste time learning and reading if I’m already doing well? Making money was very easy, and we blindly started buying whatever we heard others were buying or whatever was being said on TV or by our broker.” he said, sounding almost apologetic to me.

“Tarun, even though people might talk about a slowdown, recession and reduced profits, the world is not going to come to an end anytime soon And I know this might sound very strange and absurd to you but now is in fact the best time to create wealth,” I stated.

“Yogesh, you must be joking! How can now be the best time to create wealth? You might tell me to invest now, as everything is so cheap, but how can I invest if I have no money left? I am extremely frustrated and just feel like giving up now I see stock markets falling everyday and feel much poorer,” he admitted.

“When I started investing, I barely had any money All I had was a burning desire to learn and create wealth from the knowledge I gathered I started with only Rs 750 and the first few years went into learning I remember the time when my entire investment portfolio was down by as much as 70%, and I had absolutely no cash But I didn’t give up Such short phases were difficult and challenging but I knew that I would learn a lot from them and that knowledge would help me a lot in the future I’m glad I didn’t give up because what I learnt from those phases had me much better prepared for the future And I can very confidently tell you that today, we in India, have one of the best opportunities in history to create wealth.” I replied, trying to reassure and encourage Tarun.

“Why don’t you please tell me what to do now and how I can benefit from this opportunity?” he asked, sounding a bit more motivated now.

“I’ll do one thing Tarun Right now, I’ll continue with my exercise and you should do the same too However, I’m writing a book called “Cash It!,” to help more people benefit from opportunities like these instead

of panicking and behaving like lemmings all heading to jump off the cliff Read the book and I’m sure it will help you take decisions in a more informed way yourself In the mean time, all I can tell you is please stay away from investing if you don’t have the necessary

knowledge, skills and mindset Investing can be very risky if done without proper knowledge and experience.” I said, ready to go and enjoy the cool sea breeze and do some push-ups and pull-ups.

“I will be eagerly waiting to read your next book Yogesh and thanks for speaking to me It really helped.” he said smiling.

I smiled back and said, “Take care and don’t worry! See you around.”

“Bye See you,” Tarun replied.

Money is evil… and the less we have the more evil it becomes

-Leonid S Sukhorukov

I’m sure there are millions of people like Tarun out there who havesimilar problems Some of you might have lost a large part of yourmoney investing in stocks at extremely high levels, while others mighthave very little money to invest And there might yet be still others whohave the money to invest, but are too scared to do so after reading thedoomsday prophecies in the newspapers and watching businesschannels every day They may think that they should keep all theirmoney in a bank FD forever and perhaps thank God that they neverinvested in mutual funds, commodities or real estate and aren’t in anyway associated with the gambling den that is called the “StockMarket” But in my opinion, if you make the mistake of never investing,you will be a bigger loser than a gainer in the long run — especially in

a country like India

EVERY PROBLEM IS AN OPPORTUNITY IN DISGUISE

I have understood one thing very well and that is that every problem isactually an opportunity in disguise And if the problem is being faced

by hundreds and millions of people, the opportunity becomes evengreater — because whoever finds a solution to the problem will not

only help the society at large, but will also end up having tremendouspower, wealth and control.

For instance, the lack of proper management and sick steel millsacross the world presented Laxmi Mittal with an excellent opportunity

to buy and turn those steel mills around and create his pot of gold.While others didn’t see it or weren’t interested in it, he saw it andmade the most of that opportunity The same people who probablymocked him when he was buying sick steel mills several years agomay be going to him for funding and help, today

Or when Kishore Biyani of Big Baazar, Pantaloons and Future Groupset up the first Big Bazaar store in Mumbai, there wasn’t anythingalong those lines in the country: a large organized retailer with awelcoming environment, which retailed goods at almost the wholesaleprices Just because nobody else is doing something, doesn’t meanyou shouldn’t do it I see them as India’s Walmart

In investing, business and life, things aren’t right just because everybody around you is doing them and things don’t become wrong just because nobody else is doing them If most people were doing the right thing, wouldn’t most people be tremendously wealthy?

