Become money smart this fiscal

: Did you fail to follow all those resolutions taken on 1st January, at the beginning of new year, to improve your financial life? Don’t worry here is another chance to once again make some fresh resolutions and make some amends. This week marks start of another New Year — a New Financial Year. Lets discuss what are the top 4 priorities you MUST have among others to put your finances in order.Tax PlanningMake sure to file your tax returns by 31st March, if you haven’t filed already. Go to http://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ for filing your returns online or contact a tax preparer nearby. For the coming year, starting April 1st, make sure you do your tax planning in advance. * Use all tax deductions possible to bring your tax liability down * Declare your HRA, home loan principal and interest contribution, and tax saving investment related details to your employer at the start of the year itself * Keep all HRA receipts received from your landlord, keep at least 6 months of salary slips and keep a record of previous tax returns * If you plan to invest in ELSS from mutual funds, start a SIP rather than wait till the end of FY to make lump sum investments. It will average out the risk and reduce financial burden at the end of the year. Investment PlanningDiscuss your long term and short term financial goals with your family and make sure you write them down. Taking inflation in to account will make your future requirement a more realistic figure. For eg, if the current cost of your son’s education is Rs 10 lakh, then assuming an inflation of 7 per cent, the requirement after 10 years would be over Rs 20 lakh. Look at equity for long term goals and debt for short term (1 to 2 years). If you do not have the expertise or inclination to invest directly in to stocks, you can look at equity diversified mutual funds. CEO, Value Research, Dhirendra Kumar believes, “mutual funds are a good vehicle for equity investments as you have a dedicated fund manager to manage your investment and even with small amounts of money you can invest in several companies through the fund of your choice.” Make a portfolio of 4-5 equity diversified mutual funds with proven track record and consistent performance and review the portfolio from time to time. Equity, as an asset class has given best returns over the longer period. However, discipline to contnue investing and patience for long term is a must for an equity investor. For debt investment you can look at fixed maturity plans or liquid funds offered by various fund houses. Though the returns are not guaranteed, the post tax returns on debt funds makes them an attractive option as compared with Fixed Deposits. Along with equity and debt you must have 15 to 20 per cent of your portfolio in gold. You may look at gold exchange traded funds than buying physical gold, for investment purposes. However, you need a demat account for buying a gold exchange traded fund. Insurance PlanningIf you haven’t already bought a life insurance policy, buy one immediately as you would not want your family to suffer, should something happens to you. You may buy life insurance online as that would be 20 to 30 per cent cheaper than bought through an agent. However, avoid looking at any kind of returns from your insurance premiums. Suresh Sadagopan, a Mumbai based Certified Financial Planner suggests, “avoid mixing insurance with investment and buy a term insurance policy which is cheapest form of life insurance available.” Along with covering your life, a health insurance policy is equally important. This will take care of your hospitalisation expenses, which are becoming expensive day by day. Remember, insurance is a necessary cost to reduce your risk. Don’t forget to claim tax deductions both on life and health insurance policies. Along with these two, you must look at insuring your household through a household insurance policy. While buying the policy declare value of each product being insured and keep the purchase receipts of each item. Household policy will come handy in case of burglary or fire, not uncommon these days. Get financial life in orderThis is a good time to get your financial life sorted. * First and foremost start making a written monthly budget and follow it strictly. * Build a good credit history by making all loan/credit card payments on time. * Maintain a file of all provident fund, mutual funds, and insurance policy related documents. Follow the steps above and become money smart. Do not break the resolutions this time and make your financial life free from all mailto:worries.ritukant.ojha@expressindia.comKEY TAKEAWAYS* File tax return by 31st March * Keep record of all tax saving instruments like PF, ELSS etc * Make sure to be adequately insured. Buy health and life cover immediately * Identify financial goals and start investing towards them

