If you have received a Diwali gift from your employer, you may be required to pay gift tax on it. But not all recipients of festive gifts are required to pay gift tax.

With the depreciation in rupee and the downtrend in the equity markets, investing in offshore funds has become lucrative.

Investors are often confused between value investing and growth investing. There are fundamental differences between these two strategies of investing. Let us try to understand the differences between the two and what they entail for the investors.

The Modi government is now at loggerheads with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over transfer of the central bank’s reserves to the government. 

If you are unable to pay up even after six months, the lender will give you a two-month grace period to pay up your overdue loan instalments. But if you are still unable to pay the instalments during the grace period, the bank will start recovery proceedings against you.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on October 26, 2018, proposed significant changes in life insurance policies that will provide considerable benefits to the policyholders. 

If one of your relatives, friends or office colleagues asks you whether you could become a ‘guarantor’ for a home loan he is applying, you may obliged to reply in the affirmative.

The joint term insurance plan offers the facility of protecting you and your spouse with a single life insurance policy. The policy can be bought by working couples or by couples where one spouse is a homemaker.

By now, all income taxpayers would have received an intimation from Income Tax (IT) Department under Section 143(1) giving details of either the refund payable by the IT department to the taxpayer if the tax paid/deducted exceeds the tax liability of the taxpayer, or asking the taxpayer to pay the balance amount of tax payable by the assessee, if the tax deposited by the assessee is less than the amount computed by the IT department.

If you have defaulted your credit card payment for more than six months, you would get a statement which reads “credit charge-off”. So what does it mean? Does it mean that your payment is “waived” by the company and you no longer have to pay the debt?

If you are a day trader, you would certainly be maintaining a stop loss and a profit target on every trade. You set a stop loss to limit your loss to a manageable level as per your risk appetite and the profit target that you set is to book your profit once your target price is reached.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that there is growing evidence of an upturn in investment activity in India. According to RBI’s latest paper entitled “India’s Investment Cycle: An Empirical Investigation”, this revival in the investment cycle is expected to last up to 2022-23 when the investment rate is estimated to rise up to 33 per cent of the GDP from the current level of 31 per cent.

If you are planning to start SIP of a mutual fund scheme, you need to be sure that you pick the right fund that will deliver decent returns and help you to achieve your financial goals. Here are a few tips that will help you to choose s suitable fund.

If you are an investor investing in stocks and mutual funds, you would have received many Common Account Statements (CAS) till date. The CAS sent by National Securities and Depositories Ltd (NSDL) and Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) is different from the CAS you receive from mutual fund houses.​

If you are an NRI and are planning to invest in real estate in India, you need to know a few things before you take the plunge. Here is a check-list for you.

Reliance Industries Limited issued bonds Rs. 3500 crore on private placement basis using BSE’s BOND platform. This marks the largest ever 10-year bond issuance on the BSE’s EBP platform. The digital platform has made fundraising from the domestic capital market a very efficient process.

Buying home insurance is as important as buying life insurance or medical insurance. This is because home insurance protects the home and hearth of the insured from unforeseen natural calamities such as fire, earthquake, floods, storm, lightning, etc. as well as man-made eventualities such as riots, theft, burglary, larceny, terrorism, etc.

Life insurance companies usually offer four options for payouts of the sum assured of a term insurance policy to the heirs of the deceased policyholder. The insured can choose any of the option for the beneficiaries taking into account the financial literacy levels of the beneficiaries as also the needs and requirements of the beneficiaries.

Every credit card issued by a bank has a credit limit, which is the maximum amount the cardholder can avail in a billing cycle. So, if the credit limit is, say, Rs 2 lakh, the cardholder can enter into credit card transactions up to the maximum limit of Rs 2 lakh in a billing cycle (which is usually a month). 

Health insurance policies come with restoration and recharge benefits, but not many policyholders know what these benefits entail or can tell the difference between the two.  So, let us try to find out various kinds of restoration options, how recharge benefits the insured and the difference between restoration and recharge benefits.

You must be aware of the divestment plans of the Government of India, wherein the government has divested its stake in various public sector undertakings (PSUs) and has thereby raised money from the markets.  The aim of the government’s divestment is to augments its revenue for the purpose of development.

The Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Viral Acharya has said that the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) taken by the central bank against 11 public sector banks and one private bank has limited the losses of these banks and saved taxpayers’ money.

Fixed deposits (FDs) of banks remain one of the most popular forms of investments among retail investors. The reasons for the popularity is ease of opening an FD account, the relative safety provided by the banks, assurance of fixed returns, presence of bank branches in the neighbourhood and online facility to open FD account, etc.

Stock market investors tend to make some very common mistakes. These mistakes are easily avoidable and thereby some of the losses suffered by investors can be easily averted. Let us look at some of the most common mistakes committed by retail investors.

The mutual fund houses launch Fixed Maturity Plans (FMPs) for the investors. Not many investors may be aware of what these plans entail, how they work and which one to choose from the plethora of plans launched from time to time. Let us look at some salient features of FMPs and the pros and cons of investing in these plans.

Day traders in the stock markets are often faced with the question: How much margin money should I deposit with the broker? Well, that depends on four factors which every individual investor has to take into account while deciding on the suitable amount of margin money. Let us look at these four factors.

The change in RBI’s stance from ‘neutral’ to ‘calibrated tightening’ sent the markets in a tailspin, causing the Sensex to drop by almost 800 points at the closing bell last Friday.

If you have a car that you wish to sell online, you would want to make sure that you get the best price for your car. But to get the best price, you need to make sure that the buyer is convinced about the worth of your car for the price he/she is paying. So, how do you ensure that you get the best deal? Here are a few tips: 

For the shareholders of these banks, the market will decide the valuation of the merged entity. As for the employees, the merger will not make much of a difference. But it might make some difference to the depositors and borrowers of these banks.

The protection against cyber risks offered by the policies include unauthorised online transactions on bank account or through debit/credit card, damage caused to an individual’s reputation in case any harmful information is published over the internet by criminals and the costs of pursuing and defending legal actions against the offending individuals.

The TPAs act as intermediaries between the insurance company, healthcare provider and the policyholder and thereby provide vital services to the medical and insurance industry.

If you have invested in mutual funds, you may be well aware that when you sell the units of mutual funds within a specified time, you have to pay exit load on the amount realised on sale of units. The exit load is usually payable if the units are sold within one year of purchase and the load is usually 1% of the sale amount.

The financial ratios of a company mirror the financial health of a company. But is essential to understand and interpret some of the key financial ratios to accurately gauge the financial health of the company before investing in the stock. Here are some of the key financial ratios that every investor must look at before investing

The expenses incurred on medical care and nursing of dependents with specified disabilities can be claimed as deduction under the Income Tax Act. The deduction is available for medical expenses incurred towards nursing, training and rehabilitation of the disabled dependent.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved a slew of proposals aimed at boosting portfolio investments in stock and commodity derivatives markets.

SEBI has mooted revised framework for settlement of cases and has proposed new KYC norms for FPIs.

The Central government plans to introduce geo-tagging of registered offices of companies in their statutory filings with the Registrar of Companies.

The abrupt and unexpected crash in the market on Friday caused panic among the investors who were totally dumbstruck by the sudden precipitous fall in the markets. 

There are insurance policies that come with restoration benefit clause, whereby the insurance cover exhausted due to claims made by the insured is restored fully by the insurance company. Of course, there are certain terms and conditions that specify when the restoration benefit will trigger and when it will not. Let us look at these terms and conditions.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, triggered a global financial crisis that saw virtual meltdown of the financial markets. Ten years down the line, the world shudders to think about the nightmare that the collapse unleashed across the globe for many months thereafter.

These days, app-based transactions have become common and we should not be surprised that today one can buy and sell mutual funds through mobile-based apps. The icing on the cake is that unlike transacting through brokers or distributors, these apps offer direct mutual fund schemes, which means there is no commission to be paid to the brokers or distributors, so you save on these costs and thereby increase your potential returns.

