Happy Financial Independence Day

Happy Financial Independence Day

To win independence India had to wait for 200 years. Consider yourself lucky enough that to become financially independent, you need not to wait that long. By the way what it takes to become financially independent?

As per definition if you can achieve all your financial goals without making any further investment, you are then truly financially independent. But in real world this definition may not work for most of us. So how and when can we become financially independent? We need to secure only 3 things:

(1) We cannot achieve all our financial goals today itself. Fine. Agreed. And we need not to worry for that, because we are earning well and will keep on doing the same for years down the line as long as we enjoy our work. But life is unpredictable - so we need to secure our family's future in case tomorrow I am not there for them. So calculate and get adequately insured yourself. Also take sufficient amount of health cover to cater to medical emergencies and hospitalization. Last but not the least keep emergency fund (equivalent of 4 to 6 months of expenses) ready always. This helps you to live a stress free life.

Two more points: (a) Invest in yourself. If you improve / sharpen your skill-sets regularly then only you can expect a steady upward earning curve. (b) Exercise. Have good and healthy food in time. Keeping yourself fit is a must.

(2) Manage your liabilities properly, if any. Ideally you should live a loan-free life. With loans running, you can never taste the sweetness of independence. Can you? But at some phases of life, most of us have to live with liabilities. That is ok, if loan has been taken for some crucial goal. But again affordability should always be kept in mind here. It is desirable that our loan EMI never crosses 30% of our net monthly income. Never. And we should also have a clear road map ready to payoff the loan as soon as possible but not in the price of sacrificing any critical family goal.

(3) We should also be able to make sufficient investments to achieve all our financial goals - number one among them is retirement goal. While making investments for our goals preferably we should not assume that our salary will keep on increasing steadily and hence we will make increased investments in future. Better we go for a fixed SIP approach instead of a top-up SIP approach. Your salary will increase, but so is your expenses and social status. Then why take additional stress? After all we are talking here about financial independence. How much to invest for each financial goals of yours? Click here to calculate in detail. There you can plan your goals and come to know how much to invest. Or better call your financial advisor and ask him/her what, when, how, where about all your investment queries.

Take necessary steps today. And check your steps at regular frequency to make sure that you are on the right path. If you start taking your finances a little bit seriously and with lots of discipline then no one can stop you from becoming FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT.

Why global investors now want to be in Mumbai rather than London

It is possible that you fretted all through May and June as the domestic stock market gyrated between gains and losses in response to various global cues. But at the end of the day, Dalal Street ended the June quarter as Asia's best performer. 

That, despite the Brexit vote almost bringing Dalal Street down on its knees and when concerns over a possible rate hike by the US Fed haunted stock markets globally all through the quarter. 

What seems to have helped the domestic market were improving macros, supportive monsoon forecast and a slew of reforms, including the GST, which helped calm investor nerves on Dalal Street. 

The BSE Sensex ended the quarter with a 6.54 per cent gain, the biggest for the 30-pack index since its 14 per cent rally in the June quarter of calendar 2014. 

This compares with a 7.05 per cent slump in the Japanese Nikkei, which reeled amid concerns over slowing of exports and a rise in the yen against the US dollar. European indices such as Italy's IBEX 35, France's CAC40 and Germany's DAX dipped 6.4 per cent, 3.36 per cent and 2.86 per cent, respectively, during this period, thanks to tepid growth and absence of any stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB). 

Sensex's Asian peer Shanghai Composite declined 2.47 per cent during the quarter, while Korea's Kospi and Taiwan's TWSE index fell 1.27 per cent and 0.90 per cent, respectively. Markets bled amid concerns that political risks globally may trigger risk-off trade, leading to a selloff by emerging market funds. 

But despite last week's steep fall, the UK's FTSE100 surged 5.33 per cent during the June quarter, while Brazil's Bovespa rose 2.94 per cent and US' Dow Jones 2.94 per cent. 

Market watchers said inflow from institutional investors remained strong during the quarter owing to an improved macro-economic outlook. They were quick to note that the domestic market showed immense 'maturity' in dealing with the external headwinds. 

