Category: General

10 mind-blowing things “Health” can teach you about “Wealth”

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

While I was working out in gym in morning, I has a strange feeling that I can connect every aspect of ‘staying healthy’ with ‘building wealth’. There are various things which can be used as an analogy to teach good things about ‘creating wealth’ , but the area of health is best as an analogy. I am sure a lot of you who take health seriously and exercise regularly will be able to connect well and appreciate this article, others who do not take care of their health might get the maximum value because they will appreciate both the things (health and wealth points) . Lets see those points .

Health and Wealth india

1. Starting is Easy, Continuing is not

Its very easy to go for a jog/walk  at 6:00 am for 2-3 days. A lot of people decide they will do it, and a lot actually achieve it . But what happens after a week/month ? We discontinue it and life is back at square one and we are just lost in our daily life exactly the same way we were earlier . You break your promise of “I will exercise in morning at 6:00 am” , and it all starts with a very small violation, which takes a big shape. Starting out something is damn easy, but the real question is how long you continue it ! and with what commitment. So don’t tell me you got up at 6:00 am . Tell me how long have you been doing it , that’s the real parameter.

In the same way, its too easy to start reading a new blog, starting your SIP , start writing your budget and even working on your financial life. A lot of people get some adrenaline rush, after I write some good article which makes them feel – “Its high time now. I should do something about my financial life” and they start doing something, but the real parameter to look at it is – “Are you consistently doing it ?” . Is your SIP running from many years, month after month without fail ? Are you writing the budget month after month and following it ? A Rs 5,000 SIP running for 10 yrs would always (well , in most the cases) beat a inconsistent SIP of Rs 12,000 . A consistent written and followed budget which was not that detailed, will be much better than a inconsistent budget which was very detailed. A simple strategy followed for years with consistency will just be better than a complex one which is not followed regularly.

2. Focus has to be on Long Term

Imagine you a trainer in gym and someone recently joined with 90kg weight, and complains to you that – “It has been 1 week, and my weight is still the same !” . What will be your reaction to that ?

You need to give sufficient time and patience to see results. You need to understand how things work in health and only when you understand the internal working , you will have faith in exercising , only then you will continue it. Over 6 months, you will see some results , over 1 yrs you will see good change, over 2-3 yrs , you will be a transformed person all together. Short term is just short term ,you can only build some artificial muscle in such a short time. But if you need some serious health, it can come in long term only.

In the same way, wealth can not be created in short term (I am talking about investments here) . Wealth multiples itself over long term and if you want to build 1 crore rupees in 3 yrs with your Rs 50,000 per month salary (god knows what is left at the end of the month) , you are probably from Venus , not Earth for sure. Just like long journey starts with a small step, you need to start your wealth journey with small steps and then built upon it . You need to understand some of the fundamental principles of personal finance (which I have shown in my book – “16 personal finance principles every investor should know“) . Unless you understand them, you will always doubt short term volatility in your portfolio, you will just get too much attached with security aspect of your money and will not allow your wealth to grow.

3. Diversification is Important

Imagine you are only and only working on your left hand when you exercise . Try to visualize it . You are concentrating only on your left hand and how to make it strong. What will happen in next 2-3 months ? I am sure you will not even last that long, but even if you do , your left hand will surely look artificial on your body and ache like anything because you just never cared about other parts of your body and other aspects of your health. A good health is function of good diet, good sleep , good exercise and your life style. Imagine you work out brilliantly , but then, all you eat is junk like Mc’D , KFC , Pizza’a , maggi etc etc ..  Or imagine your diet is excellent , but you do not work out at all and sleep at 3 am and wake up at 11 am daily. This all is going to reflect in your health and you are not giving 100% to your health. You cant expect a lot !

In the same way, when it comes to wealth, you just cant be sitting on only and only Fixed Deposits or only and only ETF’s, or just 100% into real estate fully (unless you are a pro and understand what you are doing). You have to make sure you keep a balance and understand each component’s importance in your financial life. A good mix of real estate, equity, debt , cash , gold is desirable for most of the people (for a common man) . While Debt part will give you security and some peace of mind, real estate will make sure you do not feel left out in the race, the equity part makes sure, you are earning some real return at the end after tax and inflation, gold will keep you wife happy and cash will bring smile on your face and tears in your relationship managers face. The point is – don’t  over-invest in one category without understanding its impact and accepting the outcome. Always keep balance and harmony among each other depending on your age and risk profile.

4. To get best quality, you need to invest your time/money/energy

I recently invested a huge annual fees in a well known gym. We get best equipment’s, best environment, best facility, dietitian to look after what we are eating and a good tracking of where we are in our health chart, regular track of our weight, measures and it helps me and my wife move in the direction we want to reach. You need to invest money to get the best most of the times. Apart from the money, you need to put a lot of times and energy from your side. This brings good health over long term. While you can also just go to a park in morning or jog on a road, you still need to invest your time and energy. You need to invest in good shoes, a comfortable work out dress. The point I want to convey is – while you can always look out for free things in life, which works , at-times you need to invest your money, time and energy to get the best. Do not look for money when it comes to your health, you can earn 10x times more if you have a better health.

Just like that, I see a lot of investors destroying their financial life, because they just do not want to invest money, time or energy in their financial life. You can get best, if you are open to invest money, time and effort from your side. The good things do not come cheap always. Hire a good advisor/planner who you think will be able to deliver what you want out of him. Invest in good programs, good books , invest your time to learn things, go to that extra mile to understand concepts and how things work. We have around 550 articles at this moment on this blog and 6,000 questions answered on our Q&A forum, ask yourself how much energy and time have you dedicated to learn things and find out new ideas. We have written 3 books, which we feel can really transform your financial life, all it takes is Rs 1,000 to buy them. Go ahead and just read all of them and you will at a new level. I recently paid Rs 3000 to attend a TIE session in Pune, just to hear Naranyan Murthy (for 1 hour) and Devdutt Patnaik (for 30 min) . What I got back was tons of their experience and whole new ideas which made my Rs 3,000 a tiny thing. Good things always comes when you make an investment , you just have to focus on value.

5. It keeps you energetic

When you exercise in gym or at park near by or at home, there is a point where you feel – “I cant do more exercise, Its paining now” . At that point if you stop, you do not get the best results. The best results are always on the other side of your comfort zone – Always in every area of your life. When you feel exhausted, gave your 100% , when you are wet with sweat, your whole day goes amazing. The kind of energy and excitement you feel inside you is awesome. You are more happier, you smile more, you are more kind and you feel more energetic, ideas inside your head are better. Just one activity leads to a great day. And when you do it every day, then each week and each month is great.

Just like you feel energetic when everything in your health area is good, you feel really blessed and good when thing are right in your financial life. When you have completed all your pending tasks in financial life (Join our massive action revolution called 100moneyactions), when you have achieved a sufficient milestone in accumulating wealth, when you have some respectable bank balance, when you have good emergency fund in place, term plan and health insurance already taken and completed. The kind of energy and excitement you have in your financial life is different . You look at your financial life and feel better. You can concentrate on other areas of your life.

6. Structure and Environment increases your dedication and consistency

Good health comes when you are into a nice structure and environment, which fuels your appetite to exercise and improve your health. You will not feel like working out when you are inside your office space, you will not feel like exercising when you are into a movie theater.  But when you are inside a gym or a park in morning, you suddenly ‘feel’ from inside that you want to exercise. Thats the power of Environment. Just see anyone who has amazing health, its because they are part of some great environment and structure, it can be as simple as getting at 6:00 am and going for a walk. That’s also an environment.

In the same way, a proper environment helps a lot when you want to improve your financial life. When we did a 1 day full workshop in Mumbai recently, It was all about creating an environment, where you 100% focus on your financial life and discussing ideas which can take your financial life to next level. This blog is an environment, our 100moneyactions is a dedicated environment for taking actions in your financial life .  I want you to look at the following video which will help you understand more about power of environment and structure in your financial life.

