You might have often wondered what has happened to that cheque you recently deposited. And if you enquired, your bank would have given you a whole bunch of doesn’t-make-sense-to-me reasons. Thankfully, the Reserve Bank of India recently passed a notification on cheque clearance timeframes to be adhered to by Indian Banks. I particularly like this […]
A reader recently wrote: A suggestion. You seem to have labels for blog posts but there is no listing of what labels you have used. It is therefore difficult to search for a specific set of posts unless the label exists in one of your posts. It would be convenient if you can list the […]
A close friend and I were exchanging notes on our respective financial situations when we realized that almost everyone in our immediate circle of friends has a similar financial mindset. We listed some of the common financial principles found amongst this group and these include (in no particular order): Cash first; no credit — as […]
Assume that you’re looking out for a car loan and some bank offers you the following options: Rs 200,000 for 36 months at 9% fixed plus a processing fee of Rs 150, or Rs 200,000 for 36 months at 12.75% reducing balance. Which of these two loan offers would you choose? If you chose either […]
I’ve been working on improving a few Excel-based calculators that I have previously published. Specifically, I have improved the following calculators: The enhanced Public Provident Fund investment calculator now provides monthly calculations for a period up to twenty-five years. [Link to the original article.] The enhanced Car Loan EMI calculator now supports both Advance EMI […]
I completely forgot to do this, but you shouldn’t. It’s a good habit to take a photocopy of all the receipts and documents that you are going to submit at your company as proofs of investment or expense for income tax savings. It’s one extra step, but worth it because: In case something goes wrong […]
Since the Tip Tuesdays and Awareness Fridays series have now come a long way, I thought it’s a good idea to make available a consolidated and always up-to-date link for the respective series. You can now get quick access to these series by bookmarking the links below: Bookmark: The Tip Tuesdays Series Bookmark: The Awareness […]
To Disha Financial Counseling. Financial counseling is a relatively new concept in India. From what I have seen around me, we are generally not comfortable with discussing our finances even with friends and family, let alone financial counselors. Though we may be in a deep financial crisis, we seldom seek professional help and instead go […]
Read this article and this article. I’ve been crying myself hoarse on why you should opt for independent health coverage even if your employer currently provides one. I hope you’ve already taken this all important step.
I have often heard the argument that the credit limit on a credit card serves the purpose of an emergency fund. This strategy by itself is both myopic and dangerous. However, what can make this strategy both farsighted and safe is if you have a real emergency fund with real cash in a savings account […]
On the subject of detection and impounding of counterfeit notes by banks operating in India, the Reserve Bank of India notes that, Complaints are being received from the public that while impounding a counterfeit note, the tenderer is not informed the reasons for deeming a note as counterfeit. It is therefore advised that the format […]
Adding two more to the list this January. Last-minute tax-saving investments. Return-guarantee funds — no matter how attractively packaged and/or presented. Unit Linked Insurance — of any kind — Policies (ULIPs). Financial products/services/agents/institutions which/who offer you “exclusive,†“privilege,†“priority,†“premium,†“premier,†or “another-similar-word,†access to some [usually useless] service. Insurance agents who offer “commission kickbacks.” […]
It’s January. Your employer’s asking you to submit receipts for all those tax-saving investments you promised you’d make way back in April last. You know that if you don’t submit these receipts you’re going to have to pay additional income tax. For no reason, you don’t want to pay income tax. You look around and […]
Reached the 25k pageviews milestone! Traffic pattern through 2008.
The Reserve Bank of India also governs the Banking Ombudsman Scheme which provides an “expeditious and inexpensive forum to bank customers for resolution of their complaints relating to banking services.” The objective of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme is to be a visible and reliable system of dispute resolution mechanism for bank customers. Though the Ombudsman […]