Life insurance premium; luxury pool villas: Top personal finance stories

This week's newsletter tells readers about the strategy they should follow as life insurance premiums rise and the best pool villas

Major private sector life insurers have hiked their term insurance premiums by 4 per cent to 7 per cent. Consumers, as a strategy, must lock in their premium at a young age and compare policies. Read this article by Karthik Jerome to learn how to make a correct decision based on your financial goal.

The second article, by Namrata Kohli, discusses luxury pool villas in upscale resorts and holiday homes where you can relax with your family and friends. Pool side resorts pamper their guests with dedicated hosts, parties, and health therapy sessions. If you want to have a view of the mountains or the sea, check into a pool villa.

Do you have funds to invest for one to three years and don’t wish to take too much risk with it? One category you may invest in is a short-term debt fund. If you are searching for a fund from this category, look up Morningstar’s review of ICICI Prudential Short-Term Fund.

Not satisfied with the returns of bank fixed deposits and looking for a little extra? Consider investing in a corporate fixed deposit. For an overview of the ratings and returns offered by the leading issuers, look up Paisabazaar’s table.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

71%: Percentage of intraday traders who lost money in FY23

More than 70 per cent of day traders incurred an average loss of Rs 5,371 in FY23, according to research by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) involving nearly 7 million investors.

Sebi’s data shows that the number of intraday traders with the top 10 brokers, who hold 86 per cent of market share, has increased fourfold, from 1.5 million in FY19 to 6.9 million in FY23.

This increase in the number of traders has been accompanied by a decrease in the average trading ticket size. The average trade size fell to Rs 35,333 in FY23 from Rs 76,205 in FY19, according to Sebi.

The study found that young traders (those under 30) had a higher percentage of loss-makers (76 per cent) than the overall sample. Among “very frequent” traders – those who execute more than 500 trades annually – the percentage of loss-makers was even higher, at 80 per cent.