The topic of Life Insurance is very close to my heart. Recently, I was watching a new campaign of Birla Sun Life Insurance. The theme of the campaign is #KhudKoKarBuland. I was able to co-relate the campaign with the experiences of the readers of this blog. I will share some of the real-life cases later in the post. Normally, I observed that life insurance campaigns are closer to reality than any other campaign. Over a period of time, there is a sea change in the theme of the life insurance campaigns. In past, I remember the campaigns were themed around fear factor. Now the brands are trying ... Read More
Click 2 Retire – An Online Pension Plan
Recently one of my friends asked my father "Which pension plan you opted for retirement?". My dad laughed and told him that "Govt provided Pension" was his only pension plan. I wish that today's generation could have enjoyed the same privilege. With an uncertain economy and job environment, there is an enormous pressure on the current generation to kick start financial planning ASAP. As an individual, my Financial Planning is much more sophisticated than the previous generation. During Good Old Days, My father's only worry was kid's education and marriage. These days besides kids education and ... Read More
How to Withdraw Money from Inactive EPFO a/c
Do you know that Rs 26497 Cr is lying unclaimed in Inactive EPFO a/c's. As per rough estimate Rs 22000 is lying unclaimed in PPF (Public Provided Fund) a/c's. In short, out of total unclaimed wealth of Rs 64000 Cr, approx Rs 48497 Cr is contributed by "Savings for Retirement Planning" which is 3/4th of unclaimed wealth. EPFO has addressed this issue by launching UAN (Universal Account No) last year so that it is convenient for members to transfer EPF account in case of job change. It is quite unfortunate that we keep accumulating hard earned money during years of service but it is lying ... Read More
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme
"Senior Citizen Savings Scheme" as my father searched this phrase on internet today morning, he found numerous posts on this subject. All the posts were more or less. In short Cut, Copy and Paste of each other. He told me that if i read one, it means i read all. Its quite unfortunate that non-finance person is left in a lurch. All articles on Senior Citizen Savings Scheme only highlighted the features of scheme. There is no guidance available whether to invest or not?. What are the pros and cons of the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme?. It inspired me to write today's post on "Senior Citizen ... Read More
Voluntary Provident Fund
Voluntary Provident Fund or VPF is most useful yet most neglected tax saving option. Financial Planners or Relationship Managers will not suggest this as there are no commissions, no targets and no incentives. This option is available only to salaried individuals who are member of EPF or Employee Provident Fund. Every month, 12% of basic salary is compulsory deduction towards contribution to EPF. Ref to EPF contribution, not many people are aware that EPF is eligible for dedcution u/s 80C and is part of overall capping of Rs 1.5 lakh u/s 80C. For example, if you are contributing Rs 50,000 ... Read More
5 Financial Planning Myths
Myth is always far from reality. It applies to some of most common or following 5 financial planning myths. The goals and objectives in our lives keep changing with time. In India, Financial Planning is loosely correlated to Retirement planning which is not true. In laymen terms, We need Financial Planning for each & every critical financial goal in life. Be it Kids Education, Buying a Property or Retirement. Different financial goals have different time frames e.g. i have time frame of 10 years for kids education or 15 Years left for retirement. The biggest roadblock to financial planning ... Read More