Most of us would answer the first question as Yes, and the second as No, and if you are one of them then you are at the right place at the right time. My Hearty Congratulations! to you. Wallace D. Wattles said, “Every person who gets rich by creation opens a way for thousands to follow - and inspires them to do so."
Wealth creation is not the privilege of a few, but as Ralph Waldo Emerson pointed, “Man was born to be rich, or inevitably to grow rich, through the use of his faculties."
Here come the 4 maxims to wealth creation as jacks out of the box:
1. When young be a youngster, when old be mature.
"Don't let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream and he thinks you're crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you're lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you're greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn't understand." By Robert Allen
Some youngsters are easily influenced by the ideas, advice and experiences of others, like Vijay, 27 years old, believed in safe and secure investments in fixed deposits in banks and companies, just because his father lost heavily in the share market. However Rahul invested in mutual funds and created more wealth.
Youngsters in their 20’s should invest in stocks and shares as they can afford to wait and benefit with compounding effect and lower taxes. Likewise an old person should play mature and responsible and invest in safe and secure investments like debt instruments and big cap mutual funds.
2) Know the depth of ocean before stepping in, and your investment risk:
Investment risk calculation of each portfolio helps judge risk. Your age, appetite for risk, and length of investment decides your investment portfolio. M.R. Kopmeyer said, The great road to wealth is to learn useful facts", how true it is that many investors had lost heavily in future stock selling in a bull market without much knowledge. A safer investment would have been multi cap mutual funds with wealth creation period of 10-15 years. However senior citizens should invest in big cap mutual funds with much lower allocation.
Wealth creation decisions should be long term, for it is futile to be swayed to sell units/shares in a rising market and miss on opportunities for further wealth creation. Follow the market trend and do as J. Paul Getty quotes, "Buy when everyone else is selling and hold until everyone else is buying"
3) Set an optimum leverage between debt for wealth creation and lifestyle assets.
"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into." By Wayne Dyer
There is an urgent need for quick wealth creation to meet inflation demands, but we need lifestyle assets like car, TV, furniture and a house to live in. Unplanned debt can be a barrier to your wealth accumulation process. It is true with easy debt options available, there is a choice to borrow for lifestyle assets alone or for also for wealth creation investments like real estate. In addition, payment of EMI leaves youngsters with less capital to invest in wealth creation assets.
In addition, leverage requires not investing in same type of assets like land and house, as price fluctuations could adversely affect all in that type of asset. Also investing on lifestyle comforts pay nothing in the long run.
4) No one created wealth by laying all eggs in one basket.
Variety is the spice of investment decisions too, helping in diversifying risks, and making it possible to offset the fall in value of one asset by profits in another. So having a diversified portfolio of real estate, gold, shares, mutual funds and house, and avoiding investment just in one asset class helps. In addition, portfolio diversification proves effective in tax saving, and better wealth creation.
Now finally you too are on the path to being a high networth person. How do you view yourself?
Do you quote George Claso, "Wealth is power. With wealth many things are possible." and end on a final note, with John Emmerling, "Study well what the billionaire does. It may make you a millionaire."
The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (http://www.holisticinvestment.in/) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in
Spend your annual bonus wisely
Annual Bonus is a very important component for any working professional. Normally, every individual has his own plans on how to spend it before it hits your salary account. But there are a few people who don’t know what to do with this extra money and where they should
· Spend
· Invest
· Save
Normally professional in the mid 20’s spend it on luxuries and later on repent on it “I should have invested it somewhere” This is how you can spend your annual bonus wisely and stay ahead of others in financial planning
1. Invest in Mutual Funds to create wealth
Investing in mutual funds especially equity mutual funds helps in creating long term wealth by diversifying in 3-4 schemes. You must consult your financial planner (not sales agents) before you plan out for your future. Mutual funds have historically given a return of 15-18% which can make your money 27 times in 20 years considering 18% rate of return. This means if you have received a annual bonus of 1 Lakh, it can become 27.85 Lakhs considering 18% rate of return and 20 years of time period, the money which will need at your retirement or for your child’s marriage. SIP in Mutual fund is an another way to create a huge corpus for your future needs.
2. Prepay your Expensive Loans
In case you are holding any personal loans or credit card debit account, you must pay them first. Never delay expensive loans as it can disturb your whole financial plan. Credit cards sometimes act as a debt trap as nearly 35 monthly interest can hit your badly
3. Tax Planning
You can look to save tax through various deductions under various sections. You may invest your bonus amount in Equity linked savings scheme (ELSS) or in PPF or some other assest class which may help you to save tax upto 1 Lakh under Sec 80c. By this you can save your tax and take the benefit of power of compounding in your investments.