If you want to succeed, you need to have the guts to stand up for whatyou believe in and also be ready to face the challenges and hardshipsthat might come along because you are following your dream

NOT HAVING THE MONEY IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TOO!

“Even I don’t have any money but surely Yogesh must have lost it!How can not having money be an opportunity? Not having money is

miserable I can’t spend on things I love, I don’t feel secure and I can’teven invest when assets are available cheap!”

I’m sure many of you are thinking that Yes, not having money isdifficult and challenging, but at the same time, it is also a greatopportunity to make the most of what we have It pushes us to use ourcreativity and intelligence even more

Almost everyone we read about today, who are on the world’s rich list,have been through tough times when they had little or no money.Right from Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways, who used to work as a travelagent, to Donald Trump, who was almost bankrupt, to DhirubhaiAmbani, who used to walk for several kilometres so that he could save

a few rupees

Not having money makes having it even more fun and desirable I

think I have been the most creative and hard working whenever I havebeen through hard times and when I didn’t have any money Iremember a time when my portfolio was down almost 70% because Ihad over exposed myself to a single company as I thought it was agreat bet I even indulged in a bit of futures trading in the hopes oftrying to make some quick money However, instead of making any, Ilost even more than I had invested!

I got greedy and had to pay the price for my greed I’m actually glad Ididn’t make money that time because I got to learn a very valuablelesson I learnt that money and wealth can never be created based onsheer luck and coincidence Even though luck is important, it is ourknowledge, hard work and skills that decide how much luck we have.Now I have realized that I should never invest more than 20% of my

overall capital in a single company or asset unless there is an

exceptional reason I have also learnt that I should never blame themarkets or the company I have invested in because nobody forced me

to invest and I did it of my free will I have learnt to take responsibilityfor my own actions.

To add to my problem, I was still in college that time, without any cashand in desperate need of money In the beginning, it was difficult,especially since I had made sizeable amounts of money earlier, only

to lose a large part of it But gradually I started accepting the situationand started to think what else could be done

I spent more time reading, learning and researching and was a regular

at the college library Most other students, including my friends, didn’tactually know what I was doing and while they would be out formovies or spending time in restaurants, I would be in the library Nothaving the money to spend on movies and restaurants was an addedbonus It ensured that I spent my time learning about new ideas andhow great wealth has been created throughout history

It was very heartening to know that creating wealth and succeedingdidn’t really depend on what physical assets I had or even the amount

of money I had in my pocket; it depended on my mindset and ideas Inthe past, several people who had no money at all had gone on toaccumulate large amounts of wealth and success, simply based ontheir mindset and way of thinking

Modern day economies are all about knowledge, ideas andinformation The biggest assets in the world are no longer land andmachines, but Intellectual Property Bill Gates owned IntellectualProperty in the form of Windows, something that can be easily stored

in a small disk weighing just a few grams

WHO IS THE YOUNGEST BILLIONAIRE ON EARTH?

In 2008, Forbes Magazine declared 23-year-old Mark Zuckerberg as

“The youngest billionaire on earth and possibly the youngest

self-made billionaire ever”.

I’m sure most of you already know about him He is the founder of thepopular social networking site – Facebook, a website that allowsmillions of people across the world to connect, share photos, playgames and have fun He is also a Harvard drop out, just like BillGates

Today, Mark is estimated to be worth several billions and Facebook isstill growing rapidly Besides just college students, many worldleaders, authors and some of the best thinkers on the planet are allFacebook users

The internet automatically helps those who have something uniqueand eliminates those who aren't offering something that is needed.Companies like Facebook haven’t spent millions on advertising on TV;instead, they have used the power of people and communication togrow and evolve

Modern day economies are all about ideas and creativity Mark is only

28 years old and was 23 when he made his first billion What he hasdone in a few years, took several decades for people to do in the past.Never before in history was it possible for someone just out of highschool to create so much wealth in such a short span of time It is nowpossible for anyone with a great idea or innovation to accesstremendous amounts of wealth today

MOVING UP AND GRABBING THE OPPORTUNITY!