Buy IndusInd Bank With Target Of Rs 270

Technical Analyst Anu Jain has maintained 'buy' rating on IndusInd Bank Limited stock with a target of Rs 270. Mr. Jain said that the stock can be purchased on dips with a stop loss of Rs 247.50. The stock of the bank, on March 23, closed at Rs 253.95 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 309.30 and a low of Rs 165.40 on BSE. Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 10.83 and 23.74 respectively. IndusInd Bank is eyeing to get hold of Deutsche Bank's credit card biz in India and hopes to settle the transaction by the coming weeks. IndusInd Bank, together with Axis Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank and Karnataka Bank expressed interest in acquirement of Deutsche Bank's credit card biz. As a precursor to its foray in credit card biz, the banking institution has nominated Mr. Anil Ramachandran as the chief of its cards biz during November 2010. Mr. Anil has already begun establishing the credit cards biz of the banking institution. Indusind Bank has recorded an increase of 74.76% in its net profit for the three month period ended December 2010. The bank's net profit during the period remained at Rs 1.54 billion as compared to Rs 880.40 million during the same period last year. source:http://www.topnews.in/buy-indusind-bank-target-rs-270-2319160

Nokia Ties With Union Bank Of India, Launch Mobile Payments Services

Nokia has come up with a partnership with Union Bank of India and have launched mobile payment services. It is mainly targeting all those people who don't have proper banking facilities. With this service, consumers can easily take out cash at ATMs (automated teller machines), transfer money at selected retail stores as well as to transfer to other people. Nokia even said that their customers can pay utility bills and recharge pre-paid mobile connections through this facility. Through this "Union Bank Money powered by Nokia" service, many millions of Indian people are given the banking service facility by Union Bank and Nokia. Nokia will also be targeting about 10 million Indian people spread over 32,000 villages by 2013 to use this mobile banking facility. First, it will be rolled out in suburbs of Delhi, mainly Gurgaon, and then all across India in the coming few months. Interestingly, all those who don’t even have a Nokia phone can also transfer money, as the company have done it so. The service from Nokia and Union Bank is based on the Obopay mobile payment platform. The service comes as independent of the mobile operators. Customers can create an account at a correspondent outlet, and then install the banking application on their phone. Thereafter, through SMS or Short Message Service facility, users will be able to receive money or transfer funds. However, the respective mobile number will be used as the unique identifier by the bank. And also each customer will be charged a certain transaction fee. SOPURCE:http://www.india-server.com/news/nokia-ties-with-union-bank-of-india-39217.html

'Indian credit card boom to beat China'

Boston: MasterCard\'s India-born President and CEO Ajay Banga today said India is a "more exciting" market than China for the credit cards and payment giant and the company is focused on shifting as many consumers in India as possible from cash to the electronic payment system."India still uses a lot of cash in its economy. All I am interested in is converting utilisation for retail payments from cash to alternative forms," Banga said. Speaking on the sidelines of the \'India Conference\' organised by the Harvard Business School (HBS) and Harvard Kennedy School, the IIM Ahmedabad alumnus said India is undertaking various steps to help drive "electronification" – from the unique identification number scheme to mobile payments. Sheer availability and acceptance of cards will help drive growth of the electronic payment system in India and "I am keen to do that," he said. Banga, who was named MasterCard CEO last year, added that cash is expensive for an economy to print, distribute and secure, costing between 0.6 to 1.5 per cent of the country\'s GDP. The presence of cash in an economy also facilitates income tax evasion as well as illegal cross border activity. "Electronic payment would not facilitate that," he said, adding that the market in India is ready for a boom in use of electronic payment systems. Earlier, when asked by HBS Dean Nitin Nohria to choose between India and China in terms of which is the "more exciting market for MasterCard", Banga replied "India." He said the world over, the "tonality" regarding India has changed completely. This is a testament to the country\'s "unbelievable economic growth," he said, adding that hopefully, India\'s GDP growth rate will surpass that of China\'s in a few years. Speaking to Harvard students, Banga said the most interesting part of India\'s growth story is that the economic development has continued irrespective of which political party is in power. Lauding India\'s entrepreneurial energy, Banga said India has the opportunity to have balanced domestic and external growth as well as "diversified growth" in areas like services, agriculture and industry. He pointed out that while in the short and medium term, the services sector will create more jobs, India has to build its manufacturing capabilities for sustained economic development. "Eventually India has to go past the services sector into developing manufacturing. There is need for the manufacturing sector to drive subsequent growth," which would require a series of reforms on capital formation, land acquisition and more infrastructure development in non-urban areas. India has to strike a balance between "knowledge intensity and labour intensity" to ensure sustained growth, he said. "We should not go only for labour intensity, we need to use knowledge intensity for our benefit to make our economy an innovation driven one," he said. While pointing out that India has the advantage of a "demographic dividend", Banga said sheer size of a young population will alone not result in growth for the country going forward. He said efforts have to be made to improve the quality of life for Indian citizens, an issue which is a matter of concern and poses real challenges to the India growth story. He said issues like healthcare, education, infant mortality rate are "challenges and need urgent addressing". He called on the Indian private sector to partner with NGOs to help improve the quality of life in India. "Private sector needs to be willing to give a great deal more into charitable causes," he said, adding that while some people have begun giving more to charity, "there is still lots to be done." On the issue of various corruption scandals that have hit India, Banga said institutional corruption is a "very serious issue" and added that change can be brought about even by a single person. He said people in India see the corruption scandals as a "blot on our face" and are reacting strongly against them. "This sense of self respect can bring about changes," Banga added.

