What is ESG Investing?

ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing refers to a class of investing that is also known as “sustainable investing.” This is an umbrella term for investments that seek positive returns and long-term impact on society, environment and the performance of the business. There are several different categories of sustainable investing. They include impact investing, socially responsible investing (SRI), ESG and values-based investing. Another school of thought puts ESG under the umbrella term of SRI. Under SRI are ethical investing, ESG investing and impact investing.

The Financial Times Lexicon defines ESG  as “a generic term used in capital markets and used by investors to evaluate corporate behavior and to determine the future financial performance of companies.” It is used by investors to evaluate corporations and determine the future financial performance of companies. It adds that ESG “are a subset of non-financial performance indicators which include sustainable, ethical and corporate governance issues such as managing a company’s carbon footprint and ensuring there are systems in place to ensure accountability.” They are factors in investment considerations, used in risk assessment strategies incorporated into both investment decisions and risk management processes.

What is the Appeal of ESG Investing?

Many investors are not only interested in the financial outcomes of investments. They are also interested in the impact of their investments and the role their assets can have in promoting global issues such as climate action.  One demographic that is particularly attracted to ESG investing is millennials. According to a 2006 study called Cone Millennial Cause Study, millennials are more likely to trust a company or purchase a company’s products when the company has a reputation of being socially or environmentally responsible. Half of those surveyed are more likely to turn down a product or service from a company perceived to be socially or environmentally irresponsible.

The Rs 30 trillion Indian mutual funds (MF) industry may have seen five ESG-themed MF schemes rolled out so far in 2020. But a wave of ESG investing has been sweeping global markets for some time now.

Data from research firm Morningstar Investment Adviser showed that in October, global assets under management (AUM) with ESG portfolios hit a high of US$1.2 trillion – a quantum increase from $530 million five years ago. Bloomberg reports state that there were 17 ESG exchange traded funds rolled out so far in 2020, compared with 10 in all of 2019. This launches make October the best-ever month for inflows since 2013.

In India however, ESG funds are still in a nascent stage. But investor interest is increasing. There is awareness about ESG in every aspect of conducting business. Society wants to see businesses being more responsible in these areas and it is already visible in lending practices and investor participation globally.

India has a long road ahead in sustainable investing, given the host of mid and small-sized companies that may find it challenging to comply with such norms. But, experts say that the Indian MF industry is moving in the right direction. As more schemes raise money, investor awareness would improve. Companies that have low ESG scores could lose prominence or importance in the investment horizon, even if they generate higher profits. Such companies stand the risk of losing capital flows, especially from FIIs.

So in all ESG is the future of investment. If one is looking at responsible investing than one must apply for the Aditya Birla Sun Life ESG Fund NFO. Call us to apply. NFO closes 18th December 2020.

The ESG theme must be included in the core portfolio. Returns through the ESG themes are expected to be higher than non-ESG funds with same risk profile.

Talking of investments, we can categorise investment assets into 2 main classes. Real assets and Financial assets. Real assets are like physical gold, real estate, etc. while financial assets are like equity shares, mutual funds, etc. Real assets have their own values while financial assets derive their value from some collateral. From the current experience of lockdown and distancing its time to look at other classification of assets. Electronic assets and Physical assets. All those assets which can be bought and sold electronically are electronic assets while those which cannot be bought and sold electronically are physical assets. As compared to physical assets the electronic assets offer us much organized and liquid markets which are global. You may find it difficult to sell a piece of gold in current situation with markets shut all around but that is not the case with electronic gold. With globalized markets a buyer sitting in any part of the world may find value in our electronic asset and may buy it. It is not the case with physical asset as its buying and selling is limited to a certain local area. Physical assets consume much time, money and efforts to be sold.

Looking at the current situation full of uncertainty it may be so that you may not find a buyer for your physical asset. It may be so that the market might be shut or by selling the asset you may get corona from buyer for free.

So, the time has come where we not only change our living habits but also our financial habits. Invest in only those assets which are electronic. Even a fixed deposit. Consider a fixed deposit placed with bank by filling physical form with no online access. You may have Debit card / ATM but to liquidate the fixed deposit you have to visit the bank. Now consider a fixed deposit you had placed electronically. You can liquidate it with just few clicks. We have to change our financial habits the following way:

1. Don’t be dependent on visiting bank for every work. Go digital.
2. Stop buying insurance online on your own from portals. Buy insurance from reliable insurance agents and make your family a part of your insurance purchase decision. There have been instances where the insured had insurance purchased from online portal with few clicks but family was helpless as they had no details of it and there was no one to stand by their side at the time of need.
3. Always have a financial advisor. Let him know your financial position and your insurance details. Make your family members familiar to him so that in the time of an emergency, he can guide your loved ones.
4. Don’t purchase physical assets for investment purpose. Invest in electronic assets only so that you can sell them easily.
5. You should purchase a medical insurance for your family. Medical insurance has to be sufficient. One must have at least Rs. 5,00,000 family floater for 3-4 members.
6. If you are paying housing loan, have an insurance cover of an amount sufficient to cover your housing EMI’s. Remember if anything happens to you, your EMI payment obligations are transferred to your legal heirs.
7. Have an emergency fund to get you going for at least 6 months without income.

