Simple Financial Sense

NRE deposit rates

2012-01-29T23:22:00.001+05:30

I wrote about the great interest rates that were being offered to NREs.

In the latest review in outlook money
, in a very lucid manner they have written about why NRI should very shamelessly invest in india through Indian banks.

Compare the 9.5% rates vs the 1-2% in the us .
The downside is the forex rates ... But even if the Indian rupee comes to 65 a $ they will still earn more than in the us.

However , the Indian rupee is back to 50 levels and is going to tred higher in than trending lower ( hopefully).

Hope my us readers are listening

Smart investing

New investment tools

2012-01-28T22:13:00.001+05:30

As time progresses there are newer investment tools that come up - new ideas that make a lot more sense.

Today I visited my bank and the branch manager was trying to sell me an equity fund which basically is over a period of 10 years and the highest NAV gauranteed is 50% higher.

Here is the way she tried to sell it

1. Highest NAV will be taken in the first 6 yrs
2 . We are the only one giving you a gauranteed 50% increase in your capital.
3. Tax free returns

Now I tried to do a little bit of calculation and asked her a few more probing questions..

1. The 50% gauranteed is over what period.

The answer to this was ten years . a little back of the envelope calculations gets this to be around a 3% return.. Very similiar to a savings account return.. What's so exciting about this???

2.Guaranteed highest NAV- I asked her what is the guarantee that the fund manager will invest in a manner to get the highest return possible in the first six year- she had no answer to that

Why bank managers try and make fool of their customers I don't know.

However to her credit she did give me an idea about a debt policy that I thought was interesting - I will write about it as I investigate it further

Simple financial sense is about keeping it simple

Becoming redundant- staying relevant

2012-01-26T13:29:00.001+05:30

Recently I read about the fact that kodak had become bankrupt.. A company which started the entire line of products on photography.

Camera rolls were called kodak .. Even if it was from another manufacturer. like xerox became a generic name for photostat.

Today, as I had written before and keep telling my friends and team - we need to stay relevant to the market.
Digital camera companies are fighting to stay alive because of the changing usage of mobile phones - almost every one of them has a camera. One can hardly see people with cameras on holidays or traveling - people just use their mobiles.
Here is a snap of the number of people who are using their mobiles to take a photo in a mall.

Catch the trend, understand the relevance and change yourself to be relevant!!

Simplefinancialsense!!

Relationships - a big investment

2012-01-26T13:21:00.001+05:30

Relationships are a big part of who we are. They define us, protect us and progress us towards better things and make us whole.

How much time do we spend to make relationships work. Family is like taken for granted, or friends we try and catch up once in a bluemoon , extended family ( second generation) not even noticed.

We meet so many people , but continue to speak to only a nano fraction of them.. And in those nano fraction we have relationship issues.

Relationship need to be tended to , cared for, mistakes agreed to and hopefully forgiven .

It's not easy to have friends or family- but that's what gives us joy- makes life worth living. Money is just a small part of life.. Relationships -all of it

Today on India's Republic day - take a pledge to focus on relationships,apologize to people to whom you have erred, forgive people who have erred against you

Make a new start- it's simple sense

Happy Republic Day

Insurance and EET

2012-01-22T19:29:00.002+05:30

With a potential change in the direct tax code from the forthcoming budget, everyone should understand the impact on the change of the taxable status of investments.
There will be a change in the status of investments from the EEE tax rule to EET.

What this means today - as an example ppf or insurance is tax free at every stage, at investment, returns and at maturity. However going forward, the plan is to make the entire returns taxable.

One point in this is that the eet will be applicable to those investments which have occurred post the implementation of the DTC.

So go ahead- make the insurance investment now.. Its your last chance in the EEE framework

Smart investing

Taking the first step towards entrepreneurship

2012-01-21T21:14:00.001+05:30

I find a lot of people in Indja trying to start their own business . This from people who have no business background.

It's extremely heartening to see the spirit of entrepreneurship coming alive in India.. Taking wings!

With this trend I also will see failures , some of mine and some of people i know and interact with

But I will also see success ..
Meet people who are passionate about things.. Doing things differently.. Thinking differently

One of my favorite quote is
" definition of stupidity - doing the same things again and in the same way and expecting a different result"

Each of us needs to evaluate how different their paths are going to be - how to take the first step and evaluate entrepreneurship

I have taken a step- albeit a small one - to test the waters.. I will be looking to build my network - if you would like to be included - give me a buzz

But - evaluate what your passion is - and your dream and if entreprenuership is a way you can achieve it

Smart investing

NRE deposits at 9.5%

2012-01-21T10:30:00.001+05:30

NRI it's raining benefits for you. With the forex crisis and FDI focus in India banks have opened their doors to you.
While in the us the return rates are like 0.5-1% or in some banks they charge you to keep your money with them, india is offering a 9% return on your investment.