7. Starting early helps

While its never too late, its always a good idea to start early in life. Imagine two cases, one where you have had a healthy life all your life, and then second case is when you are extremely unhealthy till now and now trying to have a health life at 45 yrs ! . Most of the people around 40-50-60 yrs old today are facing so much issue getting a health plan and also dealing with life overall. They have medical issues and its affecting everything in their life, even people who are connected with them.

Imagine if they had taken care of their health long back, it would be a different situation today. If you are not joining the gym right now, just because it costs money or you have less time, you get very clear that you will pay both of them later with huge interest. In Nandish Book – “11 principles to achieve financial freedom”, In one of the chapters, he has put a quote by Dalai Lama , when asked what surprised him most about humanity ..

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

The same applies to your wealth and financial life. The mistakes you make today, will come back to you later and hit you hard very much. I cant say more on this, but just say you this – A lot of people are not able to lead their financial life properly when they are earning right now. Imagine what they are going to do when they will not earn and still be living on this planet for 30-40 more years. I am talking about retirement. You work for 30 yrs and earn, and you struggle a lot. Imagine retirement of another 30-40 yrs, when you are not earning. Its a life sentence followed by death if you do not start earning and do something about your financial life. A good start will always give a great support to your financial life. Here is an article showing you the power of starting early

8. Neglected, because it does affect you in short term

This is my favorite. This I think this is one of the biggest reasons for a bad health life and a bad financial life. A single action if not taken does not affect our health or wealth at that moment, but collectively they destroy our health and wealth in long term.

Coming to Health, When you eat a sweet (I used to eat a lot of them, when I worked in Yahoo) , skip your meal, skip your gym/exercise , that single act is not going to affect you at all (it looks like that) . You cant see its impact on your health in a long run. Each Pizza you put down your stomach instantly gives you taste, but instantly it does not give you a shock. You only see it months and years later. When you put on weight, you suddenly one day realize – that you have put on weight, it does not appear in parts. Suddenly one day you feel , your are too weak or do not feel energy in your body. It all starts small.

In the same way, I see a lot of messed up financial life which all started with one small mistake and then just grews SLOWLY ! . Every time you swipe your credit card, you feel like you will deal with the debt somehow, how troubling can one credit card swipe (which was really not needed) be anyways ! and then you create history !

Each month, when you blow up your money and do not save a single rupee, it does NOT affect you at that very moment. Every time you stop you SIP for something which is URGENT, it does not mess your financial life at that very moment. But all these things combined are just destroying your financial life. Each time you postpone taking some action in your financial life, it just messed up your financial life even more. So nothing hurts in short term, because its not visible – and its true in all the area like health, wealth, relationships, career or whatever it is ! . Stop looking for instant gratification, and suddenly you will have the half battle won !

9. There are shortcuts offered

You must be seeing a lot of shortcuts offered in the area of Health on TV and Newspapers. Some magic belt which will eat off all the fat, some majestic coffee, which has divine properties and can reduce your fat, health clubs offering packages which promise you things like – “Reduce 20 kg’s in 2 weeks” .. etc. A lot of people take these shorts cuts and end up paying huge costs, Money is lost, time is lost, health takes a hit and your trust reduces on anyone who comes to offer you any advice in future.

The same thing happens in the area of wealth too. We often get a lot of paid clients, who had a bitter taste with some other financial advisor in past, who sold them junk or didn’t provide any thing valuable to them even when they charged them good amount of advisory fees.

There are too many people offering you free advice, some good and some bad, there are too many short cuts which are offered to you and even you as investors are keen on taking short routes to build wealth, but eventually end up paying huge cost. There is no alternative of doing your homework and really spending your time and effort in building your financial life.

10. You act on it when you feel a sense of Urgency

Its a strange thing, but most of the people start to take any action in the area of health, when they see there is some ‘problem’ . When its URGENT to do something, when its too late and now its a matter of Do or Die. Didn’t those people who are very obese, knew from many years that some thing needs to be done ? Are you not aware right now, that you need to improve your health ? Yes you are , but you will take action only when you have a sense of urgency in that area, then you will suddenly have time, money and that effort required, which you do not have at the moment (this is what you believe).

The area of money is same. You do not work on it, until there is no option left. Most of the people who come to us for financial life come at the last moment. We always tell them, if only they would have come lot earlier, we could have served them in a better way. You go to a paid workshops, only when you are very sure now you need an external help, you go finding a solution, not to learn and explore new ideas . You are too needy in your financial life then and remember one thing – “Needy people do not have power in life”

I would suggest that you get my latest book – “How to be your own Financial Planner in 10 steps” and start planning your financial life in a better way. So do things not when they are urgent, but when you should do it. Dont take health insurance when you have a illness, you will not get it. Take it when you are in the best of your health. Don’t start SIP in mutual funds, when you can see your goals has almost arrived, do it when its very far and you have good time left for your money to work hard.

Wish you best of luck !

I hope you got some realization today, do let me know which area of your life did you get realization on ? Wealth or Health ! .. or BOTH !

Are Bank Lockers totally Safe & is Fixed Deposit really required to get one ?

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Today we are going to talk about “Bank Lockers” and how banks use unfair tactics by forcing customers to open a fixed deposit for a very large amount and that too for a long duration. It’s not uncommon to hear bank officials asking for fixed deposits of Rs 5-10 lacs in case you want to get a locker. That is just not allowed as per RBI and we will see what exactly the RBI guidelines say about it.

Bank Lockers in India

What is a Bank Locker and How does it work ?

Just like we have a saving bank account and fixed deposits to keep our money safely, we have “Safe Bank Lockers” to store our physical belongings like jewelry and various kind of important documents like WILL, Property Papers and other valuable items which you feel should not be kept at home.

There are always 2 keys for the locker, one key is with Bank and the other with the locker holder. The locker can only be opened when both the keys are used at the same time. Generally bank official applies the key and then leaves the locker room and only after he/she leaves, you should open the locker door and do what you wanted to do. The banks use very high quality, strong lockers (generally Godrej). So overall, this all makes sure that your locker is very safe.

Lockers are to be allotted on first come, first serve basis (as per rules) and in-case the lockers are exhausted, the bank is suppose to keep a waiting list of customers who have applied for the lockers and have to inform them when the lockers are free in the same order of application. If bank says that they do not have any lockers left at the moment, you can ask them for the “Waiting Register.”

Annual Rent for Bank Lockers and Security Fixed Deposit

Bank lockers come in different shape and sizes, which can be taken by customers depending on their requirement. For using the facility of lockers, you have to pay an annual rent which will vary depending on the size of the locker, the city (metro, urban, or rural). For most banks, the locker rent starts from Rs 750-1,000 per year and can go up to 5,000-10,000 for PSU banks and even 40,000-50,000 in case of Private banks (see the locker rates for bank for Baroda here) .

Is opening a Fixed Deposit mandatory for getting a Locker ?

Now lets discuss the biggest pain point of customers. Almost all of you might have faced this. When you go to open a bank locker, you are asked to open a Fixed Deposit for a large sum like 2-5 lacs for a long duration or asked to buy some policy (ULIP or Traditional Plan) saying that this is the rule for assigning the locker. However it’s just a plain lie and an unfair practice followed by Banks. A common man has no idea if the bank is correct or not and where to get the right information? So, I looked at RBI regulations on Banking and found out the exact rules.

And this is what I found – YES ! , Banks can ask for Fixed Deposits as security !

But, here is the catch ! .