Mutual fund investors may find themselves confused looking at the thousands of mutual fund schemes available in the market. With so many schemes to choose from, it becomes difficult for the investor to zero in on schemes that meet the financial objectives and requirements specific to the investor. So, how do you go about choosing a scheme that is just right for you?

Mutual funds have specific cut-off timings which an investor has to take into account while submitting application and making payments. The fund house determines the NAV at which the investor gets the units of the scheme depending on the time of submission of the application and payment made. 

Since the last couple of months, mutual fund investors have been receiving letters and emails from fund houses informing them about the change in total expense ratio (TER) of the scheme they have invested in. If you are one among them, you might have wondered what you should make of it. 

Usage of credit card abroad attracts various kinds of charges which can inflate your credit card bill quite a lot. Some of these charges include foreign currency conversion fee, transaction charge, cash withdrawal fee, etc. plus the mark-up charges as applicable.

The unpredictability of events in life and the uncertainty of life itself lend significance to life insurance.  Life insurance protects the near and near ones from the unexpected vagaries of life such as road, rail or air accidents, critical illnesses such as cancer, stroke, heart attack, paralysis, etc. and from the eventuality of death itself.

Mutual fund houses launch bond funds for conservative investors who expect steady returns on their investments. That apart, bond funds are also more tax-efficient than fixed deposits for investors in the higher tax bracket. However, there are certain risks associated with bond funds. Let us examine the kind of risks that bond funds are exposed to.

If you are among those who rush to invest in initial public offers (IPOs) of companies, you need to know how to decide which IPOs to invest in and which ones to avoid. If you go by the hype and the hoopla in the market, you may be in for a shock if the company goes down under.

The investment horizon is a crucial factor that determines the returns on the investment. This factor is often overlooked by investors who expect to make a quick buck on the stock market within a matter of a few days or weeks. 

Banks and financial institutions nowadays consider the credit score of a person applying for a loan to determine the creditworthiness of the person and, depending on the credit score, they decide whether to approve the loan application or reject it.

Mutual fund houses offer two options for investing in a mutual fund scheme, namely, Regular and Direct. But most of the mutual fund investors are unaware about these options, and even if they are aware, they do not know the difference between the two.

The different categories of assets classes have varying degrees of risks, while the level of risk appetite or risk tolerance of an individual depends on several factors. Some of the important factors that determine the risk-taking ability of an individual are the level of income, age of the investor, expectations of returns and the financial needs and liabilities.

Most of the investors are very well conversant with Systematic Investment Plan (SIP), but not many investors are aware of the Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) and Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) of mutual funds. Let us understand what these plans are how investors can benefit from them.

All commercial banks levy a plethora of charges for providing various kinds of services to the customers. However, the customers may not even be aware of these charges unless they check up their bank accounts regularly.

Home loan is a big financial liability for a home buyer, not only because the amount involved runs into millions, if not crores, of rupees, but also because the tenure of the home loan runs into a decade or more.

Retired persons drawing monthly pension after retirement can claim various deductions and exemptions under various sections of the Income Tax Act. Let us take a look at all the exemptions and deductions available for the retirees that can help them save on their income tax.

Home loan borrowers are at a loss when it comes to deciding which one to choose between the two. Most find that the fixed rate home loans come at interest rates that are usually higher than the floating rate, so they might be instinctively tempted to go for home loans with floating rate of interest.

You have filed your income tax return (ITR) before the due date but later you find that you have omitted certain deductions for which you were eligible or have claimed wrong deductions or have committed certain errors in the ITR and, therefore, you are wondering whether you would get notice from the IT department.

If you are planning to start your own business, you need to be aware of some pitfalls that can come your way when you commence your journey. If you negotiate your way deftly through these pitfalls, you are likely to succeed in your new venture; however, if you fail to steer clear of these pitfalls, then your start-up could be heading for the rocks.

Just as you evaluate the performance of the portfolio of stocks, so also you should evaluate the performance of the mutual fund schemes in your mutual fund portfolio. There are time-tested methods to evaluate the performance of mutual fund schemes, so let us understand these methods and how to utilise them to evaluate the performance of MF schemes.