"Over the next 6 to 12 months, India is going to be a better place relatively as growth is going to be scarce everywhere else. The world has been struggling to grow and that is why India will stand out. The growth momentum is picking up in India, and as we move into the end of the calendar, then into the next year, we will see more visible signs that growth is coming back," said Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, Veda Investment Managers. 

Frankly, I would love to be in India today, rather than in London. I think the stock market is looking extremely interesting. It is never the cheapest market in the emerging markets, but if you separate the fact that Brexit could easily lead to a global recession, it will not be great for commodity producers, but for countries like India." 

The June quarter saw DIIs buying Rs 3,712 crore worth of stocks. This was against a Rs 21,143 crore share purchase they did in the March quarter and an outflow of Rs 3,344 crore that they witnessed in the year-ago quarter. FPI flows, on the other hand, improved for the fourth consecutive quarter. The flows stood at Rs 14,671 crore, which were higher than Rs 4,495 crore inflow recorded in the March quarter and Rs 2,608 crore reported for the year-ago quarter 

"I would be surprised if we do not get a better share of FII flows in the Indian equity market. India will keep attracting perhaps an inordinate amount of FII flows," 

SOURCE(ET MARKET)

MFs plan to offer SIP variants to attract more investors

Mutual fund (MF) houses are mulling to launch more variants of systemic investment plans (SIPs) to attract investors as growth in the sector picks up. 

The variants include SIP top-ups and Smart SIPs. 

SIP top-up will be available in two forms -- variable and fixed. Variable SIP top-ups allow investors to increase their monthly instalments by certain percentage points on a monthly basis. In Smart SIPs, investors are free to increase their monthly instalments in multiples of Rs 500 or so. 

Enthused by the 100 per cent growth in its SIPs in the year gone-by, Kotak Asset Management Company is now looking at launching different variants of the plans. With an AUM of Rs 63,000 crore, Kotak AMC is ranked among the top 10 fund houses in the country. 

"Our SIPs have grown by 100 per cent in the last fiscal year, driven by better fund performance and the efforts made by the company," Kotak AMC Managing Director and Chief Executive Nilesh Shah told PTI on the sidelines of an industry event here today. 

"Now we are planning to come up with different variants of SIPs in the later part of the year, which include Smart SIPs and SIP Top-ups,"

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, which is likely to come up with its new SIP top-up offerings shortly, has made changes in the scheme information document and the key information memorandum of all the schemes to allow top-up facility. 

Last week, Mirae Asset Management launched a SIP top-up scheme. Mirae Asset Chief Investment Officer Gopal Agrawal said, "We launched SIP top-up last week in which we are advising our investors to increase their SIP amount every year in multiple of Re 1." 

According to an industry estimate, SIP folios in the MF industry increased by 30 per cent in March to 93.44 lakh from 71.70 lakh a year ago, while the inflows jumped 39 per cent during the same period to Rs 2,747 crore from Rs 1,971 crore a year ago. 

 SOURCE(ET)

Brexit, and that huge investment fund you’ve never heard of

It is an open secret among British venture capitalists that many of their funds would have never gotten off the ground without a hefty check from the European Investment Fund -- the EU institution that pools billions in financing from European governments, the EU itself and a number of private banks, to fund investments. 

After the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union, the community faces concern that this important source of funding could be in jeopardy. 

Between 2011 and 2015, the EIF committed 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) to some 144 U.K.-based venture firms. That amounts to about 37 percent of all venture funding raised in the U.K. during those years, according to data from Invest Europe, the trade association for European VC firms. 

By the end of 2015, the EIF had 9.9 billion euros committed to venture capital and private equity in Europe. As of the end of 2014, the fund directly contributed about 12 percent of all venture money raised in Europe and funds that had the EIF as a key limited partner were responsible for about 45 percent of all European venture money raised, according to a report the fund published in June. 

Joe Steer, research director of the British Venture Capital Association, said in a guide to Brexit published this week that, "any loss of this funding could prove damaging to the industry." 

