Time to review insurance cover; and buy art: Top personal finance stories
Our best stories this week explain how to review a key component of your financial portfolio and how to invest in art
 "Time to review insurance cover; and buy art: Top personal finance stories")
As the year draws to a close, it’s a common practice for many to evaluate their investments. It’s equally important to subject your insurance portfolio to the same scrutiny. In this week’s lead article, Sanjay Kumar Singh and Karthik Jerome delve into the essentials of reviewing your insurance portfolio, focusing on term cover, health cover, and insurance-cum-investment plans.
The second article, by Namrata Kohli, highlights the expanding boundaries of art to encompass a variety of media, from traditional paintings to digital and sculptural works. Read it for valuable insights into how to select and price art.
If you are seeking an investment product that combines the robust long-term returns of equities with the added advantage of tax benefits under Section 80C, explore Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS). If you are hunting for one such product, look up Morningstar’s review of ICICI Prudential ELSS Taxsaver Fund.
Are you interested in buying a new car this month to avail of the year-end discounts being offered by many car manufacturers? Several banks, too, are offering concessions on their car loans — to their existing home loan borrowers, corporate salary account holders, and those having a credit score of 750 and above. To get an overview of all finance offers, look up the table from Paisabazaar.
NUMBER OF THE WEEK
5.55 per cent: CPI inflation in November
The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation rose to 5.55 per cent year-on-year in November, up from 4.87 per cent in October. This was due to the prices of vegetables, fruits, pulses, and sugar increasing. The spike in CPI is expected to be temporary (due to volatile food prices; core inflation has come down).
The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation rose to 5.55 per cent year-on-year in November, up from 4.87 per cent in October. This was due to the prices of vegetables, fruits, pulses, and sugar increasing. The spike in CPI is expected to be temporary (due to volatile food prices; core inflation has come down).
The Monetary Policy Committee is in pause mode, with the repo rate at 6.5 per cent. Most experts don’t expect rate cuts to begin in India before the second half of 2024. The markets will, however, start pricing in these cuts much earlier. Therefore, investors should start taking exposure to longer-duration debt funds. This exposure should be limited to 10-15 per cent of the total debt fund portfolio.
With interest rates at or near the peak, this is also a good time to lock into fixed deposits. Target mutual (debt) funds are another instrument one can use for locking into the current high rates.