I vividly remember talking to a friend some six years ago. He had just filed his first income tax return and in order to save on tax, he had purchased a LIC policy. The talk drifted to other topics and he began telling me about his responsibilities to his parents and sisters and how he hoped his job would help him fulfill those. Something seemed odd. I asked him more details about the LIC policy. As it turned out, the policy provided neither risk cover nor liquidity. It was probably good for retirement but with an element of surprises - LIC is known to give good bonus. In his case, he needed money in 3-5 years; the sensible thing was to forget the LIC policy and not pay any more premiums. I know not what he did later.
A few years later, I studied finance in my MBA and learnt the basics of discounted cash flow and financial planning. Strangely, there were no courses on personal finance. My summer internship was in an insurance firm and I remember a big debate with the product manager wherein I said that they needed to separate insurance from investment. He agreed partially. Later I read more about the subject and came to the conclusion that Insurance is best avoided. However, one of relatives is an insurance agent and he convinced me to buy a couple of policies.
A few years later, I got married and realizing the increase in responsibilities, decided to get my personal finances in order. I spent a day every month reading about personal finance and implementing stuff. Since then, I have realized that good advise for managing one's finances is difficult to get - especially for the young, salaried Indian. Thus started this blog.
I will present here much of the "accepted theory" in terms that are simple. More importantly, I hope to bring out issues specific to Indian culture and economics so that people can easily relate to these. Lastly, I will also provide ways to use simple online tools - calculators, demat accounts, SIP etc. so that people do not have to go to advisors.
If you have suggestions or queries, feel free to write to me at nirmeshs@gmail.com
A few years later, I studied finance in my MBA and learnt the basics of discounted cash flow and financial planning. Strangely, there were no courses on personal finance. My summer internship was in an insurance firm and I remember a big debate with the product manager wherein I said that they needed to separate insurance from investment. He agreed partially. Later I read more about the subject and came to the conclusion that Insurance is best avoided. However, one of relatives is an insurance agent and he convinced me to buy a couple of policies.
A few years later, I got married and realizing the increase in responsibilities, decided to get my personal finances in order. I spent a day every month reading about personal finance and implementing stuff. Since then, I have realized that good advise for managing one's finances is difficult to get - especially for the young, salaried Indian. Thus started this blog.
I will present here much of the "accepted theory" in terms that are simple. More importantly, I hope to bring out issues specific to Indian culture and economics so that people can easily relate to these. Lastly, I will also provide ways to use simple online tools - calculators, demat accounts, SIP etc. so that people do not have to go to advisors.
If you have suggestions or queries, feel free to write to me at nirmeshs@gmail.com
