MICRO Blog

These anecdotes defy the conventional thumb rules in personal finance. Personal finance is not rocket science but has its own nuanced layers. Every person’s life and financial situation is different including their finances, lifestyle, dependents, family environment, relationships, health status, savings mindset, money habits, risk taking ability, psyche. Thumb rules can be a good guide […]

The 2024 Union Budget unveiled some good news for gold investors. All long-term capital gains on gold mutual funds and gold ETFs will be taxed at 12.5 per cent. In the last Budget, these were bought under the ambit of a new specified mutual fund category – section 50AA and were taxed at the slab […]

Over the past few days post-Budget 2024, experts, media, investors have all been scrambling to understand the implications of Budget 2024. Different opinions, narratives also fuelled some confusion about the tax impact on certain instruments. Finally, the dust seems to have settled. To keep it as simple for the readers, I have summed up the […]

Further the standard deduction has been increased from Rs.50,000 to Rs.75,000 under the new tax regime. The tax rebate under section 87A also remains i.e., individuals do not have to pay tax if the taxable income does not exceed Rs.7 lakh in a year. The revised tax slabs coupled with the increase in standard deduction […]

If a cyclist and a motorist run a race, who do you think will win? The answer is a no brainer. One is a human powered mode of transport and the other is a machine. Although both are vehicles, is the comparison about who is the fastest, rational? Likewise, in investing, it is an unfortunate […]

Mis-selling has been the bane of life insurance sector. Instead of protection cover, the emphasis has always been more on investment returns while promoting life cover products. In the past year, insurance companies and agents have started talking about terms associated with mutual funds while launching ULIPS – net asset value, index funds, etc. ULIPs […]

Based on the eventful election result day this week, I have compiled the performance data of different indices. Here are some interesting insights.

Few months back, a client told me to expedite his STP (systematic transfer plan) duration from debt to equity which I had set for 6 months. Reason – he had got the news that Sensex is going to touch 85,000 very soon. Another client, confident about the current government returning to power wanted to over-commit […]

Most financial products bought by customers are through intermediaries and the former pays a commission for the service availed. But the customer does not pay directly to the agent. For e.g., a 30-year old buying a Rs.10 lakh Jeevan Anand endowment policy pays an annual premium of Rs.37,000 for 30 years. This includes 35 per […]

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has notified a few changes in health policy regulations which have come into effect from the new financial year 2024-25. Some of them are an improvisation over the regulations implemented in 2020. These change in rules will be included not just in new health policies issued […]

Women have come a long way battling gender and social biases to establish their unique identity in their own right. Be it working in the corporate world, turning entrepreneurs, inheriting family businesses, making investment decisions, etc. In present times, it is hence all the more critical for women to write their own Will. Estate planning […]

Jim Walis rightly stated: If you are asking the wrong question, it doesn’t matter how good the answer is, you aren’t going to get where you want to go. In the context of personal finance, questions which focus more on the product rather than the solution have a myopic approach. This stems from the fact […]

If you are planning to go on an international trip with your family, be ready to bear a higher cost upfront due to a new rule of tax collected at source (TCS). This came into effect form October 1, 2023. In simple words, it is a tax collected by the agent from you when you […]

Medical expenses under 80D: A deduction up to Rs.50,000 can be claimed for medical expenses for senior citizen parents. However, this tax benefit can only be availed if they do not have medical insurance. Group health insurance: No tax deduction is available on group health insurance premium paid by a company on behalf of employee. If the employee is contributing to the premium on group cover offered by the employer, then he/she can claim proportionate deduction. Floater poli

Typically, when a building goes in for redevelopment, the existing flat-owners are usually offered some rental compensation. It could be a lumpsum amount or monthly payout. This is to cover for the alternative accommodation during the duration of the redevelopment. How is this rental payout treated in the hands of the old tenant from tax […]

Despite buying an adequate health cover, what if you still need to pay a part of the hospital expenses out of your own pocket? Yes, it is very much possible. Your health policy comes with a few restrictions, called sub-limits, imposed by insurance companies. Room rent limit is one such feature which most people overlook […]

You must have come across the popular Warren Buffet quote – ‘My favourite time frame for holding a stock is forever.’ Well, after looking at the table above, you may not completely agree with his investing ideology. As per data compiled by Livemint, the above image shows the change in Sensex (30 stocks) composition over […]

This table was published recently by Mint. Different investment options have been ranked in order of their return performance – from the highest to the lowest for each calendar year in the 10-year period – 2013 to 2023. They broadly fall under the following 4 asset classes – Fixed Income (Debt), Equity, Gold and Real […]

Post office interest rates are market linked and are revised every quarter depending upon the movement of long & short term market rates in general. The above interest rates are applicable for the fourth quarter (Jan-March 2024) of financial year 2023-24. With RBI keeping interest rates unchanged in the last monetary policy, there has been […]

Instead of a haphazard approach, if you want to connect the dots of your financial life, start doing these 3 things. Track your savings to investment ratio: How much of your monthly savings do your regularly convert to investments? More than the transaction expense, inflation and taxes, it is the cost of delay which is […]