Now its upto you whether you want to save, invest or spend your annual bonus
This article is written by Mr. Mayank Gupta who blogs at www.wealthbazaar.in which is into portfolio advisory services and financial planning
Gift ideas for children:
1) Piggy bank:
This may not be a great idea. But can be done in a different fashion. That is you gift a piggy bank to a child with 90 one rupee coins. Set a target for the child to make it to Rs.100 in a month. This motivates the child to save Rs.10 extra to make it Rs.100. Like wise you can set a target for a year. Also announce some bonus when the child achieves a particular target. Say when it reaches Rs.1000 give the child a bonus of Rs.100. Idea is not only to gift the piggy bank and to encourage and motivate to save.
2) Savings account for kids:
Open a savings account for the gift. It gives a great feeling to the gift, when the kid gets a bank account in his/her own name. Whatever cash gifts, the kid gets for Diwali, Christmas, New Year, birthday and other special occasion can be deposited in this account. Whenever, the account balance crosses a particular limit say Rs.10000 or Rs.25000 can be withdrawn and invested in mutual funds or FDs in the kids name.
This creates awareness among the kid about savings and investments. You are laying strong foundation on personal finance management for your kid.
3) Board Games:
There is a board game known as Trade or Business. Game like this will be of very helpful to the kids in understanding the value of money, buying assets, spending less, saving more, investing and the like.
There are also so many online games like this. These games can teach the complete money management in fun-filled way.
4) Mutual Fund SIP:
You can start a mutual fund SIP in the name of the child. You contribute only for the first month installment and ask your kid to pay out of his or her pocket money for the subsequent installments. This way you will teach your kid about the stock market nuances also.
Gift ideas for the spouse:
1) Life style Assurance:
How your spouse will feel when you give a gift that assures the present lifestyle forever. You are here today earning and providing a lifestyle to your family. If you retire, can the same lifestyle be maintained? If any mishappening to you in between, can the same lifestyle be maintained by your family?
To protect the lifestyle of your family after your retirement, you need to do a detailed retirement plan. I am not advocating here about unit linked pension plan. No. I am talking about a comprehensive retirement plan.
To protect the lifestyle of your family from your premature death, take a pure term insurance plan. I am not talking about ULIPs here. Pure term insurance plan. Calculate in detail your human life value and then cover that amount of value with a term insurance policy.
Professional financial planners will be of assistance to you in drawing a retirement plan as well as finding your human life value.
2) Gold ETF:
If you are planning to gift gold coin to your spouse, think about gifting Gold ETFs. Easy to buy and sell. No need to safeguard.
Gift ideas for parents:
1) Monthly Income:
Your parents at the old age they need monthly income. Gift them an investment option which gives a monthly income to them. You can get monthly income by investing in FDs, POMIS, mutual fund MIPs and the like. Your parents may not be depending on you, but still then, this extra cash flow out of your investment gift will make them enjoy their life more at the old age.
2)Health Insurance:
Most of the insurance companies are ready to cover senior citizens with an extra premium or with a co-payment option. Co-payment is, when a claim comes the insurance company will pay some predetermined percentage of the claim and balance will be co-paid by the claimant.
Gifting the mediclaim policy for your parents will relive them from paying their hospital bills which are unavoidable things at the old age.
Gift ideas for servants:
Gifting a mediclaim policy to your maid servant is a good idea. They may not be thought about that and they could have thought that those things are costly. Along with the mediclaim policy, you can add accidental insurance for your driver.
It is really very difficult to find good servants these days. Even if you find one, it is really very difficult to retain them. If you pay the renewal premium on behalf of them every year, they will be very loyal to you. They will think twice, before quitting the job with you.
Gift ideas for friends:
You can choose to gift some good personal finance book for your friend or colleague. Instead of sending them e-cards, you can surprise them by emailing a personal finance article with your Diwali wishes. Even this article itself can be mailed to your near and dear instead of an e-greeting.
Gift ideas for others:
Instead of gifting money or gold, it is a good idea to gift bluechip company shares. Even a single share can be gifted. As it is a gift, people sentimentally will not sell them immediately and keep it for long term. A single share can grow with bonuses over a period of time.
Let us start surprising our loved ones this Diwali with these unusual gifts.
The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.