With the Indian rupee on it's way up.. You will have a double benefit on the returns

Invest in India

Be smart

There are reasons to believe in a better world

2012-01-14T17:03:00.001+05:30

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dHOzw5KSlE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Coca cola advertisement

Meru cabs in delhi

2012-01-14T14:20:00.001+05:30

I am a big fan of meru cabs because of the service that they provide, the facility of using your credit card for paying the cab fare and the great courtesy that the drivers provide.

However , over the recent past I have found some major differences in the way it operates in different cities - namely delhi and Bangalore.

Bangalore service i will still rate as very good, however delhi service in conjunction with the way everything else operates in delhi is poor.

In 95% of the cases where I have taken a cab for the airport the driver at the last minute says that the credit card machine is not working. It's such an amazing coincidence. Even replying to the service message to meru cabs doesnt seem to have any impact on them . Maybe the wy that the can drivers are paid at the end of the day in delhi is different from Bangalore. It shouldn't be , but it looks like it.

So , why am I writing all of this in this blog?

Because it has to do with the money that you carry in your purse. Do not think that your credit card will provide you the safety and the ability to safely cover your expenses.

Be smart- carry some minimum cash in your pocket

New Infra bonds out

2012-01-14T12:35:00.002+05:30

Here is the list of open infra bonds where above the 1Lakh limit, you can save tax on a maximum of Rs 20,000 depending on your tax bracket.

if you are in the bracket more than 30% -- it makes a lot of sense to apply.

1) The Public Issue of PTC Long Term Infra Bonds has opend on 30^th December 2011 and Closes on 29^th February 2012 .

Issue Details -:

Issuer	PTC LONG TERM INFRASTRUCTURE BONDS
Issue opens	December 30, 2011
Face Value	Rs.5000/- per bond
Minimum application	1 Bond (Rs. 5,000/-) and in multiples of 1 Bond (Rs.5,000/-) thereafter
Interest p.a.	8.93% (10 Years)/9.15% (15 Years)
Tenure	10 Years / 15 Years
Credit Ratings	CRISIL AA/Stable” by CRISIL & “[ICRA] AAA” by ICRA
Basis of allotment	5 years fromt the deemed date of allotment

2) The Public Issue of REC Long Term Infra Bonds has opend on 19^th December 2011 and Closes on 10^th February 2012 .

Issue Details -:

Issuer	REC LONG TERM INFRASTRUCTURE BONDS
Issue opens	December 19, 2011
Face Value	Rs.5000/- per bond
Minimum application	1 Bond (Rs. 5,000/-) and in multiples of 1 Bond (Rs.5,000/-) thereafter
Interest p.a.	8.95% (10 Years)/9.15% (15 Years)
Tenure	10 Years / 15 Years
Credit Ratings	CRISIL AAA/Stable” by CRISIL & “[ICRA] AAA” by ICRA
Basis of allotment	5 years fromt the deemed date of allotment

3) The Public Issue of SREI Long Term Infra Bonds has opend on 31^th December 2011 and Closes on 31^th January 2012 .

Issue Details -:

Issuer	PTC India Financial Services Ltd.
Issue opens	December 31, 2011
Face Value	Rs.1000/- per bond
Minimum application	1 Bond (Rs. 1,000/-) and in multiples of 1 Bond (Rs.1,000/-) thereafter
Interest p.a.	8.90% (10 Years)/9.15% (15 Years)
Tenure	10 Years / 15 Years
Credit Ratings	CRISIL AAA/Stable” by CRISIL & “[ICRA] AAA” by ICRA
Lock in Period	5 years fromt the deemed date of allotment

Happy Investing!!

Using google maps satellite view

2012-01-08T17:26:00.002+05:30

The view that you see in the photo is a top view of where I stay.. And the park just outside my apartments.

Sometime back , I looked up my school using the google satellite map and had a good time reminiscing about my school days.

Google maps are a great tool - I hope sometime soon the voice over of maps would be available in india- street by street view, turn by turn

Multiple ways of using the maps. Of course remember that using the satellite view is more download intensive - so ensure you manage your plan

The second is the snapshot of the guesthouse in Bangalore where I am staying right now

Smart investing

Areas to focus on in 2012

2012-01-02T21:27:00.001+05:30

Today, I have fallen sick - so been trying to relax at home and obviously been seeing a lot of the financial magazines and channels .

Here are a few of the things I took away

1. India fiscal deficit will be around 1% higher than plan - around 5.6%
With the focus on food security bill , these numbers will significantly go up in the new fiscal year. If the petrol prices do not go up , omc will need to be paid next year and hence the fiscal deficit will have a double whammy next year!! Doesn't bore well for the country

2. There was an article by Nirmal jain of iifl which says that equity market can go down further 10-15%! they are also saying that focus on fixed income ( screen shot enclosed )

3. Growth a lot of people - eminent people - are saying that growth should pick up to around 7.5%- 8% next year. Highly improbable in my opinion

It's good to understand changing environments and economy trends

Smart investing!!

