Why Should One Invest in Mutual Funds?

Mutual funds are defined as a professionally managed form of “collective investment scheme” which pools in money from a group of investors to buy bonds, stocks, short term money instruments etc.

There are different types of mutual funds; these include:

• Money Market Funds – It is an open ended mutual fund which invests in short term debt securities. The main feature of this fund is that at the end of the tenure, one will earn double the amount of one’s total savings and a little less of the certificate of deposit (CD).

• Balanced Funds – It is a combination of mutual funds that buy a mixture of common stocks, bonds, preferred stocks, and short term bonds. The sole objective to this fund is to provide investors with a mutual fund which involves both financial and growth objectives. As a result, these funds are able manage any downturns in the market and without making much loss, carve out its way into profit.

• Bond Funds – It is a collective investment scheme which involves both bonds and various debt securities. It pays periodic dividends and its primary assets include mortgage, government treasury etc.

• Equity Funds – Also called the stock funds; it invests in equities also called stocks. It is a complete contrast to bond funds and money funds. The main purpose of equity fund is “long term growth for capital gains”. It has a specific style, like its value or growth.

The advantages of mutual funds are:

• Diversification – It is interesting to note that individual investments react differently in different situations. There is the rise, and fall in interest rates depending upon the economic conditions. So a proper balance between both will make one benefit over time.

• Liquidity – One can draw out money invested from the mutual fund any time they want to. It is just a call away.

• Low Cost – It is less expensive in comparison to direct investment in the capital markets.

• Potentiality of Higher Return – The mutual funds have the potentiality of higher return in the long term.

• Transparency – One gets regular updates and information of the specific investments undertaken by one’s scheme.

• Choice of Schemes – Mutual funds offer a variety of schemes which are easy to understand.

Thus, before investing in mutual funds, one must know the Net Asset value that is, the assets of the fund minus the liabilities is the value of the fund. So Net Asset value per share is the cost of the mutual fund.

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Manage your Finance at an early stage in Life

A young adult is someone who has probably just walked out of college and has taken his/her first step into the real world. When a person like this gets their first salary, they are usually confused about the correct way of spending it and henceforth dealing with the following salaries. It is extremely important to be aware of the correct method of finance management in order to be successful in life and also to have a secure future. Thus, here are a few point solutions to adequate management of money in a youth’s life:

Step 1: Learn Self Control:- Unless you are aware of the skill to control one’s emotions and desire for spending money on unwanted things, it is extremely difficult to learn the right technique of financial management. It is necessary to learn to prioritize your needs and wants to be able to control the unwanted expenditure. It is easy to purchase goods on credit but do you really want to pay interest on a pair of jeans or a box of cereal? Doesn’t it seem more sensible to purchase these things with cash? If you want to keep your credit cards for the convenience factor or the rewards they offer, make sure to always pay your balance in full when the bill arrives, and don’t carry more cards than you can keep track of.

Step 2: Take Control of Your Own Financial Future:- Understanding how money works is the first step toward making your money work for you. If you have the ability and the brains to earn money then why to leave the burden of managing that money on someone else’s shoulder! It is always nice to take advice from our elders but it does not make sense leaving your financial decisions on them because after a point of time everyone needs to learn. It is even more senseless to leave these significant decisions on any commercial firm because they cannot understand the importance of things in your life. Aide is always welcome but not the final decision. Thus, learn to take charge of your own life.

Step 3: Know Where Your Money Goes:- Spending money like a blind and careless person after having gained so much education all your life is foolish. It is extremely essential to keep a check on where your money is going and the best way to do that is through budgeting. Once you do this, you’ll slowly start to make changes in your daily expenditure which will have a huge impact on your future life as a whole.

Step 4: Start an Emergency Fund:- “Pay yourself first”, a mantra that no individual must ever forget. Emergency is a situation that gives no invitations before occurring and thus unless you have saved up something for such situations, you can never be sure. Thus no matter how much you owe in student loans or credit card debt and no matter how low your salary may seem, it’s wise to find some amount – any amount – of money in your budget to save in an emergency fund every month.
This does not mean that you stock this money under your mattress; instead put it in a high-interest online savings account, a certificate of deposit or a money market account. Otherwise, inflation will erode the value of your savings.