As per RBI regulations, the bank can ask for a fixed deposit only to cover 3 yrs of locker rent and the breaking charges, not a rupee more than that and that too only from the new locker applicants, not old one’s already having a locker. Here is the RBI wordings from their notification

1.2 Fixed Deposit as Security for Lockers

Banks may face situations where the locker-hirer neither operates the locker nor pays rent. To ensure prompt payment of locker rent, banks may at the time of allotment, obtain a Fixed Deposit which would cover 3 years rent and the charges for breaking open the locker in case of an eventuality. However, banks should not insist on such Fixed Deposit from the existing locker-hirers.

To give you the proof one of the PSU banks – Bank of Baroda clearly mentions this fact on its website here

At the time of hiring the locker, bank will obtain a minimum-security deposit in the form of FDR from the lessee for the amount which would cover 3 years rent and the charges for breaking open the locker in case of such eventualities.

So, suppose you want to get a locker whose yearly rent is Rs 1,200 and the breaking charges for locker is say, Rs 100, then they can only insist on a Fixed deposit of Rs 3,700 (3 years rent + breaking charges); nothing more than that. Ergo, 3 years locker rent is going to be a very small amount, which almost anyone can afford, but banks lie to you and trick you by telling you to invest in a really large Fixed Deposit .You oblige for your own reasons. Banks do it to make sure they reach their monthly and yearly targets of acquiring new fixed deposits and selling useless policies like ULIPs and traditional plans (Note that banks are one of the channels for many companies to sell their products)

So next time you go to the bank for enquiring about lockers and bank officials don’t give you proper information, you can tell them about the rules and the notification from RBI. That should give some shock to the employees there and they might treat you a bit fairly. If still they do not budge, use the threat of RTI and banking ombudsman (and then actually use it)

Use RTI to resolve the Issue and Find Information

RTI is a powerful tool for a common man. We will see now, how you can use RTI against PSU banks. Next time when you go to a bank (I am referring to PSU banks here), tell them you want to have a locker (assuming you are having a saving bank account there already) .

When the bank staff tells you that they do not have any lockers available at the moment or try to impose some rules, you can tell them that you will find out things by filing an RTI application to the branch manager and also would quote his name in the RTI (stare on his name plate at the desk , he/she might be in horror). If they do not budge, then really go file a RTI after the incident. I would say better file a RTI before and once you get the reply from RTI, reach the bank with RTI reply letter itself.

When you file RTI letter, ask following things

  • How many lockers are installed in the branch ?
  • What is the size and volume of lockers and how many types ?
  • Rental amount per year for the Lockers ?
  • How many lockers are Unoccupied and available for allotment
  • How many people have requested for it and are on “waiting list” ?
  • What is your serial number in that waiting list (in-case you have applied for it) ?
  • Is there any requirement to make a Fixed Deposit for getting the Locker (YES/NO) ?
  • What is the amount of fixed deposit to be opened and what are the rules for it ?
  • In how many days a bank locker is allotted ?
  • Who is responsible to allot the bank locker in bank ? What is the name of the officer or designation ?

A weak person is always exploited in society, that’s the nature of life . When you appear as uninformed and too needy, anyone can take advantage of you, but when you appear as informed investor, who will not allow anyone to take advantage of his/her and who appears to be committed to be treated fairly, its tough for the other side to exploit then. Here is an instance on how Nikhil got the Locker facility with any FD at ING Vyasa Bank

I experienced a similar forced selling sometime back at ING bank. I wanted a locker and the Relationship manager said I need to make an FD of Rs. 100000/-. when I said NO. they said its a rule. I said there is no Rule book which mentions this. Rules are same for all banks and branches. the Relationship Manager stubbornly said ‘This is the rule of this branch’.

I just went to their website, found the no. of Chief compliance officer and spoke to the officer who helped me on this. After 2 hrs, I got a call from the same Branch of ING and they requested me to come to the branch and gave me a locker without any kind of FD!

Locker with Joint Accounts and Nomination

Just like saving bank accounts and fixed deposits, you can open a locker as joint account and with nomination facility, so that in case the demise or unavailability of the main locker holder, the joint holder can access the locker and operate it. Also in case the locker holders die (both joint holders), at-least there would be a nominee, who can get access to the locker by producing death certificate and filing up claim form.

There are tons of cases where locker was just owned by a single holder and when he died ,the family had to move mountains to finally get access to the locker. Worst, many families are not even aware about the existence of the locker and banks don’t take much interest in tracing down the locker family for many years (provided they have got the rent or have the fixed deposit linked to it).

understanding bank lockers

Can bank open the Locker without your permission ?

In the worst case YES ! You need to operate your locker from time to time (at least 6 months to an year ideally.) Recently there have been cases when explosives and illegal things were found in lockers, which shows how lockers can be misused. When you are allotted a locker, there is proper KYC done by bank to make sure they know everything about you. They would place you in particular risk category like low, medium or high. If you are a high risk category person, you need to operate your locker at least once a year to make sure everything is fine. If you fail to operate your account for very long (depending on your risk profile), the bank will first remind you about the  locker and will ask you reasons for not operating your locker. If you still do not take actions, the bank has all the rights to break your locker and give it to some one else, even if you are paying the yearly rent on time.

In case there is a genuine reason for not operating your locker for a very long time, you need to give it in writing to the bank mentioning the reason (like if you are now an NRI or if you are out of the city for a long time.) Also, if you fail to pay the yearly rent, they can break off the locker and re-allot it to someone else. Fair enough 🙂

Are bank lockers really safe ? Who is responsible if something goes wrong ?

Now this can be news to many, and a shocker, but in truth, Banks are not responsible for your bank lockers for any unforeseen events which is beyond the control of banks, provided they have done every due diligence from their side to protect it. You have to understand what exactly a locker facility is. The bank just gives out the space they have, on rent and make sure that its safe and secured professionally. They are suppose to make sure they have all the safety and security measures in place, to ensure that the lockers are safe and secure. So its more of a proprietor and a tenant relationship. In case there is a robbery (not in control of bank), Earthquake, Tsunami, Fire (which is not in control of bank) then bank is NOT responsible, or liable to compensate you.

Let me give you an example – If there is a robbery in the bank and your locker is one of the unlucky ones to get robbed, you lose it completely and the bank is not liable to compensate you for the reason that it wasn’t in their control to stop it, especially when they have all the security measures in place like a security guard, powerful lockers, CCTV cameras installed, and emergency alarms in place. The act of robbery is more of a unlucky event for them and you.  (However there are some policies in market which insures the jewelery in your bank locker like this policy from Axis Bank). If you think that robberies in bank (with locker looted) do not happen in reality, I must tell you that it happens and has happened in past. Here is one such example.

Robbers recently broke into the strong room of a Punjab and Sind Bank branch in Jalandhar and emptied out 36 lockers in an incident that stands out as a grim reminder of the abysmally poor security infrastructure at financial facilities in the country. The incident is a reminder of a burglary at the Chirgaon branch of the Central Bank of India in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. As many as 45 lockers had been robbed in the November 2010 episode.  (Link)

 

When you put your valuables in bank locker, the bank does not know what did you put in there, there is no record of it in writing with bank. That’s one reason, they can’t compensate you in case something happens to it (It could happen that you never had anything in locker and you can suddenly say that jewellery worth 10 lacs is missing! What’s the proof ?) However it does not entirely mean that banks are not liable to pay back or compensate the locker holders in every case!

Bank has to make sure they have done their side of safety measures and security

Bank is not responsible for your lockers only in case of those events which are totally not in control of bank and unavoidable, but only when they have done their share of work and security like I explained above. If banks fail to do their duty and then a robbery or some unforeseen event occurs, which results in your loss, then a customer can always claim that the bank is liable to compensate, because then the incident might have not happened or could have been avoided if banks did their part.

