An Analytic Journal on Technology, Travel, Business, Finance, and Experience.
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Do you see any advantage in using “premium” fuel for your vehicle or is it simply a cost that you should avoid?
I’ve owned both a Santro (sold at 45,000+ kms) and a Swift (currently at 32,000+ kms) and have never ever seen a performance/mileage difference when using “premium” fuel.
Note: I didn’t run-in my Swift — it’s not meant to be. And, when traffic-free, my Swift shifts always happen at the red line.
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You can’t positively think your way to wealth. You have to positively DO your way to wealth.
Source: amzn.to/arnUJN
And I was, for a long time, thinking.
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Would you opt for a higher compensation in lieu of a shorter commute, flexible working hours, the ability to work from home when needed, and wearing what you want to work?
I certainly wouldn’t and I’ve been fortunate enough to have the financial flexibility to choose the latter.
Having a solid emergency fund in place and being debt free are what will let you make the obvious choice. Of course, secondary income always helps and you should work towards having one or two in place.
That said, have you ever had to make this choice in the past?
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Can inflation be a reason when justifying a request for a salary hike at work?
I’d say YES. What do you say?
Thanks S, for the discussion leading to this post.
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The only long-term disability insurance product that I have seen on offer by Indian insurance companies is Tata AIG’s Secured Future Plan. The insurance payout scenario is excellent: at the highest level you get Rs 35,000 per month guaranteed for 20 years.
However, no one at Tata AIG wants to sell you this policy!
I’ve tried multiple channels/approaches, but each time they act as if I’m speaking an alien language and then try their best to peddle one of their other lamer policies. I’ve now escalated this issue to the head of customer support. Let’s see what happens.
By any chance, have you purchased/researched this policy?
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You don’t manage money. What you do is manage your choices.
Source: amzn.to/b2RXrw
What do you think?
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Why can’t financial instruments that offer Guaranteed Investment Returns guarantee at least the current risk-free rate of return (which in my opinion is the rate of return offered by the Public Provident Fund scheme)?
What do you think?
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How would you name a mutual fund that:
Emerging Bluechip Fund???
I’m quite sure many will be misled into investing simply by the usage of the term “Bluechip.”
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Approximately 70 to 30 — when most literature suggests the exact opposite.
But that’s what my financial goals demand and financial goals are how you ought to arrive at your own debt to equity investment ratio.
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On my way to work, I was running my finances through my head and had this thought.
Total up all your expenses (household expenses, personal expenses, EMIs, monthly savings for annual expenses, and anything else that you treat as an expense) in the past month. Divide this figure by the number of days in that month. That’s your Daily Cash Burn Rate (DCBR).
In short,
DCBR = Total Expenses in Month M ÷ No. of Days in Month M
Mine was frightening — I wish I could disclose the actual figure — and an eye-opener. It’s time for some fiscal prudence.
How about you?
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It’s time to file your income tax returns — by July 31, 2010.
You might find these links useful.
I filed returns for myself and D in the last week of June. I used TaxSpanner this time too — I’ve been using it since three years and always pay through their Net Banking facility.
How about you?
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Recently, on a personal finance show aired on FM 106.4, a caller asked:
When I look at my loan amortization sheet, I find that during the initial tenure of the loan most of the EMI goes towards paying interest rather than against the principal. Why is this so?
Because that’s the whole point of lending!
A lender always wants to reap the interest (read, profits) before reaping the principal — the principal can always be recovered later through the pledged security.
Put yourself in the shoes of the lender. That’s what you’d want to do too, right?
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Continuing yesterday’s thoughts,
Why does it cost thousands of rupees to simply allocate your premium amount? I can understand a one-time nominal fee, but why each year? Why does this fee change between years (in the example below, between Years 1 and 2)? You haven’t changed. The insurance company hasn’t changed. The policy hasn’t changed. So why should the premium allocation fee?
What do you think?
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We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.
Source: bit.ly/8Rqzwu
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I’d love to see our Government introduce the equivalent of TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities). I’d love to have these in my portfolio.
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Look at investments without knowing their price — because if you see the price, it automatically has some influence on you.
Source: amzn.to/p8QTZ
I did exactly that when I recently constructed my mutual funds portfolio — an SIP in HDFC’s Top 200 Fund to begin with.
By the way, if you’re invested in the same fund, what’s your opinion on it?
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ET reports:
Hit hard by the mass exodus of investors, amounting to an average of over one lac a month, the mutual fund houses are knocking on the doors of SEBI, which in turn is mulling over possible remedial actions including an expanded distribution model for these investment products. Over four lac investors are estimated to have closed their mutual fund accounts, as determined by the change in the number of mutual fund folios in the past three months, largely driven by redemption in equity-focused mutual fund schemes.
Is this a sign of investor education — where they’re unloading all those dud schemes with fancy names and fancier investment methodologies?
What do you think?
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An SMS I received reads [verbatim]:
Guaranteed Bonus! Investment Profit! Insurance Cover! Tax Saving! Invest in Bajaj Allianz Assured Gain. NOW min term changes 3 to 5 yrs in July. SMS BAJ2 to 98401XXXXX.
My two words: AVOID ULIPS.
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Part of financial success is knowing what you really can afford and what you really can’t and (more importantly) having the maturity and bearing to walk on by those things that don’t fit.
Source: bit.ly/b65q10
I wish I’d heard this way back — out of college and at my first job.
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