Are most of us living on the edge? time to plan up things for the future.

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Please let us know which bank is this.

My EMI is around 15k for a 16 Lac loan for 20 yrs tenure.

I got once of the best deals on my home loan, actually the timing was perfect. I took a loan from ICICI for Rs.18 lakhs odd, paying an EMI of Rs.17,193, guess the deal.......it's 9.50% fixed for the entire tenure of 20yrs.
Actually, I availed the loan sometime in early 2006, banks were still offering fixed interest rates for the entire tenure. A week after I got my loan, RBI changed the rules. Now the fixed rates apply to only to the first 3-5yrs of the loan & then it's switches to floating.
I had had weird stares from friends telling I did not know what I was talking about, & no bank would give a loan for 20yrs at 9.50% fixed interest rate. So much so, that I asked the bank manager to email me a statement giving me the breakup for the remaining tenure called amortization calendar or something.
Someone said earlier "one size does not fit all", which is true in financial planning. I've made my mistakes too, & actually started fierce savings very recently. I have invested in nothing more than LIC at the moment, I have an existing home loan of 16lakhs. I am looking at saving a substantial amount first before I start investing again.
I fall under the same category who got jacked in the recession, thought life would continue the way it was. I have simple plans,
clear my home loan,
I am putting money away in LIC (forced savings of 1lakh every year),
educate my child
Now, to achieve that effectively, is a very TALL ORDER in itself, considering the wake up kick the recession gave me.

[abdriver2000]

Originally Posted by ontheroad

Thanks ghodlur. Doesn't bank act as an agent when SIP is debited through the savings account? Entry load have to be paid in each installment?

Entry load is now NIL. Only exit load is applicable and the time period differs from fund to fund. Most have NIL exit load if you withdraw after 1 year. For ELSS, it is 3 years.

[shankar.balan]

buy ETF funds via HDFC or ICICI - this way you get Gold Bonds.

Originally Posted by Eddy

Guys, how do we go about investing in Gold without purchasing it physically ? What kind of a demat account, if at all, is needed for transacting in Gold ?

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Guys, how do we go about investing in Gold without purchasing it physically ? What kind of a demat account, if at all, is needed for transacting in Gold ?

You would need a demat account only if you buy a Gold ETF. If you buy a regular gold fund, you would not need a demat account or any other account.

Originally Posted by mb_jg

I got once of the best deals on my home loan, actually the timing was perfect. I took a loan from ICICI for Rs.18 lakhs odd, paying an EMI of Rs.17,193, guess the deal.......it's 9.50% fixed for the entire tenure of 20yrs.

I had a ICICI Home loan at 8% Fixed interest. At that time the floating rate was 7.5%.

Originally Posted by mb_jg

I have invested in nothing more than LIC at the moment,
[snip]

I am putting money away in LIC (forced savings of 1lakh every year),

What exactly do you mean - I have invested in LIC or put away money in LIC.

[abdriver2000]

Originally Posted by carboy

You would need a demat account only if you buy a Gold ETF. If you buy a regular gold fund, you would not need a demat account or any other account.

To elaborate a bit further, regular Gold funds do not invest 100% in gold. They are more like mutual funds investing in allied businesses like gold mining and processing. These funds do not follow the gold prices.

Gold ETFs invest almost entire money - fees into physical gold. Hence they closely follow gold prices. Also, most Gold ETF are priced the same or very similar since they are available in 1 or 0.5 grams units. Demat account is required to purchase ETF.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by abdriver2000

To elaborate a bit further, regular Gold funds do not invest 100% in gold. They are more like mutual funds investing in allied businesses like gold mining and processing. These funds do not follow the gold prices.

Gold ETFs invest almost entire money - fees into physical gold. Hence they closely follow gold prices. Also, most Gold ETF are priced the same or very similar since they are available in 1 or 0.5 grams units. Demat account is required to purchase ETF.

Thank you for the correction. I somehow had this in my mind that you had non-ETF gold funds also which track actual gold - I was wrong though.

[DCEite]

Is there any charges for transferring offline Mutual funds to online platform (eg. to ICICIDirect online trading and demat acc.) ?

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Is there any charges for transferring offline Mutual funds to online platform (eg. to ICICIDirect online trading and demat acc.) ?

