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Mutual Fund Investments- An Insight

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Currently people are largely aware of Mutual Funds. Thanks to the "Mutual Fund Sahi Hai" campaign by AMFI. Even after this effort, people are averse to investment in Mutual Fund because of fear of loss of money. This is mainly because of lack of understanding on what & how mutual funds are and its working method.  Many consider mutual funds as an indirect instrument to make investment in equities. So, people treat mutual funds in the same style as how they deal with investment in stocks. The above understanding is partially correct as mutual fund invest in stocks. However, when it comes to returns, it works differently.   To make the understanding of mutual funds, let me explain it with help of one of the popular and oldest savings methods, which is chit funds. In a chit fund scheme, a fixed number of people called subscribers are grouped by an individual or an organisation and all these contribute an equal amount for a fixed period to create a sum. ...

Financial Security & Freedom- Is it a reality?

Everyone aspire to be independent.  One will be able to enjoy the benefits of freedom only if he feels secure.   Do such a life really exist? Can we all attain that freedom in spite of our different living conditions? Security and Freedom are interlinked.The same applies to personal finance management also.  We think that the most important thing in financial security is high salary. But remember that getting a high salary alone will not take you anywhere . We need to actively make a good financial  plan well in advance to attain it.   Safety & Security should be given top priority in financial management also. As we first put seat belt in a car to be safe, in financial planning also, insurance play such a similar role. Insurance provides protection against the financial risks. Insurance is needed for Life and Health risks. Hence Life Insurance is a must for all irrespective of the life stage like a person is single or married or young...

Income Tax Savings Made Easy

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For most of the salaried employees time is fast approaching for the submission of documental evidence on the investments and expenses qualified to get tax exemption. The most popular option to save tax is put money in schemes allowed as per Sec 80 C of income tax. There are many tax saving/investment options qualified under Sec 80 C. Under Sec 80 C, all can claim a deduction up to 1.5L from their gross taxable income. Many times people remember about tax saving requirement at the last moment and put money in schemes without knowing its details and ends up in blunder which causes loss of money and pain. One should understand different parameters and carefully choose the product before putting money into it. In order to get the maximum benefit from the tax saving option, it is advised that he should align his life goal with the investment product. At the same time, you need to know the tax treatment on the maturity at the end of the investment period. Along with savings, certain...

Insurance-Foundation of Financial Planning

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Two of the most confusing words to many people in personal finance management are Insurance and Investments. Many people mix both of this as they choose insurance product for the purpose of investments and some choose investments that offer a small insurance coverage. A sound financial plan is a combination of protection, savings and investments. The simple reason to have an insurance plan is to avoid a financial crisis that can happen due to the occurrence of unpredicted events at unpredicted time. Insurance are generally categorized into two main Category-Life Insurance and General Insurance (Non-Life Insurance). Life insurance is covering the risk of human life value in case of an eventuality and Non-life insurance offer the risk coverage for all other risks like health, vehicle, fire etc. Life Insurance products in general can categorized into two and they are pure insurance (term insurance) and insurance combined with savings which could be further subdivided into En...