The IRDA annual report with Life Insurance Claim Settlement Ratio Data for 2021 (FY 2019-20) was released on Feb 10th delayed by at least 1-2 months due to the pandemic. The claim settlement ratio data along with total claims and claims paid is presented in the table below. Life Insurance Claim Settlement Ratio Data for…
Continue reading →The PPF interest rate for the current quarter is 7.1% (1st Jan 2021 to March 31st 2021). Many investors are worried and some even accuse the government of lowering rates and causing hardship. We should be aware that the PPF rate is almost 1% higher than what it should be! How is the PPF rate…
Continue reading →Finance Bill 2021 has proposed several amendments to the Lic Insurance Corporation Act 1956. Most notable among these is the 10% reservation of the LIC IPO issue size to policyholders. Here is an explanation of the associated rules. What exactly does the finance bill say? Extract from Page 108 of the bill regarding various categories of…
Continue reading →Budget 2021 came as a shock to insurers who sold ULIPs. Their tax-status was changed from tax-free to taxable as capital gains (like mutual funds). In this article we discuss a question posed by a reader: Should ULIPs be avoided due to change tax rule in budget 2021? When equity mutual funds became taxable in…
Continue reading →In this article, author Smriti Tuteja explains why having a baby doesn’t mean ending your financial independence and discusses options to earn money from home after a maternity break. About the author: Smriti is a freelance content writer and an avid reader. She quit her six-year-long IT career to embrace her love for writing. Her…
Continue reading →The Sensex closed for the first time above 50,000 on 3rd Feb 2021. We look at its 42-year journey for lessons on reward and risk. The BSE provides closing price (excluding dividends) from 3rd April 1979 when the Sensex was 124.15. We shall use this data for analysis. Dividends will have to be added to…
Continue reading →Pulkit has designed an investment dashboard for planning and tracking his investments in a goal-based manner. He had shared some screenshots in the goal-based investing Facebook group. Pulkit immediately agreed to share the thought process behind creating this dashboard. There is no better way to showcase the benefits of managing an investment portfolio as per…
Continue reading →The market rally in the last few months has had a dramatic impact on SIP returns especially when you track them on a monthly basis. The Nifty 10-year SIP return as on 4th Feb 2021 is a healthy 14% (including dividends but before expenses, tracking error and taxes). What does this mean for investors? An…
Continue reading →Finance Bill 2020 has proposed that contribution above 2.5 lakhs by employees into recognised provided funds will be taxed. Here is why this rule does not apply to the public provident fund (PPF). The change proposed in Budget 2021 is an inclusion to clause(11) and clause (12) of section 10 of the income tax. Clause 11…
Continue reading →Nippon India Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund is an open-ended index fund tracking the Nifty Midcap 150 index – the second such fund after Motilal Oswal Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund. The NFO period for the Nippon India fund begins Feb 4 and lasts until Feb 12th 2021. What is the Nifty Midcap 150 Index? Out…
Continue reading →Nippon India Nifty 50 Value 20 Index Fund is an open-ended passive fund that will track the Nifty 50 Value 20 Index. The NFO period of this fund is from Feb 4th to Feb 12th 2021. This article looks at the risk and reward of the underlying index and answers if it makes sense to…
Continue reading →Finance Bill 2020 has proposed that contribution above 2.5 lakhs by employees into recognised provided funds will be taxed. If an excess contribution is made in one financial year, will it be taxed only in that year or in subsequent financial years until maturity or withdrawal? While a precise answer to this is not available…
Continue reading →Use this free calculator to find out the taxable EPF interest on employee contributions over 2.5 lakhs. This exact calculation is a follow up on this simple illustration: How employee contributions over 2.5 lakhs get taxed like an FD. If you wish to avoid this tax, you can consider alternatives discussed in this article: With PF…
Continue reading →Here is a list of stocks with momentum and low volatility for Feb 2021 from the Nifty 100. This month as many as 54 stocks qualify after filtering Nifty 100 with (1) positive 1-year return, (2) positive six-month return, (3) price > 200-day moving average, (4) 50% of daily positive returns, (5) lowest volatility. What…
Continue reading →From 1st April 2021 onwards, the interest on any contribution above Rs. 2.5 lakh by an employee to a recognised provident fund is taxable as per the provisions of the Finance bill 2021. Here is a simple illustration of how the tax works: How employee contributions over 2.5 lakhs get taxed like an FD. Many have…
Continue reading →