Remember, with damage we have done to the nature, this is just the beginning of a new era where we will have to change for a better tomorrow; be it our lifestyle or our habits of handling finances.

Don’t we all wait for the SMS alert informing us that our salary has been credited into our bank account? More than anything it is a reminder of the regular payments we have to do.

These could be utility payments-electricity and phone bills, EMIs for home or car loans, school fees, maintenance for society, insurance premium, credit card bills, and so on. Many of these payments can be automated and get debited directly from our salary accounts.

Once these payments are taken care of, the remaining money then gets spent on discretionary expenses - such as eating out, movies, shopping, a weekend trip out of town and so on. In the midst of this who has the time to think about saving? This is the mistake most of us commit. But it can be tackled if you automate your savings too, just like your regular payments.

Saving before spending

Keep legendary investor Warren Buffet’s words in mind: “Don’t save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after savings”. This is the key to wealth creation. And an easy way to invest in mutual funds is through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs). The beauty of SIP is that you can automate it; make your salary day your SIP day. This way you can ensure that your investment is done the same day that you receive your salary. Let us see how.

Investing in mutual fund schemes through SIPs ensures that the investment is done regularly and periodically. If followed over a longer period, SIPs are a great tool in your journey towards wealth creation.

How SIPs work

A SIP is similar to a recurring deposit with the bank, where you deposit a fixed sum of money regularly on a specified date. The only difference in the case of a SIP, is that your money is invested in a mutual fund scheme that you choose and the returns clocked are variable, market-linked. Therefore, do note that mutual fund investments are subject to market risks.

If you make your payday your SIP day (the day the money is invested in the mutual fund) and select mutual funds schemes carefully, it can prove beneficial in achieving your financial goals.

You can choose from various categories of mutual funds (equity, debt, hybrid, solution-oriented, and others) offered by the fund house. Make sure you select mutual fund schemes that have proven track records of generating consistent returns across diverse periods and market cycles. Further, ensure the fund house follows robust investment processes and systems.

Depending on your convenience, you have the option to choose your SIP date, the amount, frequency of your regular investments - daily, monthly, or quarterly basis, and the SIP tenure. Your investments will be carried out via a NACH/ECS mandate, where on the chosen SIP date, the bank will debit your account and the money will get invested in the respective mutual fund scheme/s systematically. The process is simple to execute and you can register online through Baxi Investment.

The benefit of timing the SIP with your payday is that you know exactly how much surplus is in your account for the rest of the month. You can plan your discretionary expenses accordingly and ensure that your monthly budget stays on track. This brings in a discipline in your spending and savings and can help you attain life goals such as buying a home, a car, providing the best education to our children, getting them married, and living a stress-free retired life.

To start your SIP journey contact us today.

An eye opener for parents with no financial planning for their child's future

Recently I had tried to find out investment habits of parents having children in the age range of new born to 10 years. I had indirectly surveyed 50 parents to know their investing habits for their child’s future. I was shocked to find that 95% of the parents had no financial planning for their children. Even more shocking  was when parents told that they had to plan for investing Rs. 100/month for their children. Dear parents, we spend Rs. 300/month/mobile as mobile bills, we spend average 500 Rs. behind our child’s chocolates/ice-cream/cakes (which ultimately leads to medical bills and obesity), we spend Rs. 1000/month for our fitness, we spend 2000/month eating out in the hotel, we spend drinking tea, snacks, fun, kitties and what not. Do these spending have a planning? Do they need a discussion with spouse? To all who had such an excuse, I am sorry but this generation of parents is not serious about their child’s future. I pity such children whose parents have all the money in the world to spend on themselves but need planning and discussion to invest Rs. 100 for their child. Loading our children with gadgets & gifts is not enough. The future is competitive, we have to save for them.

Dear parents, our responsibility does not end bringing our children into this world, It starts from there......

The burning question that investors have in their mind is what to do with their investment? It is quiet unnerving to see value of investments fall down by 20-50%. But ask yourself a question, when there is a sale of up to 50% off in a mall what do we do? Do we join the sale with goods lying in our house or do we buy more?

