tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-370560732024-03-13T21:44:50.628-07:00Personal Finance Blog- India V 2.0Money management and beyond!Ideasmoneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09867543349174521418noreply@blogger.comBlogger437125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37056073.post-83613122492833120232020-03-08T00:36:00.000-08:002020-03-08T00:37:26.050-08:00Book Review - Ramayana - The game of life - Shubha Vilas - Radiate confidence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ni_qYyitjF8/XmSnAe93kdI/AAAAAAAABBM/YsfBbWyTd-spNNcOzfxsNkZ_ZiiIc7m3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/51CHn232aRL._SX320_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="322" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ni_qYyitjF8/XmSnAe93kdI/AAAAAAAABBM/YsfBbWyTd-spNNcOzfxsNkZ_ZiiIc7m3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51CHn232aRL._SX320_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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Sundara kanda is the fifth kanda of the ramayana and is also the most read of all the kandas ( or sections) in Ramayana.</div>
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But the <i>Sundara Kanda</i>, the fifth book in the <i>Game of Life </i>series , covers just five days; and more than three-quarters of the book covers a two- day period when Hanuman lept to Lanka.</div>
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The author covers three aspects in the book very well:-</div>
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1) First is the narration of the story, which is very true to its original and told in a very gripping way.</div>
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2) Spiritual meaning behind the events in the story as told by traditional acharyas.</div>
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3) Life lessons relevant for today's world from the story ( essentially as foot notes in each of the pages).</div>
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The key lessons from the story are 1. Be- confident 2. Say- no to distractions ( the author very lucidly explains that distractions may not always come in terms of trouble but may also come in the form of comfort!) and 3. Know - your rivals.</div>
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Hanuman is the hero of the book, His strength combined with humility and willingness to do devotional service to Rama is brought out very lucidly while going through the story line. The story begins when there is great despair and loss of hope ( in mission to find Sita), but due to brave exploits of Sundara ( Hanuman), the story turns around completely to a positive mood at the end of the book setting the stage for Yuddha kanda.</div>
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The author very clearly brings out why Hanuman is rightfully called as Sundara. He is not only Roopa Sundara but also Vag sundara (Master of communication). The way Hanuman changes his communication depending on the situation is clearly explained.</div>
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This book series is a must read not only for those who are seeking to read Ramayana in simple English, but also for spiritual aspirants who want to understand the finer nuances and for the reader who wants to take the lessons to day to day usage.</div>
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Shubha Vilasji is able to keep up the great expectations and maintain the standards of rendering the story that he has built up over the series. Reading this book is definitely set to uplift your spirits and scucced in your ongoing mission. Jai Sri Ram!</div>
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( The book is published by Jaico and a copy of book was sent to me by the publishers for review)</div>
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Disclosure:-Free copy of Anand Neelakantan's "The Rise of Sivagami" was received from Westland publishers for review.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gdXmKS3ABUw/WSw9w7yod8I/AAAAAAAAA6M/81YUKeX7dkob0fDcDloL7SieqT1iVeFHwCLcB/s1600/bahubali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="325" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gdXmKS3ABUw/WSw9w7yod8I/AAAAAAAAA6M/81YUKeX7dkob0fDcDloL7SieqT1iVeFHwCLcB/s400/bahubali.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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The book seems to start from a early era ( not depicted in both the parts of Bahubali movie) and deals with the story of Sivagami - A girl who is orphaned because of the kingdom who goes all her way to avenge for her father's death.</div>
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The book deals from the phase where the girl moves from the village, deals with the adversities in her journey and moves on till she gets into a platform towards her life's mission.This story seems to set the foundation for Part 2 and more in the series ( in a way creating a needed suspense for the next books in the series).</div>
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Apart from the main story line of Sivagami, there are various sub plots that deal the Kingdom of Mahismathi- the king, prince, slaves, minister, pirate, merchant,rebels and other interesting characters. Whether the kingdom/ king is evil or good, who is right , who is wrong, are vaikalikas the real villains, whats the kingdom's biggest kept secret?... these questions/plots keep the readers hooked to the story and make this book a page turner. While some of the questions are either fully or partially answered, some of these remain unanswered and are kept open - to be dealt with in the next books of the series.</div>
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This is first book of Anand that I have read. I am quite impressed with Anand's story telling abilities. He introduces a lot of characters, portrays them perfectly, uses them well in the story and takes the sub-plots cohesively to one direction.</div>
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Overall, if you are a avid reader of historical fiction, this book should definitely impress you. (Even if you have not watched any of the Bahubali movies)</div>
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<span style="color: white;">bahubali story, bahubali prequel, interesting book, book review</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9VOtf6yUw6U/WKq9PQBc-sI/AAAAAAAATFg/lEnRDobL_48HOxyw-pZr_qmIT4p10P3SACLcB/s1600/shubha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9VOtf6yUw6U/WKq9PQBc-sI/AAAAAAAATFg/lEnRDobL_48HOxyw-pZr_qmIT4p10P3SACLcB/s320/shubha.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Disclosure:- I received a complimentary copy of the book from blog adda for review. I am a big fan of the author. So, my comments will be positively biased to the works of the author)</span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">There are a lot of self-help books. But, “Open
eyed meditations” by Shubha Vilas (author of the best-selling Ramayana – The game
of life series) book stands unique and tall in this genre. The author has very meticulously
and logically connected the stories of the past (from Ramayana and Mahabharata)
to answer the needs of our current life situations. This book is all about
reading about some life situations and thinking about them “open-eyed” and “open-minded”.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The author tries to address the needs/problems of
individuals as well as corporate/social groups (especially, when he talks about
topics like leadership) by taking us through some incidents from Indian epics.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The book is divided into 64 chapters. Each of
the chapter addresses at least one aspect or dimension of “how we live our life”
and the kind of rat race we are in I would recommend that this book should not be
read like a novel at one go. Browse through the index, check for the chapter
heading that you find is relevant for your situation and read through it. Take
time to chew and digest it (Better try to practice the learnings during the day).
