ULIPS MADE EASY

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Fauji

Aarti Singh is Senior Manager HR in HCL Info Systems. When she started earning she was clueless about finances. She was ignorant.  She just followed the crowd or an agent’s advice. She invested in a few Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIP) of ICICI Prudential. Aarti is not the only one, I meet a lot of working women who are in a similar bind. Ill informed and ill equipped, they falter. Continue reading →

Posted in Insurance, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

LIFE INSURANCE DEMYSTIFIED

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Fauji

Most people I meet or interact with, consider Life Insurance Policies as investment. It is the biggest myth for an investor.  Almost everyday, I get a query on Life Insurance or ULIP or some other insurance plan and invariably the question is, “Should I take this plan? There is an assured return of xyz amount.” Some of those myths need to be debunked. Insurance agents usually will not tell you what I am going to tell because somewhere hidden is an agenda of fat commissions from that policy. Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioural Finance, ETF, Insurance | 6 Comments

BETA AND RISK-REWARD RATIO

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Fauji

Daily the TV channels and financial magazines spew forth terminology like risk reward ratio, beta, markets being efficient etc etc. A lot of people I meet, ask me these questions. What is beta? How does it help me in taking an investment decision? What are high beta stocks? When is risk reward ratio in my favour? Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Finance, Stock Investing | 2 Comments

ONE OF THE BEST FIXED DEPOSIT FOR RETIRED PERSONNEL

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Fauji

Lt Col Mankoo is a retired officer. He gives me a feedback on my writings. Last time when he met me he asked me some advise on Fixed Deposits of banks. This one is for him and all retired personnel who want a fixed income with adequate safety. Continue reading →

Posted in Fixed Income, Stock Investing | 4 Comments

MUTUAL FUNDS AND NFOs: METHOD IN MADNESS

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Fauji

Almost every one whom I meet these days asks me for one great “stock tip” which could double in one month. If I was as clairvoyant as that, I could have taken a Premature Retirement and relaxed on a beach in Jamiaca sipping a Pinacolada. I dissuade such friends from investing in stocks, because they are equating stock markets with a Continue reading →

Posted in ETF, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance | 1 Comment

INVESTMENT IN GOLD AND GOLD ETFs

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Fauji

Mukul met me on the golf course and asked me, “I have been buying units of Gold Exchange Traded Funds (Gold ETFs) as an investment. Isn’t it a good idea ?”   Continue reading →

Posted in Bullion, ETF, Personal Finance | Leave a comment

VALUE INVESTING AND TWO VALUE PICKS

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Fauji

Value Investing as a term,  has its genesis in the teachings of Benjamin  Graham and David Dodd who taught  at Columbia Business School in 1928 and subsequently developed the “value investment” paradigm in their 1934 classic, “Security Analysis”, one of the must read books on my list, for any  investor who wants to jump into the deep end of stock market investing. Although value investing has taken many forms, in simpler terms it implies buying a rupiah for aath aannas. Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioural Finance, Stock Investing, Value Investing | 1 Comment

WHAT IS SHARE MARKET? PART II

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Fauji

In my first part of this series, I had explained what is a share and how a business evolves. Today I shall discuss the much bandied terms like EPS, PE ratio, Dividend etc. A2Burgers Pvt Ltd commenced their business with Rs 400,000 of capital. They purchased some equipment, hired two waitresses and rented a shop in Malwa Complex, Mhow. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Finance | Leave a comment

INSURANCE FOR HOME LOAN

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Fauji

While my series on stock investing continues, I have to digress to talk about something which happened today morning. Vikrant Deshpande walked into my office and thanked me for some advice I gave him yesterday. It saved him Rs 408,338. The b###er should have at least got a bottle of “bubbly” for me. Levity apart, yesterday he approached me stating that he was facing a financial dilemma. He wanted to take a home loan of  twenty lakhs for his new flat in Pune but wanted to ensure that in case something happens to him (God forbid) his wife should not face a problem. Continue reading →

Posted in Insurance | 3 Comments

WHAT IS SHARE MARKET? : A BEGINNER’S GUIDE

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Fauji

Two days ago, my 17 year old nephew Shantanu, got his Class XII CBSE and the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) results. He has cleared the CLAT exam and has made the cut for two Institutes. I congratulated him and like a good Mama, asked him, “Beta what gift do you want from me?” Displaying wisdom beyond his years, he said, Continue reading →

Posted in Stock Investing | 7 Comments