In another case, of Bank of India vs Kanak Choudhary, the customer had kept currency notes in locker which was eaten up by termites. Here the bank didn’t do their job of ensuring that the place is clean and safe. The customer was awarded the compensation.

Bank of India vs Kanak Choudhary

Here, the customer filed a case stating that termites had destroyed currency notes and important papers kept in her locker. The commission said that the bank “was bound to ensure that the respondents’ locker remained safe in all respects”, and awarded compensation to the customer.

Even in the robbery case shown above, the bank was found to be irresponsible and didn’t not do a lot of security measures, and definitively there was a chance of the robbery being unsuccessful if only bank had done their share of work, which means the locker holders would get compensation from bank, but then issue now is, how much compensation bank has to give and why when ? The matter would have gone to court and delays and frustration must have happened in that case.

But how much you can claim back from Bank ?

Not 100%, because you can never define how much you lost with 100% certainty. Banks themselves insure the lockers to deal with the loss in an extreme eventuality, so bank themselves get some compensation from wherever they have insured the lockers. So you can get some compensation from bank out the amount they themselves get, but to get back the compensation, you will have to show the receipts of the things which you claim was kept in the locker. Even in that case, you will not get 100% back, it will be some percentage, which can’t be defined. Also you can’t get back any compensation for the documents kept (as you cant define it’s value) and the currency notes if any.  You can look at the youtube video above to see these points on claims you can get back.

While the risk is always there with bank lockers, note that this is an extreme eventuality. This information should be seen more of an awareness point, rather than a decision making criteria to choose or discard taking a bank locker. You don’t stop driving a car, just because there is a small chance of accident, right? In the same way, just because lockers are not 100% secured, does not mean you say that – “I will not go with bank lockers, because its not 100% safe.” Truly speaking it’s much safer than you bank almirah at least.

Some safety measures you should take for Bank Locker

You can never get rid of the complete risk, but you can ensure that you follow some best practices and common sense tips to make sure your bank locker is safe. Here are some good practice.

  • Always open your locker after the bank employee who accompanies you to the vault leaves the place.
  • Make sure your bank has all the necessary security measures, such as alarm system, iron-gated rooms, electronic surveillance via CCTV, etc.
  • Visit your locker frequently and ensure your valuables are safe. The RBI and banks expect frequent locker visits from customers.
  • Also, ensure the locker is properly locked before you leave the vault.
  • If possible, better have 2 lockers to diversify the risk (like one locker for valuables, and another for Documents)
  • If possible, always go with the bank where you have huge trust and comfort and its near your place, so that you can visit them often
  • Keep laminated documents in the locker, so that they are not damaged if you keep them for a very long tenure.
  • Always keep a record of what all you have in locker, so that in-case of eventuality, you can alteast find out what was lost and what was the worth
  • Demand a copy of the hire-purchase agreement for the locker so that the bank cannot ask for a higher rent in future
  • If a bank says the locker request is in the waiting list, ask for the waiting number
  • Demand a copy of the bank’s internal guidelines regarding lockers (their guidelines never mention fixed deposit as a mandatory condition)

I hope this articles has helped you understand almost everything about the bank lockers and how they work and different rules and regulations. Do you also have a bank locker ? Generally what all you keep their and how much do you trust your bank for the locker safety ?

Launching 100moneyactions.com – Personal Finance Action Revolution BEGINS Today

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Guys – It has been 5 years now spreading personal finance education through writing blog articles, writing books on personal finance, leading workshop in different cities. We started very small and have reached so far only because of your trust and partnership. Every day we (I and Nandish) wake-up with one thought in our mind “How can we help people to live an awesome financial life?”


 
Enroll for 100moneyactions Program NOW >>

It’s time to look at what is exactly happening in your financial life?

I’ve always been fascinated by Socrates’ bold statement that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” The statement holds a lot of value and meaning in it, it has acted like a wake-up call to me. I examine my financial life every year very closely and my personal finance actions.I want you also to examine your financial life and your actions. Look at what is going on in your financial life, How many articles you marked as important but you never found time to read them, How many personal finance actions you have been procrastinating, how many times you told yourself it’s high time I need to get serious as an investor. Get honest with yourself as that is the first requirement to be a part of personal finance action revolution.

You are committed but then why you are not able to take actions?

It is not that you are not committed but as life is dynamic you are always surrounded by multiple responsibilities in life. You play different roles in life and one of the role you play is of an investor. One of the thing we have found to be missing is a STRUCTURE. Yes, to move from point A to Point B you need a structure without that you will not be able to become effective. We have created a wonderful personal finance structure for you that will help you, motivate you and empower you to take actions in your financial life. It will not help you to complete 10, 20 or 50 actions but it will help you to complete 100 money actions in your financial life.

In our experience Personal finance is NOT about knowing things, it is about getting things done !

A lot of people think they need to have a lot of knowledge to take actions in their financial life. Because of this they start to expand their knowledge domain, they start subscribing on different websites and blogs, start to buy different books but eventually due to lack of structure they are not able to take required actions in their financial life. 100 money actions program is about getting things done, it is about expanding your action domain and it is about breaking your habit of procrastination.

What Existing Users are Saying about 100moneyactions.com

100MoneyActions is a real boon for people like me who are charged up and convinced to improve their financial life and take it to next level. Thanks to Jagoinvestor’s prolific pioneers Manish Chauhan and Nandish Desai for launching such a beautiful concept that is filled of actions. I have started recently with this program and I can sense the positivity that it has started to bring in, in my financial life. 100MoneyActions provides an excellent structure that is built on top of one critical thing “ACTION” and not just actions but “CORRECT POWERFUL ACTIONS”.

I believe that if I take all those 100 actions (believe me it is not as easy as you can read it ) my financial life will move from where it is now towards positivity. I believe that 100MoneyActions will bring in structure and actions that is missing in my financial life. And I wish that it will do the same to many more like me! Big thanks to this concept and all the best to the program/concept. I am sure it will be a great success.

Prasad Kulkarni
IT Professional
Pune

 

100 money actions is one of the best thing that has happened to me. This is one program which I am following very religiously over the last 2 weeks. After reading so much on Jagoinvestor blog I used to think that my all fandas related to investment instruments, finance management etc are in place but still I was not sure if I am doing everything right or I am taking enough actions to put the plan on track. This program is helping me in structuring my thoughts, making me aware about the smallest of gaps, consolidating literally everything.

Today I am using the sheets of this program extensively to track the progress of my actions which I am supposed to do within the defined timelines. While your blog and its articles are very informative and in plain English for a layman, this program is a next step to identify, structure and follow the actions which you always want to take. I am so thankful that I came in contact with you guys. Thanks Manish & Nandish. Cheers!

Anuj Gupta
IT Professional, Microsoft
Delhi & NCR

 

What you get on JOINING this ACTION REVOLUTION ?

  • PLEDGE Sheet (Your commitment with yourself)
  • 100 Investigative Questionnaire (GAP Analysis)
  • Well designed ACTION document that helps you to complete 100 actions
  • Ready Reckoner List of Financial Products
  • Simple Structure to complete 100 money actions
  • Supporting Audio Files
  • Personal Finance Tools and templates where required
  • Useful Ebooks, Study material and resources for support

What it takes to be a part of this ACTION REVOLUTION ?

It takes commitment to be a part of this ACTION Revolution. You will have to trust the structure of this program. If you can make a commitment you will complete all 100 actions you can be a part of this revolution. Anything free has no value so it calls for a small financial commitment to be a part of this program.

Visit 100 money actions website and get more idea on how you can be a part of this personal finance action revolution. From the bottom of our heart we invite you to be a part of this ACTION REVOLUTION. Once you complete these 100 actions in your financial life, your financial life will not be the same and THAT IS OUR PROMISE TO YOU.

