Budget 2011 – A financial planner’s wish list
Once Dr Manmohan Singh stopped being the finance minister, the expectation from the annual budget was never high, barring few not-so-dreamy ‘dream budgets’ Chidambaram presented. Pranab Da being the old war horse of the Indian politics, I can expect him to give you a drink of boiled mineral water in this budget as well. That [...]
Article published in Moneymantra Magazine 1-15 Jan 2011
Financial Plan Article published in Moneymantra Magazine (1-15 Jan 2011) under “Investment Clinic” column.
Dont fall for 3-year trap
One of the ways ULIP is mis-sold is by inducing the people to buy it as 3-year product where in actuality the term is much longer than that. What most of the ULIPs sold in the past had was a clause which states that the policy holder can opt not to pay the premium after [...]
Half hearted regulation?
The turf war between SEBI and IRDA was finally decided in favour of IRDA after The President promulgated the ordinance. http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/govts-u-turnulips-experts-debate-rationale_465637.html Was there an understanding between the Govt and the regulator about reforms favouring the public before the ordinance was approved? It appears that IRDA has finally woken up and making efforts that would benefit [...]
It is difficult to stop the water once the dam is breached
Dear reader, In the past few months the regulators related financial services such as SEBI, IRDA are in overdrive mode. Several path breaking initiatives have been anounced. SEBI has removed entry load on all mutual funds. IRDA is initiating several proposals to reduce the cost of buying insurance products. Already the New Pension Scheme under [...]
Bundling & Unbundling or bungling?
Why does a company try to hard-sell a product? It’s simple logic that the company is trying to maximize it’s (in turn it’s agent’s) profits by selling a product which brings in high profit. In a business environment, this logic is never going to change. And if we extend this logic further, the product which [...]
Ten Reasons Why People Buy Life Insurance?
In the places where I worked, during my interaction with employees while helping them to plan their taxes, I used to quiz them the reason why they bought a life insurance policy for themselves. I have compiled below some ten reasons (in the order of their popularity) why they did so. This is not a [...]