Seasons greetings

2012-01-01T13:03:00.001+05:30

It's a NEW YEAR!! Time to view things with a refreshed perspective

Wishing all of my readers and friends and family a very Prosperous and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of my inspirations

1. My Dad- my first and foremost inspiration.

2. Suzie Orman

3. Robert Kiyosaki

Let's focus on getting smarter and smarter on our investments

New year resolutions 2012

2011-12-31T11:57:00.002+05:30

Yep, the time has come to finalize my actions in 2012.

Here are the ones I plan to do

1 Focus on health.

Exercise and good healthy nutrition are key to a mans well being - also a woman ( just being diverse here).

My time has been too much focussed around work and I need to invest in myself.

For those people who think nutrition is important- nutrilite products from Amway are a great way to gain some of this. If interested- give me a buzz

Exercise - if I cannot go to the gym- do something else - but do it- walk skip or run.. I see very often all the clients that I host- they are very particular about this . I also need to make it mandatory for me.

No partial stars for this one . This is binary success

2. Focus on financials
It's time for me to ensure I have my house in order. As always - create a plan and stick to it

3. Life- work balance

Yes- life needs to come first. Balance is important and I need to ensure that family time is so much more

Well , as I always said- three goals are more than enough - it brings in focus.

I will continue to write my blog- it's become almost a weekly habit .. Maybe start another one and try and write for a journal. I want to target a thousand readers.. :).. So any help you guys can give me would be appreciated.

What's yours .. ??

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New trend in 2012

2011-12-31T10:57:00.001+05:30

Just saw a program on Zee business which talked about new technology trends in 2012 and the one thing that caught my eye was motion sensing technologies

According to Zee , motion sensing may soon replace touch screen technologies and that may be fantastic!

Sooner or later all the movies that we have seen - minority report or ghost protocol- those technologies will be something of a reality for a normal person

Life is going to get very interesting

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Handy phone productivity apps

2011-12-30T22:51:00.001+05:30

I love the Samsung note advertisement . it shows the power of what a phone or a productivity device can do for you.

The other advertisement is the one for nokia lumia , where the shopping lists is getting updated realtime.

I saw a program on NDTV where they were talking about the best mobile phones and they spoke about how many people actually used the stylus on the Samsung note... Very few.

While I agree that not many people use the phone with all the features.. But it is the way the world is changing and will change soon.

Now how are are we using these things in our lives.

Right now, I am blogging from the app on my iPhone - sitting in my razai , with the heater on- not having the strength or the will to go to the desktop I have

But such tools enable one to make ones lives easy

I have just discovered a couple of more tools I am evaluating

Evernote is a tool which like the iPhone 4s has the ability to save files on multiple places at the same time - files as well as notes. Right now the free version saves only notesIt's a great app.

The other one is I prefer is the chat tools like whatsapp, viber which can be used across the different os platforms

Money budgeting tools - expense managers - there are multiple ones out there which can be used

"nearby" is the application which uses google maps to identify the different types of places nearby one- it's great if you are in a new place!!

What others are out there which we all can use ???

I will try and write about an app a week.. Maybe that's one of my new year resolution?

Let's be smart

One more day - for a new year

2011-12-30T22:36:00.001+05:30

It's just another 26 hours for a new year here in India to start- less than 26 hrs.
How soon the year has passed, it just seems like yesterday that I wrote my new years resolutions and now it's time for me to critically examine what I have achieved in my personal life.

It's my annual appraisal :)

I wanted to do three main things
1. Take care of my health
2. Write my blog often- at least once a week
3. Start a part time business

Well my report card has very few stars or accomplishments. I have not come out with flying colours but my report card is better than last years. Last year there were no wins

These resolutions are important - that's why one makes them. AND it extremely important that you adhere to them. Having done a little and better than last year makes me feel good. But I must remember that having only done partial stuff is of no use

I am thinking of what my critical priorities are - what my resolutions are for next year. I have a little more than 25 hours more time

Have you thought about yours

Be smart

Banks Profit going to be impacted

2011-12-27T10:29:00.001+05:30

Over the next quarter will show banks net income margins come under much higher pressure than ever seen.

The higher interest rates on savings accounts and the higher fd rates while credit growth has been slowing down is the main cause for this.

Even the forecasted growth for india's GDP has come down to <7%..

This is reflected in the fact that the bankex has dropped significantly down.

These pressures should be seen in the q3 results which should be announced soon.

The only silver lining for these stocks and this sector is the reversal of the interest rate cycle by the RBI in January.

Let's hope that happens.. In the meantime stay away from bank stocks.