Disadvantages of a Readymade “Child Plan”
“Child plans” with insurance resemble unit linked insurance plans, starting early in a child’s life and ending only when the child attains maturity. The amount of money invested in these plans is insignificant considering an in-built insurance component, and other charges like premium allocation charges that are the commission paid to distributors. This could lead to low return in the initial stages and additional losses on leaving before completion of the tenure.
Most of the “Child plans” in the industry comes with a catchy name to capitalize the “Child sentiment” in us.
We need a different medicine for a kid and adult. But do we necessarily need a different type of investment options for securing a kid’s future. Think.
Alternatives for Child Plan:
It is to be noted that other investment products like Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate, National Savings Scheme, RBI bonds, post office deposits and instruments and mutual funds that serve the purpose of savings and increasing of capital value apply equally well to investment for a child’s future.
Mutual funds are available in a wide range to satisfy all appetites for risks. In addition there are mutual funds that are designed for meeting long term financial obligations of children. One could also invest in funds with a right balance between debt and equity that promise better capital growth than child plans. It is also possible to go in for systematic investment plan that offers the opportunities of taking advantages of price differences and gaining in the long run.
It is true that systematic investment plans or SIP help save entry cost and build a habit of regular savings for capital growth to meet children’s financial obligations. It is also possible to avail of tax benefits as such funds are taxed only on maturity and a major child’s income would be taxed separately. I am sure you would agree that this would help saving unnecessary expenses and cuts in investing in child plans.
PPF or Public Provident Fund is also good as mutual funds, with opening a PPF account for a 20-year period in a child’s name helping to meet long time financial obligations of children. It has been stipulated that an annual investment of just Rs.70000 would leave you with almost Rs.32lac as a result of the compounding effect. It is difficult for a “child plan” with insurance component and upfront charges to offer you such a great return without taking much of risk.
An Ideal Mix:
• Instead of going for a “Readymade Child Plan”, one can customize their Investment Plan for their child with a combination of Term insurance, PPF and equity diversified funds.
• If tax saving is your motive one can consider ELSS funds instead of a regular equity fund.
• It gives you similar tax benefit like a child plan. You get 80 C benefits for your investments. Also the returns are also tax free.
• At the same time, the charges are very very minimum and negligible when compared to “readymade child plans”.
• You can increase or decrease your contribution every year depending upon your financial situation.
So whenever, you think of child plan think of a customized investment plan for your kid’s future with a mix of 2 or 3 investment options instead of readymade product with a tag “Child Plan”. I am sure you would agree that readymade child plans prove to be not ideal instruments to save. The wisest line of thought would be a mix of diversified investments that gives good return with low charges.
The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (http://www.holisticinvestment.in/) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in
Disadvantages of a Readymade “Child Plan”
“Child plans” with insurance resemble unit linked insurance plans, starting early in a child’s life and ending only when the child attains maturity. The amount of money invested in these plans is insignificant considering an in-built insurance component, and other charges like premium allocation charges that are the commission paid to distributors. This could lead to low return in the initial stages and additional losses on leaving before completion of the tenure.
Most of the “Child plans” in the industry comes with a catchy name to capitalize the “Child sentiment” in us.
We need a different medicine for a kid and adult. But do we necessarily need a different type of investment options for securing a kid’s future. Think.
Alternatives for Child Plan:
It is to be noted that other investment products like Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate, National Savings Scheme, RBI bonds, post office deposits and instruments and mutual funds that serve the purpose of savings and increasing of capital value apply equally well to investment for a child’s future.
Mutual funds are available in a wide range to satisfy all appetites for risks. In addition there are mutual funds that are designed for meeting long term financial obligations of children. One could also invest in funds with a right balance between debt and equity that promise better capital growth than child plans. It is also possible to go in for systematic investment plan that offers the opportunities of taking advantages of price differences and gaining in the long run.
It is true that systematic investment plans or SIP help save entry cost and build a habit of regular savings for capital growth to meet children’s financial obligations. It is also possible to avail of tax benefits as such funds are taxed only on maturity and a major child’s income would be taxed separately. I am sure you would agree that this would help saving unnecessary expenses and cuts in investing in child plans.
PPF or Public Provident Fund is also good as mutual funds, with opening a PPF account for a 20-year period in a child’s name helping to meet long time financial obligations of children. It has been stipulated that an annual investment of just Rs.70000 would leave you with almost Rs.32lac as a result of the compounding effect. It is difficult for a “child plan” with insurance component and upfront charges to offer you such a great return without taking much of risk.
