Pension scheme for children, mixed media art: Top personal finance stories

In this week's newsletter we write about NPS Vatsalya and investing in mixed media artwork

The government has launched NPS Vatsalya, a scheme that aims to promote retirement savings from an early age. While this is a good initiative, parents should be aware that liquidity is a constraint in this product. Read the lead story by Sanjay Kumar Singh to understand the pros and cons.

The second article, by Namrata Kohli, highlights the growing appeal of mixed media art in the Indian art market. Readers can gain insight into the unique opportunities and challenges of investing in mixed media.

Car dealerships are offering attractive discounts to boost sales this festival season. If you are planning to take a loan, check out Paisabazaar.com's table on interest rates offered by India’s leading finance companies.

Most Indian investors’ portfolios tend to be growth-oriented. If you wish to correct this skew, invest in a value fund. Consider Morningstar's review of ICICI Pru Value Discovery Fund, one of the most popular funds within this category.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK: 50 basis points rate cut by the US Federal Reserve

The US Federal Reserve has cut the federal funds rate by 50 basis points (bps) from 5.25-5.5 per cent to 4.75-5.00 per cent, marking the first reduction since 2020. This decision, made amid job market concerns and ahead of the November 2024 presidential elections, is expected to be followed by another 50-bps cut by the end of 2024 and a further 100-bps reduction in 2025.

US inflation has significantly dropped from a peak of 9.1 per cent in mid-2022 to a three-year low of 2.5 per cent in August, close to the Fed’s 2 per cent target. With inflation nearly at target levels, the Fed is now focusing on supporting a weakening job market and achieving a “soft landing” to curb inflation without triggering a sharp recession.

The global trend of lowering interest rates could complicate efforts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to control inflation, targeted at 4.5 per cent for the 2024-25 fiscal year. The RBI aims to keep inflation within a 4 per cent range, with a margin of plus or minus 2 per cent. An accelerated global rate-cutting cycle could lead to increased capital inflows into India, benefiting stock and debt markets but complicating currency management and potentially creating inflationary pressures by expanding the domestic money supply.