Identity Theft Insurance: What is it and How it works?

Human beings are rational animals. We have the power to think, strategize and create such things which can really change the whole functioning of the society and the world as a whole. But beware of few such animals who never think twice before locking up their rationality in their cupboard. Hence they are only “animals” or if the term is too harsh, you can call them “Identity Thieves”. Friends, no need to lock your doors as they will not infiltrate into your home directly, instead they follow a cowardly approach of stealing personal information like social security number, credit card number or any information which is valuable to you , through the misuse of technology. So it’s a real problem as you don’t know where they are and who they are. But apart from being rational, we are smart too.That’s why we are humans and we have managed to device an excellent weapon to kill this non-violent yet dangerous crime. The weapon is THE IDENTITY THEFT INSURANCE.A recent study conducted by the Federal Trade commission revealed that in 2005, around 8.3 million Americans fell victim of identity theft and the thieves accumulated around $6000 worth goods and services from just 10% of the victims. Besides 56% of the victims were unable to give any information as they were clueless. In majority of the cases credit card and debit card numbers were stolen. But thanks to IDENTITY THEFT INSURANCE which will not only cover you, but will also protect you from possible threats.

How it Works?

If you want to buy an Identity Theft Insurance policy then you can buy individual plan as well as family plans. In an individual plan the yearly premium is around $70 to $75 and for family plans the premium amount is around $140 to $150. One can also opt for a monthly premium scheme.

Besides, the policies have various preventive schemes and under these schemes regular alerts, newsletters on identity theft prevention tips by experts are sent to to the policy holders. This creates an environment of alertness which subsequently lowers the risk of frauds and misuse of personal information.

After purchasing the policy if someone fall victim of identity theft then there are experts who take care of the whole recovery process. There are specially appointed recovery advocates who handles all the disputes regarding the recovery. Besides, these experts work on civil and criminal judgment issues and provide necessary information to the Federal Trade Commission to solve the case more quickly and save time of the victim.

Under the reimbursement programme individual and family policy holders can be reimbursed up to a theft of $20,000, inclusive of the fees and costs involved in the recovery process.

I think that Prevention is always better than cure and trust me such an insurance for you and your family will prevent you from many threats which may be you are unaware of.

Ways to deal with the "Investment Phobia" disease.

As an investment planning professional, I have to meet many people daily to suggest them suitable investment options. Though everyday I get mixed reactions and get to know about various preconceived notions about investment from various people, yet recently I got to know about a really unbelievable fact which was unknown to me and perhaps still unknown to many people. This helped me a lot in judging people’s mindset regarding money matters and offering them better investment guidance. The fact which I came to know is about a disease, approved by medical professionals around the world and this is widely spreading like anthrax after the global financial crisis

The medical term of the disease is “Financial Phobia” or “Investment Phobia” or simply put it is just a fear of investing money or something related to money matters. Perhaps you are taking it lightly. Not your fault, I did the same thing. But its indeed a serious disease and doctors have already identified the symptoms. According to them it can even become a serious problem. Its not necessary that this disease will develop due to any financial mishap for example losing huge amount of money or something like that. Since birth this disease may develop in some people. Its actually a real clinical condition. In 2003 a research was conducted in UK which revealed the fact that almost 1 in 5 people there suffer from this disease. It further revealed that almost 20 % of the adults develops full version of this disease and nearly half of the population develop a lighter or milder version of the disease. But doctors are also of the opinion that it can also develop due to huge financial loss, knee deep debts etc. The most common symptoms are anxiety, nausea, high blood pressure etc. In extreme situations or extreme stage people often start neglecting their financial affairs and often start ignoring deadlines. But this attitude will not do any good, but will make the situation even worse. A study of the Cambridge University revealed that even highly educated people do develop this disease though they are extremely successful and brilliant in their respective fields.

