Personal finance resolutions for FY 2022-2023
The last two years saw a lot of turbulence in the personal finance and investment space. Covid triggered stock market crash followed by a quick recovery and again followed by a small correction, high inflation, low interest rates, and the ongoing Geo -political crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Today as we step into the new financial year 2022-2023, some of these issues like the pandemic are hopefully done with, while the others and the associated uncertainty gets carried over .
So here is a quick checklist of how to protect your portfolio from a sharp downside in the event of such a crisis and some resolutions one can make for the financial year ahead .
- The key to protect your portfolio from too much downside risk is efficient diversification. Not all asset classes move in tandem.Equity and debt are not co-related, while gold has a negative co-relation to equity. Among all these, equity is the most volatile. And if one invests in equity with a long term perspective and adopts the monthly SIP route, such interim volatility will not affect you much as your investments will benefit from the cost averaging even when the markets are in a down run. To give you an example of my own personal portfolio – which is broadly something like 50 % debt ( Fixed Income and debt funds), 40 % equity and 10 % gold) , during the sharp stock market fall during March/April 2020, most equity funds/indices fell by close to 30 % , but since most of them were via the SIP route, the correction was less, and the subsequent installments over the next year reduced the avg purchase NAV , and the same funds which were in RED saw a huge profit when the markets recovered. The fixed income part did not get affected. The crisis saw 3-4 interest rate cuts which benefit the debt funds – most of the ones I had gave something like 9-10 % returns in that year.. And gold shone and reached an all time high. So, the net result was that my portfolio was hardly affected over the time frame of that one year. So, resolution 1 would be to optimally diversify your investment portfolio to maximize the risk adjusted returns.
- Tax optimization on your investments- One of the major objectives of the mass affluent salaried individual in India is to reduce taxes on the active income. Unfortunately you can do it only to a certain extent- we are a country with a progressive taxation policy. So the more you earn, the higher you pay in both absolute terms and percentage terms. But many of us remember to make these tax saving investments at the fag end of the year, when we are reminded by our employer to submit proof of investments for income tax rebate. And in a hurry to finish doing these investments we fall prey to the LIC /other Insurance agents trying to sell low yielding savings cum Insurance plans..and they are more than eager to get everything done for you at a short notice at your doorstep. So resolution 2 would be to plan ahead right at the start of the financial year – if you wish to invest in PPF for 80C rebate, try and do it in April , the first month of the financial year so that your money earns interest for the whole year.. If you follow this process for the entire PPF term, it will make a significant difference to your maturity corpus. In case of equity oriented /NAV based products like ELSS mutual funds and NPS, invest monthly instead of a lump sum so as to spread the risk. You can set up an auto debit for the required amount from your saving account. Apart from this, also look at minimizing the tax impact on your investment income- invest in high growth lower tax product like equity funds, and in lower risk debt funds to benefit from indexation.
- Always work with a plan in place. Have clear goals for all the financial milestones incl retirement , and make sure you align your investments to these goals. At the end of every year, see if you are on track as as far as reaching your goals are concerned. As your salary and income surplus grows, step up your investments every year. Do not keep idle cash at 2 % in your savings bank account. A penny saved is a penny earned.
Good luck for the year ahead !
Covid Insurance Cover : Do you need one ?
As per the latest data, the highly contagious covid pandemic has affected about 14.6 million people across the world, with over 6 lakh people already having succumbed to the disease. And the virus keeps spreading at alarming rates, with no signs of abating, even as the world is struggling to find vaccines, cure or a foolproof treatment.
While all of us live in this fear of contracting it, if the worst comes true, apart from the risk and uncertainty surrounding recovery and long term impact on health, another important thing to consider would be whether we are prepared to handle the expenses associated with it. This assumes more importance with the rising numbers with each passing day and acute shortage of hospital beds, and lack of amenities in the ones provided by the govt, the private hospitals charging a fortune.
Considering all this, the govt of India has directed health insurers to offer Corona Kavach policies which are specially meant to cover expenses arising due to contracting this virus. Who should take this policy?
- If you and your family are already covered by an individual mediclaim policy, all hospitalization and expenses related to covid will probably be covered. However it is important that the same is confirmed with your service provider.
- If you do not have a personal mediclaim, but are covered by your employer by a group health insurance, it may make sense to opt for a covid policy. Group policies are known to be inflexible, and may reimburse only a part of the cost. Even in this case, one can check with the company what is covered.
- If you do not have any mediclaim policy, it is advised to subscribe to the Covid policy for all the members of the family. The premiums are very low – ranging from about Rs 600-700 to 3000-3500, one time per head depending upon the amount of insurance which ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 Lakh. The coverage period is from 6 months to a year, depending upon the service provider. God forbid, if someone who doesn’t have a mediclaim were to get afflicted by this, they will have to dip into their personal savings to fund this, which will jeopardize their long term financial goals too. Compared to this, the onetime nominal premium is a relatively small price to pay.
