Financial Wellbeing — Why it matters Part 2:

Finance and fulfillment are two sides of the same coin

Money doesn’t bring you happiness: it’s handling it well that does.

In my last article, I spoke about my journey from humble beginnings in Punjab to professional success in the US; from a low-income background to one of wealth and capital. But I also stressed that Financial Wellbeing is not about enriching our bank accounts; it’s about enriching our relationship with them. It’s not about how much money we earn; it’s about gaining clarity of thought and sentiment over the money that we earn and the goods that we need.

It is only by understanding this distinction that I managed to get as far as I have done. I aligned my search for a purposeful, meaningful, rewarding job and lifestyle with the principles of Financial Wellbeing. These principles are:

• awareness of my spending patterns: I analysed my own financial habits;
• financial numeracy and literacy: I studied investment terminology and got acquainted with the most reliable investment practices;
• organisation and planning: I saved up for a home and a family;
• moderation and self-control: I spent wisely and scrupulously as I was building Edifecs, taking after the Punjabi proverb: Palle Nai Dhela, Kardi Mela Mela (You have no money but you want to go shopping?);
• self-reliance and self-sufficiency: when launching Edifecs, I used the money from my previous consulting positions at Expeditors International and Microsoft, with no venture capitalists and no debt;
• long-term vision and anticipation: I started investing in insurance to prevent risks and complications from untreated illnesses in the future;
• investing according to my morals: I found a way to harmonise my financial ambition with my desire to make a difference. The US is the land of plenty; the land of opportunity; but it is also the land of absurdly high healthcare costs, where disease, illness and chronic health conditions run rife among the poorer communities who cannot afford the help they need. I founded Edifecs with the view of making the American medical industry more efficient, by managing information in real time at the lowest possible cost, in the hope of covering all uninsured Americans.

I am proud to have guided Edifecs through several periods of economic downturn, including the 2009 recession, and turned it into a profitable, self-funded, employee-owned company with no debt — as well as one of the fastest-growing healthcare technology companies in the US. But it was in the periods of difficulty which I traversed as CEO of Edifecs that were, paradoxically, the most enlightening. 9/11, in particular, brought a period of temporary decline; but it also brought about a moral reckoning within myself. Anxious talks with bankruptcy lawyers had the positive side-effect of spurring my soul searching, pondering the future and asking myself questions like: “Should I leave Edifecs?” or “Should I go back to Microsoft?”

When Financial Wellbeing seems to slip away, upholding the principles that underpin it can be a lifeline. And so I chose to keep fighting for what I believed in: accessible healthcare and self-reliability. My persistence and perseverance saw all debts paid off by 2005. It was this moment in my life that confirmed the importance of sticking to one’s principles; of not relenting in the face of adversity; of embracing entrepreneurship with all its dangers and difficulties. The seed for RoundGlass was planted then and there, as were the seeds of Wholistic Wellbeing, a philosophy that embraces not only the obvious pillars of physical and emotional wellbeing, but also the social, communitarian, professional, planetary, and — finally — financial touchstones.

My vision with RoundGlass is to bring Wholistic Wellbeing solutions to the world, harnessing my American corporate experience with my Indian cultural heritage to develop a global approach to living sustainably, responsibly and peacefully. And while the pursuit of money is symptomatic of a world driven by the wrong principles, handling money well can bring about greater, holistic happiness for all.