New Delhi, June 6 -- When you write about personal finance, friends generally tend to cozy up and ask questions around their investments. In most cases, investments are never part of a thought-through roadmap to a goal, but rather a basket of random, scattered products picked up either because a friend who works in the financial sector suggested, or because they were trending. Understanding of the underlying asset class, and the role it plays in long-term wealth creation is almost non-existent.

So when a dear friend told me he had sworn off equities because they are a surefire way to lose money, my interest was piqued. According to my friend, he ticks all the right boxes: be tight-fisted with spending, accumulate real estate and save as ...