Then you may move on to your next chapter. This way of reading through this
book can become a great experience. This book is not for just a onetime read,
but the book that you would want to keep referring back time ad again.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The book
also brings to light that we often forget the very purpose of life and keep
running after some illusionary goal (The golden deer!).</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">My favorite chapters (top 10) from the book, they
are not necessarily in any particular order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Why don’t I make the
right decisions in life<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">2.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Spirituality @
workplace<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">3.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Can your talent be
your enemy?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">4.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Has Ravana really
gone?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">5.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Are you angry
against anger?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">6.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">How to deal with
provocations?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">7.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Leading without a
title<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">8.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Do “likes” make my
life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">9.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The science of how
to let go<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">10.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></span><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Are you scared to be
“offline”?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">My favorite paragraph
from the book –“In<i> the bhagavata and Mahabharata,
krishna was a leader with no title. Being a cowherd was no title, nor was being
a driver. Krishna had no title either in Vrindavan, Mathura or Hasthinapura,
three places that He revolutionized with His leadership.In vrindavan, though
Nanda was the king, everyone was naturally drawn to Krishna for advice and help
during calamities. In Mathura, though He killed Kamsa, He allowed Ugrasena to
retain the title of king and remained his advisor. In Hastinapura, He took a
vow not to lift a weapon during the battle and act as a driver of Arjuna. That
vow indicated that Krishna preferred tittle-less leadership. He showed the
world that you don’t need weapons (facilities) and positions to lead.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The author keeps the readers interest intact
through the book by keeping the chapters short, crisp and simple. “Open-eyed
meditations” is a book that can cater to readers of all ages. I will strongly
recommend this book for everyone to read.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This review is a part of the biggest <a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank"> Book Review Program </a> for <a href="http://www.blogadda.com/" target="_blank">Indian Bloggers.</a> Participate now to get free books!
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Disclosure:- Complimentary copy of the book was received from the author for review</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What happens when you mix tantric mysticism with concepts from quantum physics? What happens when you try to tie a mystery that is a few centuries old with latest technology of modern times? Can every mystery be scientifically explained.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">" Agniputr" by Vadhan broadly dwells on these areas. The first few chapters of the fiction moves back and forth in time and also in geography. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The core focal point of the story comes to the fore when SRK is introduced. When you start thinking that SRK is the hero of the novel, there is a sudden twist. Now, we meet the real heroine of the book ( SRK's female boss). Initially the character comes across one that is too boring and uninteresting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But when the heroine meets the real hero from Andhra (Royal "Surya"), the story switches to top gear. The secret behind the burial ground, the "sutram" becomes the core of action. The politician from Rajasthan also enters the scene. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Teams are split between the CSIR officer, Royal lineage vs the power hungry politician guided by the tantric. Both of the sides fight out their best. one tries to stop the "Sutram" from harming the world while the other wants to get "unlimited power" from it. The story also has an element of surprise after the action is over in Andra pradesh! Read the book to know more...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Vadhan vividly presents before the readers different flavours of India very diligently ( From Rajasthan to Haryana to Telengana/Andra). Along with the core mystery element, quantum physics, etc, Vadhan also brings in elements of law ( given his background) into the story line. Overall , this novel is definitely a page turner. You really cant wait for the next riddle to unlock,the novel keeps your interest going till the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A good attempt to mix science and superstition with suspense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Recently saw an article of Value research online about ," how one should use Tier- 2 account" of NPS as an alternate to mutual funds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">While NPS is definitely a low-cost product, there is lot of ambiguity over taxation rules at the time of withdrawal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For those who are not aware, NPS Tier-2 is an optional account over tier-1 which has no withdrawal restrictions like tier-1.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">For investment allocation in tier -2, you can choose your investments to be in active choice mode or auto choice mode to be split across across Equity, Corporate bonds and Government bonds. (<a href="https://npscra.nsdl.co.in/download/pdf/NPS%20Booklet.pdf">NPS Booklet</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Articles from the web on tax treatment at the time of withdrawal of funds from Tier-2 account.</span></div>
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<li><i style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="underline" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Tax Treatment of Tier II Account is similar to that of Debt Mutual Fund</span>:</strong><span style="color: #232629; line-height: 32px;"> On taxation front, as per the views from various CAs and tax consultants, the tax treatment on proceeds from Tier II NPS account would be similar to debt mutual funds. Indexation benefits can be availed of. (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tier-ii-nps-account-did-your-wealth-manager-talk-pawan-agrawal">source</a>)</span></i></li>
<li><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 23.2px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyview.asp?str=31674">Valueresearch </a>article says, the taxation is the same as any other fixed income or debt alternative.</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 28px; text-align: start;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.livemint.com/Money/Fj1g4WkmAOS98lDybe4HWM/New-Pension-System-gets-Tier-II-should-you-invest.html">Tax angle from Mint </a> </b>A crucial difference between the two accounts is the tax treatment. Says Rani S. Nair, executive director, PFRDA: “Since Tier II does not have any lock-in period, it does not qualify for a tax deduction under section 80C.” However, right now, the pension regulator is divided on the tax treatment of the amount withdrawn. Says Nair: “We are yet to hear from the tax department on the tax implications.” Going by the product structure, withdrawals will attract capital gains tax. Withdrawals before one year will attract short-term capital gains that is taxed at the marginal rate (the highest tax rate on your income slab). For withdrawals after one year, you will have to pay long-term capital gains—<b>10% for debt funds and nil for equity funds.</b></i></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some articles talk about</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 28px;">T</span></span><span style="line-height: 28px;">reatment</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"> of the whole amount as "debt"- while others talk about </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 28px;">Separate</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"> tax treatment for withdrawal from equity and debt portion of tier-2 account. ( Tier 2 withdrawal request online on </span></span>CRA NSDL<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"> provides the option of </span></span>lump sum<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"> or scheme wise withdrawal- so you </span></span><span style="line-height: 28px;">can</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"> actually </span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 28px;">withdraw from Equity or Corporate or Government units specifically)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>So, as another <a href="https://www.quora.com/Is-NPS-tier-2-account-a-good-investment-option">article</a> says</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The problem is the ambiguity over taxation. "There is no clarity on tax treatment of Tier II NPS returns. It is very subjective and different people have different views on the matter.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">So, Lets keep our fingers crossed till any formal judgment is out. Please leave a comment ,if you have any valid input.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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"<b>Stolen Hope" is the third book in the series of "The Game of Life".</b></div>
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After the first<a href="http://ideasmoney.blogspot.in/2015/02/the-game-of-life-ramayana-bookreview.html"> two wonderful books</a> from the author in this series, this third book also doesn't disappoint. The story pertaining to "Aranya Kanda" is well presented by the author.</div>
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The story in this book starts from Dankaranya forest and ends with Rama searching for a suitable friend to find his "inseparable" consort Sita.</div>
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I got a lot of information about various maharishis and history of places like Dandakaranya from this book. I dont remember to have read such details in other versions of Ramayana previously..</div>
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While presenting the story line in a lucid manner, the author has not only come out with lessons for life as usual but also brings out the concepts of Srivaishnavism/ Vishishtadvaita philosophy in a crystal clear way.</div>