You got it right. I do not need to answer the above question. So dear readers, you have answered your question about what to do with investment yourself. The question to be really answered is not whether to invest or not. But, the question to be answered is, where to invest and what to buy?

I have received numerous calls asking for a tip or an idea of what to buy. Most of the callers expecting a stock idea. But, at this point it is difficult to spot the next sector which will lead the market.

If we analyse the past major rallies and corrections we can find that every rally is fuelled by one or two sectors.

1. The years till 2000 saw sharp moves in IT sector. No one had a clue which sector can move next.

2. The years till 2008 saw Power sector and infrastructure sector have bubble valuation

3. The years till 2020 saw bubble valuations in Banking and financials.

No market participant can tell with surety about which sector or which stock will move up next. Because of Corona one cannot access the impact it has on industries. If we look at our daily lives Corona has negatively impacted the following industries directly

1. Transport (Aviation, Railway, Buses)
2. Hotels
3. Industries where large scale labour is used
4. Oil & Gas industry

On the brighter side, it has done some positive for the following industries

1. Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
2. IT sector
3. Insurance companies

Chances are that many foreign companies may divert to India if we can curb growth of Corona and shift their manufacturing facilities from China. Chances are there that we can grab China’s share in Textile and Chemical sectors. Chances are there that the rise in medical costs and prices of basic medications will continue and help in profits of Healthcare and pharma companies. Chances are there will be growing awareness in purchase of health insurance and standard of health will still further improve with people going for good treatment because of medical insurance. IT sector will shift from current offices to work from home models.

China having cut down its production has low levels of inventory. They will take time to start exports. Moreover importers will be reluctant to import from China for some time. Stock of Chinese goods in our country is low as compared to past and chances are that our local manufacturers may be able to grab the opportunity.

I am not commenting on current situation or how grave it can be, but there is a silver lining to this dark cloud.

If you feel like others that world is coming to an end, look at your living habits. Have they changed? What impacts us impacts others. The way we have to change, others have to change. If you feel that because of corona nothing has changed except our habits of washing hands, covering nose and mouth others do the same. Remember such events have occurred in past and mankind has always won the battle and rebounded back with double force.

Don’t try to spot stocks. Invest in Mutual Funds. Mutual Funds are diversified and fund managers know what is to be done better than us. One can start investing rather than waiting for markets to fall further. Remember, such opportunities rarely occur once in a decade. DO NOT MISS THIS CHANCE OF INVESTING AT 20-50% DISCOUNT. “Participate in this Corona Sale.”

EVERY RISE HAS BEEN LONGER AND LARGER THAN EVERY FALL

Most of the people have some or the other bad habit. Either people smoke, have a habit of drinking tea or coffee multiple times a day, habit of eating food outside or any other habit which leads to ill effects on their health.

Minimum Cost of 1 branded cigarette is Rs. 10 and the same cost is that of a cup of tea if drank on roadside tea stall. A samosa would cost Rs. 10. If we analyse our daily habits we spend around Rs. 60-100 behind such harmful habits which leads to long term problems like Cancer, acidity, obesity and much more.

Did you know that a mere saving of Rs. 30/day can accumulate Rs. 4,25,000 and get a life cover worth Rs. 11,00,000? Let us convert our bad habits to health and wealth. Let us reduce spending on such hazards and invest for the best of ourselves and our family members.

At Baxi Investment we are celebrating Convert Habit into Health and Wealth month from September 1^st to September 30^th. If you have any such bad habit or if someone known to you has a bad habit and would like to quit it, contact us. It is for us to choose between Habit or Health & Wealth.

Please share this and let people join hands towards creating a Healthy and Wealthy Society.

Baxi Investment

Your Guide to Financial Well-Being

When a common man talks of financial goals he uses all the terms together. Like, Children Education, buying a home, vacation, car, retirement. Though they all seem important there is a difference we we do not realize instantly. If you want to buy a car, finance companies will line up with offers. If you want to buy a home, housing finance companies will be willing to give you a best quote. If you want to finance your child's education, banks will be willing to give educational loan.

Have you ever heard financing for retirement? It is something everyone avoids as none of the financing company wants you to talk about. If you start caring for retirement, you leave less for EMI. The most important financial goal cannot be financed and it is the goal which most of the people do not want to talk about.

In reality, retirement planning starts the day we receive our first income be it profit or salary or commission.

Let us understand this with an example.

Assuming Mr. Early starts earning at the age of 23 years and starts retirement planning at 23 with an expected retirement age of 60, he has 37 years to invest. He starts SIP of Rs. 2000 a month with expected returns of 12% per annum. At the age of 60 years Mr. Early will have Rs. 1,38,79,700 for his retirement corpus.

