It seems Savings can buy Happiness!

They say savings can buy happiness, so folks start working on savings plan/ financial goals and boost your savings! 
Refer the below infographic I have come across today.. 



For more findings from the Ally Bank Money-and-Happiness Survey visit Straight Talk, the official Ally Bank blog.

Happy learning n Investing..

Marry your Goals with the Budget!

Well, Recently I have started my quest and exploring online for Ideas, tips from Online blogs, Personal Finance sites, Magazines etc. 

If you don't any favorites to start with , just google "Personal Finance Tips". You will come across, N numbers of ways to cut down the costs, unnecessary expenses, and to boost your savings.

Some interesting sites which I was following when I have time are listed below: 

kiplinger.com
money.cnn.com
creditkarma.com
mint.com (blogs)
Also few blog links from google search. 

The more important factor is making the habit of "Self Control", When it comes to buying unwanted items on impulse. Also think before whether the things you are buying some expensive electronic items whether those are needed or the things you want. Making this as a habit should cut down most of your Miscellaneous/unwanted expenses. I read some where, women prefer men who are frugal than a lavish according to an Online survey. According to this survey, this means men who are frugal has more self-control and gave the virtual safety to women that he will take care of her in the long run. (Don't ask I was in which category? Yes, you guessed it right ;)). 

Recently I started tracking the monthly expenses/items on which I am spending everymonth. While Budgeting and doing such analysis, I found that recently all the increments in my income is being spent on additional cost of the insurance and inflation. And I am in the same state as 3 yrs before. 
(For Example: My internet bill raised almost 60-70% from last year, eventhough I didn't upgrade to any different plan. )

As per the suggestions/advises I come across online,  I was thinking what are my most important plans/Financial goals and how can I achieve them sooner.  This kind of thinking evaluates your current position and make you to come up with a plan to achieve your goals. 

- Construction of New home in my Home town or Buying a flat in the city where I am working 
- Think about alternative sources of Income (utilize the power of compounding)
- Close all your debts within a year and improve your savings
- Saving for Kids education
- Retirement plans
- Exploring/Traveling the world. 
- Increase your wealth
- Create more value in your work place

What are your Financial goals? Please leave your comments if you have any. 

Thanks,

Medical Insurance - Open enrollment period and changes

Recently I was concerned with the reduction in my income and increase in my expenses every month. Was reading lots of Personal finance, Budgeting related blogs and articles from Money magazine. 

One important article in this month's Money magazine which is worth mentioning is about the Health care - latest act. All US states have exchanges from where you can buy Medical insurance, if you have opted to declined the insurance provided by your employer. 

Since this is the Open Enrollment period, All the employers will be sending remainders, follow ups for enrolling in insurance plans for next year. Initially when I started, I didn't understand much about the benefits plans. Now we have new family member in my family, I was keen on medical expenses, tracking and planning for the next year. 

Below are some of the changes I have noticed from last year to this year which I noticed, thought of highlighting for your reference and also for me to keep track of these changes: 

* Insurance Cost for the Medical, Dental, Vision is increase almost around 10%. If you have more than one dependent, your insurance cost will eat up considerable amount from your pay check. 

* No change in Health Flexible Spending Accounts this year. We have tax advantages for the amount we are depositing in FSA account, Only disadvantage of this plan is the following policy - "Use IT or Lose IT!". You have to more careful in planning the FSA Amount. If end up putting more amount and didn't use it, we have a risk of losing the money. So be CAREFUL! 

* SwiftMD/Telemedicine is the new addition from last year in my employer provided benefits. We don't have to pay anything extra for this component. I am planning to explore more on this option, and you can get prescriptions over the phone from SwiftMD doctors for more generic medical problems like cold etc. 

* Note the Out of Pocket maximum limit increased. Even though I am not going to touch the maximum, it will be good if we are aware and keep informed with the changes.

* The Life insurance coverage for Dependents which was provided by my employer was removed. As Anticipated, My employer is not providing the life coverage for employee's dependents free of cost. It is available free of cost only for the employees. 

