Existing valuations are good for equity investments

October 7, 2011 admin Uncategorized

Publication: Mint Money;Mumbai,   Date: October 7, 2011;    Section: Markets & Finance; Page: 17

With loans taking longer to be disbursed, getting a home in the US, even for an American with a good credit history, has become difficult

I was in the US a couple of weeks back and met a lot of professionals in the financial advisory space. A lot of financial professionals that I spoke with talked about hiring freezes in most banks and financial institutions. It was also surprising to see that many financial advisers were talking about increasing investment allocation in India. » Read more..

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Lessons in financial plumbing

August 1, 2011 admin Uncategorized

Publication : Complete Wellbeing; Stay Well, Section: Manage Money Matters; Vol V; Issue 10; August 2011

Spot and plug the little leaks that are draining you of your wealth

Arjun Nair, an advertising industry executive in his late 40s, has been suffering from what I call the ‘Financial Leakage Syndrome’. Although he earns an enviable INR 24 lakh per year, post tax, he finds it difficult to save a single penny. His argument: “Life has become so expensive, plus these taxes and loan EMIs are killing me”. His wife, Deepa, however disagrees with Arjun and says that this has been the case for the past 20 years of their marriage. She strongly felt that they could save much more as a family. I agree with Deepa and believe that there are several ways in which they could have cut down on their financial leakages.

» Read more..

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When should you start talking about money to your kids?

June 27, 2011 admin Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy for ChildrenPublication: The Economic Times Mumbai; Date: Jun 27, 2011;Section: ET Wealth Page: 34

“Teaching kids to count is fine but teaching them what counts is best.” —Bob Talbert, American columnist

This quote lies at the core of the philosophy behind teaching fiscal responsibility to children. Parents and teachers focus on math and other artistic skills, with kids as young as four years old being enrolled in esoteric classes to get a head start in life. But amid all these classes, we forget to impart an important life skill—financial literacy. How many of us realise that when our kids enter the real world, the first thing they confront is money? As a wealth adviser, I have seen that when it comes to money, smart people commit blunders, whether it is in dealing with banks, taking loans or making investments. » Read more..

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The Art of Giving

March 27, 2011 admin Financial Literacy, Philanthropy

Publication: Business Standard; Mumbai  Date: March 27, 2011                  

How to ensure that your money is used for the right cause.

With great wealth comes great responsibility. This is because money, if utilised appropriately, has the power to do many great things. Hence, wealth creators have an unsaid responsibility of utilising a portion of their wealth for the betterment of society. This act of promoting the welfare of society is called philanthropy. However, you don’t have to be a billionaire to start your philanthropic activities. And there is more than one way to go about it.

REASONS FOR GIVING:
There is a long-held belief that having wealth comes with a responsibility towards the less fortunate. Other reasons why people decide to do philanthropy: To address business or social obligations, to address social problems, to teach sound financial and human values to children, to give some purpose to their lives or to influence public and private policies.

» Read more..

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Simple measures in difficult times

February 27, 2011 admin Financial Literacy

Publication: Business Standard;   Date:Feb 27 2011;                  

The Five questions you need to ask the advisor, or yourself, that will help you tread over current uncertainties

The present year has been a roller coaster ride for investors. Equity markets are turning more volatile each day. Within the first two months, the Sensex has moved between 17,200 and 20,500. There seems to be no respite from this, as oil prices are moving up due to unrest in the Arab world. They recently touched $120 a barrel, a 30-month high.

Commodities and debt are on an upward spiral. Gold and silver made lifetime highs by crossing the Rs 21,000 per 10 grams and Rs 50,000 a kilogram. State Bank of India recently launched high coupon 10-year (9.75 per cent) and 15-year (9.3 per cent) bonds. There are expectations that interest rates could inch up further. This means that interest rates on loans will go up as well.

» Read more..

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Tax saviours

February 1, 2011 admin Uncategorized

Publication: Complete Wellbeing; Staywell; Section: Wealth; Issue: February 2011

Handy tax saving options you can use if you haven’t yet planned your investments

Come January and a lot of taxpaying individuals suddenly wake up and start looking for tax saving options. This is primarily because of the tax saving proofs that they need to submit to avoid a higher tax deduction at source.