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Examples:-</div>
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The author highlights very clearly</div>
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1. Rama doesn't kill any one in Sita's presence because she is passion personified . ( This brings out the Karunya of "Sri").</div>
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2. Lakshmana is offered the freedom to choose a place of residence at panchavati ( independence) by Rama . Lakshmana renounces any kind of independence and expresses that he is an eternal servant of Rama ( Seshatva) and he does things only as per his masters' wish.</div>
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The story, lessons for life and philosophy are presented so lucidly and simply- which makes this book a must read for all categories of readers. </div>
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Jatayu not only occupies the cover page of the book but also ends up occupying your heart after you read the book.</div>
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Also, the chapter titled "Lakshmana's diary" - deviates from the standard way of story telling of the book and puts out the proceedings through Lakshmana's heart- ( Good attempt by the author..Please read the book to know more:-))</div>
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The best learning for me from the book - " Every body has a golden deer in life " :-). so, BEWARE OF THE GOLDEN DEER!</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclosure:- After reading the<a href="http://ideasmoney.blogspot.in/2015/02/the-game-of-life-ramayana-bookreview.html"> previous books</a> , I have become an ardent fan of the author. I was super excited to receive a signed copy of book from the author.!. </span></b></div>
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This statement may be applicable to all of the metros in Chennai, but more specific to Chennai real estate-</div>
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<b>More than first world prices quoted for worse than fourth world infrastructure!</b></div>
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The following is my short take on the current Chennai real estate scenario.</div>
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At the outset, if you make web enquiries or talk to a broker you may get a feel that the prices have not gone down. But the reality is different.Look at the following stories that I know of</div>
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1. Many apartments launched on the OMR almost /. 7 years ago are still not fully sold and they are not fully complete in terms of construction either ( in terms of the amenities promised).The prices quoted are almost 50% down if you adjust for inflation.</div>
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2. In a building that I know in Adyar, a new 2 BHK apartment (1100 sqft) is quoted at 1.8 crores for almost a year now. The rental yield for this price is 1.5% at the max. There is a big garbage dumping place and a sewage stream within smelling distance of this apartment. 4 of the 6 flats in this building are waiting for sale for more than a year now. ( For this price you may actually find apartments in New York, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai or even some European countries!)</div>
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3.One of my friends who bought an apartment in the city for 51 lakhs ( 5 years ago) wanted to sell his apartment for 90 lakhs. Finally he had to settle in for 65 lakhs and he was lucky enough. This apartment was flooded till the first floor during the Chennai floods. After the floods, the price could have gone down further.</div>
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4.A suburb which was flooded ( built in a lake bed) like hell is seeing exodus of tenants while the owners are left with their house along with huge mortgage payments for the next 10, 15 years.</div>
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5. Couple of my friends are frustrated as the possession dates of their apartments have been pushed indefinitely ( from 2014->2015-> 2016 now)</div>
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2015 has seen the beginning of the down fall.With state elections coming up in 2016, a lot of money locked by politicians need to be taken out.This might also pull down the prices further.</div>
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The reality will get more apparent to all in 2016! </div>
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One of my friend called me to ask for my second opinion when he had these investment options offered to him.</div>
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First my friend was visiting his auditor ( Chartered Accountant) for some income tax advise. the Chartered Accountant suggested him to avail some good investment options from LIC ( pension plans).He also offered that it can be done through an LIC agent known to him.( His wife???)</div>
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Second my friend visited his bank to get a tax saving fixed deposit for his mom. The Manager of the PSU bank almost pleadingly forced him into buying a policy where he had to pay some amount annually for 5 years and after that he would get pension from the tenth year onward.</div>
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Last he visited a well known financial service provider for investing in an ELSS scheme.There he was lectured on the virtues of a pension policy from a private sector insurance provider.</div>
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In all of the cases, people were force selling him some insurance policies just for the sake of some hefty commission!</div>
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When the true RO (return on investment)was calculated for all of the schemes . it was less than savings bank interest currently being offered.</div>
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In none of the cases, the people selling these schemes were aware of the underlying securities in which the premium will be invested.</div>
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None of the parties who were selling these products had any true personal finance knowledge. All of them (except the Shattered accountant) were genuinely doing their job ( for what they were being paid for).</div>
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My friend at least had the guts to ask some basic questions and asked for a second opinion. if someone blindly makes an investment based on such random advises, they get tied to poor quality products due to their financial illiteracy.</div>
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God only can insure the investors from getting trapped by the insurance agents and insurance companies.</div>
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Happy New Year 2016 !</div>
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This book is from Ravi Subramaniam who has published thrillers based on banking industry in the past.Similar to Ravi's other books the story revolves around a banking industry executive with an IIM background.</div>
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Here's an excerpt from the book , before the review </div>
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The following are review comments provided by a publisher to a new author in the book.</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">"Suggested alterations to Shreya Kaushik's untitled book</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">a) Change Aditya's name to something more rustic . The name does not suit the character.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">b) Detailing of locations in the book needs to be fleshed out. As of now it is very elementary. the average reader will have to be told what those locations stand for. Take a look at pages 4,89,112, and 165</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">c)The book is short. Can we look at adding another 15,000 words? We need to have a book of at least 200 pages. Readers will hesitate paying a good price for something less than that.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">d)Reduce the gore in the rape scene. While it is very hard hitting, it might put off many.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">There were a few more easy to manage points on the list................"</span></div>
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Now the review of the book on similar lines</div>
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1) For God's sake please stop using the name Aditya .The banking industry could have been left aside in this book.The theme is more towards publishing and a few Indian author's share this background. But some creativity could have been shown here instead of trying to resemble some real life authors and take some mileage out of it.</div>
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2) Will someone who has good writing talent and confident, with a decent background stoop so low for getting a book published ??? or to win a chairman's medal at IIM ( I don't know, The plot seems to be too weak)</div>
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3)The story can actually be written on the back of a bus ticket.( that's the reason for not talking about the story in this review) But did the author make it to 350+ pages because of the fact that readers need value for money. oh..my God. The story line is very much predictable once you read the back cover. Sanjay's conspiracy plot doesn't fly beyond a point and his ultimate motive is not very convincing..</div>
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4)All of these writers with a banking background seem to rely more on "Steamy" scenes in their book.Should really try to come out of this typecast and write something neat.</div>
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5)References to ebola, iphone backup, etc seem highly unconnected to me. Not enough research has been done to get into some interesting aspects that can keep the reader hooked.</div>
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The only thing that I liked in the book was the fact - " Indian MNC banks have to simply comply to the orders of HQ and cant quite stand to any decision made by them.( ref. closure of national bank -wealth management division in India ). Probably this is the reason that a lot of high profile bankers find time to write and eventually become full time authors.</div>
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In short , a below average book with a weak plot and a very very thin story line written with a lot of words!</div>
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I am reviewing <a href="http://dl.flipkart.com/dl/bestseller-she-wrote-english/p/itmeca2xhvfmtdmf?affid=contactblo&pid=9789385152382">‘The Bestseller She Wrote’</a> by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest <a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews">Book Review Program</a> for <a href="http://www.blogadda.com/">Indian Bloggers.</a> Participate now to get free books!