But don’t worry; I will not make things complicated to scare you as I know that most of the people complicate things unnecessarily. I feel that it is not as serious as we feel and can be easily corrected. From my experience I have managed to learn that the only thing which gives rise to these types of disease or problems is “IGNORANCE”. I have met many educated people but they are zero in finances and put everything in their respective adviser’s shoulder and when problem arises they feel frustrated.

So here are few steps which will help you overcoming this disease if you follow them:

• Do not rely completely on your adviser. Start learning about finances and investment even if you are a Zero in finances. There are number of CDs, booklets available or you can simply buy a mutual fund booklet to know about the past performances, how a fund works etc. If you learn it in a simple way you will get to know many things.
• Before your adviser buys an investment product, make sure he provides you with a copy of the document explaining about the investment. This will make you satisfied as you are fully aware about where you are investing.Besides, individual decision may fail but collective decision succeed most of the time.
• Verify the legitimacy of the investment.
• Find out the costs and benefits associated with the investment
• Assess risk-return profile of the investment
• Know the liquidity and safety aspects of the investment.
• Ascertain if it is appropriate for your specific goals
• Compare these details with other investment opportunities available.
• Seek all clarifications about the intermediary of the investment
• Explore the options available to you if something goes wrong and if satisfied go for the investment.

Before investing if you follow these steps then I think you don’t have to go to the doctor or invest your money in placing a “PACE MAKER” in your heart. Instead you can invest that money in a good fund for your son’s /daughter’s higher studies.

You can still make Money in such a High Inflation environment.

The term” investment” has become a phobia for many people all over the world following the global financial crisis. This is because, people who were overconfident about their investing brain and gained huge profits suffered the most. As a whole the whole investment mindset got a tremendous blow. I have personally seen people crying after incurring heavy loses in equity market investment. But whenever God closes all the doors, he also throws the keys and we just have to catch those and find the right keys in the right time. So here comes few facts which will help you regain your confidence of investing as I feel that investment plays an important part in our life and we should always go for planned investment moves as the world is too competitive and the future is unpredictable.

Taking care of this present market scenario, have you ever thought that what will happen if you stop investing? Can you predict that the inflation rate will go down? The answer is,” no one can”. But it’s a fact that we can even manipulate a negative situation in our favor and I feel that the best investment tool to do this is the “Commodities.” The panic of financial crisis has affected us so badly that we forgot to think practically that the rising inflation rates can make us helpless but its very much beneficial to the commodity market. We cry and get afraid when we see that the prices of oil, metals and gold is going high, specially when we have to drive 100 miles both way daily, buy necklace to our wives etc.But then why not invest our money in these commodities. We all can easily predict that the inflation rate will not come down, rather it will go up. So let it be because the more it goes high the more you will get benefited, if you invest in the commodities. May be you think that I have gone mad and weird, but it’s a fact and if you look at things positively then it will actually become positive. Investing in an high inflation situation is actually a wise investment as the real estate prices, metal prices etc is going high. Besides one can also invest in soft commodities like cereals, cottons, potatoes etc, because the values of these goods will also always go high.

How to investment?

It is as easy as investing in the equity market. Various online trading accounts can be easily activated to do this commodity investment where one can track daily even hourly price changes of commodities. There will be daily expert tips on which commodity to buy. Besides one can easily judge which commodity to buy and hold as its pretty easy because in our day to day life we are always aware of commodity prices. A basic judgmental power and keeping eyes open and daily watch over the newspaper is enough to make you a good investor in commodities.

One can also go for some specialized Mutual Funds (don’t get scared) which invest in those stocks only which are linked to the commodity market and will always perform well in a high inflation environment.

So its high time to stop creeping and thinking about the past losses and go for something which can really make a difference.

Factors you should remember to lead a tension free & financially fit life.

