Both a top-up and loan against your car are available at rates marginally lower than personal loans.

Use your car as collateral

Business Standard

Since the beginning of this month, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been net sellers in the Indian equity market. For a market largely fuelled by the FII movement, it resulted in both the Bombay Stock Exchange&rsquo;s (BSE&rsquo;s) Sensex and the National Stock Exchange&rsquo;s Nifty to lose close to five per cent in the same period.

Retail investors shouldn't ape FIIs

SIPs work best in the long haul, lump sum investments during a rising market.

Make steady investments in a volatile market 

A bankers&rsquo; committee suggests banks lend to meritorious students without collateral.

Good marks, no collateral

I am a 28-year old, working with an architecture firm. We are hired as professionals and, therefore, do not have an employee provident fund (EPF) account. I want to create a retirement corpus. In the absence of tax-free EPF, should I invest in the National Pension Scheme (NPS)? However, I do not know about taxation on investments towards NPS. I read somewhere that NPS returns are higher than EPF. How much does NPS pay annually? Also, suggest other better options, if any.

Financial Planning: Gaurav Mashruwala

Short-term retail fixed deposit (FD) rates have gone up sharply in the past few days, with banks offering better rates on deposits up to six months, as they expect that interest rates will soften in the long term.

Short-term FD rates shoot up

Only salaried individuals, pensioners or those earning interest income can use the new form.

Will SAHAJ make your life simple?

Make the correction assumptions while planning for long-term goals, as costs will go up manifold.

To make future perfect

Investing in a good largecap fund enough to participate in the PSU theme.

PSU MFs don't give your portfolio the edge

It is a rating assigned by the Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered credit rating agencies to initial public offerings (IPOs) of various firms. The grade indicates an assessment of business fundamentals and market conditions in comparison to other listed equities at the time of the issuance. These ratings are generally assigned on a five-point scale, with a higher score indicating stronger companies. IPO grading can be done either before filing the draft offer documents or thereafter. However, the red herring prospectus must have the grades given by all the rating agencies.

What is IPO Grading?

I am a dentist and plan to start my own practice in a couple of months.

General Insurance: Gaurav Garg

Money is the fuel all we need to pursue our life&rsquo;s goals. Investing judiciously is one way to grow our hard-earned money at a healthy rate over time. Of course, one has to follow the right investment process to do so. Unfortunately, many investors start investing without determining their goals and the right asset allocation.

Asset allocation the key to success

The battle is being fought more on providing benefits that may not impact your credit scores.

Credit bureaus compete on extras

Stock price will fall if excluded from a benchmark index &amp; vice versa.

Judge a scrip by the company it keeps

With each new job, you are likely to have a new salary account. However, holding multiple salary accounts is not advisable. When you change jobs, your earlier account gets converted into a regular savings accounts after three-six months. Typically, banks are supposed to track salary accounts for salary credits during this period. Once converted, you will lose the perks attached to a salary account. For instance, it will no longer be a zero-balance account and you will have to maintain a minimum average quarterly balance (AQB), at par with other savings accounts. This could be around Rs 10,000-25,000. Charges will be levied for non-maintenance. These differ for each bank, but could even be as high as Rs 750-1,000 a quarter. You will also have to routinely use the account to keep it active.

Financial Dos and don'ts while changing jobs

I am 31 years of age and have been working in Dubai for the last one year. My monthly income is Rs 70,000. I have no responsibilities as of now and can invest up to 60 per cent of my income. I want to finance my younger brother&rsquo;s higher studies about three-four years from now. I am not sure if he will study in India or go abroad.

The State Bank of India stock plummeted 10 per cent on the back of its profits nosediving 99 per cent due to higher provisioning and expected margin erosion. The country&rsquo;s largest lender reported a net profit of Rs 20.88 crore for the quarter ended March 2011, against Rs 1,866 crore in the year ago period. This was the lowest quarterly profit reported by the bank in 12 years. As a result, the stock fell by almost eight per cent to close at Rs 2,413.60 on the BSE on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it closed at Rs 2,355 on BSE. A poor result but not as much as 99 per cent.

Buy SBI on further dip

Sub-limits on ailments can cap your claim despite a large sum insured.

Buying a health cover? Read the fine print

Public sector undertakings are perceived to have untapped potential. How should one evaluate a PSU&rsquo;s upcoming initial public offering vis-&agrave;-vis a private company.

Investing: Paras Adenwala

Debit cards have transactional hazards, so check this primer on what to do.

When a swipe trips up

Insurance companies always insist on an advance receipt from the insured. This gives them full and final discharge to coerce an insured into unconditionally accepting whatever is offered to him.

Full and final settlement?

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 863 - Personal Finance