Wedding is the one of the most awaited moments in a couple’s life. Planning for the big day is an experience in itself. The venue, caterers, music, guest list, couture, flowers, etc., there are thousand such things weighing on a couple’s mind. But what they take for granted is the money part. All they know about each other is roughly the respective incomes before marriage. Money can be a sticky issue later on and many couples are not comfortable talking about it during the co

Money is called the root of all evil or rather the greed for it. But one cannot argue that money is what makes the world go round and makes our lives comfortable. There are some people who live paycheck to paycheck while there are some who earn sufficient to at least meet their essential financial goals. And, there are some who have truckloads of money but don’t know what to do with it. But how much is enough! That depends upon every individual’s personal situation. No matter

“Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar hair cut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.” This is a...

Your stock/mutual fund portfolio is doing well and you are happy it has beaten the market. Congratulations! But what next? Are you going to liquidate the investment in the name of booking profits or continue to stay invested? If you redeem your investments, what will you do with the money? I am sure you will pause to think over. So, will majority of the investors who are clueless what to do with their investments. For most investors, picking the right stock or mutual fund is

While maths may not be the most loved subject in schooling years, we still apply certain concepts in our daily lives. Ratio is one such beautiful number which helps us to compare two or more things. Be it measuring in probabilities, in proportions while cooking, betting against odds on a cricket match, doctors using in diagnostic reports, investors using for company analysis, ratios are all pervasive – being used knowingly or unknowingly. We can use ratios in our personal fin

Parents want the best of education for their children. And, they are willing to spend lakhs of rupees in these inflationary times. Wait, I am not talking about higher education here. It is school education which has become very expensive and ironically costs more than graduation! Besides the ICSE and CBSE curriculum, many schools nowadays offer international courses like International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge International Examination (CIE) which are comparatively mor

If I were to ask you what your most valuable asset is, you would probably list down any of your prized possessions. It may be the dream vacation house that you built or the limited edition classic watch you bought. But the truth is whatever assets you own, your house, car, investments, jewellery, etc., they would not be a reality unless you made them. So your biggest asset is ‘YOU’, your intellectual ability to create real and income earning assets, your ability to grow your

Dreaming of travel to historical places in India? Or maybe to picturesque locales in Switzerland, or explore Europe on a Mediterranean cruise. Vacations mean relaxation, peace of mind, rejuvenation, fun time with family, etc. However, holiday planning isn’t just about booking flights, hotels and scheduling itinerary. It also means a lot of money. With some financial planning in advance, you can effectively save for your dream vacation. Let us examine how you can pay for your

Being a single parent is not easy. Coping through widowhood or divorce along with children is painful. Besides the emotional grief to deal with, a challenging financial journey lays ahead. As household responsibilities are divided between spouses, financial matters are handled and executed by one partner in the family while the other is passive. When the decision making partner is no more, it is a huge task for the other partner to get familiar with money matters. Securing th

Birth of a child is one of the most important life changing events for a couple. Having a healthy child, doing up the baby room and buying all the kiddy stuff are topmost on the minds of wannabe parents. But amidst this excitement, they forget about future finances. It costs a bomb to raise a baby in present times. It is not just the maternity costs, doctor visits and regular baby expenses like clothes, toys, baby foods, stroller, cradle, pram, medicines, etc. Check out this

Thinking of quitting your 9 to 5 job? Want to be your own boss? Starting a business is not easy. It is like your baby which needs care, nurturing and 100 per cent full time dedication and commitment. You need to think through a host of issues before starting your venture such as upfront investment, product/service offering, business model, distributor tie-ups, warehousing, merchandising, marketing, break-even, margins, etc. But before you start brainstorming on your business

In today’s stressful times, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes have become common ailments. Ironically, people are living longer due to advanced medical science, but less healthy. As per a World Health Organisation (WHO) report involving a survey of 162 countries, India figures in the high danger zone of risk of cardiovascular diseases in the world. It is thus very essential to have health insurance which funds medical costs during tough times. The average health cover usua

In our recent article, we talked about ‘How to prepare financially for Emergencies’. In our latest post, we are going to talk about protection from calamities. While people seek protection for their life and health, it usually doesn’t occur to them that their belongings need protection too. Last month there was a fire in one of the units in our office building. It started off with a spark in the air conditioner but quickly spread and in the process gutted the whole office. Th

Life sometimes can deal a cruel blow to you and if not prepared, it can hit you hard. While many people buy insurance for protection, it does not go beyond life and health insurance for majority. But there are certain situations which can catch you off guard and later may prove to be a big drain on your financial resources. Let us examine them one by one. (1) Loss of job: A couple with high paying jobs was working in a prominent healthcare company in the research department.

It is a mistaken belief that if you are earning an income, you are financially empowered. A working woman may be financially independent but if her money decisions are being made by her spouse, parents or in-laws, she cannot be considered as financially empowered. The belief that they do not understand anything about finances but that their spouses do, leads many women to blindly accept all money decisions taken on their behalf. These women need to understand that finally the

At the beginning of New Year 2013, we shared with you our thoughts not only relating to finance but in general as well, in the form of a...

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...

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...

Financial planning is a process which goes beyond numbers. In the preparation of a financial plan, we ask a lot of qualitative questions...

Financial problem usually is one of the prime stress factors for individuals today. This may be due to buying the wrong financial...