Assuming Mr. Late starts earning at the age of 23 years and starts retirement planning at 40 years of age with an expected retirement age of 60, he has 20 years to invest. He will have to start SIP of Rs. 15,080 a month with expected returns of 12% per annum to have retirement corpus of Rs. 1,38,71,450.

It is always better to start slow when one has low family and medical expense rather than waiting for full family responsibilities and medical expenses to start in 40's. It is always difficult to save later if one cannot do it now.

Remember, Slow and steady wins the race

LIC Cancer Cover Plan - Table No. 905

This is a fixed benefit health plan offering payouts for treatment of cancer. In case the customer is diagnosed with cancer, this plan will offer benefits irrespective of the costs incurred in the treatment. LIC Cancer Cover provides protection in case of Early Stage and Major Stage Cancer.

LIC Cancer Cover Plan is a regular premium plan in which premiums can be paid Yearly or Half yearly for a policy term ranging from 10 to 30 years. The policy can be purchased offline as well as online.
 

LIC Cancer Cover Plan Options

LIC Cancer Cover offers 2 plan options. The benefits will vary accordingly.

Option I - Level Sum Insured: 
The Basic Sum Insured shall remain unchanged throughout the policy term. So if you choose a cover of Rs. 10 lakhs, it stays that way throughout the policy term.

Option II - Increasing Sum Insured: 
The amount of cover increases by 10% of Basic Sum Insured every year for the first five years. In case the policyholder is diagnosed with cancer this increase will stop even within the first 5 years. So if you take a 10 lakhs cover, it will keep increasing by Rs. 1 lakh every year for 5 years (so it can go to a maximum of Rs. 15 lakhs). In case you are diagnosed with cancer after the increased cover has reached Rs. 13 lakhs, it would not increase in the next 2 years.

The benefits payable under the plan shall be based on the Applicable Sum Insured, where the Applicable Sum Insured shall be equal to-  

• Option I - Basic Sum Insured for policies taken
• Option II - Basic Sum Insured during first year and increased sum insured thereafter

LIC Cancer Cover Policy Benefits

The benefits are dependent of the stage of cancer which you have been detected with. They are as follows:

Early Stage Cancer

In case you are detected with Early stage cancer which are specified, you get the following benefits.

• Lumpsum Benefit: 25% of Applicable Sum Insured is paid out
• Premium Waiver Benefit: Premiums for next three policy years or balance policy term whichever is lower, shall be waived from the policy anniversary coinciding or following the date of diagnosis. 

Major Stage Cancer

In case you are detected with Major stage cancer which are specified, you get the following benefits.

• Lumpsum Benefit: 100% of Applicable Sum Insured less any previously paid claims in respect of Early Stage Cancer is paid to you.
• Income Benefit: 1% of Applicable Sum Insured shall be payable on each policy month following the payment of Lump Sum amount, for a fixed period of next ten years irrespective of the survival of the Life Insured and even if this period of 10 years goes beyond the policy term. In case of death of the Life Assured while receiving this Income Benefit, the remaining payouts, if any, will be paid to his/her nominee.
• Premium Waiver Benefit: All the future premiums shall be waived from the next policy anniversary and the policy shall be free from all liabilities except to the extent of Income Benefit as specified above. 

Raksha Bandhan is a very old festival which has its details even in the Bhavishya Purana during the 5^th century. On this day siblings exchange Rakhi with some gift. While tying Rakhi the sister prays and wishes a good life for brother while the brother promises her with love, protection and happiness.

In todays’ world when nobody has time these promises are fast losing their importance. None of the siblings have time to fulfil their promises as they are more entangled in their life and social media. Usually when it comes to gifting, we think of Sweets & Chocolates accompanied by a brand new Mobile Phone or a new Vehicle, or online shopping vouchers. These are traditional gifting ideas exchanged with words of promises and wishes.

Think over now, the sibling will spend whole day with gift living the other one alone, than starts monthly recharge, more time spent on social media, increasing petrol costs and maintenance, purchase of stuff not needed as time limit to use a voucher is there. These gifts may make siblings happy for a day or a week but they are ultimately going to consume time and money going ahead which is not healthy mentally, physically or financially.

If on this Raksha Bandhan you really wish for a better life and safety of your sibling gift them with an Insurance cover for life or an Insurance cover for Health or a Mutual Fund or an SIP of mutual funds. These innovative gifting ideas are actions towards fulfilment of promises and wishes of happiness and safety.

Dear readers traditional gifts are mere actions which do not support words while innovative ideas of Insurance, SIP or Mutual Funds are Actions which will fulfil your promises and wishes to your sibling.

Wishing all of you a Very Happy Raksha Bandhan.