Let us think of a situation where, for example a person has taken a loan, spent it and failed to repay it on time. After 1 year the person again applied for a loan for a trip to France with his beloved wife. But this time the bank refused to sanction the loan. This situation can easily shatter a person’s dream and similar situations are happening everyday in various parts of the world. But people often overlook few factors which are very important in deciding one’s future. Whenever we get a sum of money we spend it in an unplanned way. But the fact is wealth comes when money works for us and to make it work we must take care of some basic factors which will really help in judging where we stand and what we should do, to lead a tension free and hassle free financial life

Credit Report

It is one of the most important factors one should take into account before a fresh loan application. As per the federal law one can get a free credit report every 12 months form each of the three national credit reporting companies. This report is a snapshot about one’s creditworthiness and it will tell how much a person is eligible to get a loan .Online facility is also there and annualcreditreport.com is such an authentic online source.

Timely payment of Bills

This factor must be always taken care of as failure in paying the bills timely can easily hamper or lower a person’s credit score. If a person cannot pay the bills timely due to work pressure or lack of time it is advisable to go for automatic payment modes available in almost all the Banks. But there must be enough amounts in the account to avoid overdraft fees.

Factors which determine your credit score

Timely payment of bills: Late payment always will lower down your score. so it must be always avoided

Outstanding debt: If the amount of debt is close to the credit limit then it is regarded as a negating factor and your score will come down. So such a situation must be avoided to improve your credit score.

Duration of credit history: A short credit history is always a negative factor in deciding a credit score, but it can be balanced through timely payment.

Number of new credit application: If you have applied for too many accounts within a short period of time, it will act negatively in deciding your credit score.

Types of credit accounts: The credit scoring models often consider the number & type of accounts in deciding the score. If your account is a mix of installment loan and credit card account then it can improve your score.

You can yourself improve your credit report:

It is a dynamic system introduced by the federal Trade commission through which a person can himself/herself improve his/her credit report by correcting the errors. You can directly go to their website (www.ftc.gov) to do the same.

Terrorism: adding fuel to the fire of global financial crisis

India, despite of many internal problems is rising as a major power. Financially the potential of India has gone considerably high. But the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, not only shook the whole world, but also gave this rising economy a major blow. The series of deadly attacks in Mumbai on Thursday, which continued for around three days, forced the National Stock Exchange and the Commodity exchange to close down. So it is just pouring fuel in the fire. The whole world is already traumatized due to the global financial crisis and this event literally accelerated the situation in India making it even more worse. The Reserve Bank has already closed the bond and foreign exchange market. The Indian market is a paradise for the foreign sellers of Indian assets. But this situation has resulted in steep fall in rupee and gave a massive blow to the market confidence. The risk premium of the major lender bank, The State Bank of India rose considerably. Mr. Joseph Tan, the chief Asian economist in the credit Suisse, Singapore has stated that in this present global situation, the recent attacks in Mumbai created negativity in the minds of the foreign investors. This is quite obvious as people from all over the world suffered and many key personnel from US, Germany, UK, and France etc have witnessed the incident and many more died. Its also being predicted that when the stock market will open in India, it will open considerably down as compared to other Asian stock markets. The rupee closed Wednesday's trading at 49.48 per dollar. Now it figures among the weakest currencies in Asia along with the Indonesian currency and Korean currency, which have dropped by 20% against the dollar. The foreign investors have already withdrawn dollar 13.5 billion dollar from the Indian stock market compared with a withdrawal of 34 billion dollar from the South Korean market and 22 billion dollar from the Japanese market. Similar situation with a much higher intensity was earlier faced by USA following the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. If we look into the pattern of attacks we will find that the terrorists always attacks major points which is directly connected with the trade ,commerce & finance of a country, in order to cripple a country financially. Tourism in India attracts huge revenue and throughout the year flocks of foreigners come to India. Thus these attacks in major international luxury hotels gave a massive blow to the tourism industry in India.

