Page 778 - Personal Finance

Should you obsess about your Cibil score?

If you pay your debts on time and have reasonable debt in line with your income, you are fine

Investors' rites of passage

Different stages of life entail different financial needs and, in turn, necessitate varied and nuanced investing strategies

Bond fund investors could see return surprises

Experts say that debt investment environment is still challenging as interest rates are volatile; investors must keep an eye out for risks

Is timing the market irrelevant?

Even through systematic investments, money can be made only if you pick the right asset at the right time

Online, offline policies offer same service

Premium on online term insurance is lower. So, make the most of it

IPO investors are better off without a safety net

Although it promises no loss of capital, it beats the purpose of investing in equities for long term

Will not reduce interest on consumer durable loans: HDFC Bank

Capital infusion, over and above the Budget provision of Rs 14,000 crore, comes ahead of the festival season and is aimed at providing cheaper loans for auto and consumer durables

IDBI Bank to pay 9.25-9.40% interest

For 500-day special deposit scheme the bank is offering 9.40% interest

Debt market volatility plays spoiler to NPS returns

Average YTD returns for Central and State Govt Schemes at 0.29% and 0.24% respectively, as on September 27, 2013

Seeking cover for loss of income

Policies like personal accident, critical illness and job loss can offer financial support in tough times

Brick by brick, Indian realty story crumbles

Housing launches drop up to 59 per cent in key markets; IT hub Bangalore only exception

Is real estate next in line to collapse?

Unless govt deflates the housing bubble in an orderly manner, the collapse by market mechanism will surprise generations

Is RBI working overtime to burst the real estate bubble?

Restricting banks from disbursing funds upfront to builders will further squeeze liquidity

SBI Life Insurance to launch new ULIP plan

Plan offers option to choose from in both savings and life cover components

Dip into your retirement kitty only in emergencies

Try to replenish corpus either by investing more in EPF or open a separate PPF account

Reducing cover a good option for senior citizens

It is a good option for those who have met their financial goals but the premiums are too high

The shine is off FMPs

Go for short-term bond funds as opposed to similar tenure FMPs, but longer term advantage of the latter remains

Life insurance products to become more transparent from tomorrow

While product returns would be easier to understand, pending approvals may mean lesser insurance plans to choose from in the initial few days

Smart shopping made easy

RBI's latest guidelines are in tune with its reservations on teaser products

General Insurance: Bhargav Dasgupta

Bhargav Dasgupta, MD & CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance answers your queries