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I am not a great fan of cash back offers. But during this year, I made some purchases online for which some cash back offers available.</div>
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1. The first purchase was on Amazon for a cash back tie up offer with SBI cards. The offer was about 5% cash back and the cash back was to be credited my my card account after a certain period.</div>
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I did this purchase in may and I was supposed to get this cash back by a certain date in August. When I checked my account after the stated date, there was no cash back,. </div>
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I wrote a mail to both of them and my cash back got processed in a couple of days.</div>
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2.The second purchase was on Makemytrip with an Amex card. Here a cash back was promised within a certain time frame. Got an SMS stating that cash back has been processed. But there was no real cash back in my card account for 15 days after the SMS.</div>
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I wrote to the card company and got the cash back into my card account.</div>
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You may ask, so what?</div>
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Is this a standard industry practice that cash backs are offered only to those who "remember and ask"?. How many people will track down the cash backs due to them after 30-90 days of their purchase?</div>
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Why cash backs aren't offered instantly?</div>
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<b>Please track down your cash back offers until you get the "cash" into your account.!</b></div>
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When you read a lot of material on retirement planning, financial independence,personal finance, etc- You actually end up being scared ( At times, Your fear is used to sell unnecessary products to you),</div>
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Not deviating from the topic , the intention of the post is not to say whether you have to do your retirement planning or not!. But to present some real life cases of retired people that I have seen in my circle..( No inferences or lessons learnt at the end..:-) )</div>
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<b><u> 1. Mr. R</u></b></div>
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Mr. R was working in a industrial estate in late 90s. He had migrated to metro city for a living. His salary was low and was only enough for a hand to mouth existence. So, there was no question of making any investment. </div>
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During the recession of late 90's , he lost his job ( around 50 years of age). There was no real "financial settlement" from the company when he was laid off.</div>
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His son was around 18 years of age at that time and managed to get government job which coincided with Mr. R's job loss. Mr R has been doing some odd jobs from then on. But his Son continues to do well and supports his father.</div>
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Mrs & Mr. R continue to live with their son. </div>
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<b><u> 2. Mr. S</u></b></div>
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Mr. S is 96 years old now. He retired almost 4 decades earlier. Didn't have any real savings at the time of retirement ( No house, No financial asset). But he is well supported and taken care of by his children ( who are actually senior citizens now!),</div>
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Mr. S depends on his children and grandchildren for his small indulgences.</div>
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Mr. S continues to live with his son.</div>
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<b><u> 3. Mr .L</u></b></div>
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Mr. L worked in private sector. He got an house constructed during the fag end of his career. The retirement settlement that he got was only enough to pay for the home loan and pay off wedding loans (daughter).</div>
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Mr.L continues to live in the house built by him. His children continue to pay a token pension for Mrs & Mr L month on month. </div>
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<b><u> 4 .Mr. N</u></b></div>
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Mr. N worked for the government and had built an house in a suburban area during his mid age. His investments were primarily in FDs and in Post office instruments.His retirement benefits also went into Post office instruments.</div>
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Mr. N gets an inflation indexed pension from the government. Mrs. & Mr . N live using the pension (Manage to save some portion of it) and they are not really dependent on their children for their basic needs.</div>
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<b><u>5. Mr . P</u></b></div>
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Mr. P worked in a senior position in a private sector. Had purchased a few plots and some blue chip shares ( they were not blue chips when he bought them) apart from his primary residence with the savings. ( Mrs. P was also employed). With the Equity/real estate boom of 2002-2008, his net worth shot up and was able to make some decent profit .</div>
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Mrs & Mr.P comfortably live in a suburban villa. Mr. P continues to hold some of the investment he made during the mid 90s.</div>
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Based on valueresearchonline screener, I filtered the top "Equity oriented balanced funds" and top "Equity funds excluding sectoral funds" based on last 10 year returns as on 15oct2015. Here are the results.</div>
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Considering the risk reward proposition, I think Balanced funds are safer bets ( as they are should supposedly be a able to give a better downside protection, apart from automatic asset allocation benefits between debt and equity plus same tax treatment as equity funds).</div>
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The returns from equity funds don't seem extremely superior to balanced funds. My take- unless we see a 2003-7 kind of a bull run, the performance differential between these two categories may be minimal. In a downward/ side ward market, balanced funds might even do better!</div>
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# Note:- This is not a recommendation to buy balanced funds. Investors are supposed to consult a financial advisor or do their own research before investing. Past performance of funds cannot be extrapolated to the future ! :-)</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZB_n4SjUSo/Vh-Ge25Q0CI/AAAAAAAAA4M/ostl5nnK1ts/s1600/EquityVS%2BBalanced.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZB_n4SjUSo/Vh-Ge25Q0CI/AAAAAAAAA4M/ostl5nnK1ts/s640/EquityVS%2BBalanced.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lYc8MBn0lEE/Vhjwu6Ukb2I/AAAAAAAAA38/l_vWA8AMH9Y/s1600/alarm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lYc8MBn0lEE/Vhjwu6Ukb2I/AAAAAAAAA38/l_vWA8AMH9Y/s1600/alarm.jpg" /></a></div>
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Yes, you read it right - Do you thank God on mondays??.<br />
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I attended a talk in a professional forum today, it was on the topic "Holistic workplace".During the presentation, the speaker quoted some survey that said 66% of the employees around the world are "disengaged" and are not happy to go to work.( Rest 34% ,would be those who had miserable lives outside office and would have preferred devil over the deep shit, I thought :-) )</div>
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Coming back to the topic,I have had at least 10 -15 people who had told me over the last couple of years that they hated the job like hell. At least 60% of them had HUGE portion of their net pay being paid as EMI ( Car loan, Home loan, EMI for the latest gadget, personal loan to buy an unapproved plot, etc,etc). The latest conversation I had on EMI ...</div>
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<b>(EMI</b> = <b>E</b>asy <b>M</b>oney from <b>I</b>diots for the business people)</div>
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Ms. J: Hi IM</div>
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Me: Hi, How are you doing</div>
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Ms.J: Just finished a meeting with the CFO, he was all rude. Once I complete the Home loan EMI ( around 60 lakhs) outstanding, I would quit this job and mostly stop working thereafter.My husband's income is more than enough for us ( except for the loan)</div>
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Me: Oh is it??</div>
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Ms. J: True</div>
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Me: How much is the house worth?</div>
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Ms. J: 1 crore </div>
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Me: Then why don't you sell that house ( where Ms J doesn't stay and it was fetching 15k ( EMI > 60 Kpm) as rent per month- she never ever plans to get there), Short close your loan, Invest 40L which will provide you a monthly income if you need or let it compound.</div>