Banks may block the ATM card, deactivate internet banking and phone banking facilities and other services for an inactive or inoperative bank account. However, banks will credit interest on the balance amount in the inactive or inoperative bank account regularly.

CIBIL credit score is indicated by three digit numbers ranging from 300 to 900. If you have a high credit score, you can enjoy the many benefits that come with it. Read on to know more...

The collateral-free loan is a personal loan and the lender offers to the borrower a line of credit from which he can withdraw any amount ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5 lakh.

The decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to hike the repo rate by 25 bps to 6.50%, thereby moving the reverse repo rate to 6.25%, and maintaining the Cash Reserve Ratio at 4%, indicates the neutral stance adopted by the RBI on the monetary policy.

Insertion of clause 68HH in EPF Scheme will enable a member of the EPF, who is no longer in employment for a continuous period of one month, to withdraw 75% of the total fund standing to his or her credit in the PF account.

Not many home buyers know that the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act, 2016 (RERA) has introduced title insurance for property. RERA has mandated the purchase of title insurance for all new and ongoing property developments registered with the regulatory body, yet there is very little awareness about this amongst buyers. 

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 (FEO Bill), was approved by the parliament last month (July). The bill is expected to help the government bring back fugitives involved in white-collar crimes to stand trial in India.

There are many reasons why stocks should not be bought on borrowed funds. Let us look at some of the compelling ones.

Retail investors have poured Rs 1,33,903 crore in mutual fund schemes during the first quarter (Apr-June) of FY2018-19 as compared to Rs 93,400 crore during Apr-June quarter of FY2017-18, showing an impressive growth of more than 43 per cent over the corresponding quarter previous year.

Taxpayers who have been repaying their home loans and education loans through FY2017-18 can avail tax rebates under various sections of the Income Tax Act. Let us look at the details of the benefits available for such taxpayers.

The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) brought to the notice of the top brass of all 42 asset management companies in India and the AMFI listing 25 violations by the mutual fund industry. 

The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has recently amended provisions of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, to disallow listed companies from accepting a request for transfer of securities which are held in physical form with effect from December 5, 2018.

In a mutual fund scheme, you may have the option of choosing a dividend plan or a systematic withdrawal plan (SWP). If you are new to mutual fund investing, such an option may leave you confused and you may not be able to decide which one to go for. Let us find out what these options entail and help you choose the one that meets your financial needs and goals.

Almost 50 years post the nationalisation of banks, the wheel has turned a full circle and we are now talking about privatisation of public sector banks! So, how have things changed over the years that the present government, as well as some of the previous governments, have sought to disown (disinvest) the public sector banks (PSBs).

Diversification is made out to be a panacea against the risk of volatility, be it volatility in prices of stocks on the stock markets or volatility in interest rates in debt market. But diversification is a broad concept that needs to be understood thoroughly by the investors. So let’s try to understand what is meant by diversification.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had in January 2017 laid down guidelines for insurance companies about disclosures in respect of investments made by these companies in various other companies.

The people of India do not need such dramatized versions of performance evaluation by the opposition parties or by the government.  They live and experience the performance or non-performance of the government on a daily basis, so they will deliver their verdict as per their own parameters of performance assessment and according to their own political judgement. 

If you are new to trading in Futures and Options (F&O) segment, you need to know about stock exchanges placing some stocks under a ban period. During this period, traders cannot open any fresh position in the stock, but they can reduce their positions by offsetting their contracts.

The risk tolerance level of one individual can be quite different from another. This is because there are several factors including person’s income level, age, financial behaviour, emotional quotient, cultural background that determine risk appetite. 

At times, there is a direct correlation between crude oil prices and market movement, but at other times, there is inverse correlation between the two, while many a time, there is no correlation between the movements of crude oil prices and the stock markets.

In India, third party motor insurance cover is mandatory as it provides protection against any liability arising out of damage caused by your vehicle to the life, limb, vehicle and property of the third party. But since the third party cover does not offer any kind of protection against damage caused to your vehicle or any bodily injury sustained by you in the accident, the third party cover can be inadequate. 

Every individual has various kinds of goals in life. A person with a family of four consisting of spouse, son, daughter and oneself will also have many goals to achieve both personal as well as for family. 