Indian Budget 2011-12- Full Text of Budget Speech

We are reaching the end of a remarkable fiscal year. In a globalised world with its share of uncertainties and rapid changes, this year brought us some opportunities and many challenges as we moved ahead with steady steps on the chosen path of fiscal consolidation and high economic growth. 2. Our growth in 2010-11 has been swift and broad-based. The economy is back to its pre-crisis growth trajectory. While agriculture has shown a rebound, industry is regaining its earlier momentum. Services sector continues its near double digit run. Fiscal consolidation has been impressive. This year has also seen significant progress in those critical institutional reforms that would set the pace for double-digit growth in the near future. 3. While we succeeded in making good progress in addressing many areas of our concern, we could have done better in some others. The total food inflation declined from 20.2 per cent in February 2010 to less than half at 9.3 per cent in January 2011, but it still remains a concern. In the medium term perspective, our three priorities of sustaining a high growth trajectory; making development more inclusive; and improving our institutions, public delivery and governance practices, remain relevant. These would continue to engage the Indian policy-planners for some time. However, there are some manifestations of these challenges that need urgent attention in the short term. 4. Though we have regained the pre-crisis growth momentum, there is a need to effect adjustments in the composition of growth on demand and supply side. We have to ensure that along with private consumption, the revival in private investment is sustained and matches pre-crisis growth rates at the earliest. This requires a stronger fiscal consolidation to enlarge the resource space for private enterprise and addressing some policy constraints. We also have to improve the supply response of agriculture to the expanding domestic demand. Determined measures on both these issues will help address the structural concerns on inflation management. It will also ensure a more stable macroeconomic environment for continued high growth. 5. The UPA Government has significantly scaled up the flow of resources to rural areas to give a more inclusive thrust to the development process. The impact is visible in the new dynamism of our rural economy. It has helped India navigate itself rapidly out of the quagmire of global economic slowdown. Yet, there is much that still needs to be done, especially in rural India. We have to reconcile legitimate environmental concerns with necessary developmental needs. Above all, there is the 'challenge of growing aspiration' of a young India. 6. To address these concerns, I do not foresee resources being a major constraint, at least not in the medium-term. However, the implementation gaps, leakages from public programmes and the quality of our outcomes are a serious challenge. 7. Certain events in the past few months may have created an impression of drift in governance and a gap in public accountability. Even as the Government is engaged in addressing specific concerns emanating from some of these events in the larger public interest and in upholding the rule of law, such an impression is misplaced. We have to seize in these developments, the opportunity to improve our regulatory standards and administrative practices. Corruption is a problem that we have to fight collectively. 8. In a complex and rapidly evolving economy, the Government can not profess to be the sole repository of all knowledge. Indeed, in a democratic polity, it stands to benefit from inputs from colleagues on both sides of the House. They must lend their voice and expertise to influence public policy in the wider national interest. In some areas, good results depend on coordinated efforts of the Centre and the State Governments and in some others, on favourable external developments. 9. I see the Budget for 2011-12 as a transition towards a more transparent and result oriented economic management system in India. We are taking major steps in simplifying and placing the administrative procedures concerning taxation, trade and tariffs and social transfers on electronic interface, free of discretion and bureaucratic delays. This will set the tone for a newer, vibrant and more efficient economy. 10. At times the biggest reforms are not the ones that make headline, but the ones concerned with the details of governance, which affect the everyday life of aam aadmi. In preparing this year's Budget, I have been deeply conscious of this fact. I am grateful for the able guidance of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the strong support lent by UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi in my endeavour. I would now begin with a brief overview of the economy.