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Conventionally people were either bulldozed into buying an insurance policy by persistent agents or were statutorily required to buy one. As a result, there is a mental block against insurance. The soaring Sensex did spark an interest in unit-linked insurance plans as agents positioned insurance as an investment channel rather than a protection. But a few years on, buyers are again wary about ULIPs, what with regulators getting into a turf war over these products. There is also confusion over comparing motor insurance plans. Until now plans were compared based on price. Now there are additional features to compare as well. Here is a five-minute guide which will cove
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submitted by chandrika (0 m) on 24 Feb 2010 19:53:08 IST
LIC’s Jeevan Bharati-I – is a plan exclusively for women. It is a with profit plan having special features considering the needs of women. The plan also provides for Accident Benefit, Critical Illness Benefit and Congenital Disability Benefit as optional Riders. Survival Benefits:For 15 Years Term20% of the Sum Assured payable at the end of 5 years.20% of the Sum Assured payable at the end of 10 years.60% of the Sum Assured payable together with vested bonus, and Final Additional Bonus, if any, at the end of 15 years.For 20 Years Term20% of the Sum Assured payable at the end of 5 years.20% of the Sum Assured payable at the end of 10 years.20% of the Sum
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submitted by Amit Kumar (28 m) on 23 Feb 2010 14:24:58 IST
The world is changing, and so is world of money. Finance and personal finance rank first and third, respectively, in the most searched keywords by Indian netizens.Statistics show that most people could manage very well on the income they have if they are able to keep their bills and expenses within the income. Sadly, too many people do not understand how to do this.Simply having a budget in place or keeping up with your checking account isn't enough anymore. Our research shows that a person earning Rs 1 lakh per month has 50–100 financial transactions across all instruments each month. It's difficult to track these spends and get a clear picture of whe
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Every individual needs to pay tax without any doubt. If we try to evade it then we will be punished as it is against the law, but what we can do is reduce tax liability. How can an assessee reduce his tax liability? Answer to this question is deductions. Government of India has provided certain investment avenues through which we can reduce tax liability and 80D is one of them.What’s 80D?80D is one of the sections which come in the income tax act of 1961. This refers to deduction which an assessee can claim to reduce his tax liability. Like 80D there are other deductions such as 80C, 80DD, 80E, 80G,80GGB etc. some of these are in connection with individu
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Tax Planning is a tool to reduce tax liability through the finest use of all accessible allowances, exclusions, deductions, exemptions, etc. to trim down income and/or capital profits. Salaried individuals in India are not fully aware of the tax planning exercise; we always do it at the end of Feb or Mar, because of which we end up into wrong decisions.The plans may vary for different persons depend on the financial status of a person and income. I would write the common way for reducing the tax. Before starting, we should know about the tax slab for the male and female candidate as per income tax law.Income Tax Slabs 2009/2010 for Men
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Most people have never sat down with an insurance broker. So they're not aware of the products that might benefit them. People hear negative instances from acquaintances and believe them to be true but the fact is they should go to experts who really know about insurance and can really guide them with good advice and to take better care of their money and future. Some may feel that the advisor is just there to push products, and many probably are, but the primary purpose of having a consultation with an insurance broker is to have an overview of your financial picture and determine what needs may be met, if any or what improvements on any existing coverage
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submitted by Amit Kumar (28 m) on 8 Feb 2010 13:04:53 IST
Since life cover is not meant for children, parents should opt for MFs or FDs.Remember Aviva Life Insurance's television commercial? Where Sachin Tendulkar says, “Mein bhi ek pita hoon, aur mein yeh samajhta hoon.” The message was, when it comes to educating one's children, even the world's greatest cricketer is just another concerned parent.And it's not just fathers, insurance companies are even promoting these plans to grandparents. The sales pitch: Gift for grandchildren. At present, there are 16 unit-linked children plans and five traditional child plans in the market. The latest entrants are Max New York Life Insurance and Bharti AXA
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The stark truth about managing our money these days is that we are mostly on our own. Few employers want us around for 40 years, so our income is likely to have ups and downs and disappear altogether for brief periods between jobs. Saving for retirement is now mostly our responsibility, too. Health insurance, for those of us who have it and manage to keep it, requires increasingly large amounts of money out of our pockets. The list goes on and on. At the same time, all sorts of individuals and institutions have smelled opportunity and lined up to peddle their wares, resulting in an explosion of credit cards, bank products and advisers of various stripes. Some
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submitted by Amit Kumar (28 m) on 27 Jan 2010 14:13:30 IST
What is the most effective way to invest? There are few who think that it is all about timing the market. Others think it is about staying with your investments for the long-term. But the real answer is “asset allocation” or selecting and holding on to the right mix between different asset classes.Asset allocation is basically dividing your savings into various asset classes whether equity, bonds, cash or other alternatives such as real estate.A few FAQs:Why is asset allocation important?All asset classes do not move in the same direction at the same time. There are time periods when equities do well and others don't. At times bonds will do better th
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Retirement is an important aspect of employment and this is one necessary end to all the hard work been put into by one in building a career and life for oneself. It takes a lot of consideration to decide a career for oneself and infact equal consideration is required for retirement and what would be done after it. There are a few questions which are required to be answered to have a detailed view of things like Asset allocation: You have spread your funds well across varied asset classes — debt, equity and real estate. However, given that you have only 10 more years to retire and a lesser period to achieve a corpus for your daughter, your portfolio
