There are legends and then there is Pablo Escobar. If you are a fan of “Narcos” – the Netflix original series – you’d probably get what we are trying to say here. For the ones who don’t, Pablo Escobar was a drug lord with few equals and perhaps the most powerful cocaine kingpin of his time.
However, there are a few things we could take away from the life and death of Escobar. No! We aren’t asking you to go start a drug peddling business or launder money. We put a positive spin on the whole thing and came up with some pretty interesting money and personal finance tips inspired by the life and death of one the savviest drug lords ever.
So, without further ado, we give you 7 tips (a mix of do’s and don’ts) that could help you set the personal finance bar high!
- Start Young
Escobar got into the smuggling business in his teens. He would steal tombstones from cemeteries, polish off the engravings from them and sell it to other smugglers for double the money. He entered the drug business soon after.
Takeaway: Whether it’s investing or entrepreneurship, it is always better to start early. Taking out a Life Insurance policy? You grab a lower premium the younger you are. Starting a Savings Bank Account in college? Great! You’ll save more money.
- Park Your Money
Escobar buried his stash of money (if we can call it that because it was a lot more than just a “stash”) underground in various places. Apparently, a farmer in Columbia recently found $600 million buried in a trench in his field! A safe was also found in the rubble of Escobar’s mansion in Miami.
Takeaway: Escobar had a lot of money and therefore hid it in several “safe” places that most people could never reach. While we wouldn’t suggest burying your wealth in a field, we would definitely urge you to put your money in a Fixed Deposit or a Recurring Deposit. While Escobar’s money didn’t multiply underground, yours could, in an FD or RD.
Additional Reading: 6 Tips To Save Money In Day-To-Day Life
- Spread Your Money
If you thought it was rather prudent of Escobar to hide his money underground, here is something impressive. Escobar split his “income” into three asset classes as per urban legend.
Type 1 – Investing in tangible assets like property, cars, and charitable activities.
Type 2 – Reinvesting it in “business” – funding distribution chains, insuring the drugs, paying off hitmen and other business associates and their families in case of any casualties.
Type 3 – Putting it back into the financial system – this includes moving the cash into secret accounts in different countries, bribing the government, etc.
After investing in these asset classes, he still had money left, which he would categorically go on to bury underground (because that was the only option left).
Takeaway: Having a diverse investment portfolio is always a good idea. If you have money, we suggest you start investing in “Type 1” asset classes like property.
Have you considered a Home Loan yet? You can get a truck load of tax benefits with them. Other investment options include Mutual Funds, Gold Bonds and saving schemes.
Additional Reading: Did You Know About These Tax Benefits on Home Loans?
- Take Care of Family Health
Pablo Escobar may have allegedly killed about 4,000 people, but he was a family man through and through. He was especially fond of his daughter for whom he turned a plain white horse into a unicorn! Apparently, he stapled (yikes!) a cone to the horse’s head and wings to its body. The horse sadly died of infections eventually. Definitely creepy!
When he and his family were on the run, his daughter fell sick. The drug lord reportedly torched up to $2 million to keep her warm.
Takeaway: Get Health Insurance. Not just for yourself but your family too. A good policy will cover your medical emergencies and rid you of all the stress and running around when your family needs you the most.
Have questions about Health Insurance? Click here for some quick FAQs.
- Secure Your Future
One of the most-googled questions about Pablo Escobar is, “Where did all the money go after he died?” Several sources report that a lot of his money has not been found yet. Escobar died in an encounter but his son claims he shot himself.
So what happened to his family? They tried to get asylum in Germany while Escobar was alive but were denied. After his death, Argentina agreed to grant them asylum and according to Juan Pablo, Escobar’s son, most of the money was taken away by their aunt. While Escobar’s wife was once arrested for receiving illegal funds from drug peddling in Uruguay, they claim to have no inheritance of Escobar’s wealth.
Takeaway: We suggest you secure your family’s future, unlike Escobar! Take out a Term Life Insurance policy, write a will – do what you have to, to help your family cope with financial difficulties. Whether it’s your debt or just the expenses of your loved ones, make provisions to manage it. You don’t want your family to suffer financially.
Additional Reading: Who Else Wants to Know What a Digital Will is?
- Insure Your Vehicle
When Escobar first started smuggling, it wasn’t just tombstones. He graduated to stealing and dealing in cars.
Takeaway: No matter what, always get Car Insurance! Picture this. Pablo Escobar is stealing or damaging your new car. It wouldn’t be as heartbreaking if you had Car Insurance. There are several policies that insure your vehicle against theft. Why not protect your car?
- Don’t Travel Without Insurance
While Escobar certainly had big ambitions, you certainly wouldn’t want someone like him rushing through the airport with a battalion of cops on his tail. Something like this could severely dent your vacation plans and probably cause massive flight delays.
Takeaway: No matter what, always remember to get Travel Insurance. Whether it’s a business or a personal trip, getting Travel insurance is always a good idea. A good policy covers any kind of travel interruption or cancellation expenses. Lost your luggage at an airport? You’ve got cover. A medical emergency, you’re covered too.
Additional Reading: 10 Things To Do Before Claiming Travel Insurance
Hopefully these tips should help you manage your finances and investments in a systematic manner, but we strongly suggest you don’t get the same ideas Escobar did.
Copyright of the Netflix character(s) rests with the copyright holder. BankBazaar does not exert any rights on the character(s). The above blog content is the creative ideation and inputs of BankBazaar. BankBazaar at no point in time engages in the sale of insurance products through its website www.bankbazaar.com/ mobile app/ mobile site and shall not be considered/deemed as the seller, advisor, representative or agent of the products of the insurance companies.