Insignificant changes: 
* New Vendor for managing the Health FSA
* Will not be getting a new ID, since I am staying in the same plan from last year.

Thanks and Regards,

R u Interested in SIP? I am!

Read this in one of the email I read today

10 REASONS TO INVEST VIA AN SIP

1) An opportunity to participate in the growth and profits of India’s best and fast growing companies.
2) You can build-up capital at your own pace through monthly installments starting at Rs. 500 per month. This cultivates a healthy savings habit as well.
3) You can choose the scheme that meets your requirements from over 1500 schemes offered by more than 40 different Asset Management Companies.
4) If you invest Rs. 1000 per month for a continuous period of 5 years, you could see your capital grow to Rs. 78,082 at an average return of 10 % per year.
5) You can reduce your tax payout if you choose a Tax Savings Fund.
6) Gold, an attractive investment option, can also be done through SIP.
7) You will not have to pay any tax on dividends received or capital gains for Equity Mutual Funds that are held for more than 1 year.
8) You take advantage of Rupee Cost Averaging. This means that you buy fewer units when the price is high and more when the price is low, thereby averaging the cost per unit.
9) Your systematic investment ensures that your money works for you continuously.
10) You can stop at any time and redeem your units, unless you have chosen a Tax Savings Fund.

Its time to go to Credit Union!!

Recently few week backs, I have read in the news that one of the big banks in US is going to charge 5$ service fee to its customers for using Debit Card. After few weeks, I have surprised by seeing why that particular Bank have cancelled this extra charge/service fee implementation to its customers.

So if you are also one, who was perplexed by the announcements of Banks; here is article which highlights the recent migration of customers from Big Banks of US to credit Union.

Read more

Below comment made me think to migrate to Credit Union! Now I will be hunting and heading towards the credit unions in my area to find out more.

"Even though the debit fees are gone, there are plenty of other reasons consumers might want to leave big banks, not the least of which is the prospect that those fees could pop up somewhere else in the future — and it might not be as transparent as a $5 charge for using your debit card, says one analyst".

Thanks
Happy Learning!

Akshaya Thritiya

Hi,

Its been long time since I blogged/tracked about my investments. Because of this very fact I lost the profit I saved in one of the famous entertaining company stock.
Now lets see what is special today. Its been considered/believed that your wealth will keep piling up if you buy Gold on this auspicious day (Akshaya Thritiya). So I am planning to buy a unit of GOLDBEES (:-) middle class small investor). Also my DP participant is waiving the brokerage charges if I buy GOLDBEES during the occassion of Akshaya Thritiya.

Since Its difficult for me to place a limit order during market hours because of onnectivity and timing issues, I placed an offline Order for a single unit of GOLDBEES this very day. Hope this investment of mine in this auspicious day is profitable.

All is Well! Happy learning!

Thanks and Regards,
Soma

SIP - A smart way to invest your money

Hi All,

I believe 100% in SIP - MF investments. If you are a small investor, then I believe SIP is best way to expnd your portfolio. When I looking into some of the MF schemes online, I noticed couple of other terms - SWP, STP. I am just curious how these 2 are different from SIP.

Below is the answer to my question, now most of the AMCs are offereing all the below 3 options for the .

Systematic Investment Plan (SIP):An SIP is a method of investing a fixed sum, on a regular basis, in a mutual fund scheme. It is similar to regular saving schemes like a recurring deposit. An SIP allows one to buy units on a given date each month or quarter, so that one can implement a saving plan for themselves.

Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP):SWP is a smart way to plan for your future needs by withdrawing amounts systematically from your existing portfolio either to reinvest in another portfolio or to meet your expenses. Your savings no longer remain idle. Your money can earn better returns if reinvested, instead of lying idle in a savings account for meeting your regular payments.

Systematic Transfer Plan (STP):A plan that allows the investor to give a mandate to the fund to periodically and systematically transfer a certain amount from one scheme to another.

Thanks,

Soma