Whom Are You Punishing ?

Story 1

April 2020

Discussion between Manoj (Client) and Niraj (His Advisor).

Manoj (Shouting): Why Didn’t You inform me that the markets are going to fall ? I would have booked some profit.

Niraj : Nobody can predict such short term movements Sir. And such falls are temporary. We will soon see recovery in next 12-18 months. If Possible, we should invest more at these levels.

Manoj : I don’t know all that. As an advisor, you are supposed to predict all this. I am unhappy with your services. My Investment of Rs. 10 Lakhs has become Rs. 8 Lakhs due to your ignorance. I am not going to invest a single rupee more.

August 2020

Manoj : I can see that the markets have risen. My Rs. 10 Lakhs is now back to Rs. 10.10 Lakhs. Please redeem my investments as soon as possible. I don’t trust the markets nor I trust you anymore.

Niraj : If we can stay invested for another 6-8 months, we can see good growth.

Manoj : No Way. I just don’t want to listen to you anymore. Just do as told.

Niraj : No Problem Sir. We will redeem your investments.

December 2020

Manoj (Crying): If I had stayed invested, my Rs. 10 Lakhs would have become more than Rs. 14 Lakhs in 4 months. In an attempt to punish my advisor, I ended up punishing myself.

Story 2

Mr. Harish Wanted to buy a health insurance plan for his family. His Wife was having some medical history. Thus, the insurance company gave a counter offer to cover Mr. Harish and the two kids.

Listening to the counter offer, Mr. Harish Got agitated and he asked the company to cancel his proposal and refund his money.

Harish : How dare they deny my wife’s health insurance proposal?

Niraj : Sir, insurance companies cover only standard lives. They cover slightly substandard lives at higher premium and if it is a more risky case, they can deny.

Harish : Is this the way they treat their customers ? I don’t want to buy health insurance from them.

Niraj : Ok Sir.

Three months later, Mr. Harish met an accident and ended up paying Rs. 1.60 Lakhs towards hospital bill. If he had taken the counter offer, at least other 3 members would have been covered. In an attempt to punish the insurance company, he ended up punishing himself.

Story 3

Year 2015 : Mr and Mrs Singh bought their first health insurance policy at the age of 58. By this time, Mr. Singh had already developed some health conditions and there was a 48 months waiting period in the policy for pre-existing diseases.

Year 2017 : Mr Singh had a hospitalisation related to his pre-existing diseases. Health Insurance company rejected the claim as it was a pre-existing disease and had not completed the required waiting period.

Mrs Singh Got Angry. She asked the agent to close the policy immediately and get a new policy for them. The agent also didn’t bother to tell her the repercussions. He got them a new policy with fresh 48 months waiting period.

Year 2020 : Mr Singh again had a hospitalisation. This time again it was declined by the new health insurance company as the new policy had still not completed the 48 months waiting period. Had they stayed in the same policy, they would have got the second claim of 2020 settled. 

In all the above cases, we see a common pattern. The emotions take over logic. The urge to punish someone, compels the person to take some action. But as the action is based on anger (and not logic) it harms the person himself than anyone else.

Lets remember Friends. It is natural to get angry when things don’t go our way.

But when you are taking the action, ask this question to yourself

“Whom am I punishing?”

Is it the Insurance Company ? Is it the Advisor ? Or is it you and your Family ?

Lets Ensure that, in an urge to punish the insurance company or the advisor, we are not putting our families to risk.

We look forward to your valuable comments and feedback.

The Author Prof. Saurabh Bajaj (BE, MBA, FRM, CFGP, AFGP) is CEO with Nidhi Investments, Mumbai. His articles have a readership from 78 Countries across the Globe. He may be contacted on CEO@nidhiinvestments.com if you have any questions.

(The views mentioned in the article are personal opinion of the author)

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