An Ideal Mix:
• Instead of going for a “Readymade Child Plan”, one can customize their Investment Plan for their child with a combination of Term insurance, PPF and equity diversified funds.
• If tax saving is your motive one can consider ELSS funds instead of a regular equity fund.
• It gives you similar tax benefit like a child plan. You get 80 C benefits for your investments. Also the returns are also tax free.
• At the same time, the charges are very very minimum and negligible when compared to “readymade child plans”.
• You can increase or decrease your contribution every year depending upon your financial situation.
So whenever, you think of child plan think of a customized investment plan for your kid’s future with a mix of 2 or 3 investment options instead of readymade product with a tag “Child Plan”. I am sure you would agree that readymade child plans prove to be not ideal instruments to save. The wisest line of thought would be a mix of diversified investments that gives good return with low charges.
The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (http://www.holisticinvestment.in/) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in
In addition the entry of many MNC-Indian insurance joint ventures, and their bringing out unique solutions and products, it is time that we all looked into taking insurance policies for home makers too. Home mekaers have been neglected all these years with regard to insurance.
It would be interesting to study why home makers too need insurance:
It is significant to note that in a country like India, homemakers contribute to households in the form of cooking, education of children and other menial work. But their importance and value of services evaluated in monetary terms is greatly neglected. It is true that the absence of these services on the death of the homemaker a big financial impact on lower and middle income families.
Another noteworthy factor that places a value on insurance of homemakers is that they provide great counsel to their spouse and children. So losing them would mean that lots of money would have to be spent on counseling services proving that loss of love and companionship is priceless.
It is also true that no one could replace a home maker mother and her loss could make it difficult to get competent and loving people to look after the family and children. It is also significant to note that the cost of competent daycare centers could be high and the cost of not insuring a home maker in lower and middle income families could be pretty high.
There is a money value behind each and every household work performed by the home maker. In case of any eventuality to the home maker, one need to shell out more money to upkeep the house in order.
Considering various aspects like paying expenses out of the pocket, remarriage and insurance, insurance proves to be the most reliable and safest solution. The insurance cover should be proportional to the amount of financial loss that would be suffered or through a need based cost replacement analysis.
In addition to insurance to guard against financial liabilities in case of death of a home maker it is vital to also plan for a dream retirement home and college education funds through various insurance linked plans.
Health insurance:
It is also true that insurance needs to be taken for critical illness, prolonged illness, accident or a major hospitalisation for all family members. It would also be beneficial to take health insurance policies early in life to gain benefits like full cover of all ailments and lower premium.
However each family could have their own unique insurance needs, so taking the advice of a trusted financial planner in the form of an insurance advisor or trusted bank would help. They would render you correct information, best skills and advice based on your family’s financial circumatances, priorities and risk profile.
Insurance for the whole family also requires that all the adult family members be fully aware of all the insurance policies taken, their benefits and exclusions and where they are kept. Having an open discussion about long term savings and insurance plans both for the bread earner and home maker and for children build a better family understanding and bond. They also convey the message that proper life insurance coverage should form an integral part of financial planning in families.
The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (http://www.holisticinvestment.in/) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in
I agree with Ursula K. LeGuin for critical illness could strike anyone at anytime and in any place with the modern trend of rise in lifestyle diseases that call for prompt and costly medical care. The necessity of critical insurance or health insurance with critical illness riders was strengthened with my friend Mr. Karthik being diagnosed with multiple blocks in his heart that involved a treatment of 3lac. Then one more friend told us all about the necessity of critical illness insurance and health insurance with critical illness.
Understanding all about critical insurance and health insurance with critical insurance riders would tell us that most such health insurance policies would cover 12 critical illness besides others. They could include heart attack, coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG), cancer, kidney failure, stroke, coma, liver failure, primary pulmonary arterial hypertension, multiple sclerosis, major organ transplant, aorta graft surgery and total blindness.
These diseases and surgical procedures could be wanted by anyone, at any time and anywhere and hence cannot be neglected at all. Health insurance companies generally undertake to pay a lump sum for the treatment of these diseases irrespective of the amount spent. Some companies may include such coverage on payment of additional premium every year. This could vary from company to company and also between companies dealing in life and general insurance.
Features of Critical Illness Insurance
It is quite possible to take up critical insurance policies or health insurance with critical insurance riders. When a critical insurance policy is taken the entire amount of the sum assured is paid on treatment of the critical insurance irrespective of the amount actually spent. Such a policy is a benefit plan.
The benefit payment under the Policy will generally be paid to you on survival for more than 30 days on post diagnosis of the critical illness.
