Creating and managing a portfolio by the investor requires investment decisions to be made on which asset classes to invest in, how to invest, timing of entry & exits and review & rebalancing the portfolio. These decisions have to be based on the analysis of available information so that they reflect the expected performance and risks associated with the investment. Very often the decisions are influenced by behavioral biases, which lead to less than optimal choices being made. Some of the well documented biases that are observed in decision making are;  Greed and Fear These are the most common biases […]

Traditionally women are better at managing family’s budget and are more concerned about children’s education and marriage. We find women groups take to streets when prices of vegetables and other essential items increase beyond tolerable levels. Nowadays increasing number of women are opting for career in regular jobs. It provides them opportunity for financial independence. It is high time for women to take control of their finance for the following reasons; (1)   Increasing divorce rates – India is witnessing a surge in divorce rates and therefore entrusting the spouse with financial matters can create money crunch. It is prudent to keep a […]

Asset Classes There are four major asset classes; Real Estate & Gold under physical assets and Equity & Debt under financial assets. The trend of physical assets providing higher return is now reversing. Real Estate: Real estate investment is indivisible and illiquid. It carries liquidity risk. It may take longer time to find a buyer for selling the property and hence one must invest in real estate only if one wants to remain invested for longer period. Further real estate prices are correcting and may not provide the higher return it has generated in the past. Gold: Investing in physical gold and ornaments depresses return due to making […]

The cost of education is rising every year. Educating a child has become quite expensive now days. Warren Buffet says “The perfect amount to spend on children is  enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.“ Spending on children’s education is an investment. Many parents do not have an idea about the surprise and shock they may get if funding for children’s education are not planned in advance. It  always pays if one starts saving and investing early. We have made estimation on the funding cost of the newly born […]

We need “Roti, Kapada and Makaan” before thinking about achievement of other financial goals. The key financial goals for families currently are; Children’s education and Retirement corpus. A roof over our head is a basic necessity no doubt, but should we go for owning it or stay in a rented house? If you aspire to own an expensive house, the home loan EMI may make you poor and you may have no money left for other expenses after paying the EMI. It will be difficult to maintain a healthy balance between housing and other critical goals. The factors to consider […]

NPS has emerged as a popular tax saving tool at par with EPF. but the issue on taxation of 60% of the proceeds on maturity or buying annuity is a moot point and hoped to be resolved soon. Opening of NPS account was a herculean task till now but have been made easier through online NPS account. Types of NPS accounts: There are Two types of account i.e TIER I and TIER II Tier I is the mandatory account for long-term savings. Additional Tax benefit upto Rs.50,000 is available u/s 80CCD (1B) over and above the 80C limit of Rs1,50,000/- […]

These are times of uncertainties! Who could have predicted the address to the nation by the Prime Minister on the evening of 8th November 2016. Remonitisation have become painful for many for standing in long queues. More uncertainties are in store in the coming days! GST will overhaul the indirect taxation system in the country. Short term pains but long term gains? Now coming to personal finance; there is a need to question our core beliefs and think differently. Let us take income, assets, liabilities, expenses and retirement! Income: Where does your income come from? Is it salary from your employer? This is […]

Today our office cleaning lady was very worried .On enquiry we were told that her son got his first salary which was credited to his Bank of India account. But when he went to withdraw the amount, there was no balance; it has already been withdrawn. On further enquiry he revealed that someone asked him his debit card number for reissuing a new card and after some time also asked to share the  OTP which was just sent. Ignorant of the risk, he shared the details. The long queues before ATMs and Bank branches for exchange, deposit and withdrawal of […]

e-Term insurance plan is a form of term life cover, it provides coverage for defined period of time. If the insured expires during the term of the policy then sum assured is payable to nominee. Term plans are specifically designed to secure the financial needs of the family or liquidation of liability in case of death of the bread earner of the family. Low Premiums  The premiums for Term insurance policies are the lowest among all the types of life insurance policies. The premiums are low since there is no investment component and the entire premium goes for covering the […]

If you get an Income Tax notice don’t panic. Read the notice carefully. If you don’t know what to do, go through the following; Notice Under section 143(1) Mostly a good news! The most common form of intimation is under section 143(1). But at this stage it may be just an intimation, and you don’t need to take any action. Sometimes it states that your return has been successfully processed. The income tax department validates each tax return with its own record and this notice usually only points out apparent mistakes found out by the system. This intimation has two […]