The Union budget 2019 was presented on Feb 1, 2019. There were some tax sops offered to the middle class. A new pension scheme for the workers in the unorganized sector was launched. There was an announcement of guaranteed basic income for certain section of farmers. So, something for everyone. Here are the highlights. 1. Income tax … [Read more...] about Budget 2019: Key Highlights
Financial Planning
Claims Settlement Data of Health Insurance Companies (FY2018): How to interpret?
While selecting an insurance plan, the first filter you apply is on the Claims settlement ratios. Lower the claim settlement for a company, the more you are likely to stay away from the company. IRDA came out with its annual report for FY2017-2018 in January 2019. In this post, let’s look at claims data of health insurance companies for FY2017-2018. Claims Data is presented … [Read more...] about Claims Settlement Data of Health Insurance Companies (FY2018): How to interpret?
PFP Primer: What are ETFs?
In simple words, ETF or Exchange traded funds are index funds that trade on stock exchanges like shares. An ETF allows you to buy and sell an entire index like a stock. ETFs provide diversification with a single investment and limited amount of capital and at a small cost. Let’s say you want to take exposure to Nifty 100 benchmark. To be able to do that, you will have to … [Read more...] about PFP Primer: What are ETFs?
Retirement Planning: When to purchase an Annuity plan?
The biggest financial risk during retirement is that you may outlive your retirement corpus. You may have planned really well and planned for the corpus to last till the age of 90 but you are fit for another 10 years by the time you turn 90. What do you do then? How will you provide for your basic expenses? Is there a way you can do away with this longevity … [Read more...] about Retirement Planning: When to purchase an Annuity plan?
LIC Jeevan Shanti: A case of mis-selling?
Mis-selling is not just about selling bad products to the consumers. It is also about selling good products the wrong way. In a way, selling any product that is not suitable for the consumer/investor is tantamount is mis-selling. Selling a life insurance plan to an 80-year old who walked into the branch to open up a fixed deposit is mis-selling. Selling regular premium ULIPs … [Read more...] about LIC Jeevan Shanti: A case of mis-selling?
How do you calculate your Mutual Fund Returns: CAGR, IRR or XIRR?
You invest Rs 10,000 on January 1 every year for 20 years. In the first case, you earn a constant 6% p.a. for the first 10 years and 12% for the last 10 years. In the second case, you earn a constant 12% p.a. for the first 10 years and 6% p.a. for the last 10 years. Will you end up with the same corpus in both the cases? After all, Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is the … [Read more...] about How do you calculate your Mutual Fund Returns: CAGR, IRR or XIRR?
NRI Corner: Plan to take a loan abroad to invest or replace a loan in India?
If you are an NRI, you may be able to get a loan at a very low rate of interest in your country of residence? If you have such an option, you may feel tempted to take a low cost loan and invest in India. For instance, let’s say you can borrow at 3% p.a. abroad and invest in India in NRE fixed deposits at 7.5% p.a. Looks a very good deal, isn’t it? Alternatively, if you … [Read more...] about NRI Corner: Plan to take a loan abroad to invest or replace a loan in India?
With NPS almost EEE, should you now invest in NPS?
The tax regime for NPS has gotten better and better over the last few years. In December 2018, the Government has almost given EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) tax status to NPS. Is NPS really EEE? NPS has almost attained EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) tax status. This is in line with the other popular retirement products such as EPF and PPF. However, there is still some … [Read more...] about With NPS almost EEE, should you now invest in NPS?
Good News: Lumpsum withdrawal from NPS is now exempt from tax
The Government of India has brought about a few important changes to NPS (National Pension Scheme). All the changes are beneficial for the NPS investors. Some of the changes are only for the Central Government Employees while the others apply to all the NPS subscribers. Let’s go through the changes in detail. Change # 1 (Taxation of NPS Maturity proceeds) This change … [Read more...] about Good News: Lumpsum withdrawal from NPS is now exempt from tax
You can now invest online in Government Bonds easily. Should you?
Investing in Government Securities has become simpler. The Reserve Bank of India had notified, in November 2017, that stock exchanges can act as aggregators for retail investor and thus facilitate bidding for Government securities at RBI auctions. Discount broker Zerodha and NSE came out with the online facility to purchase Government bonds recently (late 2018). In this post, … [Read more...] about You can now invest online in Government Bonds easily. Should you?