It is a fact that when someone is trying to develop himself/herself, others will try to destroy him/her. This is the situation which most of the major powers in the world are facing. This situation will definitely cool down and everything will become normal and we will forget everything. Nowadays most of the discussion revolves around the global financial crisis. Banks and financial institutions are blaming the governments, the government is blaming them for their faulty policy, and we are blaming each other and everyday finding new theories to solve the crisis. But terrorism is another major factor and if this factor comes to the forefront, then no theories will work, no financial analysts and economists can solve it. But inspite of all these we are overlooking this major problem which is preparing itself hard to come to the top of the list. As a result the root problem is remaining same, preparing itself for a next attack. So its enough. Enough we have tolerated the evil intensions. So lets come together and fight this evil because next time it can happen anywhere and we are not safe at all and if it happens again then the crisis which the whole world is facing, will never come to an end.

You can still make money in this crisis period.

The current global financial crisis has become a part of our lives. Most of the people around the world are reacting fearfully to the situation as the role model of the world economy; the US economy is facing the main problem resulting in global downsizing programme, inflation rates going high almost touching the sky. This as a whole is affecting other countries of the world some way or the other. People have stopped thinking about the improvement in the present situation as they are finding no ways to escape. The most frustrated are those people who had invested huge money in the equity market and now the value of their portfolio have become half or less than half. Now taking care of this, think of a situation where an investment professional from any Bank or any Insurance company comes to you to show any investment plan. What will be your reaction? I think you will not even give any appointment to him as every investment plan will seem to be of no use to you. But have you ever thought that 1 year earlier you were jumping thinking that you would become a millionaire. I think if you handle this situation smartly you can still make profit. The only thing which is in your purview is Positive mentality and in this situation only positive moves can pull you back from the financial quick sand.

From my experience in investment banking I can only say that this is the best time to invest. This is just like a chance God has given us to accumulate as much as we can. Have you ever thought that this situation will arrive and take away your smile? This is because no one can accurately predict the future. Similarly after 3 months if you find out that the market is recovering and within next 8-9 months it has again performed tremendously then the pain will be much higher. Smart people will always try to en cash upon this situation. Besides its better to go for long term investment plan. People often do the mistake by playing on a short-term basis and setting short term goals. But in many matters time is a big factor. Warren Buffet has invested time to become what he is today

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I have seen people investing in open ended mutual funds as they don’t think about the future. I think those people are the foulest though they think themselves very smart. This has resulted in a situation where only 20-30% Mutual funds actually mature giving full appreciation. It is suggestible that in this situation one should go for Unit Linked Insurance Plans as there will be capital protection as well as life protection. Besides in most ULIPs one has the flexibility to switch fund. So in this situation if someone keeps 30 % of his/her funds in equity portfolio and 70% in the debt instruments then he/she can be in a no profit no gain keeping a large portion of his/her investment safe just like a traditional deposit fund. So when the market will recover one can easily change the portfolio in a vice versa manner. If someone is a pure equity market player and invests mainly in pure equities through online trading accounts, it is suggestible to buy good stocks and play with them in delivery. Don’t go for derivatives or intra-day in this situation. It might had happened to you that you wanted top buy a stock but the price was too high for you to purchase . But now buying your dream shares has become very easy. Earlier a share which used to cost say around $100 has come down to around $30 -40. So think of the situation where you buy 1000 those shares and one fine morning you hear that the market is expected to recover and go back to its previous situation .Thus the time has come to stop crying & blaming others and act smartly to fulfill your dream which can be best realized in the present situation

VPI Pet Insurance: the best gift for your pets.

For ages pets are considered to be human's best friend. Petting is an idea which is not new and from the ancient period this practice is in wide use. The pet lovers will agree the fact that , animals posses an unique power to make the humans happy, help them during emergency and create a positive environment altogether. Often the parents of a single child prefer to keep a pet so that his/her child can play with it. Besides the psychologists are of the opinion that the selfish and self centered habits doesn't develop in a child if from childhood they learn to love Pets and play with them. Gradually over the period of time it has been understood that animals(both pets and wild) are very useful resource to the nature. Besides various non profit animal rights organizations have also showed us the value of pets and other animals. But what we are doing for their well being and security?