In case you wish to buy a covid policy, here is the URL and link of one of the best ones available right now.
https://protection.bcfsl.in/?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=internal&utm_campaign=F4502
The policy has to be bought online directly using the link above , and the confirmation and policy issuance details will be communicated to you by sms or email.
In case of any further queries or clarifications, you can reach us at : sriraksha2007@gmail.com or call on 9820418134.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer and do not constitute any financial advice in any way nor suggest or promote investments in any products.
7.75 % savings (taxable) Bonds to be launched in a new avatar from 1 July 2020
The popular 7.75 % savings bonds, which were also known as GOI bonds or RBI bonds were withdrawn for subscription last month w.e.f 29 May 2020.
Come 1st July, the bonds are being re introduced in an entirely new avatar and will be called Floating Rate Savings Bonds 2020 (taxable).
Here are some of its main features –
- Any Indian resident can invest as an individual or as joint/either or survivor /minor with guardian. HUFs can invest too.
- These bonds will be issued only in electronic form and held in an account called the bond ledger account ( BLA) for the investor.
- These bonds are not transferable, except transfer to nominee or legal heir in the event of death of the investor.
- The coupon rate will be floating and pegged at the National Savings Certificate (NSC) rate + 0.35 %. It will be revised every 6 months on Jan 1 and July 1
- Coupon rate for the first subscription opening on July 1 2020 will be 7.15 % ( 6.80% + 0.35%)
- One can subscribe to these bonds through cheques/drafts/electronic mode and cash (only upto Rs 20,000)
Sovereign gold bonds have these disadvantages too!
The ongoing issue of sovereign gold bonds open from 8 June 2020 to 12 June 2020 has brokers and agents outdoing each other by glorifying its benefits to the potential investors. Since there is enough and more being written how it is a not-to-be missed investment opportunity, this post is not about the “pros” of the issue but about the “cons” which no one seems to be discussing.
- The interest of 2.5% per annum is fully taxable.
- This is a simple rate of interest, does not compound.
- In case someone redeems this before maturity, it attracts capital gains tax.
- Though the bonds are tradable on NSE and BSE, the liquidity and pricing depends solely on the demand at that time.
- The actual gain depends on where the price of gold is at the time of maturity of the issue.
The objective of this post is just to highlight the few drawbacks of this scheme which one should be aware of along with the unique benefits it offers which make it a good investment option. Please consult your financial planner/advisor to understand its suitability and the ideal allocation in line with your financial goals.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer and do not constitute any financial advice in any way nor suggest or promote investments in any products.
Navigating your Equity Investments in the current scenario
The global pandemic has resulted in a secular stock market downturn since February. In just over a month starting from the 3rd week of February, the Nifty corrected by over 35 %. Though it has recovered slightly from that low, it is at a 25 % discount to its price before the start of this meltdown.
As a result we have been getting many inquiries from clients, investors, friends, acquaintances wanting to take advantage of this. The most common queries being asked are:
- I want to invest in quality stocks now at these cheaper valuations. How do I ensure that I invest in companies with strong fundamentals and good credentials, which are likely to bounce back once we tide over this covid crisis?
- I am stuck with an existing portfolio of shares/equity funds which are at a significant loss now, and I do not have any spare funds to invest. Should I book at loss to prevent any further damage, or wait patiently for things to get back to normal?
- I have never invested in equity earlier. But from all the news reports and advice from my experienced friends, I feel it is the right time to start. What is the best way to go about it?
We are financial planners, and our main objective is to protect investor wealth over the long term and ensure that it generates superior risk adjusted returns so as to meet all the financial goals. We are neither fund managers, nor equity analysts or stock market experts.
However, equity investments form an integral part of our recommendations and we have listed below what services we offer in this space.
- For those investors wanting to get into direct equity, we have researched, identified and shortlisted a couple of equity advisory companies which have a good track record and have been consistently beating the benchmark indices. Most of these start with an initial investment of 5-10 lakhs. These advisory outfits have portfolios with specific themes which the investor can take exposure to depending on their preference. They are given a login access to the equity portfolio which they can check anytime to see where the fund manager is investing or what is being bought and sold.
- For the DIY investors who are savvy and have been managing their own share portfolios for a long time, and only want recommendations or names of select stocks to invest in with the rationale and reasoning behind it, there are organizations which we can suggest which do this for a fee.
- For those who have an existing portfolio of shares which they haven’t been able to track properly or do not know what to do next, please send it to us, we can analyse those based on certain standard basic parameters which lie within our purview and area of knowledge and expertise, and give you our feedback.
- For the new entrants, we suggest that they avoid getting into direct equities right away; and start with investing small amounts regularly into diversified equity funds with a proven track record of consistency in returns. We can help you construct a customized portfolio of equity funds, which we will help you invest, and manage and track it too.
GOLD- A SAFE HAVEN DURING A GLOBAL CRISIS?
