Vijaibabu's Blog - Personal Finance Guide for Financial Freedom

Setting up and sustaining a budget is crucial to achieving financial goals. Here are the things you should keep in mind while creating one. 1. Separate needs & wants The first step in creating a budget is establishing the cash flow, that is, listing out the income and expenses. Next, identify the things you spend on and segregate the items into two categories— necessities and discretionary spends. The first includes things that are indespensable, like groceries, rent and utilities, while the second comprises wants or recreation (dining out, weekend trips, movies). It is essential to first provide for your needs, which means that you should pay your utility bills and carry out grocery shopping before buying the latest gadget. This may involve some sacrifices, but will ensure long-term stability. So try to be honest with yourself while identifying where and how much you are spending  and stick to the budget   2. Don't count the extras While listing out your income, don&

Are you planning for your child’s wedding or deciding on your new house? Do the thought of funds daunt you? Mutual funds could be your answer. Being the brain-child of Wall Street, mutual funds offer hassle free investment opportunities that can cater to different risk profiles. Understanding the nuances of investing in mutual funds requires hard work and the returns take on a learning curve. With meticulous planning, the rewards from mutual funds will far outweigh the required efforts. To know more about mutual funds and its different flavours, do read the following section on how these can be suited for individual investment requirements. Are mutual fund investments the one stop shop? Imagine you are unwell and need medical advice. Which doctor would you resort to? Medical science these days has numerous specialties and for the best advice you need to visit the doctor who has specialized in the area where you need consultation / advice. This increases your chance of recovery

Investments in top mutual funds yield better returns when an investors sticks with it for the long term. While sector based funds have been providing high returns, they come with a higher risk. On the other side, large cap mutual funds have been providing good returns in the long run. Here are some of the mutual funds which have tripled the money in the last 5 years which are worth considering for investment.  1)Fund A: This mutual fund scheme invests primarily in shares of companies that are included in the BSE 200 Index. Performance of the fund: Its 5 year annualized returns are 25%. It gave 9% annualized returns in last 3 years. If you have invested Rs 10,000  five years back, your investment would have been Rs 30,518 . Who should invest: This is a good fund for those with a medium risk appetite, but looking for good returns in the long run.  2)Fund B: This mutual fund scheme invests in top 20 large cap stocks among the top 200 stocks listed on BSE based on market capitalizatio

Do you read the fine print on health insurance policies before buying them? Or do you find the reams of terms and conditions so intimidating that you just don't buy them? If the latter, you are among many who steer clear of health insurance and prefer to pay for medical expenses from the pocket. Not because they are rich, but because the idea of being snubbed by the insurance company while settling the claim hurts. Fine prints though trivial but form an important part of your claim approval or rejection process. Keep a couple of the following aspect of fine print in mind to make a wise decision regarding health insurance.  What’s covered and what’s not covered: No health insurance company covers all diseases. So read the list of covered diseases very carefully. Your decision should be based on the kind of lifestyle you lead—sedentary or active, and you should also consider health complications that run in the family. Diabetes, kidney stones, heart diseases are known to be passe

Home loans can be very beneficial for property buyers, as they not only help you buy your dream home, but also help you save on taxes. But you must remember to choose the right home loan if you do not want to face the hassles in the process. Here are a few quick tips that you could keep in mind while applying for a home loan. These tips could help ease the complicated procedure a little bit and at the same time help you save some money. Some of the tips that are recommended are mentioned below Research well These days loan are made quite attractive for the buyers with low interest rates and additional schemes. Therefore it is better to educate yourself about the terms and conditions of each loan agreement so that you are prepared beforehand. Clarify all your doubts regarding the loan scheme before you finalize anything and don’t hesitate to ask questions to the sales person even if you have the smallest difficulty understanding a particular clause. Take a look at the EMI  Calc

When you are in the urgent need of cash, the easiest option seems to be taking a personal loan. But with the raging interest rates these days, it’s not quite wise to get into the vicious cycle of debt. Banks also tend to look at your entire financial profile before accepting you for eligibility. What if you could have an option apart from personal loan in times of crisis? Here are some quick fixes as alternatives to personal loans Loan against fixed deposits This is the quickest possible loan because banks lend against their own fixed deposits. The repayments of this type of loan should be done within the fixed deposit tenure. The biggest advantage is there is minimal documentation required and loans are available over 80% of the fixed deposit value. Also, your fixed deposit continues to earn interest even during the tenure of the loan. However, you must discipline yourself to repay the loan every month like an EMI. Gold loan Initially started off as a popular source of finance