  Hardik Baxi,

Baxi Investment

The year 2020 will forever be associated with the pandemic that affected the world. Without a vaccine in sight, COVID-19 continues to loom around the world, affecting millions of people at an alarming rate. Currently, India has ramped up its testing centers, but continues to struggle with increasing cases. The outbreak of a disease such as COVID-19 has highlighted the need for health insurance and created more awareness about it being a necessity for future situations. Until this point, health insurance has never been considered a must-have for families.

It is important to keep yourself sheltered from illnesses and also financial shocks. The repercussions of not having a health policy are very high in such a crucial time. If you are uninsured, the options to go after in case you find a family member sick during this time are bleak. This makes it imperative to explore health insurance options now, so that you focus on your health and not the costs if someone were to fall sick. Regardless of whether you’re insured, figure out your health insurance options to access affordable healthcare.

Factors to consider while selecting a health cover

Buying a health insurance plan, irrespective of age, is a smart move to make. An investment in health insurance in the early years of life is rather beneficial and serves its purpose at a later stage. However, while finding a cover, it is important to acknowledge some of the following points before opting for a policy.

-Look for coverage options: Make sure that you’ve a clear understanding of what is and isn’t included in the cover. Explore Mediclaim/Family floaters, COVID-19 focused policies, comprehensive health insurance policies, critical illness plans among others

-Enlisted hospitals: It is always better to know the network of hospitals your cover will provide access to and check if you will be reimbursed in case you seek treatment in an institution outside the enlisted network

-Compare plans: Comparing the health plans available in the market is very important to decide if such policies fit your requirement

-Faster Claim Settlements: Claim settlement is the ‘Moment of Truth’ for any insurer and hence the insurer’s claims settlement ratio must be checked. This, along with the average time taken to settle the claims, will assure you on the potential of the company to settle claims swiftly and easily

-Co-pay, sub-limits, room rent restrictions: You must ensure that the policy clearly states these limits, if any, and ideally opt for a policy with no capping on room rent and no sub-limits on diseases/procedures

Selecting the right insurance policy:

Once you have a clearer idea about what you’re looking for in a policy cover, make sure that you understand the various policies available and whether the cover you choose meets your specified individual or family needs.

-Comprehensive Health insurance Policy: If you can afford, you should consider more comprehensive health plans that cover COVID-19 or any viral infection, 30 days from the inception of the policy. Comprehensive health plans will cover you for hospitalization expenses resulting from acute or chronic illness and even accidental injury

-Individual Health plan: It must be bought in the name of each individual – spouse, children, parents etc. This means, the premium will be as per each individual's age as well as their respective sum insured and doesn’t affect other family members if one individual were to make a claim

-Family Floater Health plan: Essentially, more than one member can be covered under one policy with a sum insured that will cover all members in the family

-COVID-19 specific policy: All health insurers are offering the IRDAI- mandated standard indemnity health policy Corona Kavach. However, those looking for a short-term policy may consider Corona Kavach. The price point for this policy is lower than a comprehensive health policy and can be bought to protect only against COVID-19 for affordability reasons

-Critical Illness Plan: Critical illnesses are always associated with an increased cost of treatment along with a long and expensive recovery process. Therefore, these policies are designed to meet long-term financial support, as they pay the insurer a lump-sum benefit on the diagnosis of the listed Critical illnesses under the policy

-Top-up plans: Top-up or Super Top-up health plans are indemnity plans with higher sum insured, in case the hospitalisation expenses cross a specific threshold limit called the ‘deductible,’ which is opted for by the customer while purchasing the policy. Typically, one should opt for a super top-up health plan to enhance the existing coverage. Top-up policies are reasonably priced, making them affordable and useful in the event of a high-value claim

The Corona Kavach policy should not be taken as a substitute for a normal comprehensive health cover.

A healthcare system is pretty challenging to navigate in the best of times. The task is a bit more tedious during a pandemic. It’s wise to invest in one of the policies to ensure that your savings don’t take a major hit in case of an unforeseen health emergency.

As a parent, while you endeavour to provide the best to your children, making them understand the value of hard-earned money is equally important. Children need to realise that money does not grow on trees; you need to earn it, save and invest it sensibly so that it grows and generates wealth to continue living comfortably.

“The single most powerful asset we all have is our mind. If it is trained well, it can create enormous wealth in what seems to be an instant.” – Robert Kiyosaki (a celebrated investor and author)

As a responsible parent, you got to persistently impart money management lessons smartly to your child, so that in the long run it cultivates the good habit of saving and makes him/her and handle money deftly. One of the best and smart ways to impart money management lessons to children is allowing them to go hands-on and inculcate learning through experience.