Step 5: Get a Grip on Taxes:- Even though income taxes seem very complicated it’s important to understand how they work even before you get your first paycheck. When a company offers you a starting salary, you need to know how to calculate whether that salary will give you enough money after taxes to meet your financial goals and obligations. Fortunately, there are plenty of online calculators that have taken the dirty work out of determining your own payroll taxes, such as Paycheck City. These calculators will show you your gross pay, how much goes to taxes and how much you’ll be left with, which is also known as net, or take-home pay.

Step 6: Guard Your Health:- Insuring your health is as important as listing down your important expenditure and thus you must start paying your monthly health insurance premiums right from the beginning to safeguard yourself from paying a thousand rupees for a small thing like a broken bone or even a serious injury in an emergency situation, where you could be low on cash.

If you can successfully follow the above steps, there is no doubt that you will never have financial problems in your life. Thus, manage your money and stay happy in life.

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Global Economic Crisis : ALL IS WELL!

The last few years have been the most turbulent for the global economy since the World War II . The crisis that began in the sub- prime mortgage market in the United States spread like wildfire to engulf  the entire global financial system . The fall of Lehman in September 2008 was the proverbial last straw , making the crisis truly global.

Advanced economies as a group have been more severely affected with 3.2 percent negative growth forecast for 2009 ( IMF World Outlook , January 2010 ) . All rich countries , with the exception of Australia , experienced decline .

Fiscal 2009-10 has witnessed a global recovery . The risks of double-dip recession however remain , with need for caution in dealing with high public debt and unwinding of fiscal and monetary stimuli . The Indian economy also saw a turnaround , registering 7 percent growth during H1 (April to September 2009 ) . The balance – of – payments situation improved on the back of a surge in capital floes and rise in foreign exchange reserves , which have been accompanied by rupee appreciation .

Developing countries are likely by 2.1 percent in 2009 and 6 percent in 2010 , led by India and China , which remained the most resilient to the crisis . The impact on the emerging world was through reversal of capital flows . fall in stock markets , depreciation of local currency , decline in exports and general risk aversion which affected consumption and investment . The social impact of the crisis though , has been more severe for emerging economies , as they have fewer cushions against shocks .

The response to the crisis , however , has been equally swift , with concerted and coordinated efforts by governments and monetary authorities , through conventional and non- conventional fiscal and monetary instruments . As a result , there are signs of recovery in the global economy with the US , Euro Zone and Japan already out of recession and momentum of growth picking up in emerging economies .

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How to save Money

For those who are wondering how to save money, they should first realize that how important it is to have savings for their future instead of spending on temporary and unnecessary things. It is not exactly very easy to start saving your money while you are used to the casual way of spending. You will have to start saving some money for future as well spending less on daily thing. It so happens that by the end of the month that you are out of cash and you barely have enough money to survive till end of the month. In order to stop this from happening you are going to have to change your lifestyle completely and this is a big task. Here are some tips to save money (tips on saving money, money saving tips).

• Save money by spending less as it is absolutely necessary to spend less if you are serious about saving money. If you want to save money every day, you must make sure that you do not spend on unnecessary stuff. Try to save your money by traveling by bus rather than by a taxi or an auto rickshaw. Start taking your food to work from home instead of spending on fast food and outside food.

•  You should open a personal saving account. This is the best and fastest way to save money and it is very necessary for families. You can never really save your money when you do not know how much you have. Keep a record on your accounts outflow and inflow and figure out how much you should save per month.

•  Do your monthly shopping in bulk by planning the whole month. You can also save some money as well as time by cooking your meals in bulk and in advance.

• Before shopping for higher price range of goods always do your research and find out about the right prices and offers. Buy at cheaper prices but with good qualities.

•  Always try to avoid debt. In order to save money you should have as little debt as possible. But remember some debt is also alright for necessary things like getting a mortgage for buying a house.

• Try to eat at home rather than outside food. Homemade food is much better for health and it does not cost you as much as outside food does.

