Insurance regulatory authority of India (IRDAI), the insurance regulator, came out with a circular on the 18th of October 2022, directing health insurers to comply and provide cover for mental illness under their health insurance policies. The circular can be downloaded through this link. According to this IRDAI circular: Health insurers must comply with the…
What does purchasing a laptop have to do with financial planning? Ideally a laptop purchase is planned well in advance and done before the current laptop becomes obsolete or too slow/heavy despite upgrades and software tweaks. This allows you to save and plan your cash-flow for a sizeable outgo ensuring you don’t need to incur…
Cash flow forecasting gives a 360 degree view of your personal finances enabling you to prioritise financial goals to meet your present and future financial commitments, needs and wants. What is the need to prioritise financial goals? As per a 2018 spotlight on retirement survey done in India by the Society of actuaries and LIMRA,…
As an NRI, are you planning to leave your overseas job and come back to India? What happens to your overseas accounts, savings, NRE FD’s etc? When do you have to start paying tax on your income as a resident Indian? You are about to make a big decision. When to go back to India?…
Six weeks into the COVID-19 lockdown and its associated uncertainties. Personal finance basics couldn’t be any more important. Spending on essentials only. Zero spending on lifestyle expenses for 40 days. Unthinkable, but as the lockdown has shown eminently doable and survivable. What would happen to your finances in these circumstances? An accident/major illness in…
Finance bill 2020 provides two options while paying Income tax from F.Y. 2020-21 i.e. Assessment year 2021-22 onwards. How does a resident individual choose an option? Should the individual choose the option at the start of the next financial year or wait till return filing time? The new Income tax regime has been touted as…
Healthcare-related expenses are increasing by 12-15% every year in India. A major operation/surgery/illness can set you back by ₹5 lakhs to ₹10 lakhs or more. Consequently, buying health insurance for your family is of utmost importance. According to an ICE 360° survey (Oct 2014) from people research on India’s consumer economy, among the top 20%…
You’re an NRI. Congratulations. Your NRI status affects your banking and investment accounts as well as Income tax. As per Income tax act, an individual can be : Resident and ordinarily resident, Resident but not ordinarily resident, or Non- Resident ‘Non-resident Indian’ is an individual who is a citizen of India or a person of…
Asset allocation is the amount of money you commit to each of the asset classes such as equity (equity mutual fund/stocks), debt (FD/PPF/ Debt mutual fund/Bonds) , real estate (residential/commercial), gold and cash. Asset allocation is the most important step in investment planning says Richard Ferri , author of “All about Asset allocation”. How do…
You know you have arrived when you get a fat increase in your salary and look for different ways to spend it. After all, you feel “I deserve it after all the hard work”. How about buying that 40k smartwatch or the 50″ TV or the 5 star vacation you had planned. Welcome to lifestyle inflation. Lifestyle…
