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?
Opinion
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?
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?
How to select the Best ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) for your portfolio?
The topic of this post may seem odd, given what I regularly write about ULIPs. I advocate mutual funds over unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) and for good reasons. I do not deny bias though. I wrote a detailed post comparing mutual funds and ULIPs and showing why I prefer mutual funds over ULIPs, despite ULIPs enjoying far superior tax treatment as compared to mutual … [Read more...] about How to select the Best ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) for your portfolio?
How claim is settled if you have two Health Insurance plans?
Many of us have more than one health insurance policies. And I receive a number of queries over e-mail and as comments in my blog post about discontent with claim settlements for two policies. Many have a grievance that the insurers did not settle as they expected and they had to pay the balance from their pockets. I had done a post on the pros and cons of having multiple … [Read more...] about How claim is settled if you have two Health Insurance plans?
If you are old, avoid ULIPs
One big advantage that ULIPs have over equity mutual funds is that the maturity proceeds from ULIPs are exempt from tax. On the other hand, the long-term capital gains on the sale of equity mutual funds are taxed at 10%. LTCG on sale of debt mutual funds is taxed at 20% after indexation. In an earlier post, I highlighted why I still prefer mutual funds over ULIPs. I don’t deny … [Read more...] about If you are old, avoid ULIPs
NPS Tax Benefits and Tax Treatment at Maturity (Latest)
In this post, I will discuss tax benefits for NPS and the tax treatment of maturity proceeds. I will discuss if it makes sense to invest in NPS now or if you should invest in NPS for the exclusive benefit of Rs 50,000 under Section 80CCD(1B). NPS Tax Benefits (Latest) This part has not been affected by the latest budget. Only contribution to Tier-I NPS account is eligible … [Read more...] about NPS Tax Benefits and Tax Treatment at Maturity (Latest)