• Open a fixed bank account from your salary. For example if you receive a salary of Rs.30, 000 you can save Rs.10, 000 or how much ever you want into the account. By the end of the period of the account you are going to have quite a lot of money. This is a great way to save money.

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Tips to Manage Your Home Loan Smoothly

Are you buying a property? It involves huge investment but nowadays many financial institutes can help you buy your dream home. Before applying for a loan you should do your home work. Once you take loan it is your responsibility to manage your home loan as this is a long term financial commitment. Before shouldering the huge financial commitment one should learn the financial discipline otherwise he can lose his roof. There are some tips you can use to mange smoothly your repayment of loan amount:

1.Choosing the right lender

There are lots of financial institutions in the market but you need to select the one which is suitable to your requirements. Amount of loan, interest rate, flexibility, after service, additional cost of home loan, penalties, feedback from other customers, etc. are the factors should be kept in mind. Your property should be approved by the lender. Ensure that it is a reputed institute that doesn’t have any loop holes (hidden costs) in their home loan scheme.

2. Down payment arrangement

Before going for buying a property you need to see the margin money that is required to pay at the time of booking. The lender or a bank lends only 70 to 80 % of the cost of property. Rest of the amount you need to arrange. The amount you have with you can also help you in choosing the right property. If you have down payment money in your hand you can manage future repayments smoothly from regular income.

3. Budgeting is good

Always make the budget that includes your monthly fixed expenses and the fixed income. This way you can easily maintain a balance between your incomes and expenditures. If there is a surplus amount, you can keep it for future.

4. Go for fixed interest rate

While applying for loan it is better if you choose fixed interest rate as it can help you in easy repayment because you know the fixed amount to pay every month. Interest rate hike in the market doesn’t affect your budget.

5. Borrow as much as you can repay

You must keep in mind that your borrowings should not take over you.     Your monthly EMI should not be more than 30 to 40 % of your regular income otherwise it can disturb your regular necessary expenses. Do all the calculations before taking the loan as it should not cost your peace of mind? A comfortable amount that can be paid without sacrificing the current necessities can be chosen to repay the loan as per the tenure.

6. Have a buffer

It is a good habit to save some money every month for any unexpected or emergency use like in case of job loss or interest rate hike or any sickness requirement, etc otherwise you can land up in a disastrous situation.

7. Avoid more loans

It is wise to avoid your expenses till you clear your past borrowings as it can disturb your budget. It is difficult to manage too much financial burden for long time in the present economic uncertainties and fluctuating costs.

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Beware, Don’t Let Yourself to be Phished

Have you ever heard of phishing? Phishing is an attempt fraudsters to fish for your banking details. It is a kind of trap laid by fraudsters through e-mails for phishing of your confidential banking or credit card details and if you are trapped in you may end up losing your hard-earned money. Nobody would like to be phished and for that you should be able to differentiate between a fraud e-mail and real e-mail. The only way to protect you from phishing is to identify the fraud e-mail or we can say the trap. If you suspect any e mail to be phished then don’t open it and delete it immediately. If by mistake you have opened it then don’t ever click on the links given in the e mail.

How to identify a phishing e-mail:

• Most importantly it appears to have come from your bank or financial institute or a company you deal with regularly or may be from someone you know on your social networking sites but actually they have not come from these sources.
• If you find spelling mistakes in an email probably it is a phishing email. The links to counterfeit websites containing URLs in the mail also have spelling mistakes.
• A phishing email may assure you to get a gift voucher or prize if you complete a survey or answer few simple questions. For claiming the gift or prize it asks for your account details.
• The links given in the mail look real and familiar to you and encourages you to click on them.
• The fake emails usually show urgency for an action and threaten you to close or deactivate your account if you do not respond in a short specified time frame.
• Any email asking for your personal and confidential information like user id, password, CVnumber, debit-card-grid codes, etc. then it is definitely a phishing email.
• These fake emails may be in the form of job offer from a company and mostly work from home kind of jobs.

