Archive for August 4, 2007

A Financial Spring Cleaning

August 28, 2007 admin Financial Planning

Publication: The Times Of India Mumbai; Date: Aug 28, 2007; Section: Your Money; Page: 38

So what exactly is financial planning and wealth management, Rakesh Jha was curious to know. This 45-year-old businessman was in my office because he wanted to plan his family finances. My reply was straightforward: comprehensive financial planning is the process of allocating financial resources in the best way to achieve your financial goals. A financial plan addresses four important areas:risk management, wealth creation, wealth preservation and wealth transfer.

 

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Step up equity play, cut realty share

August 27, 2007 admin Case Study, Financial Planning

Publication: DNA, Mumbai;   Date: August 27, 2007;    Section: Personal Finance;   Page: 6

That is the prescription forDNA Money readers Raj & Seema

Financial plan? Who wants one when the markets are booming, gold is rocketing and real estate is zooming? The average working man or woman in India decides where to put his or her money depending on the immediate needs — educate the kids, buy a house, a car, take a holiday and of course, invest to save on tax.
The Sharmas (Raj & Seema), in their mid-thirties, are one such couple that equates financial planning with tax planning. The result: They have no clue as to when Raj would retire or whether he can quit the job to start his own business as he has been contemplating for the last couple of years, etc. They have ended up accumulating a hodgepodge of products (endowment insurance, Ulips, pension plans, real estate, PPF, mutual funds and direct equity). » Read more..

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Cover for your home

August 26, 2007 admin Life Insurance

Publication : Business Standard, Mumbai; Section : Insurance; Date: August 26, 2007

It’s hard to miss the HDFC Standard Life home loan insurance advertisements on television these days, “Mr Kumar rahe na rahe, Kumar Sadan hamesha rahega.” However, unlike the fictitious Mr Kumar, there are many individuals who worry that about the adverse impact of the home loans if something happened to them. This is where a home loan insurance product comes to the rescue. Home loan insurance plans, also known as mortgage redemption plans are policies that cover your home loan liability. Though there are some minor variants, most plans offer a sum assured that reduces as your outstanding home loan comes down every year. In such plans, it is not your home but your loan that is covered should something happen to you. For instance, if you have taken a home loan of Rs 40 lakh and covered this through a home loan insurance. If after a year, your outstanding loan comes down to Rs 39 lakh, then your sum assured also comes down to Rs 39 lakh. In short the sum assured is adjusted against your home loan liability.

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Budget for Savings, not Spending

August 14, 2007 admin Banking and Savings
MARION JONES RUNS OUT OF MONEYPublication: The Times Of India Mumbai; Date: Aug 14, 2007; Section: Your Money; Page: 42

 

Becoming and staying wealthy is not a matter of earning more, but of keeping what you earn American sprinter Marion Jones is down to her last $2,000, according to The Los Angeles Times. Yes, the same athlete who won five medals, including three gold, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, shone on magazine covers, and signed multi-million dollar endorsement deals. Fast forward to 2007, and she has been declared bankrupt.

We saw something similar in the movie Tara Rum Pum, where actor Saif Ali Khan plays a car racer who travels a similar path from wealth to insolvency. Well, the film had an important message:one should save for a rainy day and plan well for the future. The reason is clear: history shows that any income can be spent.

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A pension plan you can do without

August 4, 2007 admin Life Insurance

Publication: DNA,Mumbai;   Date: August 4, 2007;    Section: Personal Finance;   Page: 6

LICs Market Plus is a losing proposition

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) launched unit linked insurance plans (Ulips) much later than its private sector counterparts. And though these products have been in vogue for around five years, the insurance behemoth has only two Ulips as on date, one of which is Market Plus, a deferred pension Ulip.
The Webster dictionary defines pension as “a fixed sum paid regularly, especially to a person retired from service.”
In the Indian context, pension plans can be divided into two categories: immediate annuities and deferred annuities. An immediate annuity is an actual pension plan that keeps the sanctity of the word pension intact. On putting money in an immediate annuity, the insurance firm pays the policyholder a certain sum of money at yearly or other regular intervals (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or » Read more..

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