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Ms. J : Oh no! that sounds like a stupid idea. I will loose rental income, tax benefits, appreciation, blah,blah, blah...</div>
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Me; Fine , then why you feel that EMI and loan is a burden then?</div>
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Ms. J: Oh shit, I forgot ... I need to run to a meeting.</div>
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If you are a shareholder of a GOOD bank that lends to retail, you can very happily proclaim- "Thank God , it's Monday" . #TGIF. </div>
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What constitutes a GOOD bank is a bigger story :-) and would need to write a book on that!!</div>
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( Warning :- This article is loaded with "Hindsight bias")<br />
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I have been an avid saver and investor over the last decade. I have immensely benefited from my saving and investment habit. Looking back, I think I could have done better in these areas. ( Not an exhaustive list but the things that are on top of my mind at this point of time)</div>
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1. I should have "fully loaded" my PPF account from first year.</div>
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I opened a PPF account 15 years ago( good decision). But I didn't fully invest into it every year. During the initial years, I kept PPF account active by doing some minimum investment. NSC or ELSS was my preferred choice for parking the money. The reason being "15 years in PPF" looked "too long " for me.</div>
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I probably didn't understand the power of compounding and also that PPF is more tax efficient than NSC.</div>
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This mistake was corrected a few years back and now the PPF account is extended for the next 5 years :-).</div>
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2. Choosing growth option in Equity fund.</div>
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During initial investment years I thought , Dividends from equity funds was the most efficient way of "profit booking" a.k.a risk mitigation and it was better than growth plan. But didn't realize that in effect , dividends also broke compounding and selling units of growth option was the best way to book profits , if at all needed.</div>
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Now, most of my Equity MF investments are under growth option (<a href="http://ideasmoney.blogspot.in/search/label/Direct%20VS%20Regular%20plans"> Direct plan- learn more</a>)</div>
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3. Should have avoided more money in tax inefficient FD.</div>
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Bank FDs were my favourite investment to start with.</div>
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FDs are the least efficient way of investing for people in higher tax bracket. It doesn't help to beat inflation and no indexation benefit is available for FD investments.Having all your debt investments in FD is tax inefficient.</div>
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Of late, I use debt vehicles that defer taxation till withdrawal.</div>
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4. Having too many accounts.</div>
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I used to open one SB account whenever I switched jobs and wanted to hold all the five star funds ! Attractive bank FD rate hoardings led to many banks for opening FDs.</div>
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Having too many accounts eother it be SB, FD, demat or MF folio makes life difficult for you. Simple is always better!</div>
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Realising this, started closing many accounts and consolidating folios. Still some more work left here!.</div>
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Real estate euphoria is slowly dying and the developers are facing some sort of difficulty- Most of us know this from the reports that we read.<div>
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Today, I happened to have a conversation with a person with a RE insider during my train journey and it was nothing less than scary!<br /><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One of the RE company is having debt up to Rs 1000 crores while the paid up capital as per books is below 20 crores( the actual capital got in by the promoter is far far less --- :-( , that should be another story)</li>
<li>The company has been using one bank debt to pay another cyclically and so on and they are managing this through their "contacts".</li>
<li>One famous private sector bank which is the darling of the stock market is keen on re-financing one of their loans on the condition that they will be the preferred partner for retail loans if and when they sell the flats. The logic being that retail loans seldom go bad!</li>
<li>Also got to know that the company had previously "pleased" a lot of people to get the loans.</li>
<li>Even if the company manages to sell all their existing stock and WIP at current prices, they will be able to manage only 50% repayment of the debt. </li>
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Not sure what if the RE bubble burst, a few banks may actually go bust. ( But for all retail investors,Fixed deposit seems the safest investment ;-) )</div>
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NPAs from real estate and infrastructure sector can play out more differently than what we can predict.</div>
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Fingers crossed on what will happen and how stock market would play out eventually.</div>
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At least, I feel very very scared!!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.Which is a good stock to buy?. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. I want to do SIP in quality stocks as a long term investment, which are the good stocks to choose from?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Please help me identify some good stocks to buy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are some of the commonly asked questions that is being asked in some of the web forums that I have been visiting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are many enthusiastic people who reply with answers like </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Choose L&T, HDFC bank, Asian paints , etc. These stocks have multiplied many times over the past decade, so they will continue to grow</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Buy Eicher Motors, this stock has been a multibagger and Vanguard or someone has recently bought a stake in this company </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Buy Company XX because ace investor YY has acquired stakes in it.....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">such answers go on!....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This takes me to some discussion a few years back (2006- 2007/08) like</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Reliance power IPO is a great investment because the stock of the group companies have always made investors wealthy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Unitech has yielded X times return in short span of time. That has been a jackpot!.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am not trying to say that the answers mentioned above are correct or wrong. The post is not to compare the quality of stocks mentioned here and do a performance analysis of the past or prediction for the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The message is to say that nobody knows how any stock will perform in the future. Saying that investment in a particular company "<b>can never go wrong</b>" is foolish .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Making an investment decision purely <b>based on suggestions from a web forum can prove to be <span style="color: red;">disastrous</span></b>. If stock picking was so easy, then you would have had billionaires all over!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Return of capital is more important than return on capital. So, please make right choices with your money.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you ask me " How to make the right choices"... my answer is " I don't know the perfect answer" :-) !</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Disclaimer: </strong><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">If you make any decision to buy or not buy any of the stocks that are mentioned in this post, it will be " your decision" and you cannot blame this post for any losses or loss of profit.:-)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"> I am not a SEBI registered analyst. While writing this post, I do not own any of the shares (direct equity investment) that are mentioned in this post.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">This is not a recommendation to Buy-Sell-Hold any of the stocks mentioned above.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sensex will definitely reach 100000. This is like saying " you will die one day".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"<b>When will sensex reach 100000?</b> ", this question has been lingering in my mind for quite some time now. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I was reading <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/morgan-stanley-predicts-domestic-liquidity-boom-115052801227_1.html">this article in business standard</a>, this morning, the following sentence caught my attention.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">“We believe equities will likely be the best performing asset class in the coming decade for domestic investors. We expect the BSE Sensex to deliver annual returns of 14 per cent over the next 10 years, based on our residual income model,” Morgan Stanley says.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Based on the above , I did a linear calculation which is presented below.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Assumption 1:- Sensex levels of 27500 for 2015 (dont ask me "how", I just assumed the current levels)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Assumption 2:- Sensex level will grow 14% year on year in a linear fashion- (linear growth is not going to be a reality - we know about volatility, average return, standard deviation, etc )</span></div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center; width: 154px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 2816; mso-width-source: userset; width: 58pt;" width="77"></col>
