2012

DIYers Mr. Patel has been dabbling in stocks for the last 25 years. He also sporadically invests in Mutual Funds. His TV is constantly on and he surfs all the business channels. He is known amongst his group of friends as the stock market guy and many times they also seek his advice on stocks. He boasts a lot about the profits he makes on day trading and occasionally on his investments. Curiously, he is most active when markets are bullish and becomes very low key when the sentiment is bad. It appears like he is investing when markets are […]

Parents want their kids to have all the best things in the world and they think if they can afford it, why not? In fact, many parents are tempted to give money to their children out of guilt. The guilt of not spending enough time with kids is compensated with money. Eventually, kids get adapted to a spendthrift lifestyle and sometimes resort to emotional blackmail if their demands are not met. Not to mention, the peer pressure building up on kids makes them a bit insensitive to the value of the hard earned money of their parents. Our present educational […]

Financial planning is a process which goes beyond numbers. In the preparation of a financial plan, we ask a lot of qualitative questions to clients, which go beyond investments, insurance, tax & retirement. For instance, one common query we have for clients is whether they have prepared a will. We ask clients about the nomination status for their immovable property, bank accounts, bank lockers, demat accounts, investments, provident fund, etc. Additionally, information about the location of their important documents including medical policies is asked and whether these are known to family members. As a part of the financial planning process, […]

Financial problem usually is one of the prime stress factors for individuals today. This may be due to buying the wrong financial product, a huge debt pile-up, over spending, inadequate liquid funds during emergency, etc. Some simple and prudent personal finance habits can save a lot of time, money and trouble and help us achieve a better control over our overall finances. Since last 7 years I had prominently displayed a list of dos and don’ts in financial matters in my office for all my visitors to see. The list basically chalks out general guidelines about how to stay financially […]