While I was learning new things and smiling, I still didn’t have moneyand was still sitting on a 70% loss with my investments However, Ihad realized that our world is filled with opportunities, wealth andabundance All I needed to do was to figure out ways to tap into it I

knew that if I stayed cool and kept trying, I would certainly be able tobenefit.

I remember how one fine day, being in a hurry, I decided to take thelift to my college library, even though I usually take the stairs I waslucky to have taken the lift that day As I mentioned before, I have ahabit of speaking to people around me as I feel that is the best way tolearn and gain new opportunities As a matter of fact, over the years,some of the best things that have happened to me have simply been aresult of interacting and sharing ideas with people around me

But coming back to the incident I was sharing with you As I entered the lift, another boy who seemed older entered with me.

“Hi, which floor are you going to?” I smiled and asked politely.

“Oh, I’m going to the library”, he replied, smiling back.

“Me too” I said, as the door closed and I pressed the button to the top floor.

“Pretty rare to see students going to the library, no?” I joked.

“Ha ha ha…yes I guess we are the rare specimens of our college.”

“So which year are you in?” I asked.

“I’m doing my masters and you?” he inquired.

“I’m still in junior college But masters, that’s great Are you working too?”

“Oh yes, I’m a real estate agent I work with my dad.” he replied.

“That must be fun and you guys must be making lots of money.”

“The money is decent, but I’m not too sure about the fun part!” he laughed.

The lift stopped and we got out and started walking towards the library.

“It isn’t fun?” I asked.

“Not at the moment There is someone who wants to sell his property and I haven’t been able to find a buyer yet If we don’t find a buyer, we might lose him to some other broker Lots of running around is involved, meeting potential buyers and then trying to convince them Sometimes it gets too stressful and hectic.”

I still didn’t know his name or anything much about him but something inside me told me that here was a great opportunity for me And since

I was very eagerly looking for something, without thinking too much, I said, “I understand what you mean, but I think I might be able to help you find a buyer for this property”.

“Oh that would be great! Why don’t we discuss this later? I need to get some stuff done in the library right now I’m Tushar Here is my card Can I have yours?” he asked, handing me his card and sounding happy that I might be able to find him a buyer.

“I don’t have a card, but my name is Yogesh Chabria I will call you today evening Don’t worry and get stressed I’ll make sure the property you have is sold No need to take unnecessary tension.” I said smiling as I shook his hand.

CONVERTING THE OPPORTUNITY TO CASH!

I had an opportunity Now all I needed to do was to make sure that theopportunity was converted into cash I had no experience with real

estate, nor did I know anybody who was looking at buying a property,but that didn’t stop me in any way from letting someone know that Iwould be able to help them find a buyer.

I feel it is very important to be confident and not have any fear.Spending too much time over thinking and deciding whether I would

be able to sell it or not, wouldn’t have helped me or anyone else.Besides, there are always people who want to buy homes I was surethat from the millions of people in our country, I would be able to findsomeone at least

I found out later on that the property was a very plush apartment forwhich the seller was asking approximately Rs 2.5 crores That ismore than half a million dollars I did the math and figured that if Icould sell this property, I would make a very good commission

I started calling each and every person I knew Right from everyone in

my family to all of my friends And since most of my friends were incollege, it helped to speak to their parents and even to their extendedfamilies Every time I called someone in my family, I made sure that Igot to know about as many people as they knew, and in turn I wouldget in touch with them This way I would never run out of people tospeak to and tell them about this property

In the beginning, after speaking to around thirty people and hearingthings like, “No, I’m not interested”, it did get a bit difficult and evenfrustrating But then all I had to do was to remind myself how much Ireally wanted to get that commission and how much I enjoyedwinning For me this too was like one of those games of chess orscrabble or the races we had in kindergarten And I wasn’t going to letjust thirty people’s “No” stop me

The first time somebody said, “Yes, I’m looking for something of thatsort”, I jumped up and down with joy and started screaming after

keeping the phone down But eventually, even after spending time andeffort showing this person the place and arranging a meeting with thereal estate agent, the deal didn’t materialise He liked the property butfelt it was too expensive.