Some examples of phishing mails are-

1. Alerts!!! Upgrade and secure your online account immediately
2. Urgent security warning.
3. Confirm your online account details (message id b36754291)

Always be conscious and read carefully any email. If you suspect the mail from the subject only then delete them without opening them. If you receive any mail from a stranger don’t respond and delete. Banks never ask for your banking account’s confidential information on phone or emails. Always remember that. If you receive any job offer then make sure it is from a reputed company. Beware don’t let yourself to be phished.

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How to Cut Your Expenses and Live Smart

We often complain about the inflation as everything has become costlier nowadays. We never think of coping with the inflation. Just give it a try and inspect all your expenses you have done last month. How many of them were really necessary? May be half of them were the actual expenses and rest were just waste of money. Due to modern lifestyle we unknowingly spend a lot of money in buying things that were actually not needed. I can tell you how to cut your monthly expenses if you really want to and save money for later.

• Save electricity by switching off all lights and fans when not in use. Use power saving bulbs and lights along with power saver device at home.
• Buy only energy efficient home appliances that can help save energy and cut bill cost.
• Watch television less. Instead go for a walk or play with kids.
• Don’t leave your computer or laptop on standby mode.
• Save on gas by cooking rightly like using cooker instead of pot for cooking and covering the pan while cooking etc.
• Sell the stuff you don’t need at home.
• Always plan your purchases in advance. Don’t be impulsive buyer.
• Look for discounts and shop on the specified days if possible when any scheme is going on.
• Pay bills online to save postage as well as environment.
• Avoid buying clothes that are “dry clean only”. Learn to iron.
• Go for matinee movies instead of night movies as the matinee movies are cheaper.
• Use ATM’s as there is no service charge there.
• Learn to exercise at home, outdoors or in the park instead of expensive health club memberships.
• A certified pre owned car is a better option than buying a new car.
• Think twice before subscribing or renewing the publications/magazines if you don’t have time to read them.
• You can pay off your credit cards monthly to avoid interest.
• If applying for home loan then opt for fixed interest rate. The market fluctuations won’t affect your interest rate for a certain period.
• Participate in retirement plans of your company as it can help to save taxes.
• Very important quit smoking and drinking. It is purely wastage of hard earned money, time, mind and health. Nobody gets anything out of these habits except losing everything.
• Instead of buying look for renting options for books, magazines, CDs, VCDs and kids toys from libraries as it can give you a good choice of everything.
• Avoid unnecessary chat over phone, internet or cell phones.
• Always do market research before buying or renewing cable/satellite connections, cell phone schemes, insurance policies, etc.
• Don’t spend all the money available as any emergency can occur any time. Make a flexible budget and save some money every month for unexpected expenses.

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Stock Market Index

• What is stock market index?
• World indices
• Indian indices
• What do the ups and downs of index mean?
• Why indices are important?

In simple words, “stock market index is a number that measures the relative value of a group of stocks.” as the stocks in this group change value, the index also changes the value. In other words we can say the stock market index is a method of showing the overall performances of all the companies that are listed in the stock market with a single number. This number is only called as stock market index. It is used by all the investors and traders to understand the current performance of the market and to forecast the future of the stock market that depends on the past values of the index. Different countries stock market index names are as follows that can help you to identify and differentiate the various stock market indices:

Amsterdam Stock Exchange Index – AEX
Argentina Stock Exchange Index – MERVAL
Brazilian Stock Exchange Index – BOVESPA
Canada Stock Exchange Index – TSX
China Stock Market Index – SHANGHAI
Dutch Stock Market Index – DAX
French Stock Market Index – CAC 40
Hong Kong Stock Market Index – HANG SENG
Indian Bombay Stock Exchange Index – SENSEX
Indian National Stock Exchange Index – NIFTY
Jakarta Stock Exchange Index – JAKARTA
Japan Stock Market Index – NIKKEI
London Stock Exchange Index – FTSE 100
Mexican Stock Exchange Index – IPC
New Zealand Stock Exchange – Index NZX 50
Singapore Stock Market Index – STRAITS
Taiwan Stock Exchange Index – TSEC
United States Stock Market Index – DOW
United States Stock Market Index – NASDAQ
United States Stock Market Index – S&P 500

In India NSE (national stock exchange) that is called NIFTY and BSE (Bombay stock exchange) that is called SENSEX are main indices where all major companies of the country listed. Currently the Nifty is working around 5400 points and Sensex is around 18200 points. If the points are in red colour then it shows the market is in negative direction and if they are green it gives positive indications.

