Money 4 You – New Financial Education Website

Indian Banks association in association with Master card and Indian cards council launched a financial education website “Money4you”. Master card launched similar websites in China, Taiwan, Australia and America. Money4you is an interactive website with financial tips and information about financial planning.
This site is a must visit for all the credit card holders. It includes comprehensive information on financial glossary. You can tell your grievances about credit card companies.

This site gave more importance to credit cards while neglecting other financial segments like Insurance, Equities and taxes. Frankly speaking, all the information is a basic one but it is a welcome initiative on part of banks and master card.

I hope that this beautifully designed website will improve the financial literacy there by helping to take wise decisions by adding more useful content.

How to invest in Stock Markets?

Tips and advice for stock market investors:

1. You will never succeed in Share Markets if your investment decisions are based on tips from Brokers and friends. You should study the markets, analyze the trends, take calculated risks and then invest in stocks.

2. Learn lessons from failures. Even great investors like Warren Buffett suffered losses in his early days.

3. Identify your risk profile basing on your age, economical status, risk bearing capacity and future needs.

4. Never put all your money in single investment portfolio. Diversify them.

5. There are no shortcuts to earn money in share markets. You should work hard to make money in stocks as in other fields.

6. Never follow herd mentality. Buy valuable stocks when panic investors are selling them. Sell over valued shares when all are buying them. Never afraid to buy a fundamentally strong but undervalued stock. This is the key to the success of Warren Buffett. This is called Value investing.

7. Large caps are secure while midcaps give high returns. Identify the future sector and find the best stock in that sector. Accumulate those stocks. Power and Shipping are the future growth sectors in India.

8. Never invest in Z category stocks or rupee stocks just for the sake of high returns.

9. Never invest without stop loss and target. Never change them without any specific reason.

10. Read at least 2 business news papers and investment magazines.

Take care, happy investing!

Investment tips from Warren Buffet

Tips and advice for smart investors by Warren Buffet:

1. Beware of companies displaying weak accounting.
2. Unintelligible footnotes usually indicate untrustworthy management.
3. Be suspicious of companies that trumpet earnings projections and growth expectations.
4. Suspect those CEOs who regularly claim they do know the future –and we become downright incredulous if they consistently reach their declared targets.
5. Managers that always promise to “make the numbers” will at some point be tempted to make up the numbers.
6. Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.

7. A director whose moderate income is heavily dependent on directors’ fees is highly unlikely to offend a CEO or fellow directors, who in a major way will determine his reputation in corporate circles.
8. If regulators believe that “significant” money taints independence (and it certainly can), they have overlooked a massive class of possible offenders. (referring to outside directors)

Those attributes are two legs of our “entrance” strategy, the third being a sensible purchase price.
We have no exit to strategy –we buy to keep.

That is one reason why Berkshire is usually the first- and sometimes the only –choice for sellers and their managers.

This is the synopsis of Warren Buffet speech in 2003.

10 Qualities of a young Investor

Pre-requisites of a young investor:

1. Discipline – Most essential quality.
2. Ability to follow rules
3. Love for hard work.
4. Ability to identify mistakes and rectify them
5. An investor must be skilled in reading and understanding financial statements.
6. A trader should have good knowledge of technical analysis.
7. One must spend time on study, analysis and preparation of trading plans.
8. Youngsters should find good role models like Warren buffet, Mark Faber, Peter Lynch, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala etc.
9. Never hesitate when it comes to investing in knowledge.
10. Young investors would do well to make long term plans and goals and work towards achieving them.

Message to young investors:

1. Have a definitive goal in life and work towards it.
2. You should sacrifice some hobbies in order to achieve your goal.
3. Dissociate yourself from people who have a negative influence on you.
4. Dare to dream.
5. Do not afraid of failures.
6. Be open to change and in imbibing new ideas.

Please comment on this article.

Source: Business line.

Smoking effects on fanancial health

Money today magazine published an interesting article on smoking expenses.

If a 35 year-old quits smoking,he can save up to Rs.12 lakh by the time he retires excluding medical expenses.

A cigarette pack: Rs 40
Monthly cost =Rs 1,200
Yearly cost =Rs 14,400

If that money was invested in a scheme that gave a 10% return annually,it would grow to Rs 12 lakh in 23 years. Interesting fiancial calculation.

If you want more information, visit http://www.moneytoday.in

Smoking is injurious to financial health. GIVEUP SMOKING.

Advice to Mutual fund Investors from Government

Indian Government issued an advertisement regarding Mutual fund Investments.

1. First choose a scheme according to your risk profile - Equity/Balanced/Debt
2. Compare the schemes and their track record.
3. Study the track record of fund Manager.
4. Check the entry/ Exit load.
5. Don,t follow the advice of neighbour. Do some research on fund.
6. Do not get trapped into new schemes.
7. For more alerts on defaulters and companies, visit Website.
8. For assistance in investors grievances redressal, visit helpline.

Please comment on this article.