Now, anything free has no value so we decided to keep a small fee to be a part of this action revolution which is Rs. 1999/- only.( This fee is to generate commitment in you). Don’t let your concerns get in your way, don’t let the conversation of money get in your way as your Financial life is Priceless. Paying Rs 1,999 will not make you bankrupt but not taking actions will surely lead you to bankruptcy

Enroll for 100moneyactions Program NOW >>

PPFAS Enters Mutual Fund Business with “PPFAS Long Term Value Fund”

Posted on by Jagoinvestor
You must have heard the name of Parag Parikh, the veteran who has spend decades in the Indian stock markets. He runs PPFAS (Parag Parikh Financial advisory services) . They have been running PMS scheme for quite a while now, since 1996!. They have been practicing value investing from decades and now they have decided to enter the mutual fund space, not just as another also ran, but with a very clear focus. They want value investing to be the prime focus of investing in equities and have come up with “PPFAS Long Term Value Fund”. SEBI has cleared it and it will launch by next month!

PPFAS Mutual Funds

So, I decided to directly catch Rajeev Thakkar , CEO & Fund Manager of PPFAS Mutual Fund to answer few questions for our readers.  This should give us a clear idea of their vision. Those of you, who would really like to invest in equities for a very long term like 10-12 yrs, can place your bets if you find you are interested.

Here are few questions I asked Rajeev Thakkar (he has been managing the PMS for PPFAS since 2003).

1. A lot of investors still do not know about PPFAS . Would you like to share its history?

PPFAS Ltd. our Sponsor, was incorporated in 1992. Prior to that, our Chairman, Mr. Parag Parikh, ran a proprietary organisation from 1979. It was one of the earliest recipients of the Portfolio Management Service (PMS) licence, having secured it in 1995.

Over the years, it has transformed itself from being a stock and fixed income brokerage house to a reputed Portfolio Manager and currently manages over Rs. 300 crores in its flagship scheme. It has now embarked on the next step in asset management by sponsoring PPFAS Mutual Fund.

2. Why PPFAS entered Mutual funds when you already had a successful PMS ?

The main reasons behind this move are –

a) Over the years, the landscape for PMS has become progressively challenging for the investor. A hike in the minimum ticket size and increasingly tedious account opening procedures are two examples.

b) A PMS product is also perceived to be an opaque one – though we can proudly say that we defy this perception by disclosing various key data points on our sponsor’s website [www.ppfas.com].

c) Tax treatment of capital gains in a PMS product has also been a point of contention, subject to various interpretations based on the nature and frequency of the transactions .

On the other hand, a mutual fund is a far more regulated and transparent investment vehicle as compared to a Portfolio Management Scheme. Unlike PMS schemes, a mutual fund scheme’s performance, portfolio etc. is tracked by independent research agencies on a regular basis. This helps an investor in making comparisons and allocating capital accordingly. It scores on the operational front too. For instance, each time a client opts for a PMS scheme he/she has to undergo
tedious and time-consuming Know-Your-Client (KYC) related formalities.

This can be obviated in case of a mutual fund, where one KYC / KRA number is valid across all mutual funds. An investor is also able to deploy smaller amounts of capital in a mutual fund scheme. This is especially helpful when they are testing the waters. This latitude is all the more useful, now that the minimum initial corpus for a PMS account has been raised from Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 25 lakhs.

For fund managers too, a mutual fund is operationally easier to manage as it does not call for segregation of individual accounts, separate order placement etc. Unlike a PMS scheme, a mutual fund scheme is treated as a pass-through vehicle, thereby making it a more tax-efficient vehicle for investors.

3. Can you share why you have come up with just a single equity fund? Won’t you come up with 5-10 funds ?

Yes. In an age of ‘the more the merrier’ we walk alone. Others may launch an array of equity schemes with narrowly focussed objectives, but we believe, this leads to needless duplication and confusion.

PPFAS Long Term Value Fund’s mandate permits it to invest in companies, unfettered by any self-imposed limitations with regard to market capitalisation or geography. We believe that if our investors’ objectives can be met through one scheme there is no need to launch a slew of them. Hence it will be our only offering in the equity segment.

4. What are the top 3 things which you feel will be different with PPFAS LTEF and other equity funds in market? What is the value proposition you are offering?

The top three differences between us and the others is –

  • We will be the first mutual fund to disclose the holdings of key employees of PPFAS Mutual Fund in the scheme.
  • As mentioned above, we will launch only one scheme in the equity segment.
  • On our website (amc.ppfas.com) we have explicitly mentioned the kind of investors, we do not want. I do not know of any other mutual fund which actively discourages the wrong kind of investors from investing in its schemes.

Apart from these, there are a few more differences which have been outlined on our website

5. As It is a new entry in mutual funds, a lot of investors might want to wait and watch for the performance of your NFO. What do you have to say about it?

Sure… We are cognizant of that.

That is why we are not hard-selling our scheme through the mainstream media at this juncture. Also, that is why we have not approached the national distributors / banks. Only a few distributors (currently 20) who believe in our approach have signed up with us.

Many key investors in the PMS scheme of our Sponsor, have agreed to migrate to ‘PPFAS Long Term Value Fund.’ They will form the nucleus of our scheme. Besides these, we have received over 300 expressions of interest from new investors through our website and other sources. Some of them may invest either at the New Fund Offer stage or soon thereafter.

We envisage greater interest among the distributor community after a couple of years, once we have built a track record and are actively tracked by reputed agencies such as Morningstar and Value Research.

6. I am sure a lot of investors might want to invest through DIRECT route now. How can some one invest easily with PPFAS, because right now I suppose you do not have a lot of offices across India or in various cities? 

We are actively promoting the benefits of investing through the Direct Plan, positioning it as a cost-effective mode of investment. Investors can choose between

The online option – via our website

OR

The offline option – Investors can submit the duly filled forms either at our Corporate Office in Fort, Mumbai or at any of the offices of our registrar, CAMS, who will double up as Points of Collection. CAMS has a very good network of offices India-wide.

7. What is your outlook for next 10-20 yrs for equity markets? I am asking you this, because you have come up with a equity fund, saying that it’s a long term fund.

While our scheme stresses on the long-term it does not necessarily mean that we have any strong view on the state of the overall stock market. Our premise is that investment-worthy stocks will be available irrespective of index levels and we prefer to concentrate on that aspect, rather than crystal-gaze.

Having said that, we obviously believe that equities form an important constituent in the portfolios of most investors now and over the coming decades and as a corollary, you could infer that we are positive on the future prospects of equities in general.

8. Anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Just like the boilerplate which states ‘Read the offer document carefully before investing’ we urge investors to read the contents of our website carefully and then decide whether you would like to invest with us or not.

While we cannot guarantee you any returns owing to the volatility inherent in equities, we will manage your money prudently, based on the time-tested principles of value investing, and play a role in helping you achieve your long-term financial goals. We are here for the long-term and our journey is just beginning. You could join us if you believe in our method of money management.

Scheme Information Document – PPFAS Long Term Value Fund

Here is the Scheme Information document of PPFAS Long Term Value Fund attached below.

Conclusion

While there are tons of AMCs in India, most of them focus on too many funds. PPFAS mutual funds seem to be very focused on what they believe in and seem to be on the path to evolve as a fund house that’ll be known for value investing. In a recent interview with firstport, Mr. Parag Parikh is sharing how they are themselves going to put their own money into the fund, so that there is inherent accountability and committment.

About 29 years ago, I started off as a broker and we were the first brokers to have a research department. That was the competitive edge which I wanted to get the institutional business, because that was cornered by about 12-13 brokers. As far as broking was concerned, we always believed money management is a profession rather than a business. When it is a profession, you do what is good for the client. But when it turns into a business, you do what the business demands.

