Wanderlust Sajid

Benjamin Franklin was the founding father of the United States.  There is a famous quote by him which  says, "An investment in Knowledge pays the best Interest". Benjamin Franklin was a polymath - an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects. But, if we speak of investments in just financial terms, the subjectivity of knowledge and it's importance is profound.     I have come across many investors, who have lost far too much money due to investments in products that they don't understand. The first principle of a sound investment is to have a full understanding of the product and whether you are comfortable investing into it or not.  Yes, investors should take professional help. But still; they should never blindly invest anywhere and everywhere. It is ultimately their money and so they must understand in detail before making investment decisions. It is better to ignore a complicated product with a higher possible retu...

Many new prospective investors comes to me asking suggestion for investment schemes where they can get good returns. But I don't start the discussion with just investments. I start by asking them if they have taken adequate health insurance first, and then optimum life insurance coverage second, if they are married or if some of their family members are financially dependent on them. Most of the time, I get a reply that they do not have any insurance.  Insurance in India has a very low penetration. Bulk of the people are not insured both in terms of health coverage or pure life cover. And I am speaking of people who has affordability in buying them. Even if they have taken insurance, the coverage amount is insufficiently low.  I always advise every individual that they should first buy their health and life insurance cover. If they already have, they must ensure that the coverage is adequate based on their lifestyle. This is the foremost priority. The investment comes later. S...

'FM showing how "big" is the package.' On May 12, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressed the nation, in his 33 minutes long speech, at the last 3 minutes, he announced that the Government will come up with a Rs. 20 lakh crore "Package". This "package" which amounts to 10% of India's GDP, was intended to boost the economy and act as the stimulus to the acutely depleting financial and social situation due to unprecedented hardships effected by the 2 months Lockdown fighting against Covid 19. While we are at Lockdown 4.0 since May 18 or we could term it as Openup 1.0, around 1 lakh in India are already Covid infected and more than 3000 died due to it. The numbers are rapidly increasing each day. But, inspite of all this, when that "Rs.20 lakh crore" was announced, we all stood up with good anticipation and efficacious expectation. Because what announced till then was, the second biggest Covid stimulus package in the entire world, o...

Sharing with you a very nice story, I received as a WhatsApp forward... Once, Lord Indra got upset with Farmers, he announced there will be no rain for 12 years and you won't be able to produce crops. Farmers begged for clemency from Lord Indra, who then said, Rain will be possible only if Lord Shiva plays his Damru. But he secretly requested Lord Shiva not to agree to these Farmers. When Farmers reached Lord Shiva he repeated the same thing what Indra asked him to say, that he will play Damru after 12 years. Disappointed Farmers decided to wait till 12 years. But one Farmer regularly was digging, treating and putting manure in the soil and sowing the seeds even with no crop emerging. Other Farmers were naturally making fun of that farmer. After 3 years all Farmers asked that Farmer why are you wasting your time and energy when you know that rains will not come before 12 years. He replied "I know that crop won't come out but I'm doing it as ...

RBI recently decided to cut the Repo Rate by 75 bps from 5.15% to 4.40%. It is aimed at bringing down the cost of borrowing and and revive the economic growth, mainly in response to the financial impact of Covid-19 . Interest rate on the loans by banks, naturally started lowering due to this. However, banks were also be compelled to pay a lesser interest on FDs. SBI reduced its 1 Year FD to just 5.70% interest. The government has also declared lowering of interest rates on small savings schemes. PPF now is at 7.10% interest for April-June 2020 (reduced by 0.80%). You as an investor might be worried to see the lowering of interest rate on FDs, at the time when your equity investments have also gone down currently.  However, you have to think intelligently in this scenario. One of the basic fundamentals of personal investing is to make a proper Asset Allocation. Asset as an investment can be Equity, Fixed Income or Gold. Your entire investment should not be on any single as...

8 frequently asked questions during covid-19 Why are markets declining? How long it will decline? What would happen to my invested money? You might be going through such questions in your mind due to the ongoing turmoil in the market. To see hard earned money losing its capital value, is very painful for everyone. It is a concern for both you and me as a Financial Advisor. However, in my 25 years of experience in the industry, I have seen more than a couple of such acute market turmoil. Nevertheless, in all such times I have seen that the market recovered more than it had fell, within 12 months span. Here, I try to answer 8 questions, which I guess might be going through your mind, currently. Why is my portfolio in red despite investing for the last 3 to 5 years? Your investment is safe and you are facing just a notional loss. Have your confidence, by seeing how our market has reacted to such events in the past. Indian economy depends largely on domestic production. T...

As we are on the verge of celebrating Independence Day, let me share with you a very interesting piece I read recently on "Why India is Shining". Within a couple of days we will be celebrating Janmashthami. Next month we would celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi and Bakrid, followed by Dussehra, then Diwali, Christmas, New Year, Pongal, Sankranti, Holi, Baisakhi, Eid etc. On every occasion, we spend our money. This money brings income to someone else and he spends and it creates an income for someone else. Thus the cycle carries on and on. Basically we are a consumption oriented economy and the consumption is increasing day by day. Thus spending  puts money into circulation  in the country. Compared to this, major other countries derive income from export or manufacturing. Hence their economy and income depends on how much they export.This is why central banks around the world are reducing their interest rates so that their citizens borrow at low cost and spend. When ...