The answer to this is VPI or Veterinary Pet Insurance. Whenever the question of money matters or finance arises , it revolves around the humans. But its time to think for your pets. VPI is America's number1 pet insurance recommended by 94 % of the vets and it is the most important tool to protect your beloved and cute pet from serious diseases, lab tests, surgeries. Besides in the police and firefighting , dogs play an important role and their protection and health must be strongly taken care of and VPI is the most authentic option for it. 86 percent of veterinarians are of the opinion that they would like to see wider use of pet health insurance among the pet owners, agreeing it gives their clients peace of mind. Nearly half a million of pet owners of America enrolled with a Vet Insurance Policy which proves the credibility and authenticity of the policy. A survey tells that out of every 10 Vets ,9 recommends to buy a VPI.

So if you are a true pet lover and planning to do something for your pet apart from your own financial planning,then the best option would a Veterinary Pet Insurance as Pets are the prized posessions who will always love you selflessly.

Investing huge capital cannot just make you rich. It is just a matter of acting Smartly

In this fast paced world one dream is common to all, & that is “making money”, to become the richest person in the world. We all love to dream and especially when we are sitting idle many revolutionary ideas come to our mind & we think that we can really bring a change, create something unique .Everyone likes to think of the ideal state. But the next day if some investment banker calls us up and asks for an appointment to show us a really good investment plan, we turn him down because to most of the people investment is just a dream and they are not ready to accept that a systematic investment can really make them rich. We think that if we do not invest huge amount, we cannot gain high returns. Now here lies the purpose of the article to show you and motivate you about the fact that only attitude and smart thinking can really make a difference to your life. If for this purpose an example is to be set , then I think the biggest motivating example is a Living legend, known as Mr. Warren Edward Buffet. In this article you will get to know about his historical timeline, which will be enough to motivate you and pinch you to start right now.

Warren Buffett is an American, businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the world's most smartest yet simple life leading investors and the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is declared as the richest man in the world by Forbes with an estimated net worth of $62.0 billion.

His Historical Timeline

1943

At the age of 13 Warren filed his first income tax return, his bicycle and watch as a work expense for $35 for his work as newspaper delivery boy.

1945

At the age of 15 warren and one of his friends purchase a used pinball machine by just spending $25, which they placed in a barber shop. Within months, they owned three machines in different locations.

1950

At the age of 20 Warren applied for admission to Harvard Business School but was turned down. Buffett got admission in the Columbia Business School after learning that Benjamin Graham and David Dodd two well-known securities analysts, taught there.

1951

At 21 years of age Warren was graduated from Columbia and wanted to work on Wall Street, but his father and Ben Graham didn’t want him to do so. He purchased a Sinclair Texaco gas station as a side investment, but that venture did not work out as well .In the meanwhile he worked as a stockbroker.

1952

At the age of 22 Buffett married Susan Thompson.

1954

When Warren was 24 years old Benjamin Graham offered Buffett a job at his partnership with a starting salary of $12,000 a year. Here, he worked closely with Walter Schloss.

1956

When Warren was 26, Benjamin Graham decided to retire and close his partnership. But by then Warren’s personal savings has reached to $140,000. Buffett returned home to Omaha and created Buffett Partnership Ltd., an investment partnership

1957

At 27 Warren already built three partnerships operating the entire year.Buffett purchased a five-bedroom stucco house in Omaha for $31,500, in which he still lives,.

1959

At 29 Warren had six partnerships operating the entire year.

1960

At 30 Warren Buffet had seven partnerships operating the entire year.The partnerships were: Buffett Associates, Buffett Fund, Dacee, Emdee, Glenoff, Mo-Buff, and Underwood.

1962

At 32 Warren became a millionaire because his partnerships, in January 1962, had in excess of $7,178,500 of which over $1,025,000 belonged to him. He merged all partnerships into one partnership. He discovered a textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett's partnerships began purchasing shares at $7.60 per share.