Why do you need to take the MF to broking platform. Why not take it to the MF itself and get an internet account and get the MF linked to the account. I am sure most of the MF's have online accounts where you can log in and do the transactions. You can specify the banking details and the redemption happens at a faster way.

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by carboy

I had a ICICI Home loan at 8% Fixed interest. At that time the floating rate was 7.5%.

- Wow, good for you. I remember that period sometime in 2005-2006. My return from the US was delayed by a month or so & the interest rates shot up from 7.50% to 9.50%.

Originally Posted by carboy

What exactly do you mean - I have invested in LIC or put away money in LIC.

Mere bhai, what I meant is, I have invested in Whole Life plans (Endowment), I get the money back with bonus on maturity, if I die prematurely, then my family gets the sum assured plus monies from the accident cover. Overall, I am covered for medical insurance post the maturity period too. For me it's a saving.

I was looking up the term deposits schemes from various banks for a period of 3-5yrs. Does it make any sense placing any money in a term, FD or recurring deposit?
I can invest approx 50k, so if you could please help me out if I need to look at multiple avenues instead of piling my money at one place.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team : Please use the "edit" button if posting within 20 minutes of the first post, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by mb_jg

Mere bhai, what I meant is, I have invested in Whole Life plans (Endowment), I get the money back with bonus on maturity, if I die prematurely, then my family gets the sum assured plus monies from the accident cover.

As has been discussed in this forum before - ULIPs, Whole Life Plans, Endowments are really not a good thing. One shouldn't mix investment & insurance - they are 2 different things. You can do much better financially by separating you insurance & investment.

Originally Posted by mb_jg

I was looking up the term deposits schemes from various banks for a period of 3-5yrs. Does it make any sense placing any money in a term, FD or recurring deposit?

What do you mean "does it make sense"? As compared to what?

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by carboy

As has been discussed in this forum before - ULIPs, Whole Life Plans, Endowments are really not a good thing. One shouldn't mix investment & insurance - they are 2 different things. You can do much better financially by separating you insurance & investment.

Ok point taken, so insurance is done, what should I look at investing in now? I am a total stranger to the stock market, mutual funds. I was thinking of either an FD or a recurring deposit!

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by mb_jg

Ok point taken, so insurance is done, what should I look at investing in now? I am a total stranger to the stock market, mutual funds. I was thinking of either an FD or a recurring deposit!

If you are young enough and have a reasonably long term view at investing then nothing is better than the market. look at some good diversified mutual funds to start with. If you feel motivated enough, learn more about how markets and economies work and gradually delve into primary equities as well!

If you just wish to remain at the safer side then look for options that maximise your post tax returns. PPF is a good option. FDs should be the last option, as they attract income tax at maturity (on interest earned).

[abdriver2000]

Anyone knows of upcoming infrastructure bonds? I missed the bus during October/November and have to provide investment proofs in office by 4 Jan.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by abdriver2000

Anyone knows of upcoming infrastructure bonds? I missed the bus during October/November and have to provide investment proofs in office by 4 Jan.

IFCI Infra Bonds Series 2 are still open. They are open till end of Dec. But I don't think you will get proofs before 4th Jan.

[Saanil]

@Mods - Kindly move this post to an appropriate thread if a separate thread is not required. I did not find a thread regarding this so creating a new one.

I am a 22 year old, fresh out of an engineering college. I have got a job as a junior analyst (Equity Research) in an investment bank as a part of campus placements. Since this is my first job after college I am pretty excited to earn money. I realised how tough it is to earn money and how hard one has to work to earn money. A few days back I got my first salary and I was thrilled to see so much money in my account. I bought some things for myself, some things for my parents and my cousins. After all that I still have decent amount of money (decent by my standards) left in my account. Since I live with my parents I do not have incur rent expense so I save a lot on my salary. I do not own a vehicle as of now. I do not have a girl friend, so not expense on that front. I do not drink or smoke. So basically my expense is on clothes, movies, restaurants and general hanging out with friends (a typical teenager). I just wanted to know is there something I can do with my money - probably make some investments. I do not think Share market might be good for me because I hardly understand the fine nuances of it. I just do not want to keep the money idle in my account. A friend of mine suggested making a FD of it. I just wanted some suggestions from Bhpians. Is it too early for me to think about such things? Or should I wait for my account balance to grow to some minimum level and them think about such things.