Teach your children the importance of savings. Here’s how you could go about it…

• Introduce them to a few games associated with money such as Monopoly, Game of Life (similar to monopoly), Cashflow (inspired by Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad teaches how to be in better control of your finances), Payday (teaches how manage your monthly budget), etc, that can impart a money management lessons if shepherded prudently.

• Introduce children to the concept of a piggy bank initially and then take it further from there. As your child grows ups and starts getting pocket money, open a savings bank account in his/her name and park the pocket money in it. Explain the rationale, and set your terms and conditions as a parent.

A savings bank account for children will introduce them to the concept of interest on savings, power of compounding, basics banking transactions, help them recognise the nuances of personal finance, encourage them to save and invest productively, and ultimately aid them in financial planning.

Additionally to secure their future, encourage them to save via FD/RD

• Engage your children and spouse when you draw your household budget. Children learn a lot by listening and observing and they are fast learners. In fact, they may even provide you with worthy insights as they evolve and grow over time.

In the budgeting exercise, set rewards when they save or contribute positively towards the household budget. This will not only prevent them from being reckless spendthrifts but even enhance their mathematical and money management skills.

• Introduce your children to the practice of delayed gratification and encourage them to work for things they want and aspire for. Explain that making plans and getting them down on paper gives us a road map to achieve goals.

When they have certain materialistic demands, help them distinguish between ‘Needs’ and ‘Wants’. ‘Needs’ are necessities one cannot wish away, while ‘Wants’ make life more comfortable, but can wait. So, say you are out shopping and your child is nudging you to buy certain thing/s, don’t give in to his/her demand outright; ask your child to assess if it is a ‘need’ or a ‘want’ and explain to your child in a light-hearted manner using the correct analogy about saving for it to purchase it.

For your high school children, setting financial goals into short-term, medium-term, and long-term will help them understand how to prioritise. Buying a gadget, cycle, expensive clothes, shoes, etc–the shorter goals –– encourage them to save a certain portion of their pocket money, instead of fulfilling their materialistic demand/s upfront. For the longer goals (buying a bike, a foreign vacation, etc) and the vital ones such as their higher education, engage them in sensible money talk.

Doing this may help children distinguish between needs and wants well, prioritise financial goals, start understanding the value of every comfort, and luxury that you bring into their lives, and eventually sensibly accomplish financial goals as they grow up.

• Create awareness on how inflation erodes the purchasing power of hard-earned money. Educate them on how to calculate the approximate future value of the things they aspire, the rising costs, and ways to accomplish the vision and dreams they have for themselves.

• When you are giving teenagers an add-on credit card, first take them through how the credit card bill works and the perils of excessive usage of a credit card. Explain what their responsibility will be about owning an add-on credit card, in case of extravagant, impulsive spending or emergencies. Similarly, apprise them about the offers on their cards, so that they save (earn rewards points/cash-backs/discounts) whenever they swipe the card.

• And last but not the least, foster the art of giving and be role model to your child. Practice what you preach as a parent. Ensure you are setting the right example in your personal finances while you educate them on money matter.

Unless you motivate your children to save and teach them the value of money from childhood, they will probably never understand the importance of saving and make a lot of financial mistakes when they grow up.

Teaching children how to manage money is one of the best things you as a parent can do to prepare them for financial independence in the real world.

Thus, consciously impart the right financial education to your children at the right age, so that they don't commit serious mistakes. The most important skill in the art of money management is being able to make the right financial decisions when they grow up. So, be a role model for your children.

Developing money management skills can make your children financially independent once they grow up. Ultimately, it will serve in the interest of the family’s financial wellbeing.

Yes you read it correct. There is nothing available online about relation between savings and losing weight. Recently I have started my diet program with a target to lose 10 kgs by consuming 1500 calories a day. This intake is my budget. If a consume more calories I have to workout and burn excess calories. While implementing my routine I realised something which I would like to share.

Our lives are full of temptations. The moment we get up we are tempted to use a good soap, good toothpaste, wear good apparels, have a good vehicle and what not. Same is with our eating habits. We want to eat best food in town at best restaurant. Remember that usually food that tastes good is high in calories. Consuming limited calories is like following a budget. While talking to most of the clients I realised that no one follows a budget, if one does not have a budget one can not save well. So if you want to save, have a budget. A budget not targeting how much can we spend but how much can we save.

A very beautiful story I came across. Worth reading...

રસ્તા માં તરબૂચ દુકાન માં જોઈ...મેં  મારુ એક્ટિવા  બાજુ ઉપર  ઉભું રાખ્યું...અને ત્યાં ગયો

હું વિચારતો હતો...આ સીઝન માં તરબચુ એક વખત પણ મારા પરિવાર માટે નથી લઈ ગયો...

