Money For Investment

One of the biggest risks associated with credit cards usage for online purchases was the possibility of misuse of the credit card by fraudsters. This was such a big demerit working against both credit card fraternity and net commerce that a solution to this threat was imminent. Till now , for anyone to make online payment, all one needed was the credit card number, the expiry month and year and the CVV number. All the 3 information required to transact on internet was the one which were mentioned on the credit card. So in case a person lays his hand on your credit card , he/she could have easily misused your card on the internet since all the information he needed was readily available on the credit card itself. This was a huge shortcoming and as such needed to be fixed. Come August 1st, Reserve Bank Of India, has mandated that the credit cards will have to have one more layer of security check before the payment transaction is approved. Now, all the credit card users will have to reg...

One of the most classic dilemma facing a retired or soon - to-be -retired person is whether he should use the retirement proceeds to start up some sort of business to keep himself busy while making good money out of it or should he just invest the money in a safe place like bank FD and live off the interest accrued? There are people who would argue in favor of starting up something on ones own using the money while there are equally good number of people who think otherwise. So, what is the right decision or rather which is the better option? Well , I think there are no right or wrong options here . Both the options have their own merits and demerits , but, I would stick my neck out in favor of one option. But before I do so , let us examine the pros and cons of both the options :- OPTION 1 - STARTING UP A SMALL BUSINESS PROS - The first and foremost benefit of starting a business after retirement will mean that the person will be able to productively employ himself or herself. This i...

These are good times for rich people. People who are affluent have many advantages and privileges in general life. An addition to their long list of privileges is the availability of term insurance at a much cheaper rate. The term insurance premiums have seen drastic reduction recently for life cover of RS 1 cr and above. Even term plans having life cover of Rs 25 lakhs and above also have seen quite a large reduction in the premiums. This large scale reduction in the premiums is attributed to the following reasons:- 1. Better mortality rates - The recent experience has shown that the mortality rate isn't as bad as is shown in the mortality chart currently being used. And as such the premiums have come down owing to this. 2. Access to better health care and lifestyle - Rich and HNIs have greater access to health care and quality lifestyle which also plays a role in increasing the life span of the person. This in turn means lesser claims on insurance companies pushing the overall pr...

The Union Budget presented by Mr. Finance Minister has left many people disappointed especially those who were expecting some"big bang" reforms from this budget. The budget did not lay out any such plan. But, this budget is being hailed by corporates on one account atleast ie. the removal of FBT or Fringe Benefit Tax which was introduced by erstwhile Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram. This was a tax which was to be paid on all the perks enjoyed by an employee like car, company provided accommodation, ESOPs , conveyance etc. These perks were always taxed at the hands of the employee, but, FBT had transferred the onus of paying these tax to the employer. The employer,however, was free to collect this tax from the employee. FBT also meant that the effective rate of taxation was only little over 6 % as against the rate of tax charged to an employee based on his tax slab. FBT was opposed by the corporates tooth and nail and now they have finally managed to get this off their bac...

The Union Budget presented by the Finance Minister yesterday was one which aimed at doing "No harm"rather than "doing good" to the economy on the whole. There were no major big bang reform measures announced. Even the much anticipated and "taken for granted reform" of increasing the FDI limit in insurance sector didn't come through. Mr. Minister shied away from giving a target for disinvestment as well. This sent the capital markets into a tail spin. The FBT was removed which is a positive for the corporate sector , but, the MAT was increased to 15% taking away the sheen of FBT removal. As far as common man and his income tax is concerned, there was not much for him. The new budget proposes to increase the tax free income limit by Rs 10000 for women and men and Rs 15000 for senior citizens. So now the new tax free income slab would be Men- Rs 1.6 lakhs Women- Rs 1.9 Lakhs Senior Citizens (including women) - Rs 2.4 Lakhs The actual saving in terms of ta...

The Employee Provident Fund Organisation has decided to give an interest of 8.5% on the deposits made in EPF scheme for the current financial year as well. This interest rate of 8.5 % is same as the one applicable last year as well. With inflation and deposit rates up for most of the last year , there were expectations of an increase in this rate for this year atleast. But, with the inflation down to negative territory and deposits rates heading southwards, this expectation was tempered a bit in last few weeks and as such the decision to keep the rate unchanged is a no surprise really. The EPF interest rate has come down from the highs of 12 % earlier to 8.5% now. There were talks of bringing this even further down to 8% level last year. But, with the new government's focus on "AAM AADMI" and inclusive growth , the chances of these rates going down is remote. This will benefit the 4.2 crore depositors who have parked their money with the EPF. This makes it one of the best...