Subway Surfers is endless running mobile game. The characters Jake, Tricky, Fresh and many others have to Dodge the oncoming trains by jumping onto them and at the same time escaping from Grumpy inspector and Dog.

After playing, I realized there are lot of similarities and dissimilarities between Subway Surfers and Personal Finance, sharing few of them.

The credit for this post goes to my daughter who keeps on installing the game on my phone repeatedly after I delete it 🙂

• Fast Paced: Going too fast in the game is thrilling and exciting at the same time. However, going too fast with finance decisions may prove to be un healthy for Financial health in the long run. For instance, getting into too many loan commitments considering the current income levels may land you in trouble. Each and every step taken should be a thought over step keeping future in mind, asking few questions to self..”Will I be able to repay the loan in case my income levels fall, Am I prepared to face any kind of emergency, Am I prepared for unforeseen circumstances”
• New locations: In the game, one looks forward to a new location everytime. In real life going to new locations may look exciting however when it comes to investing, investing in every new product may not be a wise decision. Different financial products are there for different financial needs, different risk appetite. Every new product may not match with the attitude you have towards money or your risk appetite. Staying away from complex products is suggested.

• Coin collection: The chase of coins in Subway Surfers is endless and without any aim. Wealth building unlike coin collection here in the game has to have a meaningful end. There has to be a goal, objective, aim behind every investment that is done.For instance:,saving for Child’s education, Child’s Marriage, Retirement, Foreign trip etc. Savings and investments are done to achieve what one aspires for and not just wealth accumulation.
• Hopping on trains: Hopping from one train to another in the game is required to get saved from being caught. However, in financial life.If you keep on shifting from one product to another, in other words keep churning your portfolio, end result will be an unsatisfied investor. Review of portfolio is required but unnecessary churning will do no good to the portfolio. Stick to a product if it is meeting your expected returns and is in in sync with your goal.
• Different Characters: Unlocking different characters in the game is the goal of the game. Similarly, reaching different milestones in life is our goal. One reaches the destination, Financial goal through journey called Financial Planning. The goals should be exciting enough so that one is always looking forward to saving towards the same. For some, investing to own their dream home is exciting and for some, seeing their child getting good quality education is.
• Cop / Supervisor: A cop is always running behind the character which is like a motivation and fear at the same time. The cop will get hold of him if he falls down. He is running to save his life and also getting motivated as  he is accountable to the cop. Similarly, there should be full responsibility of accountability to oneself with regards to investment. Trust your advisor who helps in effective use of available resources, identifies the strengths and weaknesses, helps minimizing potential risks and pitfalls and makes sure that you are strong enough to take care of yourself in the times of unforeseen circumstances.

Not only Trust your Advisor but be accountable to him for better results !

About the Author:  Gurleen Kaur is a Financial Consultant and devotes her time to her company www.hareepatti.com. She has done her Bachelors in Finance and Investment Analysis(BFIA) from College of Business Studies(CBS, Delhi) and MBA from IMT, Ghaziabad. She can be Contacted at [email protected]