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<td class="xl64" height="20" style="background: rgb(79, 129, 189); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; height: 15pt; width: 58pt;" width="77"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></td><td class="xl65" style="background: rgb(79, 129, 189); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; width: 58pt;" width="77"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center; width: 154px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 2816; mso-width-source: userset; width: 58pt;" width="77"></col>
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</colgroup><tbody>
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<td class="xl66" height="20" style="background: rgb(79, 129, 189); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; height: 15pt; width: 58pt;" width="77"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Year</span></td>
<td class="xl67" style="background: rgb(79, 129, 189); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; width: 58pt;" width="77"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sensex</span></td>
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<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2015</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">27500</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2016</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">31350</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2017</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">35739</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2018</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">40742</span></td>
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<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2019</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">46446</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2020</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">52949</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2021</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">60362</span></td>
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<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2022</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">68812</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2023</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">78446</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2024</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">89429</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; height: 15pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2025</span></td>
<td class="xl65" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">101949</span></td>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, by this calculation you can expect sensex to be at 100000 in another 10 years . But looking at the current t<a href="http://capitalmind.in/2015/05/chart-nifty-eps-growth-at-2-77-even-as-pe-moves-to-dangerous-highs/">rend of EPS growth</a>, 14% pa growth may remain a dream.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">on the other hand, if growth picks up , we may reach there faster (irrational exuberance!!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In short, no one knows the correct answer!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Disclaimer:- This post is not intended to advise anyone to invest in equities.Look at it only from an academic/ <b>entertainment </b>perspective.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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Shattered dreams is part 2 in the series "Ramayana - The Game of Life".</div>
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When I received this book , I had very little expectations in terms of the content. Having read Ramayana multiple times , I didn't expect anything different or fascinating from the book. I hadn't heard of the authors previous work on the same tittle ( prequel). But the experience of reading this book turned out to be positively surprising when compared to my expectations. To put in simple words, this is one of the best books that I have ever read on "Ramayana".</div>
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"What do you do when you are informed that you will be made the emperor of a Kingdom one fine day. Do you maintain your poise or jump in joy. Do you worry about the huge responsibility that comes with the crown or look forward to take up the challenge. When you are approaching the situation very positively and give your 100% in preparation, what if there is a reversal of the decision. Do you blame the people , fate or go around lamenting or Do you accept this decision whole heartedly. And when the decision to take away the crown from you is combined with a decision to send you to the forest for 14 years, How do you handle the situation?"</div>
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The author brings across such questions along the story line and in the process reveals why "Rama" is an incarnation par excellence. Rama's " equanimity of mind" is very clearly elucidated by the author in the process of story telling.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The finer aspects of all the characters are brought forward very easily and lucidly by the author. Sumanthara, Dasaratha, Kaikeyi, Kaushalya, Sumitra, Sita, Lakshmana, Urmila, Bharata, Sathrugana, Guha , Bharatwaja, Atri, Anusuya - All of these characters leave an impact on you for ever. </div>
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Most of the characters do get angry , do get judgemental , emotional, et all but all these turn positive as these emotions are displayed in a pure selfless spirit.The Love for Rama shown by the people of ayodhya and those around him are very clearly put forth by the author.</div>
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The "Notes" at the bottom of the page as the story unfolds is one of the key attraction of this book. </div>
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A few samples.</div>
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"The gift of health, fearlessness, talent, beauty and experience of joy is the result of grace. But real grace lies not just in possessing these qualities but laso in being grateful for these qulaities. The highest manifestation of gracefulness is gratefulness"</div>
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"Past mistakes are like a man dressed in black running after you with a knife.No matter how fast you run away from the past, it catches up with you.And when it does, it plunges the Knife right into you, causing suffering.When you know that your present suffering is related to a past mistake, shame is replaced with guilt"</div>
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"<u>Uncertainity becomes a joy when you welcome flexibility instead of set expectations"</u></div>
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The author has done extensive research on Ramayana and that is clearly visible in the output.</div>
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Overall the book is a must read for all . I definitely plan to read this book again.!</div>
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I would give the book a 4 star on a scale of five :-)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">From 1st of January, 2013 SEBI introduced the option of investing in the "Direct Plan" of the existing schemes of mutual funds.( When you send your application to the fund house directly without a "broker code" or transact online without a broker code - it is called a direct investment)</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wanted to check how the "direct" schemes have fared over the "regular" schemes. Roughly for the two year period, the following difference is seen in NAV between direct and regular schemes of randomly chosen equity MF schemes.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Please note that although the percentage difference might look small,the benefit will be seen more" clearly" depending on the absolute sum of corpus invested in the schemes.Example, investor having more than 1 crore in a scheme would have saved more than 1.5 lakhs in two years.( savings till date- not looking into future savings) </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you know to choose the right schemes ( it is not as complicated as knowing the right "stocks"), you should try and opt for direct investing in mutual fund schemes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 491px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 7533; mso-width-source: userset; width: 155pt;" width="206"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 3693; mso-width-source: userset; width: 76pt;" width="101"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 3766; mso-width-source: userset; width: 77pt;" width="103"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2962; mso-width-source: userset; width: 61pt;" width="81"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(79, 129, 189); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; color: white; font-weight: 700; height: 15pt; width: 155pt;" width="206"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fund- Growth Scheme</span></td>