I started calling even more people and the proportion of those whosaid they were interested went up Similarly, I figured that if I show theproperty to more people, the chances of someone buying it would also

Finally, after three weeks of trying very hard and constantly phoningand meeting people, I ended up finding a buyer for the property I stillremember the smile that I got on my face when the buyer agreed tobuy it It felt very good to know that the hard work and effort I had put

in had finally paid off

What stops many people from benefiting from such opportunities isthat even before they try, they tend to give up mentally, listening topeople around them I have personally never listened to people whotell me things like, “This can’t be done,” or “You are too young to dothat”

Even when I wanted to sell this property, I encountered several peoplemuch older than me telling me, “Yogesh, you are just a kid You cannever sell such expensive properties”, or “You have no experience

You should try selling cheaper properties first,” or “We were never

able to sell it You don’t even know any rich people nor have anycontacts How will you sell it? This is impossible.”

Not listening to them or taking their advice really helped In fact,whenever people tell me such things, it motivates me even more toprove them wrong Besides, I don’t feel there is too much of adifference in selling a cheap apartment and selling an expensive,plush apartment At the end of the day, even if I was selling a cheapapartment, I’m sure I would have had to put in the same kind of effort,although the rewards would be much less The only difference thatexists is in the mindset and way of thinking.

A BRAND NEW BEGINNING

After I made some money from selling that property, I decided to learnfrom my earlier mistakes and continued investing I’m glad I didn’t give

up because I feel the worst thing that can happen to anyone is notdoing what they truly believe in

Today is a brand new beginning for you and I assure you that onceyou accept this fact, you will be much happier Once you look forward

to the future and not grumble about the past, you will have a muchbrighter future

“You can’t be a successful investor if you aren’t opportunistic and optimistic.”

- Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

I believe that you can’t be a successful and happy “anything” if youaren’t opportunistic and optimistic Until date, I have not met oneperson who is successful, wealthy and happy and not an optimist Youmay not have any money today but that doesn’t mean that you won’thave any tomorrow either Similarly, you may have tons of moneytoday, but if you don’t respect it and keep investing in knowledge,there is no guarantee that you will continue having it tomorrow

Money doesn't always bring happiness People with ten million dollars are no happier than people with nine million dollars.

- Hobart Brown

“That was quite an interesting and motivating incident Yogesh, but areyou telling me that I should leave my job and start selling half a milliondollar properties if I am in financial trouble?” someone asked me thisquestion while I was speaking to a group of senior IT professionals

A few of you might also be wondering if you should be doing the same

- if you should leave what you are doing and start selling property theway I did so that you can raise some money Before I answer thisquestion, let me share a story with you

ALL HEADACHES ARE NOT THE SAME

Once there was an overworked man who started getting minorheadaches In the beginning, he ignored them and thought it would beall right However, when his condition didn’t improve even after aweek, he decided to visit his family doctor

This doctor was in his early sixties and had lots of experience andknowledge Within minutes of examining him, the doctor suggestedthe man to start going for a walk every morning and try to meditateand relax Since his headaches were related to work stress, this would

be sufficient to solve the problem, the doctor assured him

The man followed the doctor’s advice and within a matter of a fewdays, his headache disappeared, and he started telling all his friendsand family about it

After a few months, this man’s younger brother faced the sameproblem but instead of going to the doctor, he thought to himself,

“Where is the need for me to go to the doctor? I can simply do what

my elder brother did and soon my headache will disappear too Itworked for him, so it should surely work for me.”

