1. How much emergency/contingency fund? Emergency or Contingency Fund is required to meet any emergency e.g sudden loss of income, loss of job, medical emergency etc. Thumb rule says one should keep 3 to 6 month’s expenses in an emergency fund. In case of government employee, one should keep 3 month’s expenses but in case of self employed professionals or private sector employees; one should keep 6 month’s expenses in an emergency fund. For retirees, emergency fund should be equal to 1 year’s expense.  2. How much Life Insurance one should take? In case of sudden demise of the bread earner of the […]

Six months back, Praveen Hazare died in heart attack when he was 65 years old. He was staying in Thane with his spouse and two married sons. He had a flat in Mumbai and a flat in Navi Mumbai. He died without making a will. After his death, there were disputes for sharing of properties. The dispute has to be decided by the court as per the Succession Act which will take a very long time. This could have been avoided had he made a will.   Who can create a will? Any person who is above 21 years of age and […]

Group health insurance policies are generally provided by the employers and cover pre-existing diseases. Some group policies also cover old parents with or without paying extra premium. The claim settlements under group policies are easier. The moot point is whether one should take additional individual policies when one is covered under group insurance policy?   Why one should buy individual health policy? Disadvantages of depending only on group policy a.      Now days, most people are changing their job frequently without knowing whether their new company are providing group health cover or not. But once employer is changed, benefit under the old […]

One must know the credit score if you have availed any loan or propose to avail a loan from any Bank. Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIBIL) can provide your credit score. CIBIL is a repository of information, which contains credit history of commercial and individual borrowers. It provides credit score which is called as CIBIL Trans Union Score and it ranges from 300 to 900. A lower score is considered Risky. Higher the credit score is better. Some banks charge higher interest for lower credit score and can even refuse loan.   Steps to get CIBIL score online a.      Visit to www.cibil.com and click on “order now” b.      […]

These are uncertain times of high inflation and rising cost of living; Financial Planning helps one to find answers on many financial challenges. The Financial Planning services are best secured from a fee-only Certified Financial Planner or SEBI Registered Investment Advisor who provides unbiased advice independent of product sales. If you pay fees for financial planning, what do you get in return? Will you be able to recover the value of the fee that you are paying?   The first thing that you need to appreciate is that financial plan is a blueprint that we create, to achieve future goals.  This offers a framework and a […]

Akash is 14 years old, staying in Kharghar with his parents. He is in born differently-abled. He depends always on his mother for daily routines. His parents are spending around to Rs 20,000 per month on his treatment. They are worried for his future; what will happen to him if they are not there? Like Akash’s parents, most are worried for their special children. The emotional support can be provided by the family but a permanent financial solution for the children during their life time is the biggest challenge in our society. During their life time, they can take care of […]

The period between 2002-2011 was a golden period for real estate investments. Now we have some data to understand the current situation. The National Housing Bank (NHB), the regulator of housing finance companies have launched a revamped RESIDEX, a housing price index. The index claims to offer home prices of 50 cities across the nation. This should help us get some idea about which way the real estate prices have gone over the last few years. And for the first time we should be able to calculate the actual city wise returns. Let’s take a look at Table below. It […]

Infosys share  price crashed yesterday  due to the resignation of their CEO  Mr. Vishal Sikka, the first non-founder CEO.He cited the interference of  Founder Mr. Narayan Murthy in his domain. But Mr Sikka reiterated his belief in the great potential of Infosys. The founders of Infosys  were known for good corporate governance but face a great challenge on succession planning going ahead. Business tycoon Mr Vijay pat Singhania,founder of Raymonds  has been entangled with his son Mr Gautam Singhania  on inheritance of his empire.He has already handed over his empire to his son but he has no money to meet […]