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For the salaried class, perquisites or perks are non-cash benefits and certain reimbursements from the employer. Residential accommodation, vehicles, credit card/club memberships, interest-free loans or loans at concessional rate of interest and stock options are some of the most common perquisites that are given by the many organisations to their executives. Here's a quick-brief of some of the mostly commonly received perquisites and their taxability under the reinstated provision of the tax laws. Car carries tax For the salaried professionals in the middle and top management echelons, getting rewarded with a car may have been a much-sought after perq
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submitted by Amit Kumar (28 m) on 8 Jan 2010 15:02:34 IST
Investment is one of the most important part of our daily life. We planned our Financial Planning according our need and future requirement. The year 2009 started off on a subdued note for equity investors but by year-end both the BSE Sensex and Nifty were trading 80 per cent higher. With the markets trading at a price-earning multiple of well over 21 times from 11 times at the start of year, the upside in the indices may be limited from here on. So equity investing in 2010 may require greater stock selection skills. Why not select actively managed diversified funds for your portfolio? In emerging markets such as India there are several diversified funds t
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While most of the funds you hold have been generating above-average returns, we would like you to consider some changes. Switch to Templeton India Growth, instead of Franklin India Flexi cap. This would lower the risk profile of your portfolio. You have not mentioned the name of the scheme in Taurus Mutual. We nevertheless, suggest you exit it and instead take exposure to HDFC Prudence. Hold Tata Infrastructure only if you are keen to bet on the sector's prospects. Even then, book profits and retain just your original capital. In all other funds, given that your average holding period is already four years, sweep some profits by partly selling units if the fund
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If you had locked into bank fixed deposits post February this year, interest rates would not have been attractive. Yes, it is not an easy task, keeping your risk profile low and yet earning superior or at least inflation-beating returns. We would like you to explore the mutual fund option to enhance returns, although these instruments do carry risks. We will attempt to build a portfolio with average risk but with a potential to deliver returns superior to fixed income options. We do not know if you have exhausted the permissible exposure allowed under the post office MIS. Try to open joint accounts with your spouse to utilise the post office investment limit to
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submitted by Amit Kumar (28 m) on 26 Dec 2009 14:17:55 IST
Most of us are aware of insurance in some form or other. These are the all to common life insurance, car insurance and the like. However, many consumers are not aware of all the details about the insurance for one of the most important asset that you have, your home.Home Insurance :Home insurance is not unlike life insurance. In a life insurance scheme, your nominees or dependants are offered an amount in case of your untimely death, due to natural causes or otherwise. Similarly, home insurance can cover losses to the structure and contents of your home from any natural or man-made calamity. It protects your house from unwanted, unforeseen causes that can damage it
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Consumers may get the freedom to change their health insurance provider by next April, according to new guidelines being prepared by the industry in tandem with the sector regulator. “We are working on the norms for portability,” said M Ramadoss, CMD of New India Assurance, the country’s largest general insurer. He is party to the discussions and said the final draft will be submitted to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Under the existing regulations, if a consumer is dissatisfied with a service provider he will have to buy a new policy from the firm of his choice. However, he will lose the benefits on his existi
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submitted by Amit Kumar (28 m) on 11 Dec 2009 18:25:17 IST
Government of India has earmarked special benefits and concessions for Senior citizen. There are numbers of plans and schemes availabe in the market today . (1) Health Care (a) There is provision for separate queues for senior citizens at hospitals and health care centres when they visit for any health related concerns or clinical examinations.(b) The Delhi Government runs special clinics for Senior Citizens in most of its hospitals in Delhi.(2) Finance & Taxation(a) You are advised to refer to the Indian Income Tax Department for the current slabs of Income Tax including rebate admissible to senior citizens. As per recent finance budget 2008-09 (pres
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submitted by Shivani (5 m) on 30 Nov 2009 17:09:52 IST
Term insurance policies are considered to meet one's requirements of insurance. Still, they are not popular at large scale because the periodic premium payments over the life of the policy do not earn any financial return if the policyholder survives through the insurance policy term.Additionally, it is also available for the specific term that ranges from 1 year to 30 years. It leaves out senior citizen people just when the requirement for financial security is the highest. To address these shortcomings of term insurance policies, the industry has designed Whole Life Insurance.Whole life insurance is a combination of a term policy and an investment compon
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A most popular sales pitch for ULIP plans usually goes such as — Invest Rs X for three or five years and watch your money grow. Though the policy tenure is 20 years, you are flexible to withdraw after five years or want to invest for the whole term. Almost as an after thought , this is mentioned that you can continue paying the same premium in subsequent years if you want. Unfortunately, there is no one-size fit all in clothing, there is no such scheme that works the same across all premium paying terms. Although the agents are stating facts technically, it is the information which they withhold that causes the most damage. These agents do not tell th
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A life free from worry is possible only in our dreams, but there are ways of ensuring we are safe even from the most unimaginable situations, one of them being sudden illness. Along with this, comes the worry of bearing huge expenses. This can entail a host of expenses apart from the actual medical treatment and hospitalization. Incidental expenses like special diet; travel between the hospital and home adds to the financial burden, apart from the hospital bills related to treatment and medication.A hospital crash cover is the one which provides absolute safety and cover from various accidents and untoward happenings. A hospital cash policy protects you and your
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