<td style="background: rgb(79, 129, 189); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; color: white; font-weight: 700; text-align: right; width: 76pt;" width="101"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Regular</span></td>
<td style="background: rgb(79, 129, 189); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; color: white; font-weight: 700; text-align: right; width: 77pt;" width="103"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Direct</span></td>
<td style="background: rgb(79, 129, 189); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; color: white; font-weight: 700; text-align: right; width: 61pt;" width="81"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Diff* %</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">HDFC Top 200</span></td>
<td align="right" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">352.025</span></td>
<td align="right" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">356.157</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.17%</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ICICI Pru
Dynamic</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">188.7277</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">191.4078</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.42%</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span itemprop="itemreviewed" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">UTI Opportunities</span></td>
<td align="right" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">49.2846</span></td>
<td align="right" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">50.0483</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.55%</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span itemprop="itemreviewed" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Franklin India
Bluechip</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">347.7465</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">353.3355</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.61%</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span itemprop="itemreviewed" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reliance Growth</span></td>
<td align="right" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">786.723</span></td>
<td align="right" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">797.0294</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.31%</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span itemprop="itemreviewed" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sundaram Select
Midcap Fund</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">323.8099</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl65" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">327.5543</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.16%</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity</span></td>
<td align="right" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">161.57</span></td>
<td align="right" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">164.3</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64" style="background: rgb(220, 230, 241); border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.69%</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td colspan="3" height="20" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span style="background-color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*
Difference in returns for the period 1 Jan 2013 to 16 Jan 2015</span></td>
<td class="xl63" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt;"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td colspan="2" height="20" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none solid solid; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; height: 15pt;"><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Direct schemes were introduced
on 1 Jan 2013</span></td>
<td style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"></td>
<td class="xl63" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 0.5pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 0.5pt; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-top-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-top-width: 0.5pt; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wishing you a successful "direct" investing.</span></div>
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
How my first equity (mutual fund) investment has fared?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HQ0M4fGhtkI/VKkqAPMFnsI/AAAAAAAAA2A/_Z-nMTKv0e4/s1600/Reliance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HQ0M4fGhtkI/VKkqAPMFnsI/AAAAAAAAA2A/_Z-nMTKv0e4/s1600/Reliance.jpg" height="124" width="320" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Almost ten years since I made my first equity mutual fund investment, the amount is now more than seven times the original investment after a lot of ups and downs. ( CAGR- 22.7%- tax free)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">This was an NFO investment and the product was "sold" to me. In recent years, I am not a fan of NFOs.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Even if the markets fall by half now, the investment would have grown 3.5 times, which is not bad</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Key learning during last 10 years</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Direct equity investment is not easy for an individual investor . Need a lot of time, research and also luck to beat the market.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Investing through diversified equity fund or balanced funds with a track record ( through <a href="http://ideasmoney.blogspot.in/search/label/SIP">SIP</a>) is one of the easier option available to retail investors.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Dont track market news on a day to day basis.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Have very reasonable expectations from equity market in terms of returns (inflation + 2-5%).</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://ideasmoney.blogspot.in/2006/12/time-in-market-is-more-important.html">Time in the market is more important than timing the market</a>- but if you buy any asset with a high valuation ( including blue chip shares or equity MF), <b style="color: red;">you may have to wait for a very long time to even recover your capital. </b>So, try to practice low P/E or low P/B investing which is easier said than done.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Understanding risks involved is very important before investing in equity - Volatility, average return, standard deviation ,etc.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Finally, Power of compounding is amazing. Experience it- to realize it :-) .</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Happy new year and happy investing!</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">This post is not a recommendation to buy any mutual fund.</span></div>
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I hear a lot of criticism around the movie "PK" for making fun of religion esp. Hinduism. I haven't watched the movie yet but based on what I have heard , I see a lot of correlation with real life mockery being done in the name of religion. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here's one such example:- There was a news article about 108 divya desam lords ( 108 vishnu temples sung by alwars) in one of chennai's leading news paper.Me and my wife got curios as to what this was about .We had also seen a few posters on the streets of chennai about the same place. We thought this should be some earnest attempt to recreate the 108 divya desam lords in chennai. We googled to find more information and saw that this was organized at shrivaaru venkatachalapathy palace vanagaram.</div>
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We decided to go and drove down.On reaching the place, we were charged Rs 100/ per head and Rs 20/ for car parking. No complaints yet, the expectations were real high as to "How would be the recreation of those 108 divine lords".</div>
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Within a few seconds of entering the hall, I was left with nothing but disappointed. Replicas of divya desam lords were made with sub standard attention. All 108 lords were recognizable only by posture a.k.a sitting standing or lying. Apart from this , there was no significant effort made to distinguish between the look or portray any significance of the specific lord. Only if you read the name board, you would know who the lord was and the name of the divya desam.</div>
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The display of lords was followed by a mini "food" exhibition.( obviously, you need to pay for the food)</div>