1965

When Warren was 35 years of age, his partnerships aggressively began purchasing Berkshire; by paying $14.86 per share while the company had working capital (current assets minus current liabilities) of $19 per share. He took entire control of Berkshire Hathaway at the board meeting and named a new president, Ken Chace, to run the company.

1967

At the age of 37 Warren’s Berkshire paid out its first and only dividend of 10 cents.

1969

The age of 39 and the year proved to be very much successful; whenWarren liquidated the partnership and transferred their assets to his partners. Among the assets paid out were shares of Berkshire Hathaway.

1970

At 40 Warren as the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, began writing his now-famous annual letters to shareholders.

1973

Berkshire began to acquire stock in the Washington Post Company. Buffett became close friends with Katharine Graham, who controlled the company and its flagship newspaper, and became a member of its board of directors.

1977

At 47 years of age, Warren indirectly purchased the Buffalo Evening News for $32.5 million. Antitrust charges started.

1979

When warren was 49 years,Berkshire began to acquire stock in ABC. With the stock trading at $290 per share, Warren’s net worth neared $140 million. However, he lived solely on his salary of $50,000 per year.Berkshire began the year trading at $775 per share, and ended at $1,310. Warren’s net worth reached $620 million, placing him on the Forbes 400 for the first time.

1987

Berkshire Hathaway purchased 12% stake in Salomon Inc., making it the largest shareholder and Warren Buffet the director.

1988

At 58 years, Warren Buffett began buying stock in Coca-Cola Company, eventually purchasing up to 7 percent of the company for $1.02 billion. It would turn out to be one of Berkshire's most lucrative investments, and one which it still holds.

1999

Warren was declared the top money manager of the twentieth century in a survey by the Carson Group.

2006

At the age of 75,Warren declared in June that he would give away 85% of Berkshire’s holdings to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

2007

In a letter to shareholders, Warren announced that he was looking for a younger successor, to look after his investment business. Buffet had previously selected Lou Simpson, who runs investments at Geico, to take up the responsibility. But, Simpson was only six years younger than Buffett.

2008

At the age of 77, Warren Buffet id declared as the richest person in the world, worth $62 billion, by Forbes, breaking the record of Bill Gates who was on the number 1 position for 15 consequent years.

After reading this you will be enough motivated to give up just thinking and will start doing. Smart moves can really make you rich.

Downsizing: a sedetive to kill the Financial pain.

In response to the present global financial crisis and the crisis faced by the US economy in over 80 years, CITI Group, a New york based financial giant has decided to cut 52000 jobs and it has been clearly and formally announced by the authorities on Monday.The main reason behind this drive is to recover the net loss of $20 billion, which the bank has incurred over the past few years. Another logic given by Mr Vikram Pandit,CEO,CITI Group is that the group is planning to implement a new restructuring policy followed by the job cut. It has also been seen by the authorities that the present job cut of around 52000 employees will reduce the cost upto 20%. According to sources, as of end of 2007 the CITI group had 375000 employees and as of september 30, it has 352000 employees. So the latest job cut will bring the total headcount to 300000. Earlier in April CITI Group decided to cut 17,000 jobs, shift 9,500 jobs to low cost locations, under pressure from the investors. The recent descision will affect the Europeon employees the most as CITI Group has its Europe headquarter in London with a total workforce of more than 10000 employees.The CITI Group Executives are under tremendous pressure from the investors to improve performance. The executives are of the opinion that this move will not really save the cost but will slow down the growth process. But it will still unknown that whether CITI Group will cut the jobs of top executives. Thus we can say that Win Bischoff, Chairman, CITI Group , will be spared. The worldwide situation is also same where countries like UK ,France,Japan, Hongkong,India are also facing the same problem as recession is crippling all of them. In a totality all the major Banking giants worldwide has already downsized jobs by 100000. Financial Organizations like Goldman Sachs has also started its downsizing programme by cutting 3200 jobs followed by Morgan Stanley who will cut jobs by 10%,Royal Bank of Scotland deciding to slash 3000 jobs. In Hong Kong ,HSBC has also slashed 450 jobs.The present Financial pain has engulfed the global market & corporates in such a way that the only option available to them is "Downsizing". No financial theories are working well on the situations,even experts have lost the direction to predict the positives.The only option available to deal with this situation is to just wait & watch with patience as only the upward movement of the global financial curve can improve the situation.