The younger brother started having a morning walk and meditatingeveryday He even bought scented candles to create an idealambience for relaxation However, even after two weeks, there was noimprovement in his condition After sometime, he got annoyed andcalled up his elder brother

“Bhaiya, you told me that your headache went away because of

morning walks and meditation, but it’s not working for me I’ve beentrying it since two whole weeks and there are still no signs of anyimprovement What should I do?”

“You should have gone to the doctor instead of copying my cure.Maybe you have a different problem.” his elder brother replied

The younger brother went to the same doctor his elder brother hadgone to The doctor did a check up and within a couple of minutes,gave him some medicines “You have a vitamin deficiency but there isnothing to worry about Once you take these medicines, yourheadache will be gone.”

Within a week, even the younger brother’s headache was gone

Many people tend to think that every problem has a single solution.Just as different types of headaches need different types of remedies,similarly different people need to do different things depending uponwhat is best for them In life there is no one “single” correct way of

doing things The Happionaire’s way to CREATE WEALTH isn’t

about giving you one single, fixed solution – instead it is about giving

you the knowledge to be financially literate and aware that will helpyou find your own solution.

The world of investing and business is (thankfully) not like a mathproblem in school where 2+2 is always equal to 4 In school, there isusually only one way of doing things and if they are done any otherway, it is considered wrong However, it is not so in life When I soldreal estate for a commission, it was right for me at that moment, butthat doesn’t mean that the same thing is right for you too — maybe it

is, maybe it isn’t

One mistake that several people make is that they get emotionallyattached to doing only a few things You should always try to benefitfrom the numerous opportunities around you and always make surethat you are open to new ideas That way, even if one of the thingsyou are doing is going through a rough phase, you wouldn’t get intotoo much trouble

THERE ISN’T JUST ONE KEY TO FINANCIAL NIRVANA

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought The mind is everything What we think, we become.”

- Gautam Buddha.

Creating wealth, as I have always stressed, is not about followingmathematically accurate steps, but more about having a mindset andway of thinking which constantly recognizes and considersopportunities and possibilities Sadly, very few financial books used inschools and colleges actually talk about the mental and emotionalaspect of investing in a practical way Lately though a lot ofcorporations and educational institutions across the country have

started adopting The Happionaire Way, and I’m sure that many more

will follow suit in the future

I have noticed that many times, instead of motivating and encouragingstudents to learn more and not hesitate in asking questions, a fewteachers criticize and instil fear in the minds of those students who askunconventional questions that may not be easy for them to answer.Even I had a few such teachers in school, but I’m glad that I neverpaid too much attention to them Not knowing is perfectly alright;however, not knowing and having the desire to know more, is perfect.

One thing you must realize is that there will always be people aroundyou who will try to discourage you from doing the things that you aredoing There will always be people who will tell you that, “This won’twork and there is no use trying.” These people are sure to lock awayall the opportunities that you may get to be independent in anypossible way — be it financially, emotionally or mentally

Don’t let others decide what you can and cannot do You can doeverything you put your mind to, because your mind is the mostpowerful tool in the entire universe There are thousands of keys toattain Financial Nirvana Some use real estate, others float companiesthat build software and still others sing, dance and act The choice isentirely yours as to which keys you want to use

As I mentioned in the previous chapter also, I am yet to meetsomeone who is wealthy, successful and happy and also a pessimist

No matter how difficult times are for them, I have always sensed anoptimism and desire to win in such people

YOUR SCHOOL AND COLLEGE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR FINANCIAL STATE!

I am a great supporter of knowledge, learning and practical education

If you want to succeed, you need to be armed with knowledge Todaythe world economy runs on knowledge, creativity and ideas And the

people who create the most wealth are the ones who control, own andexecute these ideas.

The great thing about ideas is that nobody has a monopoly over them.You don’t have to go to the IIMs or Harvard to get ideas, even though

a few people might make you want to believe otherwise

I always respected my teachers in school and college as they werehelping us learn I believe that we should thank anyone and everyonewho is teaching us something new However, I also remember how afew teachers would sometimes say things that didn’t make any sense

at all I remember hearing things like:

“If you aren’t good at maths, you are worthless.”