One should start filing ITR the moment one becomes employed and starts earning. There are many advantages of filing an ITR as the ITR comes in handy as an authentic document which the individual can submit for various purposes as a citizen. Let us examine the various uses of ITR.

It is important that the taxpayer fills up the correct form as well as correct and full details of all types of incomes to avoid any complications in future. Let us take a look at the basic things that a taxpayer needs to be careful about.

What should the retail investors do in a voatile market? The simple answer is: remain invested in quality stocks, adopt a disciplined approach to investing and exit dud stocks. Let’s elaborate on these points.

The Central government’s decision to fix the minimum support prices (MSP) of Kharif crops at 50% above the cost of production is a welcome move, but the timing reeks of political motivation on account of the fast-approaching General Election.

Insurance companies come up with innovative products from time to time in order to meet the varying needs of policyholders. The incremental term insurance plan is one such innovative product that is aimed at making life easy for the heirs of a deceased policyholder. Let us look at the features of the incremental term insurance plan to understand its benefits for the policyholder.

When there is a monopoly or a duopoly in a sector or industry, you can be sure there are plenty of barriers to the entry of other players in the sector or the industry. Such companies make supernormal profits as they can dictate the price at which their products or services are available to the customers and, therefore, their shares command premium pricing on the stock markets.

The term ‘economies of scale’ is synonymous for efficiency in production of goods and services. It simply means that as the business grows bigger and bigger, the cost of production per unit declines progressively.

It is claimed that the price of a stock on the stock market is the function of demand for that stock and the available supply at a given point of time, apart from the fundamental factors that come into play in the pricing of the stock.

You must have often heard or read about the ‘power of compounding’ and if you are not conversant with matters of finance, you may not know what it actually means. Actually, it is quite simple: It just means that you get paid interest on the principal amount as well as on the accrued interest at regular intervals. The exponential effect of this power of compounding is astounding.

If you are planning to quit your job and thinking of becoming an entrepreneur having a start-up of your own, you need to take some steps to secure yourself financially before you venture into business.

The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked general insurance companies to submit third party vehicle insurance policies offering 3-year and 5-year insurance for cars and two-wheelers, respectively, and offer these options to their customers. The IRDAI directive to the insurers comes in the wake of the recommendation made by the Committee on Road Safety of the Supreme Court.

If you are in need of money and want to have a loan at a rate cheaper than personal loan, you can consider pledging your life insurance policy as collateral for raising the loan. You may apply for the loan either through the insurance policy or directly with the bank.

The performance of a mutual fund scheme cannot be done in isolation and it has to have some reference point or yardstick for comparison. The index to which the scheme is benchmarked provides such a reference point for comparison of the performance. If the scheme gives higher returns than the benchmark’s returns, it is said to have outperformed the benchmark during a given period of time; however, if it gives lower returns than that of the benchmark, the scheme is said to have underperformed the benchmark.

In India, an average investor barely knows about money market mutual funds (MMMFs), and even if he is aware, he seldom ventures to invest in these funds. There is a tendency among Indian investors to opt for known investment avenues such as bank fixed deposits, bonds, debentures, PPF, etc. The lack of awareness amongst investors about MMMFs deprives them of a good investment opportunity.

If you are planning to invest in securities such as fixed maturity plans (FMPs), closed-ended mutual funds, tax-free bonds or non-convertible debentures, you need to know that these securities are illiquid as there are not many buyers and sellers of these securities in the market.

Mutual fund houses have been offering a free add-on feature of life insurance cover to investors who invest through SIPs of select mutual fund schemes. The amount of life insurance cover offered depends on the amount of monthly SIP investment made by the investor, so higher the SIP amount, higher the life insurance cover. 

A travel insurance policy should not only cover the risk of death and hospitalisation, but it should also provide cover for delay or cancellation in flight, baggage loss, etc arising during travel.

Need for diversification or high growth makes savvy investors dabble in illiquid securities. Some want to transact in tax-free bonds, fixed maturity plans (FMP), closed-ended funds (CEF) or even non-convertible debentures (NCD) listed on stock exchanges.