Want to make your child a Rocket Scientist?:You can really make your dream come true.

Every parents want their children to become the most successful, most powerful figure in the world. This dream is common to almost all the parents in the world. But dreams are easy to see and challenging to fulfill. The world has become a global village and nowadays the local corporate affairs have really become global, making this world a much more competitive & challenging place to survive. Everyone is running after their dreams but less than half is fulfilled. All the companies are running after profit, people are running after them to fetch a good earning to sustain, and the rising tide of inflation rate is running after people to make them even more miserable. I think the present scenario is affecting the people so much that parents are giving up dreaming as they have become confused and unpredictable about the future of this present situation. But its time for a GOOD NEWS. We all know the saying that "where there is a will, there is a way" and the US government has showed the "WILL" by introducing the idea of a PLUS loan(PARENT LOAN FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS) which is sponsored federally for the undergraduate and dependent students. With the help of this , a parent can now dream of making his child a "Rocket Scientist" or a "Doctor" as they have got the best funding options to support their child's education.

Criteria for getting the Loan and basic features.
Parents can apply for the loan if they are doing it for the education of their undergraduate or dependent children.Parents of dependent students are eligible to get the loan. Besides the incumbent must be a US citizen. Before application a Credit check is also need to be done. One can take a loan equal to the full cost of his/her child's education. After a new law being enforced by the federal government on 1st July 2006, the interest rate of the loan taken on or after the mentioned date is fixed at 8.5%. The repayment starts after 60days of disbursement of the loan. But a parent can postpone the repayment if his/her child remains enrolled in the course or drops out or continue with the course. But a prior intimation through an written application furnishing the reason must be produced.

Credit Card: a Curse or a Boon?

"Credit Card",two simple words yet very powerful to help you during crisis or emergency, pay your urgent bills and even to ruin you and make you helpless.I think nowadays these three situations are common with almost all the people who own a credit card. From the ancient times human beings have learned the art of customizing anything according to their own need. In the modern times credit card is such a tool. Today credit cards hold different meaning to different people. It is a tool to deal with emergency,a smart device to impress your girlfriend , a way to spend in an unplanned way and finally a tool to make you cry at the end. Though it looks very smart when you open your wallet full of stylish,colorful credit cards for payment of your purchase in a mall or a store,yet many are still unaware of the fact that it has become a global problem.In the US most of the people are facing this problem.specially the student community. The card issuing authorities have acted smartly as they are fully aware of the needs of the students and youths and accordingly made sound marketing strategies to enter the market.But the failure on their part is that they have not mentioned the negative consequences and proper usage methods. This has resulted in unwise usage of credit cards which finally resulted in many suicide cases. The youths often get carried away when they find that with the help of a plastic card ,they can actually buy many things,even if instant cash is not available with them. But they often overlook the fact that spending must be in accordance with the income and ability to pay back the interest. Most of the credit cards charge high interest rates and the students find it difficult to cope up with the situation. I feel that in this global financial crisis,the credit cards played an important role.The banks have issued millions of cards just to gain profit.Their sales strategies were faulty with a poor research. They sold credit cards to practically everyone they wanted,but before that they forgot the fact that how they will recover the money. For example if a bank ,just to maximize its business, issues 100 credit cards worth 2 lakhs of credit limit ,all to the students ,the chances of recovering the debt is very low.I think that it is a crime on the part of the users, as wasteful expenditure is an injustice to the society and this situation is actually creating a crisis and a drift in the society and top of all the financial organizations and the banks are giving indulgence to the matter in order to maximize their profit.

insurance: a basic need.