આખર તારીખ હતી...આગળ પગાર માં કેટલું મોડું થશે એ ખબર ન હતી....

પણ સાથે સાથે વિચાર આવ્યો તરબૂચ ની સીઝન જતી રહેશે...તો.પરિવાર તો સમજુ છે..એ કોઈ દિવસ મને નહિ કહે પપ્પા આ વખતે તરબૂચ કેમ ન લાવ્યા  પણ હું આખું વર્ષ મારી જાત ને અપરાધી ગણતો રહીશ

ત્યાં મારી નજર કેરી ની પેટી ઉપર પડી.મેં વિચાર્યું...આ સીઝન ચાલુ થઈ ગઈ કેરી પણ ઘરે નથી લઈ ગયો

કેરી અને તરબૂચ વચ્ચે એક મધ્યમવર્ગીય પરિવાર  અટવાયો...તો પણ હિંમત કરી..મેં પૂછ્યું....ભાઈ.કેરી ની.પેટી નો ભાવ શુ છે ?

એ બોલ્યો 900 રૂપિયા..તમારા માટે 850 રૂપિયા..9kg આવશે... એકદમ સાકાર જેવી મીઠી...જુનાગઢ ની...છે  બોલો કેટલી પેટી આપું ?

એ બોલતો રહ્યો અને હું વિચાર માં ખોવાઈ ગયો પાકીટ માં ફક્ત રૂપિયા 2000 છે...રૂપિયા 850 ની પેટી ..ના..ના.. ન લેવાય

હું ધીરે થી બોલ્યો છતાં દુકાનદાર સાંભળી ગયો  એ બોલ્યો કેમ ના..ના કરો છો....મેં વાત બદલતા કીધું ..કેરી કાચી છે..આ પહેલા લઈ ગયો હતો 10 દિવસે માંડ પાકી હતી....મન માં તો હું જાણતો હતો..ગયા વર્ષે પેટી લીધી હતી..આ વર્ષે તો હજુ શુકન પણ ક્યાં કર્યું છે...?

પણ આજુબાજુ ઉભેલા માં વટ તો મારવો પડે....

અને આ તરબૂચ નો શુ ભાવ...છે ? મેં કેરી તરફ થી ધ્યાન બીજી તરફ વાળ્યું 20 રૂપિયે કિલો...

હું ખુશ થયો...મન માં બોલ્યો આ આપણા બજેટ માં ફિટ થાય છે એટલે મેં મોટું તરબૂચ ગોત્યુ...

મન માં વિચાર્યું....કાલે રવિવાર છે આજે રાત્રે સમારી ફિજ માં મૂકી દઈશ અને રવિવારે બપોરે બધા આનંદ થી સાથે ખાશું...

દુકાનદાર જોર થી બોલ્યો.. સાહેબ સાત કિલો થાય છે..

હવે તો.કોઈ સાહેબ કહે તો પણ ગાળો આપતો હોય તેવું લાગે છે...અહીં અમને ખબર છે આખર તારીખ માં ટુથ પેસ્ટ ઉપર વેલણ ફેરવિયે છીયે

..બ્લેડ નો પણ કસ છેલ્લા દિવસો માં કાઢવા જતા લોહી લુહાણ થઇ જઇયે છીયે..

અહીં અંડરવેર પણ બહાર ની દોરીએ સુકવાય નહિ તેવી દશા અને દિશા મધ્યમવર્ગ ની થઈ ગઈ છે..

અને આ લોકો સાહેબ..સાહેબ કરી અને આપણી હવા ભરે...છે..

મેં પણ કોલર ઉંચી કરી કીધું. જેટલું થાય એટલું કરી દે...મન માં તો ટોટલ રકમ ગણી લીધી હતી ચલો 140 રૂપિયા માં રવિવાર ઉજવાઇ જશે...

અંદર થી ખુશી સાથે.. હું તરબૂચ લઈ ઘરે પહોંચ્યો..

બાળકો ખુશ થઈ ગયા....

હજુ મારી પત્ની મને ઠડું પાણી આપે છે..ત્યાં મારી નાની દીકરી કહે પપ્પા...સ્કૂલ ની વાન વાળા અંકલ આવ્યા હતા....

મારી પત્ની બોલી..હજુ પપ્પા ને બેસવા તો દે....

હું સમજી ગયો હતો ચાર મહિનાનું વાન નું ભાડું લેવા આવ્યો હશે..હાથ મા પકડેલ ઠંડુ પાણી જાણે ગરમ થઇ ગયું હોય તેવો અનુભવ થયો છતાં પણ હિંમત હાર્યા વગર  મેં કીધું..હવે એ અંકલ આવે તો મારો મોબાઈલ નંબર આપી દેજે હું વાત કરી.લઈશ.

