Latest Posts

My Wife’s Treasure Chest

Hidden Treasure

With our PM Modi’s bold move to phase out old INR 500 & 1000 currency notes, we have a new crisis at home today. I am checking my wallet, bags & hidden areas to weed out any notes, suddenly we have bundle of notes, popping out of kitchen cabinets, dressers &areas we wouldn’t even imagine.

And guess, who’s behind this, my dear “Wife” … all these years she’s been keeping or stacking notes in some place or the other, which comes as small change, shagun(gifts) or any other savings. She would not even bother to look back to check, whether it’s there or not, or how much is stacked.

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The Best Gift Ever Received

best-gift-ever

We have heard stories, where kids from their pocket money savings, have purchased an expensive music system or gifted an expensive wrist watch to their parents. If it’s my generation, i.e. 80’s, we were saving this in our piggy banks, whereas today same gets parked in a real bank savings account (kids).

I have not come across any parents till date, who would have started a culture of kids saving same in equity mutual funds. Why?

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My dream – How to become Rich?

My dream - How to become Rich?

I thought of writing something differently this time. I asked this question, what is one common dream, most of us look forward to. I didn’t have to scratch my head, “how to become rich” is everyone’s dream, but very few live to live this dream.

It’s not about the dreaming, but it’s all about the efforts put to live this dream.

My best analogy is old DD comedy show of “Mungerilal ke haseen sapne”, where Raghubir Yadav used to dream big and while dreaming, will elaborately get into details & hard work, but only in his dream, and towards the end when he wakes-up, he is back with nothing in hand 😉

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Investments – too much clutter in the marketplace!

cluttered marketplace

On one hand, we have Investment product sellers; like banks, brokers & individual consultants, who sell investment products, claiming to offer the best solution with detailed research reports.

On the other hand, we have manufacturers, like mutual funds & insurance companies, offering mouth-watering deals with smart TV & print commercials.

Who do we believe & trust?

As once a product is sold, one gets to know or understand the actual value of the product only after few years or later, that too when one meets a new advisor or spends some time on knowing the product 😉

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Insurance in India; what it means? – Investment series 2

Insurance

A recent survey conducted by an international agency on India’s financial literacy:

  • 67% of the Indian prone to think insurance as investment

  • ONLY 7% people have taken term insurance, out of all who pays insurance premium

  • ONLY 5% of people have health insurance

  • 92% people after their retirement depend on the children and 8% who plan for retirement, 61% of them resort to insurance as retirement plan

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Power of Small Savings – Investment series 1

In my last article, I wrote on two key challenges, we as Robo-advisors face; i.e. “Customer mind-set” towards investments, where it comes as last priority and “Meaning of investments”, where quality is not understood.

To sum it up… how do you motivate customers?

Unlike e-commerce portals, based on current theme, it’s the deep discount that attracts. We have cases (many); where customer go to malls or retail outlet on look & feel, and finally will swap on their smart phone to check on availability & discount, and punch the order… which is obvious, where?

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Robo Advisor

Roboadvisors

As per Wikipedia; “Robo-advisors are a class of financial adviser that provides financial advice or portfolio management online, with minimal human intervention”.

Most Robo-advisors employ algorithms, where automated investment solutions come out as output, based on customer’s data points; towards cash flow, future goals, risk tolerance, current investments etc.

Logic & working of these algorithms, which can be simple to complex, depends on the solutions offered to various category of customers, which also depends on firm’s/ founders experience & expertise.

Indian Context

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BREXIT & my Investments

Brexit affects on your Investment

Brexit, a referendum on UK, whether to stay in the European Union or not, is finally over with 52% voters demanding an EXIT (48% is in favour of European Union). Sensex which opened with a gap of 1000 points today, with some recovery closed with 600 points down. International markets went for a full hara-kiri with 5% to 10% dive.
Will it affect India?
With European Union (EU) losing one of its members, India too can feel the heat. Rupee may depreciate because of the double effect of foreign fund outflow and dollar rise, and may lead to increase in petrol and diesel prices to an extent. The government then may want to reduce additional excise duty imposed on fuel when it was on a downward trajectory. This will

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What’s Your Budget Personality?

What's your Budget personalities

Our personalities inform how we approach every part of our lives. From the workplace to friendships and even at home, your distinct style is uniquely yours when you interact with the world around you. This goes for budgets, too. Personalities often impact how you spend, save and manage your money, sometimes positively and sometimes impeding your progress.

Do you know your budget personality? Check out these four common types and corresponding tips to jump-start your road to better financial health. You just may recognize yourself!

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Direct Plan Vs Regular Plan in Mutual Funds Investment

should-you-go-for-mutual-fund-direct-plans

I am confused?
There is a big hoo-ha in the market & media now a days related to “direct plans”.
What is a direct plan? How does one benefit from a direct plan? And compared to regular plan, which is better?

Let’s first understand Mutual Fund charges.
Mutual fund (MF) investments come with an inbuilt fee structure or charges, which is certain percentage of the amount invested. This charge, which is usually between 1.75% to 2.5% for equity schemes annually, is debited on the total investment made or the AUM (Asset under management) every year. In simple terms, if one wants to invest 1lac in some equity MF scheme, where annual charges is 2.5%, Rs.2500/- will be debited by the AMC (Asset management company) towards

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