The meaning of the ups and downs of the index:
When index goes up, it is because the stock market thinks the prospects of dividends in the future will be better than previously thought. When the dividend prospects become pessimistic, the stock market index drops. The movements of the stock market represent the returns obtained by the typical portfolios in the country.

Why indices are important?
The indices are the most important source of information for an investor as well as a trader. By looking at an index we can know how the market is faring. A stock market index should capture the behaviour of the overall equity market. The index is a lead indicator of market’s overall performance. For example: if your investments are consistently lagging behind the index then it is time for you to come up with a new investing strategy.

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Trading Terminology

• What is trade?
• Who is a trader?
• Meaning of trading
• Types of trading
• Where the trading takes place
• Trading account

Trade:
In general terms the meaning of trade is buying and selling of goods or material. One can buy or sell any goods to an individual or a corporate body or company. The entire process is called trade. When such trades happen continuously and regularly then it is called trading.

Trader:
A trader is a person who does the trading or who buys and sells the goods or materials.

Trading in stock market:
When a trader buys or sells shares/securities or a commodity regularly in the stock market then it is called share trading.

Types of trading:
The stock market trade has two types of trading depending upon the way of trade. Actually the time frame is the main factor.
1. Intraday Trading
2. Delivery Trading
In intraday trading you trade or we can say we buy and sell the share the same day. The trading takes place within the day time of trading.
While in case of delivery we take delivery. We can buy today and can sell later on the next day or next week or next month but not the same day. When we are not able to sell the share the same day at a limit price it will automatically come under the delivery trading.
The trading can be done as short term, very short term or long term depending upon the strategy we opted for. The short term can be of one month, two months or six months. Very short term period refers to few days to two to three weeks while long term trading is like one to five years time and alternatively it can be called an investment so as to earn profits in the future.

Place of trading:
All trading take place through stock exchanges. This is the place where all the stocks are listed. There are brokers who help you to do trading otherwise you can do it online in the comfort of your home.

Trading account:
Any person who wants to do trading must have a trading account. This account is called Demat account. As our financial transactions take place through our bank account likewise our entire share trading transactions take place through the Demat account. The funds in our Demat account are used for buying or selling the shares and commodities.

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Seven Most Frequently Asked Questions About Investment

Investment means putting your money into financial schemes, shares or property with the expectation of making a profit. There are some most common questions come to our mind before investing money. These are:

1. Should I invest or not?
First thing to decide is whether to invest or not as we need funds to invest. If we have surplus funds that is not required to fulfil our daily, monthly or yearly requirements then only we can invest.

2. How much should I invest?
Next thing is how much to invest. For example: if we have Rs.200000 then we need to decide whether the whole amount to be invested or a portion of it. It is better to have a risk distribution policy. One can invest Rs. 100000 in fixed return policies and remaining amount into equity funds so that the risk can be minimised and profits can be secured.

3. Where can I invest?
It can be property, gold, fixed deposit schemes, insurance policies, stocks, mutual funds, government securities, derivatives, futures, options etc. One must be very careful before taking the decision. What is the requirement of the person whether his motive is profit making or securing his money with steady returns etc are some of the basic things that decide where to invest?

4. When can I invest?
What is the right time to invest? The prevailing conditions of market should be kept in mind. Market is stable or up moving or in a recession phase. For example in recession period one can invest in property as the rates of property and interest rates both come down.

5. For how long can I invest?
The duration of investment can be from six months to six years depends on the personal requirements and the nature of investment.

6. What factors should I keep in mind while investing?
The factors are investor’s financial status, duration of investment, amount to be invested, scheme in which to invest, market conditions and profitability. He must take advice of a professional who can evaluate the various options available in the market for allocation if the amount is bigger.

7. What if I lose?
How risk bearing capacity you have i.e. how much loss you can bear is really very important to understand. In stock and mutual funds profit and loss depend upon the market conditions. One should read the offer document carefully before investing.

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