Unfortunately, in mutual funds today you have this mad craze for getting assets under management. You have marketing teams, distributors. You pay them anything to get the money. From our MF’s point of view, we were professionals and we will keep it that way and run the MF as professionals. That’s the idea.

Ultimately, when you invest in our fund, what are you looking at? Returns. That is where we want to be game-changers. Secondly, what is your commitment to a fund? Today, me, Rajeev (Thakkar, CEO of PPFAS AMC) and all our senior people are going to make our own equity investments through the fund. We have to believe in what we’re doing. Whatever equity investments we have in the market, we’d rather put that in the fund.

Are you going to invest in PPFAS mutual funds ? Anyone !

Launching our 3rd book “11 principles to achieve Financial Freedom” – By Nandish Desai

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

We are extremely delighted to share the news about the launch of our 3rd book – “11 principles to achieve financial freedom”, which is written by Nandish Desai and published by CNBC18. I consider this book as a masterpiece work by Nandish, which presents a totally new dimension to investors on how to think about financial freedom and how to step by step improve their mindset and thinking beyond the traditional thinking and ideologies when it comes to money.

When Nandish started writing the book, we brainstormed many times as we wanted to make sure the book becomes a gem of the lifetime. I read the book at every stage and re-read it 3-4 times after it was completed (as part of proof reading and to check things are fine) and every time I personally got so much learning and value out of it. I think every investor who will not read this book will loose some thing amazing in his life.

11 Principles to Achieve Financial Freedom - Personal Finance Book by Nandish Desai
Pre order Book

What is the Book all about – “Forward” from me

The best way to give you an idea about what this book is all about, I am putting the “Forward” section which is written by me specially for the book. It will clearly give you the understanding of what this book is all about.

Right now, what you are holding in your hands is not just a book, but years of effort and creation. Nandish and I started our career making financial plans and somewhere we started to realize that many investors’ financial life was changing after having a financial plan in their life. After a lot of research, we concluded that a financial plan was just one part of the process and other elements were required to live an awesome financial life. This book is about those elements that we have discovered over time.

We challenged the traditional financial planning process a few years ago and that is how our financial coaching program came into existence. This book is based on our financial coaching program that we have conducted with over 100 people spread across the globe.

With this book, we invite each investor to look beyond financial products and returns, and look at wealth creation as a game. Most investors make investments out of compulsion and out of need; the core message of this book is to see wealth creation as a project and will teach you how to fall in love with the process of wealth creation.
There are books that follow the trend and there are some books that set the trend. This book falls in the latter category; it is here to set the trend in the personal finance world.

Discovering who you are as an investor

Most investors are in search of solutions and answers; this book is not about getting answers, but about discovering who you are as an investor and gaining insights on how you can connect with your true wealth.
Nandish has written this book after working with hundreds of people. I am sure this book has the power to change your financial life; to some it will act as a wake up call, to some it will help them discover who they are as an investor, to some it will help them add different dimensions to their financial life.

While I was going through the initial draft of this book, I was convinced that this book would be a game changer not only for investors but also for financial planners. This book is simple and yet powerful and it will leave a deep impact on you as an investor.

There is a lot of hype around the words “personal finance” and “money” out in the world. While you are reading, this book will teach you to fall in love with the process of wealth creation.

Working with a Financial Coach

The narrator of this book is Sam, an IT professional based in Mumbai, who shares his experience of working with a financial coach. This book is not a story but it has conversations between Sam who is a lost, confused and directionless investor and his financial coach. They both meet and Sam participates in a program called the “90 Day Money Game.” The coach invites Sam to work with him for the next 90 days. The money game has 11 exciting levels that span the next 90 days.

Sam is a confused investor full of fear with a pessimistic view about his financial life before meeting his coach. But with each passing level, as his financial coach teaches Sam, his life starts changing as he implements the elements of living a great financial life and incorporates changes in his thinking and attitude towards various things. As Sam starts experiencing a big shift in his financial life, he starts to experience a new level of enthusiasm, positivity and motivation. With each passing level, Sam identifies why his financial life was a mess and how his whole life offers great possibilities.

The book teaches that an upgrade is always available in life. At the end of the 90 Day Money Game program, Sam is now a totally new Sam. He calls this his journey from Sam 1.0 to Sam 2.0.

If you also feel that you need direction, motivation and some exciting new ideas in your financial life and you want to move towards financial freedom, this book is for you. Nandish is an amazing financial coach in real life who has worked with hundreds of investors and changed their lives. Now it’s your turn!

11 levels inside the book

The book is beautifully written where the coach takes a person called Sam through 11 levels, each of which fuels a new thought inside the investor mind and opens up his thinking level in a totally new direction. Here are those 11 levels (chapter names), may be you get some idea about them by name of the chapters.


[table]

Level 1 Laying a strong foundation
Level 2 Creating new relationship with money
Level 3 Investigation begins
Level 4 The game changers
Level 5 Don’t set goals, set yourself
Level 6 Create system to create wealth
Level 7 Mastering game of financial freedom
Level 8 Active income vs. passive income
Level 9 How wealth is created
Level 10 How to increase your income
Level 11 Make each year your best financial year

[/table]

A small taste of the book content

Let me share with you 1-2 pages content from the book middle chapter, so that you can get a taste of the book

Personal finance is a level 3 promise

My coach said that 90 Day Money Game is all about making and keeping promises. Personal finance is not about gathering knowledge; it is a game of promises and actions.He taught me three levels of promises, which helped me immensely. Let me share what he taught me. He asked me to close my eyes and asked me three questions.

How good you are at keeping your professional promises?

I replied, “I am extremely good at keeping my professional promises.”

How good you are at keeping your personal promises? (With family and friends)

I replied, “I am not that great at keeping my personal promises. I keep them at times and break them at times.”

And how good you are with promises that you make with your own self?

I replied, “I am very bad in this area. I have a series of broken promises.” This question made me feel very guilty as I could see many such broken promises in my life.

He then asked me to open my eyes. He wrote on a white board


[table]

Level One  Professional promises  You keep them always
Level Two  Promises made to family members  You keep them at times
Level Three  Promises made with self  You break them all the time

[/table]

Professional promises: He said, “Sam you are good at keeping your professional promises, when a new task is assigned in your professional life, you really make sure that you give your best. Your colleagues see you as a committed person. You feel so proud when your company and its people see you as a committed person. You really do whatever it takes to fulfill your professional work commitments. At times you become a warrior, you work extra hours, take your work home but you make sure that the promises are kept.”

Promises made to family members: He asked me whether I had broken promises with my family members. My answer was “yes.” I could see that I have not taken my personal promises seriously the way I was with my professional promises. I could see the GAP between both levels.

Promises with self: This really came as a shock to me as he asked me how many broken promises I have with my own self. I could not even count them, as they were so many. I could see myself as a master killer when it comes to breaking promises with self. Every day I used to make a promise of waking up early and going for a morning jog but never went.

3 levels of promises

My coach said, “You are good with your professional commitments, you are ok with your family or personal commitments and you are the worst when it comes to making and keeping promises with self.”

Going for exercise every day and personal finance actions falls in third category where as an investor you need to make promises with yourself and then complete them. At a family get together or in any business conference no one will ever ask you whether you are consistent with your investments or not. No one will ever ask you whether you are paying your premiums or making your investments on time or not.

I got a very important lesson that quality of my financial life depends on how many promises I make and keep with myself.

He said, “Every time you have a broken promise, you are going away from your cheese.”

This was a big lesson for me, which I wrote in my wealth journal.

Learning – Personal finance is all about making and keeping promises

Want to join Action Revolution ?

For those who are promising themselves that they will take some actions in their financial life, we are coming up with an amazing action oriented program which we are calling as “Action Revolution”, launching on 1st May – Be on our email list to get the first chance to register for it. CLICK HERE

This book is 3rd one from jagoinvestor team . We have also published 2 other books . You can look at our books page to get all information about the 3 books.

