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You dream of a secured financial future but cannot commit a large sum of money, SIP or Systematic Investment Plan is an answer.   As the name suggests, Systematic Investment Plan is a smart and planned investment approach wherein you invest a small pre-fixed amount at regular intervals into specific mutual fund/funds. What should you do start Systematic Investment Plan? First you need to choose the fund in line with your investment objective. The available mutual fund schemes can be broadly divided into equity funds, debt funds, gold funds, and hybrid funds. You can choose any depending on your investment horizon and risk profile. If you are looking for higher returns, you can invest in equity funds while if the safety of investment is your prime objective, then debt funds can be your choice as they invest in a range of low-risk securities such as government bonds, corporate deposits, commercial papers, treasury bills, etc. How does Systematic Investment Plan work? It’s q...

While mutual funds remain the best saving instrument, insurance ensures financial security at the time of crisis. When mutual funds come with the added insurance cover, it sounds like an icing on the cake. Let’s get into the details of mutual funds with insurance benefits and find out if it’s a wise choice or not! What are mutual funds with insurance cover? There are some mutual fund companies including Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Reliance Capital Asset Management Company and ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, that provide a complimentary life insurance cover to their SIP investors investing in certain schemes. The cover provided is a term insurance policy, where the insurance company pays out money only in case of death of the investor. Is there a minimum period of investment in mutual funds with investment cover? Yes, if the investor stays invested for at least three years, only then he is eligible for insurance. What if the investor exits the fund before 3 years? The co...

How much should I invest? Identify your goals first; this will help you decide the amount you need to invest to achieve each goal. Should I invest in equity or debt schemes? It primarily depends on your investment objective, investment horizon and risk profile. If you are investing to achieve a short-term goal that needs to be achieved in a couple of years, debt schemes are ideal for you as these schemes are mostly risk proof.   However, if you have a long-term financial goal that needs to be met after five years or so, you can invest in equity mutual fund schemes as these have the potential to offer superior returns than other asset classes. What is the minimum amount required to start investing in mutual funds? It’s important to start investing and the beauty of mutual funds is that you can start with as low as Rs 100 per month. The mantra is to “start and stay invested for long term”. If I start with Rs 100 per month, can I keep adding as my income increases? Ye...

Saved money saves you at the time of crisis! Isn’t this a great ground to save as much tax as you can? While there are numerous ways you can save your tax including the traditional instruments like Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Savings Certificate (NSC), it is the investment in Equity-Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS) offered by mutual funds that promise tax saving along with attractive returns. ELSS funds are tax saving schemes that invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks with a lock-in period of 3 years. How can one invest in ELSS? The ideal way to invest in ELSS is through an SIP i.e. Systematic Investment plan which allows you to invest a certain predetermined amount at a regular interval. This comes with the benefits of flexibility, convenience and financial discipline. Why should one invest in ELSS? ELSS comes with dual benefit of tax saving and capital appreciation for investors. ELSS funds give an option of investing in both dividend and growth sc...

Mutual Funds Plan for children is the answer to secure your kid’s financial future Every parent aspires to offer the best to their children – sound education, a decent lifestyle and most importantly, adequate financial security for them to pursue their dreams. But in order to fulfil these desires, it is necessary that planning and regular investments are done early on. And what better than Mutual Funds to achieve these objectives? What are Mutual Funds Plans for children? Mutual Funds Plans for children are the mutual fund schemes specially designed keeping in the mind the long term financial needs of a child. How do Mutual Funds Plans for children Work? They invest proportionately in both equity and debt instruments to maintain a balance between growth and regular income, depending on the scheme. These are mostly hybrid funds that seeks to generate income by investing in debt, money market instruments and equity and equity related securities. They are ideal for investors ...

Out of all the allowances given to the employees, Conveyance Allowance is, arguably, one that creates the most confusion. People are almost always puzzled about this. But why? Well, there are two reasons for that.  First , because conveyance allowance also gets referred to as transport allowance, a lot of companies use either of the names, which leaves employees wondering if the two are the same. And the  second  reason is that unlike most allowances which fall under the taxable or non-taxable brackets, transport allowance is partially taxable – may or may not be taxed. Now what that means is something we’ll explain to you in just a little while. What are Allowances? Allowances are fixed by the government; as such, employers are liable to pass on those benefits to the employees. By not paying attention to the benefits you’re entitled to and the full range of it, you might actually be helping your employer get away with unethical tax saving pr...