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Many people ask me whether they should invest money in stocks or mutual fund or not? I say, you should invest at least some part of your money into equities because it is the only investment which can beat inflation in the long term. It's not that investing in equities will guarantee superb returns because there are periods and even extending up to 5, 10, 15, 20 and even 25 years where equities have delivered negative, no returns or very poor returns. For examples in Japan, Equities has not really been the best performing asset class in last twenty years. Nikki, index of Tokyo stock exchange was around 39K on December 1989 and where it is now, around 15K, after touching lows like 7K and 8K during 2001 and 2009. What this mean, if you have invested in Index you would have one-third of your money by now, forget about getting any interest. Read more »

There is a wise saying that "one penny saved is one penny earned" . This is true even in the world of investment and saving. In today's volatile world your gain on equities or other investment options e.g. bond or fixed deposit can quickly erode due to depreciation in currency. This is what happening currently in India, with rupee depreciating to record low and inching towards physiological 1 USD = 70 INR, talk of capital protection is gaining momentum over capital appreciation. Since everybody focuses on capital appreciation and that is also the main objective of saving and investment, but if you don't pay enough attention to what happening around the world, you may quickly lose all your appreciation. If you are an NRI, who has positions on Rupee e.g. may be with an investment in equities or real estate, you can understand that with falling rupee, all those capital appreciation quickly erode. Read more »

Well, I am not an analyst, who can say that whether it's right time to invest in gold or not, but since I am a common man like many others, which follows some simple rules while investing money and follows principle of diversity, I made to think that is it right time to buy Gold? Well, many people will say, YES, buy gold, the price is lower from the peak, invest in gold, it's the perfect time to buy gold etc. It's natural to think like that, and everybody can think like that, which makes me a little worry, because if everybody can guess anything, which means there is not much value on that task. So in my opinion, it's not the best time to buy gold, at least for some time, except the Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)  part, which always continues, despite market conditions. Read more »

With Rupee falling every day and touching a new all-time low of almost $1 to Rs 65, many of NRI Indians are asking this question, is it a right time to transfer money to India or is it the right time to invest in FCNR deposits on Indian banks. If you have transferred dollars to India recently, many are just a fortnight ago, you might be regretting your decision to miss this increase in exchange rates. But there are many Indians, which are also thinking to take advantage of both increase in exchange rates as well as high-interest rates offered by Indian banks. Since NRE fixed deposits are not that attractive, due to recent fall in rupees values, in fact, you would earn more than FD if you keep your money in dollar itself, but FCNR (Foreign Currency Non Resident) deposits are unique, it keep money in the foreign currency itself e.g. in USD, GBP, SGD, AUD or JPY, depending upon your FCNR deposit currency. Read more »

PM Modi has launched several good financial schemes e.g. Atal Pension Yojna to provide retirement solutions to many peoples from un-organized sector, PradhanMantri Jan Dhan yojana to open bank accounts for poor, Pradhanmantri Suraksha Yojna to provide the cheapest insurance to Indian citizens and my favorite Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna to save money for your daughter's education and marriage. It's one of the best, government-backed saving and investment option you will find, I guess only PPF is close matched to it, but this is only for parents with a girl child. If you have a daughter aged less than 10 years, you can open a Sukanya Samriddhi account for her in your nearest post office which provides investment option. The key feature of this account is slightly higher interest rate it offers in comparison of Personal Provident Fund account . Read more »

I come to know about this excellent pension scheme just now after listening respected Prime minister Narendra Modi Ji's independence day speech.  Since many Indians works in private sector where there is no pension and Indian provides no social security to its citizen like European nations, it's very important for individuals to take care of their retirement and pension need. In order to encourage and help people, Narendra Modi government has launched Atal Pension Yojna on 1st June 2015. It's like Swablamban Scheme already running with NPS (New Pension System). Read more »

If you are going for holidays or work to Dubai, Singapore, or the USA from India and wondering how much Indian rupees you can carry to overseas then you need to know the Indian customs official limit about the export of Indian currency. As per Indian customs rules, Export of Indian Currency is strictly prohibited. However Indian residents, when they go abroad, can take Rs. 25,000/ or INR twenty-five thousand with them. This rule is same for going to any country in the world e.g. you can take 25K INR if you are going to Dubai, Singapore or India. Read more »

In this article, I'll answered some of the frequently asked questions about Aadhaar card and PAN card and their linking for NRIs and Indians living abroad. Though, the most important thing to remember is that NRIs are not eligible for Aadhaar card and they are also exempted from quoting Aadhaar number in their income tax return in India. Since they are not legally eligible for Aadhaar, they are also don't need Aadhaar number if they want to apply for PAN card from 1st July 2017. Read more »