The EIF issued a statement the day after the referendum noting the result "with regret". It said the fund's future activity in the U.K. would be decided as "part of the broader discussions to determine the future relationship of the U.K. with Europe and European bodies." 

Source(ET)

HOME LOAN : THINK SMARTLY

Think smart...

Invest smartly..

Dear friends,

You all must be paying home loan EMI for your dream home. It pinches a lot. Ever thought of a way to get all the principal and interest back.

Is it possible. How?

If interested, read on...

Invest 20% extra of your Home Loan's EMI in mutual fund Equity SIP and all your home loan principal and interest will recovered with profit in 20 years.

Example: For Home Loan of 20 Lac for 20 Years with ROI 10.50%EMI will be Rs. 19,968.

In 20 Years one will pay total towards HL Rs. 47,92,930. 

Interest: 27,92,930 &

Principal: 20 Lac

For SIP of 4000 for 20 Years with just 15% expected return, Fund Value will be Rs. 6063821

(SENSEX has given avg return 20.4% in Last 36 years from 1979 to 2015)

Thus you get back all your principal and interest back and plus earn a cool profit of around Rs. 1300000..

Happy Investing..

BREXIT

What is 'Brexit'?

It's the issue of whether Britain should exit the European Union or not — a question that will be decided in a historic referendum on June 23. 

What is happening?

A referendum to decide whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union.  Prime Minister David Cameron promised to hold one if he won the 2015 general election, in response to growing calls from his own Conservative MPs and the UK Independence Party (UKIP), who argued that Britain had not had a say since 1975, when it voted to stay in the EU in a referendum. For a start, those wanting Britain to leave the EU see it as an opportunity to reassert British national sovereignty and in a sense liberate Britain from the bottlenecks of EU both politically and financially.

What is the European Union?

The European Union - often known as the EU - is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries . It began after World War Two to foster economic co-operation, with the idea that countries which trade together are more likely to avoid going to war with each other. It has since grown to become a "single market" allowing goods and people to move around, basically as if the member states were one country. It has its own currency, the euro, which is used by 19 of the member countries, its own parliament and it now sets rules in a wide range of areas - including on the environment, transport, consumer rights and even things like mobile phone charges. 

Why do they want the UK to leave?

They believe Britain is being held back by the EU, which they say imposes too many rules on business and charges billions of pounds a year in membership fees for little in return. They also want Britain to take back full control of its borders and reduce the number of people coming here to live and/or work. One of the main principles of EU membership is "free movement", which means you don't need to get a visa to go and live in another EU country. They also object to the idea of "ever closer union" and what they see as moves towards the creation of a "United States of Europe".

Advantages of Brexit 

Economically, Britain would immediately save $12 billion a year in EU budget payments. Freed from famously cumbersome EU regulations, Brexit supporters say, Britain would attract greater investment and become a more dynamic economic hub — particularly if it still had full access to the EU's tariff-free single market. But that's a big if, and would rely on Britain renegotiating a new trade deal with the EU's remaining 27 member states — many of whom, post-Brexit, would want to make a bitter example of the U.K., to discourage other members from fleeing.

Under the EU's labor rules, any citizen of a member state has the right to live and work in another member state — a rule that has allowed some 942,000 Eastern Europeans to move to the U.K. as the EU has expanded its borders. Brexiters say these migrants have overwhelmed the housing system and abused Britain's generous in-work benefits. At least 34,000 of them are getting child benefits for children who do not even live in the U.K. and sending that money — totaling about $42 million a year — back to their home countries. Leaving the EU would allow Britain more control over how many migrants are allowed to enter. That's become a big selling point after the influx of 1 million refugees into EU countries.

Risks of a Brexit

The uncertainty it would create could destabilize the markets and cause the pound to plummet.  Some extreme predictions are  that a Brexit will blow a £100 billion hole in Britain's economy, and Britain will lose 3 million jobs!

What will the referendum question be?

"Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?

The two campaigns, "In " and "Out", are likely to form the offical lobby groups for each side in the referendum have set out their positions on the main topics that will form the basis for the referendum.