I have a friend who has worked in a bank for many years – from a rookie sales person to almost the top job in sales and marketing. She has (to me surprisingly) acquired a lot of knowledge about banking, mutual fund and life insurance. Not knowing much of her background (she now works for […]

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this article on budgeting appeared in www.moneycontrol.com long back. INCOME: Rs 100, expenses Rs 99, life is fine. Income: Rs 99, expenses Rs 100, life is in despair.     (Due apologies to Charles Dickens!) There used to be a time when it was advisable to have regular health checkups when you 45. Now, it’s closer to […]

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A slightly different version of this appeared in money control – Wealth section. The current generation of clients whom I meet is inheriting nice big round amounts of money. However since their own salaries are far, far higher than their parents, the amounts do not look big.  Also, making a `Will` seems to be a […]

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Many people write in or ask – what should my relationship manager tell me about my portfolio / new investments. Here I am trying to make a partial list. 1. I need to profile your risk – and your risk profile depends on your age, your income, past investment experience, your projected income, your needs […]

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This is the second in a series of ‘myth busting’ articles..in all there are 6 myths. You will find a completely contrarian view in the print media! This is completely true some people think this is false! Only problem is people who think this is untrue do NOT know how to do fundamental analysis. For […]

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I know this may sound sacrilegious, but the housing loan (mortgage) interest deduction is the most over-rated tax strategy in existence. I constantly hear happy “homeowners“ boasting about how much money they “saved“ with their mortgage interest deduction. Asking your boss to reduce your salary would perhaps have the same effect. If you are in […]

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I know of a few mis-sellers in the financial services who excel in mis-selling. Let us call them A, B and C. A is so used to mis-selling that when a ‘friend’ wanted to buy a DVD player, he was convincing her to get a lap top. This in spite of the fact that he […]

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