Be smart

Muthoot finance CD

2011-12-27T09:58:00.001+05:30

Muthoot finance has recently launched a company deposit at an interest rate of 13.25% pa for deposits with a tenure of three and five years.

This as you would have noticed much higher than what the banks offer today in the banks fixed deposits and also higher than the infrastructure bonds .

These are times when one should lap up these good CDs and their higher interest rates.

In front of such good opportunities , companies like tanishq should rethink their golden harvest scheme which was a great opportunity one year back , but today it is not so attractive.

For all of my NRI readers.. This is a huge opportunity.. Do take the plunge

Be smart while investing

Tax free bonds

2011-12-26T16:30:00.004+05:30

A recent advertisement in the newspaper talked about the NHAI tax free bonds for a period of 10 and 15 years at a tax free coupon rate of 8.2% and 8.3%.- Tax Free!

These are great to invest for long term and get you a great fixed income product.. Much better than the insurance products that one mat find in the market.

These are also available in demat form and are going to be listed on BSE and NSE.

These are open from 28th dec to Jan 11th on a first come first serve basis- so dont think they will wait for the 11th jan to close this- if they have their funds that they need by then- they will close it.

Great one to invest in

Happy investing

IT proof for HRA

2011-12-26T10:51:00.000+05:30

As per the latest guidance one needs to give the landlords PAN number for claiming HRA benefits.

I think this is a great idea for ensuring that the income from potential tax payers

One needs to submit these before end of January.
So get going people!!

Be smart

Tips for buying a new electrical product

2011-12-25T11:18:00.001+05:30

Why companies and retailers shy away from providing customer service , I am not sure of.
I just recently bought a heater from an electric retailer . It was a product of Usha Lexus.
From the day I bought it , the fan did not work. When I took it back to the retailer, he basically washed his hands of it. He gave me a number to call - companies customer service and gave all the work to me. After calling multiple times and trying to schedule with my busy timings it has taken me a week and a half to try and get a new product fixed!
I am a highly dissatisfied customer

If this was a situation with walmart, they would have immediately taken it back and replaced it with a new one. It's not tour problem, but theirs.
Unfortunately , even with big retailers here in india, this is not the case. A friend of mine bought an amplifier from reliance digital, and had a problem , they again pointed them to the manufacturer.

The retailers in india it seems havens very different model... One that needs to change.

So, what could I have done to ensure I did not get into this problem.

1. When taking the product. Get it checked before taking it home.
2. Lots of times the retailer says that he cannot open a new piece, it is factory packed. DO NOT accept that . Ensure you check it, or take your business elsewhere !!
3. Check for the gaurantee card immediately. Get it signed in front of you. Dont believe the retailer.
5 check for testing signs from the factory. Somewhere it should say "tested ok"
6. While going for a retailer, get feedback about them, search the web for feedback.( it's a great idea for an application)

Remember, the retailer will not accept your claim, the headache and heartache will be yours

Be smart

Sensex down to 2009 levels

2011-12-19T16:36:00.001+05:30

Again today we have had the sensex coming down to the levels of 2009!!

I am sure lots of people are asking where is the Indian growth story going?

The pessimism about the Indian economy is getting deeper and deeper. The elections are around the corner and populist policies are the norm for our politicians and we have suddenly started seeing them starting to come out- the latest being the food subsidy bill.

A lot of pundits are talking about levels of 12000 on the sensex in the near future. All of these while the other countries are looking to try and manage their economy.

However, unfortunately even with an economist prime minister, the governments focus has been on the upcoming elections and not on what's good for the country . That is with all the parties and not only the congress one.

India is moving to a "could have" economic power.

Sad.. But hopefully not true

Indians lets get smart

Technology changing behaviours

2011-12-18T03:23:00.002+05:30

What an experience it has been over the last few days. I have had the privilege of attending a cousins marriage and saw for myself how technology is changing behaviours even in the most traditional occupations - that of the pandit !

The pandit came with one of the latest smart phone - albeit not the real high end phone ( they are a waste anyway).

Here are some of the interesting avenues which people used their technologies

1. There were either high end slr cameras or people were using their smartphones for taking pictures. The other digital cameras were almost absent.

2. Instead of people using paper to pass on messages to the pandit, they were using SMS technologies .

There was one thanking he still said the mantras and did not use YouTube

But life is changing and it's quite fun to see it happening

Be a part of the change

Be smart

Consulting for new companies

2011-12-16T15:58:00.001+05:30

There are multiple new start ups that are happening in India or mncs starting shop here.

With these come multiple opportunities to participate in their start ups.

One can spend some of their free time to help these start up.

Of course we need to be aware of how to get such opportunities, and be able to spend time on these, without having a conflict of interest with your present occupation.

This is quite common in the US and is starting to become a trend in India.

Start evaluating ...

Investment is about finding the right opportunity at the right time