Vijaibabu's Blog - Personal Finance Guide for Financial Freedom

Cheques are now valid for 3 months With effect from April 1, 2012 you will have to deposit your cheques, draft or pay order within three months of the issue date of the instrument, instead of the current six months. For your benefit, banks have been asked by the RBI to print or stamp this change in the validity period on cheques and other such relevant instruments that will be issued from April 1, 2012. Post April 1, 2012, banks will not honor cheques, pay orders, drafts and bankers' cheques that are deposited beyond the three-month period. Drafts above Rs 20,000 will have to be A/c payee only To check the flow of black money and eliminate third party scams, RBI has also made it mandatory that all drafts for amounts above Rs 20, 000 will be account payee only. This is done so that the amount is deposited directly into the recipient's account rather than any other third party account. The RBI has also asked banks to ensure that account payee cheques and drafts are only credit

 Three rules of investment: Invest early Invest regularly Invest for long term and not short term Invest Early : The sooner you start the better. Start investing in small amounts, continuously for a long time, money grows due to the power of compounding. If you start investing when you are single you will be able to save maximum. The best policy is to start saving from the moment you begin earning. Invest Regularly : Develop the habit of adding to your recurring deposit / systematic investment plan of mutual fund / deferred annuity account on a regular basis, perhaps monthly or quarterly. By investing regularly with SIP of mutual funds you take advantage of a strategy called rupee-cost averaging. Regular investing, however, does not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining market scenario. Invest for Long Term and Not Short Term : If you decide that your money can work for you over a long period of time, then better compounding works. Consider this: Rs 1,0