“If you don’t become an engineer from IIT, you will be a failure and begood for nothing.”

“If you don’t go to IIM, you will remain unemployed and will never befinancially secure.”

I have heard several such things, which are absolutely untrue A smallminority of our population may have the aptitude to go to an IIT or IIM.However, this in no way means that the others are any less or goodfor nothing Everyone is special and intelligent and should always dowhat their heart tells them to do

Fortunately, I wasn’t influenced by such negative and discouragingremarks and I followed my own heart I would have been miserabletoday had I not been doing what I wanted to do Even if I did end upbecoming an engineer or a doctor, I would have been constantlyfrustrated, unhappy and sulking about my life I hope more parentsunderstand that every child is unique and should be allowed to pursuetheir dreams Not to say that their dreams can’t include becoming adoctor or engineer or an IIM grad Whatever it is, by all means

encourage them and never stop them from pursuing their heart’sdesires.

I love watching movies and one beautiful movie I would recommend to

everyone is the PVR and Aamir Khan production, Tare Zameen Par,

where a small boy, played by Darsheel Safary, is great at painting andhighly creative, but unfortunately suffers from dyslexia His conditiondoesn’t allow him to be good at studies, and yet he finds everyonearound him forcing him to do things he doesn’t like doing Then achance intervention by one of his teachers brings him back fromdepression and prevents him from losing his identity Being dyslexichimself, the teacher fully empathises with the young child and not onlyencourages him, but also reasons with his parents In the end,everyone, from his family to those who would mock him in school,finally realize that they should let the little boy be himself and if heloves painting, he should be allowed and encouraged to do so

The world is so much more fun and interesting when it has differentpeople doing different things But no matter what you do, alwaysremember that you need to be financially literate Trigonometry isn’treally that important for everyone to master, but knowing how tohandle your money is Before any math lovers get offended, let meclarify that I have great respect for all fields of knowledge; it is just thatsome things might be less relevant for the masses For instance, Ihave still not used trigonometry in my practical life, but something likesaving and investing wisely are essential skills even for someone whouses trigonometry in their daily lives

Even if you have an IIT or IIM degree, you should make sure that youinvest in your financial literacy I know people who are brilliantscientists and yet are financially illiterate Financial illiteracy isextremely dangerous and leads to several problems, as money is themost important tool in our modern day lives And the responsibility of

our financial well-being and security lies only with us Nobody else isresponsible for our financial state but us This is true of great nations

as well

I’m sure that together, we will be able to make millions of peoplefinancially literate in India Everyone will feel the positive effects of it.When even one person becomes financially literate, it automaticallyleads to their friends and families becoming financially literate It leads

to a positive chain reaction After all, money and wealth are topics,which are universally loved and arouse the interest of almosteverybody

“Before you say silly things like I don’t want any money, make sure you have a few million already.”

– Warren Buffett

NO FEAR!

In the next few chapters, I will be sharing some of my ideas and

strategies of converting Crashes into Cash I have made sure that I

keep things as simple and fun as possible, and at the same timeexplain things that that are otherwise thought to be complicated.Making things as simple and relevant to our lives is something I havealways enjoyed doing

For all those of you who might have simple questions like, “What isinvesting?”, “What are stock markets?” or “How do stock markets and

mutual funds works?” please read our first book in the Happionaire series, Invest The Happionaire Way It will answer all these questions

and many more, which a beginner like me had when I started Many ofyou will be surprised to know how little I knew about investing when Istarted All I had was an enormous desire to learn and create wealth.I’m sure that many of you might already be knowing much more than I

did when I started and I’m also sure that many of you will go on to domuch better than me and come up with great new ideas of your own.

Don’t get intimidated or feel hesitant if you don’t understandsomething — simply continue reading As you read further, you willautomatically start learning more and more and your doubts willgradually begin to vanish

Have no fear and don’t forget to smile, laugh and have tons of fun!