Page 758 - Personal Finance

Realty check

budget: Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore

Hidden charges, service as important as loan rate

With the difference between lending rates of banks and NBFCs narrowing, base your choice on urgency of requirement

Case study

Banking: Prashant Joshi

Banks will charge for better services

Changes in regulations and the imminent enforcement of some long-standing regulations are pushing up the cost for banks apart from the general cost inflation

Betting on the automobile sector

While these look overvalued, stock prices could double or treble in 2-3 years if the industry turns around

Interest costs a huge burden on students

If it is difficult to repay, try re-negotiating the payment terms to ease the burden

Who is hacking your mobile?

Don't download free apps, among other precautions; we list some

Don't look at life insurance only

Comprehensive home insurance and personal accident covers are important although these don't offer tax benefits

Invest cautiously before elections

Stay invested in bank fixed deposits till the election and then take a call on equities

I-T dept identifies over 2 mn potential non-filers

Tax ombudsman sends letters sent to 50,000 people in first batch

Units of big firms likely to lose PF tax benefits

These companies have failed to get exemption certificates from the EPFO's governing body

Dealing with company deposit frauds

Recovery options for retail investors are few; all they can do is put pressure on the firm through legal channels

Chola MS launches Android app for health insurance customers

Application would offer policy details like coverage, sum insured and renewal reminder and hospital network with geo tagging on Google Maps

Fund pick: Birla Sun Life Top 100 Fund

Superior returns at lower volatility

Helpless employees

They cannot refuse EPF payment under social security legislation, yet stand to lose the 80C benefit if their company hasn't registered with EPFO

EPFO earned more, paid less in 4 tax years: CAG

Realtors woo customers through buy-back schemes

Experts say through buy-back schemes, developers, cash-crunched or otherwise, are able to raise funds at much cheaper costs

Stay if the scheme is doing well

With more schemes likely to be merged, investors will get opportunity to exit bad schemes with no load

High yields, tax benefits make FMPs attractive

But don't try to time the investment; look at 2 or 3-year products for better returns