However critical illness insurance will not cover ordinary hospitalization and medical expenses. While health insurance policies with critical illness riders would offer extra protection against critical illnesses with payment of additional premium. They would also pay the lump sum on the treatment of the critical illness.
However one needs to understand that critical illness insurance does not have any maturity value and just offer cover in case of critical illness. Such amounts may lapse on their not occurring. Life insurance policies offering critical insurance riders have a maturity value but no maturity value is allotted for riders. Riders merely cover the risk of critical insurance. However this need not deter one from taking up critical illness insurance, as it is well worth to cover risk of high expenses with critical illness.
Having a look into the premium on these policies would give us information that the amount of premium on critical illness insurance and riders for critical illness would vary depending on the age of the insured and the illnesses that are covered.
Critical illness insurance could have exclusive coverage for all critical diseases or for only some, the terms and conditions varying from company to company. A check would prove useful before taking up a critical illness insurance or life insurance with critical illness riders.
Tax benefits under Sec 80D or Sec 80C of the Income Tax Act are available.
Get critical insurance today
“Caution is a most valuable asset in fishing, especially if you are the fish.”
I am sure you would not prefer to be the fish that is not cautious, for life is so sweet and short. Mr. Karthik and his family are now out to advice families like them, for they believe their experience could educate others too.
What are you waiting for to take protection today? Information is nothing more than mental garbage if it doesn’t transfer an individual. Unimplemented knowledge is a burden. Our problem is not ignorance; but inaction. Don’t fall into this trap.
One of these days is none of these days; today is the day to start the big job. Just browse the net, discuss with financial planners for better understanding of the coverage required and product clarity, and get quotes and rest in peace with the best critical illness insurance for you.
The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (http://www.holisticinvestment.in/) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in
Creating a Checklist or ‘to-do list’ helps to ensure consistency and completeness in carrying out a task. Becoming an NRI is a major transition which definitely needs a checklist. Here is a personal finance check list to be taken care before departing from India.
NRO & NRE ACCOUNT:
The first thing to do is to convert your savings bank account to an NRO or NRE account. An NRO or non-resident ordinary account is like an ordinary savings bank account that gives a domestic rate of interest. This account can be used for depositting your domestic earnings like rent, interest and dividends and remittances from abroad into this account. Cheques can be issued for EMI and investment, but there are restrictions for transferring money to the country of residence. Money in this account is non-repatriable.
You can transfer current income earned in India, but transfer of sales proceeds of property and investments can be only to the extent of 1 million $’s a year. A certificate from a chartered accountant, declaring that all taxes have been paid has to be furnished. It is important noting that an NRO account invites a tax of about 30.9% at source.
An NRE or non-resident external account can be opened with foreign currency when you wish to transfer substantial money to the country of your residence. There is neither restriction to remittance nor any taxes in this account, but you would only get a low rate of interest. This account offers no facility to receive incomes in the shape of rent, interest and dividends, but you can make local payment in rupees, invest money and receive proceeds from sale of investments and property.
It is much easier to open both these accounts in India, with you requiring giving 2 passport size photographs along with a copy of your passport and visa. In case you are already abroad, it is mandatory to get an attestation from the Indian Embassy or Notary before sending it to the bank branch.
DEMAT ACCOUNT
The next step is to close your domestic demat account and open a non-resident ordinary (NRO) demat account under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PINS). This is mandatory, as there are restrictions to the amount of investment that an NRI can make in the shares and stocks in Indian companies; it should not exceed 5% of the paid–up capital of any Indian company. You need to transfer your existing share holdings also into this account.
You have the option of 2 types of separate demat accounts namely for repatriable and non-repatriable shares and this account is to be separate from other bank accounts. Your demat service provider would help you on submission of copies of passport and visa. Once you return back to your country you can close the PINS demat account.
Power Of Attorney:
The third step is to give the power of attorney to someone you trust in India to manage financial transactions in bank accounts, buying and selling real estate, renting out property and signing up tax forms. The power of attorney could be general, where the authority entrusted holds good for banking as well as real estate transactions or could be specific, where the authority is restrictive to only certain transactions. Consulting a lawyer and submitting attested copies to the concerned people like banks and mutual funds proves essential.
Update your NRI status in Various KYCs:
The last step is inform the mutual fund, bank and insurance companies by submitting the updated Know Your Customer forms stating your change of status as a non-resident Indian. Your Financial Planner and Iagent and bank branch could help you best regarding the different formalities that are required.
The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (http://www.holisticinvestment.in/) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in

