Be a smart traveller

WHEN I was much younger and wanted to buy a very expensive toy, my grandma told me gently: "Money does not grow on trees". I retorted: "Wouldn't it be great if everyone had a money tree, then everyone will be able to buy all the toys they want?"

"Of course not," she said, to my great surprise. "Some people will take care to grow their tree, but many others will neglect theirs."

Indeed, our wealth is like a money tree. The goal of personal finance is not only to grow our tree through investments, but also to ensure that our tree is fundamentally strong enough to tide us through rainy days - through savings - while ultimately being protected from thunderstorms through insurance.