5 HOT stocks that will double in 6 months
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Top 5 mutual funds to own for the next year
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Just invest Rs. 10,000 a month and receive Rs. 1 crore in 5 years
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Invest in NA farmland plot at just Rs. 50,000 and receive Rs. 5 lac
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Get hot tips on stock futures: Trade now to make 50% profits
What if I was to tell you that each of the above statements was porn, more specifically, financial porn.
Financial Porn? What’s that?
As per Investopedia, Financial Porn
is a slang term used to describe sensationalist reports of financial news and products causing irrational buying that can be detrimental to investors’ financial health.
Short-term focus by the media on a financial topic can create excitement that does little to help investors make smart, long-term financial decisions, and in many cases clouds investors’ decision-making ability.
The term was first coined by Emmy winning, James Bryant Quinn, an American Personal Finance Writer.
It’s hot and it can hurt
So, you enter the kitchen and you see the hot paratha just getting ready. You mouth starts salivating and so much so that you reach out your hand to take it over to you plate. Ahhhh! You burnt your finger. It was hot.
You get the sense. That’s what financial porn does. In fact, it is more like soft porn but the one that can hit you very hard.
It grabs your attention with offers of “hot tips and investing secrets”. They can expose you to high risks.
No mathematical logic can stand in the way of financial porn. When it says it will double your money without risk, you believe it!
It is out there to heighten your irrationality and drive you into making serious mistakes with your money.
‘Stock market tips that promise to make you a millionaire overnight‘ is the most popular form of financial porn that baits millions of people. Search on the Internet for ‘stock tips and advice‘ and then you will know what is going on.
In recent times, you have heard of the Ponzi Scheme of Bernard Madoff and of course the highly publicized Saradha Financial Scam, a sort of a Ponzi Scheme.
Every one of these has a high potential to hurt us financially and emotionally. Unfortunately, several times, one only comes to realise once the damage has been done.
Can you save yourself?
There goes a mythological story where Rishi Vishwamitra could not hold on to his years of meditation in front of Menaka, the beautiful celestial nymph (apsara). We are mere mortals.
So, I am really not sure. A lot depends on your temperament.
If you are the superlative kind and attracted to words like – the best, fastest, secret, top, super, hot, etc., out there to make a quick buck or get rich overnight, then you are most likely to be a victim.
The only advice is keep your eyes and your mind open, subject everything to scrutiny and ask questions. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to become smarter. Finally remember,
If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Between you and me: What kind of financial porn have you been subject to? Have you been a victim? How do you steer clear of such propositions? I keenly look forward to hear your views.
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