Nice article on ULIP

In the recent past, there was an article published in rediff on ULIP. ( Unit Liniked Insurance Plan - Insurance plan which has units that can be invested either in equity, debt or a combination of both)

The author had reasonably given a fair idea of what a ULIP can do for you(!!) based on your level of awareness.

The experiences of various people put up by way of comments was also extremely educative.

I would say , it is a MUST for everyone who wants to invest in ULIP to go through this article and especially the comments by various people.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/feb/02perfin.htm

Do not club insurance and investments

Most of us tend to club insurance with investment. Many of us invest in cash back policies when going for insurance . This is not a great idea.

Always prefer "term" insurance policies only. Use insurance only for covering risk.

What is term insurance?
When you put your money somewhere, you expect something back. With a term life insurance, that is not the case. If you die, your nominee gets something. If you live, no one gets anything.

Advantages:-

Premium for term policies are lot lesser than non-term policies.

You don't incur a hefty commission cost on the higher premium paid for non-term policy.

Insurance is used only to cover risk and you can decide other modes for investing your money.

if, term-policy is not advised by any of your broker/LIC agent , then he is more keen on his commission than your personal interest.


Like all financial dealings, "UNDERSTAND" the product before you invest and always have in mind that "Insurance and investments must be mutually exclusive".

What about insurance for retirement planning , child's future planning , etc ..?lets discuss that in the forthcoming articles.



Please write to ideas.money@gmail.com if you have any questions


Inspirations for Life , Easy Crafts , Easy Indian food

Mutual Funds - All you wanted to know

1.What is a Mutual Fund?

Basic Lessons on mutual funds - (for complete freshers to MF)

2.Where does my money invested in a MF go?

Depending on the scheme you choose, your money is invested in debt / equity / both.
This will depend on the theme of the fund that you invest in.

3.What is the advantage of investing in equity through MF?

a. You make use of expertise of fund manager's at a reasonable cost.
b. Participating in a wide spectrum of shares even with a lesser amount.
c. Transparent and well regulated.

Most importantly you "outsource" your business of investing to a professional.

4.Is less NAV cheaper to invest?

Net Asset Value (NAV) should not be a deciding factor when you start to invest.Say there are two funds (both same category funds), scheme A has NAV of Rs 40 and Scheme B Rs 16. You should not invest in scheme B because it has a lower NAV.

5.What should I analyse before Investing?

a. Track record of the fund.
b. Track record of the fund House and the fund manager.
c. Fund's performance during volatility and bearish phases.
d. Average returns over a period of at least 3-5 years.
e. Expense ratio of the fund.
f. Ratings by researchers (eg.value research)

6.Is it good to invest in NFO?

New Fund Offers(NFO) are new investing schemes offered by fund houses from time to time. Do not invest in them unless they are conceptually different and are a unique offering.
(Beware of NFOs )

7.What are the advantages of a balanced fund?

Balanced Funds combine the advantage of both debt and equity.They are less riskier when compared to pure equity funds.
(Balanced Fund – Advantages )

9.What should be the time period for investing in equity funds?

Longer the better.Minimum of 3-5 year time horizon is required, to expect reasonable returns.

(Time in the market is more important )

10.Should we keep churning the equity MF portfolio?

Do not keep switching in and out of the funds unless seriously warranted. Frequent churning will make your broker rich (Not you).

11.What is the ideal number of funds one should hold?

Should be reasonable . Not too many (like 15-20 and above) nor too less (like 1 or 2).

12. Suggested approach to invest in equity funds?

( Equity MF Investment Approach)

Click here ->All other articles on mutual funds in ideasmoney.blogspot.com

Please write to ideas.money@gmail.com if you have any questions


Inspirations for Life , Easy Crafts , Easy Indian food

Basics of Investing

Many People think that investing is a rocket science and you need to be a financial whiz kid to do it.
No, it’s not true for managing our personal finance at least. The basic things to be known and followed are:

1. Understand and write down your short term and long-term financial goals. (How much you need at what time).

2. Understand Inflation. (Rs. 1 you have today is going to loose its purchasing power as time goes by)

3. Understand the tax laws and their impact on your income. Most of us think that tax is too complex to handle and we loose a hell lot of money by not doing proper tax planning.

4. Understand Risk and Return. Unless you are going to take risk, you are not going to get a good return.

5. Understand the different investment avenues available-– Realise the power of equity.

6. DO NOT invest in an instrument based on someone’s advice alone (be it a broker or a friend) – do it only when you understand it fully.

7. Make out an Investment plan based on these and start investing regularly.

Learning to invest is just like acquiring any other skill. You need not be extraordinary to do it.

NB:- Understand the difference between real investment and idle capital expenditures.

Articles on Inflation

Compare Mysore Palace and a Two Bedroom flat

Impact of Inflation

Articles on Equity Advantage

FD VS Equity Comparison table

Debt and Equity - Tax Impact

Power of Equity *

Time in the market is more important

Other Articles of Relevance

The Power of Compounding - Compound Interest

Do you pay yourselves first?

SIP in Mutual Fund + Patience = Wealth Creation

Lesson from " Rich Dad, Poor Dad"

I think you are ready to get a great start now.

Please write to ideas.money@gmail.com if you have any questions

Inspirations for Life , Easy Crafts , Easy Indian food

SIP in Mutual Fund + Patience = Wealth Creation

Sytematic Investment Planning (SIP) . SIP option of investing is available with all the mutual funds. SIP is an ideal way of investing for the retail investor especially for investing in equity funds.

1. A method of investing regularly to benefit from the stock market volatility.(Cost averaging )

2. Regular- Similar to Recurring Deposit.

3. Automatic investments, one-time instruction, auto- debit facility from your SB account (Convenient and Hassle-Free)

4. Forced saving – you can easily fall into the pattern of Earn- > Save -> Consume intead of consume and then save.

Overall, an SIP is a simple device that helps you to save and invest in a disciplined manner without having to time the market.

Power of Equity *

*parts of a presentation which I happened to see