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There was a lot of crowd going around merrily taking pictures.of course, you might argue that one shouldn't expect too much from such "exhibitions". . In fact apart from the entry fee, I also saw some people throwing money at the idols, coconuts and arthi plates being sold at counters , etc etc.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But I see this as a ruthless effort to earn money out of a vacant mandapam ( In chennai-No one hires a marriage hall in Dec-Jan season) using an unpatented concept of 108 divya desam. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These guys in collaboration with another tamil magazine- Kumudam "Bhakthi"?? have made a fortune with just the title 108 divya desam without actually making any effort to justify the theme.</div>
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But if some one makes fun of us , we get real angry :-) ( Including me). The fact is there are a lot of folks who know to milk money out of "religion".</div>
</div>
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Last week , I had the opportunity to do an ultra walk from Chennai to Tirumala ( around 130 kilometers). It was definitely a good experience. Both mentally and physically the activity was definitely a "stretch". At the end, the overall experience taught me a lot.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There were moments ( especially on the second and third day) when reaching the destination seemed almost impossible. The only thing that helped to reach the goal was to "slow down ", " take rest" and most importantly " focus on the<b> next step alone</b>". Many times in life we get overwhelmed by the things that are ahead of us but focusing only on the next step might really help.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another significant observation: - Either it be a national highway or a road crossing through a small village , there was one thing in common - 80% of the road stretches are being used as open public toilets. We as a nation have a long way to go in terms on imbibing "Cleanliness". Huge piles of plastic garbage was also a common sight next to all human settlements along the way.Mother nature is truly and extraordinarily patient with all of us!</div>
</div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>1. The cheque is the "real" money, not the credit card. Therefore, the cheque amount you receive as salary should determine your spending pattern; not your credit card limit. Utilise your card to the limit that you can comfortably settle at the end of the month.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>2. Contrary to popular perception, cars, televisions and phones are NOT assets. They are liabilities, because they depreciate and because you need money to use and maintain them. So don't accumulate too many "fake" assets.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>3. For greater transparency, flexibility, liquidity, simplicity, convenience and better returns, do not mix insurance and investments. Avoid policies that combine investment with insurance.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>4. Borrowing means spending tomorrow’s unearned (and possibly uncertain) income today. So be very careful. If you have to borrow, borrow for the "right purpose", the "right amount" and at the "right cost".</i></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>5. Start early, invest regularly and stay invested. Time makes money. Fixed deposits, stocks, mutual funds, property, gold, and other such assets, are merely the tools that time employs to make money for you.</i></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://morningstar.in/posts/29956/money-tips-for-my-son.aspx"><br /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://morningstar.in/posts/29956/money-tips-for-my-son.aspx">Rest of the article , http://morningstar.in/posts/29956/money-tips-for-my-son.aspx</a><br />
<br />
<em>This post has been written by <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://blog.wealtharchitects.in/p/blog-page_5656.html" style="color: #333333; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Sanjay Matai</span></a></span>, a financial adviser and author. This is the advice he penned down for his son when he got his first job and first pay cheque. </em></div>
</div>
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There has been a lot of fuzz around the discount sales , primarily the online ones . People are tempted to buy a lot of things online for a "discount" as they are available at seemingly " throw away" prices.</div>
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<br /></div>
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One of my friends bought a tablet for Rs 4000 as it was available at a cheap price. he already owns a smart phone,a phablet and a laptop.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another friend of mine from Chennai bought a thick winter jacket for Rs 400 for future usage .... he might travel sometime in 2020 :-)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These are some just a few examples.<br />
<br />
Of course, how one spends his or her money is a "personal" thing.<br />
But I feel that these online sales seem to drive some "crazy" consumer behavior.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Those who succumb to the "cheap or discounted" price tags end up buying things that they actually don't "need".</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When you buy things that you don't "need"-you think that you got a deal in terms of discount,but you actually loose all the money that you pay to get the product. So,discount doesn't matter when you buy something that you don't really need.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Buy -what you need" -Distinguishing between what you WANT and what you NEED can make intelligent consumers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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Happy Shopping!</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ravi Subramanian’s new novel “God is a gamer” is a thriller woven with a banking
background ( as usual). I received this copy of the book signed by the author
from blogadda for review<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When I picked up this book for review and reading, I thought
it is going to be a one another typical Ravi’s novel with overdose of NYIB
events. But to my surprise there wasn’t any overdose of banking power politics.
The story is although woven around the concept of “Virtual money”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The narrative starts in the US with companies like Master
card, Visa doing some lobbying to protect their business. It also gets into how
the US government tries to kill wiki leaks et all. The official involved in all
of these activities gets killed and then the story moves on to India.<br />
( Hats off to the author for using real life names in the book-
Mastercard, Visa, wikileaks, Facebook, RBI, Farmville, etc except for “Citibank”
and “E-serve”)</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The story in India takes us back to the characters from Ravi’s
first book. Story moves on with
narratives of investigation in the US, Board room of a gaming company, Romance
in the beaches of Goa, The race for governor of RBI and Series of ATM crime in the US.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The story confluences at the end to reveal the plot. However,
I felt that the plot got a big dragged in mid-way. So, any reader can safely
skip a few chapters after pg 150 or so and then read the climax ( without
having really missed anything).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The real culprit is caught in the end. The story after the
epilogue actually reveals “the culprit” and the real culprit was trapped for
the misdoings of the past. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The author seems to have done some decent research on topics
covered including bitcoins, encryption, card skimming, etc. Atleast a
non-technical reader will find the facts stated to be convincing.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Some lines- which I liked from the reading.</u></b><o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I<i>n those days India , I could have spund the ‘ India as an
investment destination’ story. A country of one billion people made global
bankers salivate and put in money year after year in the hope that profits
would come some day.People these days don’t have the appetite for that.There is
no room for dissent.<b>Indian teams of
multinationals these days a expected to execute and NOT THINK”</b><o:p></o:p></i><br />
<i><b><br /></b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b>“Career longevity is more important than career
enhancement</b>.Jobs are few and many people are chasing them.Your first priority
should be to save your job.if you live, you get to fight your battle another
day”.<o:p></o:p></i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“ How Can I Expect you to remember how Socrates died 2500
years ago?” “Well, 2500 years pass and the means of killing remain the same”-
Hemlock seeds.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Overall, a good read if you have not attempted any of the
author’s previous book. Else you may be able to predict the events that unfold.
Should we expect anything from the author that doesn’t have any influence
of Citibank ..oh Sorry NYIB…Looking
forward for a fresher theme and thinking from Ravi.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
This review is a part of the biggest <a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank"> Book Review Program </a> for <a href="http://www.blogadda.com/" target="_blank">Indian Bloggers.</a> Participate now to get free books!
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