Pay Rs 50,000 or buy this book

Nandish has worked with over 100+ coaching clients (we offer a program called financial coaching at Rs 50,000 at the moment). This is the best way to get exposed to what is it to work with a financial coach personally. So I would say, you should not even think for a moment and grab this book asap.

Is filing FIR compulsory for issuing duplicate passbook in PSU Banks?

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Ayush lost his SBI bank account passbook and faced some issues from SBI bank, which I thought should be shared with others . Here is what happened with him. Read it directly from him (through our jagoinvestor forum)

Hello everyone. I recently lost my SBI savings account passbook unfortunately somewhere in my home. When i approached the branch, they said i need to file an FIR in the nearest Police Station. They said without it they will not issue me a duplicate passbook. When i went to the Police Station, after making me wait for an hour, officers were asking me for a bribe to file an FIR. : ) They were also asking for my complete account and other personal details. I hesitated to disclose any personal details to anyone. I thought i should avoid having an argument with them. So i came back home without filing an FIR. Isn’t it too much to ask for, for just issuing a simple duplicate passbook?

I also have accounts with HDFC and ICICI Bank, one for expenses and the other one for savings and investments. In HDFC Bank, they issue the passbook on the same day in case of loss of passbook. You just have to give a written application to them and its done within few minutes. Now i am thinking of leaving the SBI account dormant after leaving the balance to zero. It is so much of a headache. : ) I only opened the savings account with SBI because they have the best network of ATMs in the country. Is filing FIR in Police Station compulsory for issuing a duplicate passbook?

Is FIR really required to claim the duplicate Passbook Copy ?

The answer is NO .

There is no requirement like that . As soon as I read Ayush question on our forum, I was very clear that SBI employees whom he contacted just didn’t wanted to work and wanted to have an easy day in office, so they misguided him by telling that he needs to have a policy FIR for this, which actually worked ! and Ayush was back to home frustrated, promising himself that enough is enough and he does not want to SBI bank account at all. I feel SBI needs to seriously work on its employees and train them on “Customer Handling” .

Procedure to get the duplicate passbook from bank

The process is as simple as anything . Pattu (very active on our forum) shares 

I have lost my SBI passbook twice and got it replaced. There is no such rule. These days they have our photo and signature stored in the computer. So if the account holder turns up and gives a request for new passbook they will have to comply.

Even Naveen shares his parents experience 

Let me share my exp with SBH , where both my parents have sb accounts. My father needs passbook entries because he is not comfortable with debit card transactions and not having much knowledge about internet etc… He kept both passbooks at some location and couldn’t recollect where they are. Later, i have been to SBH branch and paid a challan paying slip( below 50 I remember 3yrs back) for both the accounts and submitted receipts to clerk, where i have been told to come at 4 pm later on the same day with both my mom and dad passport size photos…

Passbooks are ready and photos are pasted and stamped with bank seal and submitted to me on the evening itself. I felt happy for the service bcos my parents cant travel long to do this by themselves..

Give them RTI shock !

I had explained earliar how you can use RTI against PSU banks to get any kind of information and that’s exactly I suggested him. I suspect that SBI guy who told him that was not in the mood to work that day and just wants to tell you things which will make sure his work decreases.  I would say go to the SBI bank branch and tell that officer that you filed a RTI and put his officer name and asked them that what this officer is telling me is really required or not and RTI reply said that – There is no requirement like that . Demand him to meet bank manager and confirm it.

Finally what happened ?

After we all helped this guy on forum, he went back to bank branch and applied all that we told him. This time it worked and here is what happened –

 I went again to the branch and this time the same lady officer who was persistent for filing an FIR said that it is not compulsory. I was amazed by her reply. I also felt angry that i have to make two trips to the bank for this. The lady officer said, i have to talk to the Branch Manager in this regard and if he agrees, she will issue me the duplicate passbook. So i waited for another 1 hour since the Branch Manager was not in his room. When he didn’t came for another 15 minutes, i left for home. So i have to make another trip to the bank. This time i will directly talk to the Branch Manager and if he doesn’t agrees i am done with the bank. I will leave the account dormant after leaving the balance to zero. So much for issuing a simple passbook. : )

What do you think about this incident ? Do you feel PSU banks exploit customers ? Any personal cases ?

Budget 2013 highlights – Not much for investors this time

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Budget 2013 was much awaited, however it did not excite investors as there was nothing much for them. It was a flopshow for investors considering they had high expectations from finance minister. Here is a quick summary for things which you should know

Budget 2013 highlights

1. No Change in Tax Slabs

There was no change in tax slabs . Finance Minister said that the changes happened just last year and it was not possible for any increase this year. I could clearly see the discomfort in his voice when he said that. So no tax till Rs 2 lacs , 10% tax between 2-5 lacs, 20% between 5-10 lacs and 30% tax for above 10 lacs.

2. Rs 2,000 credit back for lower income group 1.8 crore taxpayers to benefit.

While there is no change in slabs, A Rs 2,000 credit back will be given to income tax payers in lower income group of Rs 2-5 lacs. I assume that you will pay Rs 2,000 less than your actual tax due to this. You can call it as a discount of Rs 2,000 in tax payment this time 🙂 .

3. Inflation Linked Bonds to be introduced

They are going to introduce something called as Inflation Linked Bonds, which will help you save your money in instruments which will match the returns with inflation . A lot of investors look at something on this kind, What do you feel ?

4. Claim upto Rs 2.5 lacs as tax exemption if home loan less than Rs 25 lacs in 2013-14

If you are planning to take a home loan of less than Rs 25 lacs, you can claim an extra deduction of Rs 1 lac in interest, over and above the 1.5 lacs, but only for year 2013-14 , not in all years. And this is applicable on fresh home loans, not on existing loans.

5. Service tax to be levied on AC restaurants of all kinds

Earlier, service tax was applicable for those AC restaurants which served liquor, but now service tax is applicable on all kind of AC restaurants, So your next eating out is going to be more costly!

6. 1% TDS on Real Estate Sale of Rs 50 lacs

For any Real estate transaction (other than Agricultural land) , the seller has to pay the TDS of 1% on the transaction amount if its more than 50 lacs. So if you sell a flat worth Rs 80 lacs, you will have to pay a TDS of 80,000.

7. RGESS first time investors income limit increased to 12 lacs

Earlier, RGESS scheme was only available to those investors whose taxable income is below 10 lacs, but now its increased to 12 lacs. Anyways, I feel RGESS is too complicated.

8. Reduction of STT on Derivatives , ETF’s and Mutual Funds

Trading in Equity, buying ETF’s and mutual funds would be a little cheaper. STT has been reduced in equity futures to 0.01%. MF redemptions from 0.25% to 0.001%. ETF purchases from 0.1% to 0.001% . So you can expect a minor reduction in your costs.

9.  Dividend Distribution Tax on Debt Mutual Funds Hiked to 25%

Earlier only money market debt funds and liquid funds had a DDT of 25% , and rest other kind of non-equity funds had a DDT of 12.5% only, but now its going to be 25% DDT for all kind of debt mutual funds. So, if you have invested in MIP with dividend option, their will be more DDT paid on dividends by AMC and your NAV will down more than earlier . More on Deepak Shenoy’s Blog

10.  Mobiles, High end SUV car’s are expensive

Due to increase in excise duty. you can expect mobile phones, set top boxes and high end SUV car to be more expensive.

What do you think about this budget ?