This article is for two types of people: one who always thinks that he/she has saved a lot for his/her future and also for his/her family and will be able to sustain his life as God has given enough, overlooking the potential risks. The other type of people wants to get insured but has a great fear & dilemma in his/her mind thinking what type of policy to take?how much to invest ? or from whom to take. Now a days most of the Insurance companies operate through Agency model and sometimes people also look down upon this channel as they feel that the agents are mere representatives of the company and cannot manage their portfolio. Don't worry,this article will make you aware of basic Dos and Don't s before purchasing a policy and also about basic functionality of various types of Insurance Policy.

Today I will try to cover all about ULIPs or Unit Linked Insurance Plans as an overview.Don't get scared after hearing the word "UNIT LINKED" or thinking of the present Bearish market situation, you can infact still gain a lot. Making money is just a matter of paitence and time. Now lets start our topic:

ULIP: how they work?

Unit Linked Insurance Policies (ULIPs) as an investment option are very much similar to mutual funds in terms of their structure and functioning. As is the case with mutual funds, investors in ULIPs are allotted units by the insurance company and a net asset value (NAV) is declared.

Similarly ULIP investors have the freedom of investing in their chosen portfolio or funds like the equity funds, balanced funds and debt funds to name a few. Generally speaking, ULIPs can be termed as mutual fund schemes with an insurance component. But why to go for an ULIP..the answer is: wealth maximization can be realized only in the long run and though various companies promise to double your money in one year or so, actually cannot as nothing is in their hands. So it is advisable to go for ULIPS taking care of the present situation as only time can give you actual realization. Besides in ULIPs not all of your money is invested in the equity market.A portion is also kept safe in the debt instrument or money market instrument and you have the authority and freedom to construct your portfolio. But in case of OPEN_ENDED mutual funds you do not have the option. Either you have to invest in a equity mutual fund or a debt mutual fund.Besides in money matters people always have the mentality to get short-term gains.But remember nothing can be gained in shortcut. Besides another good thing is that there is a 3 years locking period in all the insurance policies thus it will act more or less like a fixed deposit for the traditional investors. Thus the option is up to you: you want to play safe? or take a chance? But most of the people don't go for ULIPS due this locking period but I would rather suggest that go for it if you want to gain out of this situation. Besides most ULIPSs are attached with good insurance schemes which will really benefit you and your family. I have seen people suffering due to certain sudden mishap.Anything can happen anytime but the problem is people always ignore those threats or danger. Besides do your Financial Health Checkup to know where you stand? How much you need to invest and covered on the basis of your income , present inflation rate and predictable future inflation rate.(I will publish the Financial Checkup Format in my later posts).

Basic Dos and Dont's before investing in an ULIP

1. Always opt for Child plans or retirement plans due to their smart combination of investment and insurance.
2. Go for a practical term period. If you are 25 then go for 10-15 years term in a single policy .
3. Don't think that you are over insured, no one is over insured, rather always take 2-3 policies with 10-15 years term. As this will give you maximum returns in time of maturity.Besides in time of emergency you can surrender one policy and still you will not have to worry as you have two more policies with you. If you have only one policy with a huge premium and a term of 30 years then think of the situation if something happens you are left with nothing.
4. Always enquire about the sectors where your money is invested, portfolio manager, his experience , surrender charges & allocation charges. Always go for policies where allocation charges are low.
5. Do not believe in fake promises like"doubling you money in 3 years" & etc etc.
6. If any agent contact you,tell him/her to take his/her Sales Manger with him and always give appointment to 2-3 agents of different company to make a comparative study.
7. Always do the financial checkup before deciding on the Premium amount: As a sales manger or agent may convince you to give high premium ..due to his earning benefit.but always calculate that according to your income and expenditure how much you can pay.
8. Besides always try to opt for Half-yearly or yearly premium mode.
9. Fill up the form by your own specially the sections where amount,terms,and name of plan to be given
10. After receiving your policy kit don't keep it in your cupboard rather use the ids and passwords given inside it to regularly track your wealth performance on a monthly basis.