Gold has always been perceived as a safe haven to invest in during times of global crisis. So it is not surprising that in the current times of the covid pandemic and fears of a long drawn global recession gold prices have been on an uptrend and in spite of gold currently being at an all time high of around 4600 per gram, the demand has still not reduced. Those who have already invested in gold may exit other asset classes like equity, debt etc, but most of them hold on to their gold assets, as they are considered to be always a “valuable” investment for the long term.
What are the various ways in which you can invest in gold?
- Physical Gold – bars, coins, Gold investment schemes run by jewelry shops etc
- Gold Exchange traded funds
- Gold funds by Mutual fund companies
- Funds which invest in Gold mining companies – These assumes higher risk, and is a slightly indirect way of taking exposure to gold, but has potential to generate high returns.
- Sovereign gold Bonds – These open for a short window regularly from time to time.
While most of them track the price of gold, it is imperative to understand how they work – how to invest, what is the minimum amount required for investing, the ideal time horizon, the exit and withdrawal rules, charges and the applicable taxes. While all this information can be obtained from the internet through some research, what is the most important is to understand which of these is the most suitable for you.
We financial planners sit with our investors and clients, and apart from giving them in depth details of each of the above investment options, we also arrive at which one is the best suited for their personal profile, what should be the percentage to be allocated, depending on how much exposure they already have to this asset class, and aligning this investment to their financial goals.
This is something which one cannot find on google or you tube!
Irrespective of how the economy is doing or where the prices of gold currently are, we have always advised that gold should always be part of any investment portfolio because it a unique asset class which is uncorrelated / negatively correlated to other common ones like equity and debt.
Declining interest rates and alternate investment options
Interest rates in India were on a steady decline for the last few years and the demonetization of 500 and 1000 rupee notes has just accelerated the process. Many banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Canara bank have announced a rate cut (ranging from 10 bps -0.10 % to 50 bps -0.50 % depending upon the tenure of the fixed deposit) with immediate effect, all other banks too will follow suit soon. Even AA+ rated companies like Mahindra and Mahindra Finance, Dewan Housing Finance, Shriram Transport Finance have cut their deposit rates.
This was long overdue; as India is one of the very few developing economies with such high interest rates and sooner or later they would have had to align with the global rates and lower interest rates will also stimulate economic growth. While all this is theoretically logical, fixed income investors especially retirees who are dependent on the interest for their regular expenses now face a practical problem – where to invest so as to get a reasonable amount of fixed income assuming low risk on principal? India does not have a social security system like the developed countries do which makes it all the more important to explore alternate low risk investment options .
- Company fixed deposits – Though they have higher interest rates varying from 50 bps to 200/300 bps higher than standard bank deposits, people are not comfortable putting in their money as the general perception is that it is risky as they are unsecured. True, they are riskier than bank fixed deposits, but AA+ rated plus deposits rate high on safety and can be considered. Moreover, there is no guarantee than banks cannot go bust. And DICGC – The deposit Insurance and credit guarantee corporation guarantees only up to 1 lakh bank deposit per client, so anything above that is unsecured.
- Senior Citizen’s Savings Scheme (SCSS) is one of the most attractive options for the retired. Up to 15 Lakhs per account above age 60, and the current interest rate is 8.6 % pa fully taxable for the financial year 2016-2017. The tenure is 5 years and the scheme carries the highest safety.
- Tax free Bonds – These too carry sovereign risk- highest safety. The coupon rate is usually lower than that of fixed deposits, but for those in the highest tax bracket, the effective returns is higher than the post -tax returns of the taxable fixed deposits. The main disadvantage is the high lock in period – 10/15/20 years. These bonds are trade able in the secondary market; but how soon it can be liquidated in case of emergency depends on the trading frequency and volume. Another disadvantage is that they offer only annual interest under the non -cumulative option hence may not suit those who are looking for regular income. There are very few new issues coming out in the market, but one can always buy the existing ones being traded at the ongoing bond prices.
- Debt schemes of mutual funds – These don’t guarantee a fixed return, but score over fixed deposits in terms of tax efficiency for those taxed at the highest slab. These are liquid, can be withdrawn anytime and have monthly, quarterly and half yearly dividend payout options too, but the amount of dividend paid is variable, not a regular fixed amount.
- Government of India 8 % taxable bonds – These bonds were not a favorite till recently, since long term fixed deposits paid more than this, and with the interest being taxable like FD interest, there was no clear advantage of investing in these. But now with the fixed deposit rates having reduced drastically, one could consider this. But only half yearly option is available in non-cumulative category which may not suit those wanting regular monthly income.
- Post office Monthly Income Option – This is an evergreen product suitable to senior citizens with low risk appetite. The interest is payable monthly and the current rate is 7.7 % pa , and one can invest up to 4.5 lakhs in single name and up to 9 lakhs jointly. The tenure is 6 years (premature withdrawal facility is available after one year with some deductions). This product has an attractive feature – a bonus of 5 % on the principal which is paid if the deposit is held till maturity, i.e 6 years. The disadvantage of this product is that it is fully taxable, making the returns almost comparable to fixed deposits, which is why it is the last one on the list.
Sriraksha Financial Planning Services 