What do you think about this budget? Did you expect a lot of things from this budget? Apart from these there are lot of other updates as well, but I think these 10 points are enough to know for investors and one more thing . Direct Tax Code (DTC) seems to be taking shape and might be there next year 🙂

Sheconomy – The Wise Women Investor (TV Show by DSP BlackRock)

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

DSP Blackrock Mutual Funds have started a Women Financial Literacy called – Sheconomy , which is a TV initiative under their Winvestor program in association with CNBC TV 18. The aim of the initiative is to guide independent women to adopt wealth creation strategies by answering their queries on personal finance and helps them become informed investors.

Sheconomy - A women financial literacy Initiative

The show launched on 12th Jan 2013 with a panel discussion featuring a prominent matrimonial lawyer and a female psychologist who passionately believe that women must take care of their own finances. This is followed by seven episodes with various clusters of women such as homemakers, women entrepreneurs, working women, young mothers, senior citizens, fresh graduates and even a special episode with men and women talking to our Winvisors who answer queries and provide investment advice. The last episode would also be a panel discussion with some prominent women who passionately believe in the idea, share their views and experiences and talk about why they feel women need to be in charge of their own financial future.

The show airs every Saturday at 6 pm and is repeated at 4 pm on Sunday on CNBC TV 18. All the women investors should watch these shows if they want to learn more about personal finance and managing money. We feel women investors can greatly inspire other women investors. Three episodes are already aired, if you have missed them, you can watch them below .

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Below are the names and schedule of all the 7 episodes of the Sheconomy initiative.

Episode Structure

Name of Show Show Timings Importance
Homemakers 19th Jan’13, Saturday at 6 p.m. A homemaker plays an equally important role in her husband’s financial success as well as her own. Though this cluster of women don’t typically take up jobs, investing the money their husbands allocate to them for personal expenditure could prove to be of great help in time of need.
Women Entrepreneurs 26th Jan’13, Saturday at 6 p.m Apart from all the investments which other women do, this cluster of women has another investment priority in their life ‘Their business’. It becomes imperative for them to invest in instruments that is not only safe but also provide the quickest returns so that money earned could be deployed into their business from time to time. Investments needs of women belonging to this cluster tend to be more dynamic than the rest
Working Women (Unmarried/ married) 2nd Feb’13, Saturday at 6 p.m. Women in this cluster have the highest disposable income and the least responsibilities hence providing ample scope and capital for planning investments. The married women of today has come of age from being the typical housewife, in fact getting married is the beginning of various responsibilities that a woman needs to share  with her better half at all times- Planning a baby, Bigger house, Better lifestyle, Retirement plan, monthly family budgeting, aging in laws and parents. There is an entire menu to choose from.
Young Mothers 9th Feb’13, Saturday at 6 p.m. Mothering calls for the best in women. With this emotion in mind a lot of young mothers have various aspirations for their kids; these aspirations come at price which one needs to be prepared for well in advance. A good investment made from the beginning can help young mothers to provide their children the best and fulfill all their dreams, even if you are a single parent.
Senior Citizens 16th Feb’13, Saturday at 6 p.m The life expectancy of women is higher than men So, the amount of retirement savings for women should also be higher. Statistics show that, on an average, women live 5 years longer than men, earn 25 percent less during their life time and work 11 years less in their careers and not many women are even aware enough of all of this. All these factors put together make this cluster of women extremely important to address when it comes to financial planning.
On ground forum with Men Date yet to be finalized A forum with the modern man on why he should encourage and empower the women in his life to take their own financial decisions. An educative forum for men that will teach them the upsides of their women being financial independent.
Fresh College graduates/ post graduates Date yet to be finalized Catch them young and make them grow a quote completely apt for youngsters who are about to plunge into their first corporate job. The need to understand basic money management skills such as living within a budget and handling credit and debt can lead to a solid financial foundation that in turn can lead to a lifetime of financial success.


What do you feel about these kind of initiatives ? We have also done a women centric 2 video series for our wealth members, incase you are already a member you can watch the series here .

Jagoinvestor Workshop in Mumbai – 10th Mar (Sunday)

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

We are conducting our next workshop in Mumbai on 10th Mar 2013 (Sunday). We call the workshop as “Design your financial life” . The whole idea of the workshop is to go beyond the numbers and products and talk about the real issues which can take your financial life to next level. In this workshop you will spend an entire day enhancing your thinking level and exploring the full potential of your financial life. There will be lot of interactions, some exercises and powerful conversations which will give your financial life a new shape. We have conducted same workshops in Pune, Bangalore and Lavasa till date and will be doing it in other cities soon. Below are some of the past participants testimonials

Register for the Workshop in Mumbai – 10th Mar

City Mumbai
Date 10th Mar, 2013
Where Hotel Tunga International, Andheri (East), Mumbai
Fees Rs 3,500
Registration Link Click Here
Go to Workshop Page Click Here

Note : Registration will stop before 1 week


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We are going to have only 1 event in each city each year. So if you wanted to attend these workshops, this is the best time to register for it. There are limited seats and huge demand from Mumbai readers for this workshop, so book your seats as soon as possible. We want to encourage financial literacy among women and for that reason, we have also discounted the pricing for couples. We really want husband and wife to attend the event together, which will make sure they are both clear about their financial life and how they need to design it in future. We have kept the tickets pricing in such a way that its affordable to most of the people. The event is at Hotel Tunga International, which is at Andheri East and being Sunday it would not be much issue travelling.

We really want these event to be your event and not just a jagoinvestor event. Its an opportunity to spend a full day dedicated to your financial life. We really encourage people to take those 10 hours for out of 1 full year and just focus on how you want to shape your financial life for future. There will be lot of sharing’s , conversations on money and some exercise’s which will really help you get a deep insights in the area of personal finance.It might be the case that you are interested in this workshop but not registering right now , in that case just let us know that you are interested and still thinking.

My Second Book – “How to be your own Financial Planner in 10 Steps”

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

I am happy to share this news with you all, that my 2nd book is going to release in next few weeks, whose title is “How to be Your Own Financial Planner in 10 Steps” . The book is published by CNBC 18. The book is now ready for pre-order, so you can order it now, it will be delivered to you as soon as it hits the stores which will happen in just few more days.

How to be your own Financial Planner in 10 - Financial Planning Book in India
Pre order Book

About the Book

By the time you complete this book, your financial life will have taken new shape!. You will have worked on 10 different areas of your financial life, in the same way a certified financial planner works with you. The book has the ability to guide you on how to plan the 10 most important areas of your financial life. There are two types of investors in India, those who plan their financial life and those who plan nothing and just let their financial live move with the flow. The second group is extremely large, and this book is targeted at this group.

Many investors who are DIY (Do It Yourself) investors can use this book to plan their financial life and be their own financial planners at some basic level. The book has the 3 elements of education, planning and action items all packed into one. Written for the common person, in simple language, the book deals with the most important financial worries and questions.

What are you waiting for ?

Anyone who feels that he can do his own financial planning and with a little support and direction he/she can plan his financial life, then one should buy this book. There are 10 chapters which cover 10 different areas of your financial life and helps you understand those areas, what you need to do about it, how you should mess it up and guides you to plan it out in simple and easy language. Each chapter has action oriented exercise at the end of each chapter, so while you go through each chapter, you will keep on making your action item list and finally complete things. I would say grab the book today, because this is the best it can be. If you need external support, you can always go for our online financial advisory services.

UPDATE – First Book Name is Changed

I have one more news to share. My first book “Jagoinvestor – Change your relationship with money” was a great success. However we are changing its name to “16 personal finance principles every investor should know” to make sure that the name of the book reflects what the book is all about. The book content is exactly same, just the name is changed now. So its now in new avatar.

16 personal finance principles every investor should know Financial Planning Book in India - Personal Finance Book in India
Pre order Book

Thanks for your love and support, because of this awesome community, it was possible to give shape to these 2 books. While the first book is more on the principles of personal finance which every investor should know, the second book is all about planning and taking action. I would be waiting for your reviews about the book.