High interest rates and loan-to-value have rendered property buying difficult.

Want to buy a house? Wait for the right deal

Business Standard

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has queered the pitch for investors wanting to invest in Indian Depository Receipts or IDRs of foreign companies. In a move that could reduce their interest in these issues, the market regulator has barred conversion of IDRs to shares of the foreign company. Investors, as a consequence, can exit only by selling at exchanges where the foreign company is listed.

Regulatory shock for IDR holders 

There is an old saying &ndash; well begun is half done. There is a strong need for financial planning to make a good beginning. Let&rsquo;s take Vijay Chavan, 40, sales manager with a pharma company at Pune.

Market Mantra: Nilesh Shah

Remember that carrying forward of losses and revision in taxes would not be allowed.

Delayed tax returns can hurt benefits

Chip-based cards have a small chip which stores the account information in an encrypted format and provides an additional level of security by asking for a personal identification number (PIN).

What are chip-based and magnetic strip cards? 

I am 49 years of age. My wife and I earn Rs 75,000 (expenses come to Rs 15,000). Our son will start going to college from next month and the expenses will rise by Rs 10,000-15,000. We are currently servicing a home loan, car loan and personal loan. Our total monthly outgo is Rs 40,000. The extra Rs 20,000 is invested for our retirement. Other investments include Public Provident Fund (Rs 4.5 lakh), equity funds (Rs 8 lakh) and fixed deposits (Rs 3 lakh).

Financial Planning: Malhar Majumder

If yes, you are earning less on investments and, in dull market conditions, it can cost you dearly.

Are you still paying an entry load? 

One of the favourite clauses of insurance companies is that of exclusion with respect to pre-existing diseases, as it is used to reject the maximum number of claims. By wrongly interpreting the clause, insurers not only reject claims with respect to pre-existing diseases, they extend it to other diseases, too. For instance, thanks to the stressful lives we lead, most people suffer from hypertension, which is not a major ailment and can be easily controlled by medication. Yet, if the insured makes a claim for heart problem years later, the claim is rejected on the grounds that hypertension was pre-existing. Such a rejection is neither legal nor justified.

Interpreting pre-existing diseases for insurance policies

Your card-related retail transactions will soon become safer. Alarmed by the increase in card-related fauds, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week suggested the industry shifts to chip-based cards as against the more commonly used magnetic strip ones.

Chip-based cards will cut the risk of fraud when you go shopping

Analysts covering the smallest US equities are proving to be the best stock pickers. Standard &amp; Poor&rsquo;s SmallCap 600 Index companies with the highest recommendations have beaten the lowest-rated shares by 12 percentage points in the year ended May 31. Over the same period, the S&amp;P 500 shares, most favored by analysts, trailed the worst-ranked companies by 6.2 percentage points, the data show.

US smallcap analysts prove best as 'buys' beat 'sells' by 12%

Investors would rather pay commissions for the financial advice they receive than a fee based on assets under management, said Cerulli Associates.

Investors prefer commissions to account fee: Study 

If the recommendations are implemented, PPF and NSC&rsquo;s returns will be on par with existing bank term deposits.

NSSF review to help you save more

Insurance is a legal contract and, hence, the insurer should charge premium according to the terms of the contract.

Life Insurance: Deepak Sood

This is a method of hedging through which one protects his/her investments against market risk by short-selling index futures. This is used by those who understand how to trade in derivatives. Portfolio insurance is essential for investors having a high market exposure and are, hence, more vulnerable to market related risks. Hedging risk by investing in futures or, short selling, is a widely practiced norm, and is currently the best form of protection one can get against market crashes in India. A market crash can technically wipe out any investment, and insuring portfolio is the only guarantee one has so that the losses do not go beyond a certain level.

What is portfolio insurance? 

PMS is specifically meant for investors having a large surplus. For steady investments, mutual funds work the best.

How to choose between MFs and PMS

(a) Late statements/bills: In a scenario where the onus of making timely payments lies with the customer, receiving monthly statements/bills late should not be overlooked. Delayed payments attract an interest penalty of 2.95 per cent on the billed amount.

What are the common credit card grievances?

General Insurance: Gaurav Garg

In times such as now, equity allocation needs to be increased. One could also look at other options like FDs.

Coping with volatility 

The law does not allow clubbing of Section 54 exemptions for reinvestment purposes.

The ifs and buts of capital gains

A government portal offers the facility free of charge, there are private options too.

Online options for filing returns

Some life policies offer the benefit of indexation.

Life Insurance: V Philip

Personal Finance: Read about the smart strategies for Personal Finance Planning, Investing, Insurance, banking, budgeting, loans Tax Planning, retirement and insurance. Browse Business Standard to learn more on Personal Finance.

Personal Finance: Investing, Planning, Retirement, Loans, & Insurance | Business Standard

Read about the smart strategies for Personal Finance Planning, Investing, Insurance, banking, budgeting, loans Tax Planning, retirement and insurance. Browse Business Standard to learn more on Personal Finance.

Page 856 - Personal Finance