The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes

I met one of my friends at a family gathering recently. Senior leader at a Tech company. Manages a team of 200, runs budgets in crores. Makes decisions every day that impacts thousands of people.

We were talking about money, finance casually, the way these things come up. And he said something that surprised me for a sec.

"I haven't looked at my portfolio in three years."

Not because he doesn't care. Not because he doesn't have money to invest. But because he is so busy managing everything else that his own finances keep sliding to the bottom of the list.

The strange part, he is not the exception. He is the pattern.

Doctors who have not reviewed their insurance. Chartered accountants whose own tax planning happens in last-minute. Business owners who negotiate every vendor contract but have never questioned the expense ratio on their funds.

Successful professionals are trained to solve other people's problems. That's what they get paid for. But their own money? It sits in a savings account, or in an FD that hasn't been reviewed since 2022, or in a portfolio that a bank RM built five years ago during a "wealth management" pitch.

Expertise in one area creates a false sense of security in another. "I'm good with numbers, so I must be good with money." But running a P&L and running a personal portfolio are two very different skills. One has a team, a process, a review cycle. The other has what exactly? A yearly glance at the consolidated account statement?

The irony is that the discipline the professionals apply at work review, measure, adjust, repeat is exactly what their money needs. They just haven't applied it yet, delayed.

The cobbler's children have no shoes. Not because the cobbler doesn't care. But because he's busy making shoes for everyone else.

Disclaimer: This content is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security or investment product. Investment decisions should be made considering individual objectives, risk profile and circumstances.