Your queries answered

1) I have a SIP in ELSS fund for 3 years ( till 10 Apr 2009). Can I redeem the units from fund only after 10 Apr 2012 , after the 3 year lock- in period applicable for ELSS tax saving funds ?

Lock-in period in ELSS is applicable for units based on the date of purchase of that relevant unit.

Say I have an SIP for 6 months..

units purchased on 10th of may07 ,jun 07, jul 07, aug 07 ,sep07 ,oct 07.

redemption of units purchased on 10th may 07 can be dome on or after 10 may 10
same way ,units purchased on 10th jun 07 can be done on or after 10 jun 10. and so on

The lock-in for the units will be determined by the purchase date of that unit.

To determine one year holding to Equity MF for Long term capital gains, same rule needs to be applied.

Article of the month

Want to laugh aloud?? :-)

Chasing the best performing mutual funds

There are a plethora of equity funds in the market today. The main question that comes to the mind of an investor is " Which equity fund should I invest in?", " How to choose the best fund?",etc.

Performance of a fund, fund house and the fund manager need to be considered ( over a period of two to three years ). Look at five star and four rated funds ( Again different sites rate funds differently..so try to choose authentic ones) which have performed consistently over a period of time.

Don't switch out a chosen fund if it doesn't maintain its performance in a few quarters.This approach wouldn't help. A top performing fund has every chance of slipping down the charts due to various factors. The top performance can itself be a factor..like due to the fund's performance..a lot of money pours into the fund and makes it handicapped ( example Sundaram select mid cap, Franklin prima..etc )

You should stick on to a fund chosen at least for a couple of years. Unless you see the funds drifting down more than a quartile in the group of funds.If you keep chasing the top performing funds and switch out and switch in frequently....you will be loosing a lot in investing cost 9via entry loads) and may get into a tax tangle , if you are selling funds within an year of purchase.

Feeling bored..In a negative mood???.. Read some stuff that can inspire you

For 10 year analysis on some equity funds---http://ideasmoney.blogspot.com/2007/05/sip-returns-analysis.html

Hungry ??? Best microwave cooking blog

Global and Indian Economy @ an interesting juncture

We are at a very interesting juncture now. Economic boom was seen the world around in terms of high stock market indices and soaring real estate prices.

India has also seen tremendous shoot up in stock market values and real estate valuations. It will be interesting to see whether this growth would continue......if so, at what phase.

Sub prime market woes, Exchange rate fluctuations and Political conditions are the factors that are the main factors being looked into by all analyst. Will India get affected by sub-prime crisis, will sensex continue to grow in the same speed, the future of IT in terms of exchange rate fluctuations are the key questions as of now?

May be we need to wait a little more before we figure out a trend.

Destiny Vs Freewill

SEBI's proposal on entry load

Got to see some reports that there is a proposal from SEBI that entry load can be waived if investments is made directly with AMC. (For Equity MF investments)

It will be a great move ,if it happens.

What does that mean for an investor.

1) If an investor is able to decide for himself , what fund he needs to invest in ...he can make it directly with the fund house.

2) Misleading information provided by brokers (esp wrt NFOs ) would get reduced supposedly!

3) Informed investors would benefit a lot and would encourage more investors to get MF educated.

A welcome move, Since choosing a fund is not as tough as picking a stock!!!

Quantified benefits~

if you invest Rs 25000 in a year in Equity MF, you will save around Rs. 562/-

Visit the best blog on crafts

Hits from Google

ULIP Vs Mutual Funds

On analysing terms which hit upon this site from google we found ,Most of them have come over here searching for terms on

UILP VS MF
Compare ULIP and MF
Advantages of MF over ULIP
ULIP Vs SIP

This shows that at least some people are doing enough research and understanding the financial products before they are investing.. Way to go!!

URL for the article pasted below.

ULIP Vs Mutual Funds

Also more on Insurance at http://ideasmoney.blogspot.com/search/label/Insurance

Investing on borrowed money

Many people have a lot of debts like credit card, personal loan and others . They also foray into aggressive investing.

When you have debts , the best strategy would be to clear the debts off before you start big bang investing. ( Of course, you can save and invest small portions to clear of the debt).

Another dangerous thing is investing in risky instruments like equity on borrowed money. This also can lead to grave consequences. It's always better to avoid such a thing unless you are highly adventurous!!.

A true inspiration!!