Thursday, 27 August 2015


When it is about investment plan, most people get confused. Most of the time, people go around looking for ways to invest when they have certain amount of spare money in their hands. Retirement and children’s future are the two main concerns when it comes to long-term investment.

If you are without much financial leverage, you cannot afford to lose money but at the same time you need higher returns. In such a case, the best possible method to make an online investment insurance policy would be choose a balanced portfolio that has the right mix of equity and debts.
Without proper knowledge about the market, it would be best to choose mutual funds as the main base for your investment. Mutual funds can help create the ideal portfolio according to your requirements and also accumulate assets in a knowledgeable way.

One of the best ways to save money would be to invest monthly in mutual funds. For example an investment of just Rs. 5,000 a month for the next 16 years can help you generate a savings of Rs. 2 million with an average rate of 8.5% a year.
This would be achieved without any risk or headache of choosing the right portfolio. A Systematic best Investment Plan or SIP is the ideal way to start investing in mutual funds.

When you want to invest in equity, it would best to take the help of an investment advice. If you want to choose your portfolio on your own, this would be a job that would consume a lot of time and effort. Therefore, it would be best to get help from a professional. investment in India, online investment, investment advisor 

Tuesday, 18 August 2015

Why do you need financial freedom?

Freedom of a nation underlines its sovereignty – in simple words its authority to govern itself. While the political freedom bestows many privileges on its citizen, one needs financial freedom to make the most of them. And the tough part is – it does not come free, one has to achieve it for himself. Especially when the world is changing at a fast pace, it becomes imperative to work harder towards achieving the goal of financial freedom.

In the last decade of the 20th century, India adopted liberalization and things changed for most of us. While it opened gates to opportunities, it also exposed us to multiple challenges. The defined benefit pension schemes were scrapped and market linked defined contribution pension was introduced even in public sector.
Archaic labor laws started their journey from rigidity to flexibility, which also meant job security could be achieved only by constant up gradation of skills and relinquishing laid-back attitude and not by some birth-right.

State sponsored saving schemes offering assured double digit returns became a history. And market linked savings options like investment insurance policy became the order of the day. To add to the situation, Indian families became nuclear, which deprived the retiring lot of the age-old joint family system. That makes all of us consider two scenarios – paying for one’s lifestyle when he is not working and ensuring at least the same lifestyle for one’s family even in his absence.

Who does not want to live a life of comfort when he retires? All of us want access to the best healthcare services available. Each of us wants to offer the best education to our generation-next. And all these come with a price tag. How are you going to pay for these? You cannot look for any external support. It has to come from you.

The only possible way out is - right steps taken in the direction of financial freedom when you are working. As one realizes the need to work towards his financial freedom, it is the right time to make a financial plan for himself- identify goals, prepare an investment plan, buy right insurance products and stick to your plan. The process adherence ensures that you reach your ultimate goal – financial freedom. On the 69th Independence Day, it is the time to swear to achieve financial freedom.


[Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/planning/why-do-you-need-financial-freedom_2068561.html]

Thursday, 6 August 2015

Thrift Savings Plan among best investments

Many financial experts agree the single best investment plan available to Department of Defense employees is the government’s Thrift Savings Plan, commonly referred to as the TSP. The TSP is the largest 401(k)-type plan in the nation with $454 billion in assets and 4.7 million current and former federal employees, including its military investors.

Most financial experts highly recommended investing in the TSP because it is potentially the single best way for DoD employees to build wealth. Its ultra-low costs, simple investment options, matching option for civilians, new Roth tax-free investment feature and large contribution limits make it the front-runner for anyone eligible to participate.

The costs to operate the TSP are extremely low. It is a no-load type investment, which means there are no upfront expenses to participate. The expense ratios associated with the TSP (annual operating expenses expressed as a percentage of the average net assets) are incredibly low by any standard. The industry average expense ratio is 1.02 percent. The TSP average expense ratio by comparison is .029 percent — less than one third the cost of the industry average. That is a big deal. Over time, it can easily mean the difference of tens of thousands of dollars or even hundreds of thousands for long-term investments of 30 or 40 years.
The TSPs simple best investment plan options make selecting the right funds an easy choice. Other than the life-cycle funds, which I will explain shortly, you only have five primary funds to select from — the G, F, C, S and I funds.

The G Fund, which is where your money automatically goes when you initially set up your account until you elect to change it, is the largest of the funds representing 43 percent of the all the money in the entire TSP. The G Fund is merely a savings account and even though it has not had a losing year since 1988, it has only averaged 5.43 percent since its inception in 1987. It has averaged only 3.19 percent over the last decade, which has been mostly a growth market and therefore is not a great place to invest your money for the long term, particularly if you are not going to withdraw your money for retirement for five years or more.

One problem that many do not understand is that if you do not specifically give instructions to move your money from the G Fund, the money will remain in the G Fund for the duration of your investment.
I was speaking with a close friend just the other day about his TSP account that he has had for the last 20 years. He didn’t understand how I had more than half as much in my account as he had in his since I’ve only been investing in the TSP over the last five years. When I asked him how he had his money allocated between the funds he said “I don’t know.” His money had sat in the G fund the entire time earning “savings account” rates.


[Source: http://www.ftleavenworthlamp.com/article/20150716/NEWS/150719579]