In this rush, people generally end up taking a hasty and myopic view of tax planning as their only agenda is to save tax. I have seen people ending up with a plethora of life insurance policies, pension plans, mutual funds, tax saving deposits and so on.

In the end, most land up with expensive products, low post-tax income and products that they do not even require. However, there is no need to rush through the entire process if one starts off early, typically in the first week of the financial year in April. Yes you read it right. The best time to start off your tax planning exercise would be in the first week of April itself.

» Read more..

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INVESTMENT OPTIONS IN THE NEW YEAR

January 9, 2011 admin Financial Literacy

Publication: Business Standard;   Date: Jan. 9, 2011       

Some simple strategies to keep your money working for you

Most asset classes, whether equity, real estate or gold had a great going in 2010. However, a closer look will show that all these asset classes did go through ups and downs during the year. Even as investors may get worried over periods of uncertainty, one can expect volatility to give ample opportunities to maximise profits in 2011.

The equity markets gave a 17 per cent return in an extremely choppy fashion. The index moved in the 18,000 and 16,000 band in the first seven months of the year. The second half saw a clear uptrend that took the markets to the 21,000 level by Diwali. Even commodities made news last year. Gold was stuck in a range of Rs 16,000-16,800 per 10 grams for an extended period till May 2010 and then moved in the Rs 17,000-18,500 per 10 grams range for the next few months. It » Read more..

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Master The Art Of Facing Losses With Dignity – Amar Pandit

January 6, 2011 admin Financial Planning

Publication: The Economic Times Mumbai; Date: Jan 6, 2011; Section: Personal Finance; Page: 14;

THERE is much to be admired about us homo sapiens. We are capable of passionate work, creative ideas and tireless effort — all of which are results of good choices. Yet, when one looks at the investment landscape, the choices which majority of the people make have not been very inspiring. One such phenomenon ‘mental accounting’ was high-lighted last week. This week we will look at ‘loss aversion’.

Have you ever watched a movie in a theatre that you felt was complete nonsense and a waste of time? Did you ever walk out of the theatre? Very few people will because they have paid . 200 per ticket. This is a classic example of lossaversion. In this behavioural bias, our feelings or biases towards loss can force us to make irrational choices.

» Read more..

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Use Mental Accounting To Your Advantage: Amar Pandit

November 26, 2010 admin Financial Planning

Publication: The Economic Times Mumbai; Date: Nov 26, 2010; Section: Personal Finance; Page: 12

RECENTLY we witnessed a Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) episode where the participant who had won 1 crore went for the 5-crore question. He had a lifeline and had already become a crorepati, yet decided to go for the kill. Sadly, he got the answer wrong and went home with just 3.2 lakh. It is disappointing to see a person who made 1 crore losing it the next moment because of the decision that he took. Not just this gentleman, there are many others on the show who fell prey to the phenomenon of ‘mental accounting’.

Mental accounting is nothing but the way we decide to treat money differently because of its source. Just because the money was earned in 15 minutes, the participant decided to treat it differently. I am certain they would not bet a tenth of that amount on the same question if the money had come from their paycheque or profession. Not just KBC, mental accounting is at work everyday in almost every financial decision we make. It makes us mentally segregate money into different accounts — such as savings, EMIs, eating-out money, vacation money, gift money or even gambling money.

» Read more..

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Steady Investments Can Beat The Market By A Mile: Amar Pandit

November 4, 2010 admin Financial Planning

Publication: The Economic Times Mumbai; Date: Nov 4, 2010; Section: Personal Finance; Page: 18

GUESSING the index seems to be like an exciting pastime for most investors. They look at the index as some sacrosanct indicator to decide whether they should buy a stock. “Sensex is back to 20000 and I feel something wrong is going to happen again,” said one learned acquaintance. “The markets are overvalued and I will invest when it corrects,” said another gentleman who did not even invest when the market was at 8000, thinking it will go down to 6000.

I asked many people who have been investing since 2005, “Do you remember the index levels in the year 2005?” Almost everyone replied in the negative. In 2005, the Sensex was between 6103 and 9397. I remember in 2005 a lot of people called even 6600 as a high level. One client had even said, “Let’s wait till 5000.” But guess what: he does not even recall the 2005 level remotely. This is because people have made fantastic returns over five years and it’s no longer important whether you invested at 6500 or 7000 or at 7500.

Here is why index levels should not be a real determinant of your investing decision: » Read more..

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