Page 28 - Sanjay Kumar

Covid, income fears see shift to single-premium plans. How good are they?

Those buying these plans should bear in mind that gains at maturity may not be tax-free

What is a passive fund and is it a safe investment option? Things to know

In this podcast, Business Standard's Sanjay Kumar Singh explains the difference between active and passive funds, why should an investor get into passive funds and more

Don't let past year's return guide you while deciding on asset allocation

Government and corporate bond schemes of NPS are unlikely to beat equity schemes over the long term

Regulators hand out more tools to customers for decoding financial products

Sebi's new risk-o-meter and Irdai's proposed colour coding of health insurance plans will enable buyers to make more informed choices

Weigh your options before going passive on mid- and small-cap equity funds

The majority of active funds still outperform their benchmarks and passive funds don't have a long track record in these two segments

Simple interest accumulated during moratorium remains the bigger concern

Since simple interest keeps accumulating, your outstanding at the end of the moratorium will be higher than at the start

Focused funds: Volatile but fund manager can mitigate portfolio risk

By doing rigorous research on her limited holdings, the fund manager can mitigate portfolio risk

Huge relief for home loan borrowers if govt bears part of compound interest

The increase in EMI or tenure will be lesser if the government pays the compound interest

How rolling over credit card balance can jeopardise your financial health

Instead, make use of EMIs and personal loans to repay credit card bills. If your dues are very high, go for secured loans

If your multi-cap fund becomes much riskier after new Sebi rules, exit it

Wait until your fund house communicates a change of mandate before you decide on your course of action

Don't lower guard: Not just returns, focus also on a scheme's risks

Enquire how the high returns being promised will be generated, and whether you are comfortable taking the accompanying risk

How to sniff and dodge financial scams and keep your wealth intact

Here are some tools that will help you detect a scam from a mile away and avoid touching one even with a 10-foot barge pole

Sebi's new margin norm may nudge trading towards buy-and-hold investing

Some of these changes came into effect from September 1, while the others will be rolled out gradually

Work actively on improving your credit score to protect your home loan rate

If more lenders hike their risk premium, it will spike the interest rate on your borrowing

FASTag may be made mandatory for buying third-party insurance from April

The ministry also proposes to make FASTags mandatory for vehicles sold before December 2017

Renewing motor policy on time is more cost-effective and hassle-free option

If you let it lapse and renew later, you will lose out completely on the no-claim bonus

Shift to e-DIS method to keep securities in your demat acccount safe

This will ensure that you don't have to give power of attorney to your broker and yet do not lose out on convenience

Are you in financial trouble? Ask your bank to restructure your loan asap

Take your repayment capability and the extra interest cost involved when choosing a restructuring option

Invest directly only if you can pick stocks with good earnings potential

Retail investors may get fingers burnt by aggresively buying small-, mid-caps stocks

Gold: Enter now if you can hold for 7-8 years, maintain allocation

New investors should also minimise entry cost by purchasing on corrections