અહીં રોજ સવાર પડે મુસીબતો નું લિસ્ટ સામે હોય. સાંજ પડતાં તો લડતા લડતા થાકી જઇયે..અને સવારે બીજું લિસ્ટ તૈયાર હોય. અહીં મુસીબત સાથે લડતા લોકો શીખી ગયા છે.....હવે કોઈ કોરોના સાથે લડવા ની વાત કરે ત્યારે હસવુ આવે....સાથે કહેવાની ઈચ્છા પણ થાય આવી જા કોરોના તું પણ બાકી ન રહેવો જોઈએ...

શનિવારે  રાત્રે આખો પરિવાર આનંદ સાથે તરબૂચ સમારવા બેઠું...જેવા તરબૂચ ના બે કટકા થયા ત્યાં....

તરબૂચ મધ્યમવર્ગીય પરિવાર ના નસીબ જેવું નીકળ્યું...

સાત કિલો તરબૂચ મા ખાઈ શક્યે તેવો ભાગ માત્ર કિલો પણ નહીં..આખું તરબૂચ સફેદ વચ્ચે નો ખોબા જેવો ભાગ લાલ ખાવા જેવો...

ઘર ના બધા મારી સામે જોવા લાગ્યા...જાણે તરબૂચ મેં બનાવ્યું હોય.....મેં પણ ભગવાન ની સામે જોઈ ધીરે થી કીધું ...હે ભગવાન   સરકાર તો મધ્યમ વર્ગ ની મજાક ઉડાવે છે..હવે તેં પણ ચાલુ કર્યું....?

મારી પત્ની ધીરે થી બોલી દુકાનવાળો છેતરી ગયો...

મેં કીધું...ડાર્લિંગ..આપણે એક તરબૂચ ખરાબ નીકળ્યું તે પણ દુકાનદારે નથી બનાવ્યું ..છતાં એ છેતરી ગયો એમ કહીયે છીયે..

પણ ક્યારેય આ  નેતાઓને આવું કીધું જેઓ ને આપણો કિંમતી મત આપી ચુટીએ છીયે પછી પાંચ વર્ષ સુધી એ લોકો આપણનેેે મૂર્ખ બનાવી છેતરે રાખે છે..

મેં પરિવાર ને હિંમત આપતા કીધું ચિંતા ન કરો કાલે નવું તરબૂચ કપાવી ને આવીશ.....

ત્યાં મારી નાની છોકરી બોલી..પપ્પા તરબૂચ કરતા કેરી જ લઈ આવજો.....હું..તેની સામે જોઈ રહ્યો....તેને કેમ સમજાવવું...કે હવે પુરા બે હજાર રૂપિયા પણ પાકીટ માં નથી...

ત્યાં મારી પત્ની..મારી આબરૂ બચાવવા વચ્ચે બોલી..બેટા આ વખતે કોરોના ના કારણે કેરી આપણે ન ખાવી જોઈએ.

હું ભીની આંખે તરબૂચ સામે જોઈ ઉભો થયો....ખૂણા માં રાખેલ ભગવાન ની મૂર્તિ સામે જોઈ મનમાં બોલ્યો હે ભગવાન કાં તો ભિખારી બનાવ કાં ધનવાન બનાવ..આમ વચ્ચે લટકતો અમને તું ન રાખ. ગાલે તમાચા મારી લાલ મોઢું રાખતા હવે થાક લાગે છે...આ મારી નાની છોકરી ને તું જ હવે જવાબ આપ..... કેરી ખવાય કે ન ખવાય...?

ત્યાં ઓચિંતો ડોર બેલ વાગ્યો....

મેં બારણું ખોલ્યું....એક વ્યક્તિ કેરી ની પેટી લઈ ઉભો હતો...

દવે સાહેબ નું ઘર...

મેં કીધું ભાઈ ગાળો ન આપ

એ બોલ્યો... સાહેબ મેં ક્યાં ગાળો દીધી...

સાહેબ ન કહે બાકી બધું કહે ચાલશે.. બોલ શુ હતું.

આ કેરીની પેટી....આ પરચી માં સિગ્નનેચર કરો...

મેં જોયું..તો અમારી સ્ટાફ ની ક્રેડિટ સોસાયટી એ આ વખતે વ્યાજ ને બદલે બે કેરી ની પેટી મોકલી હતી....

ખૂણા માં રાખેલ ભગવાન ની મૂર્તિ સામે જોઈ  હું બોલ્યો...સાચું બોલજે..ભગવાન આ પેટી તેં જ મોકલી છે.....

ઘર માં. આનંદ છવાઈ ગયો...ત્યાં મારી નાની છોકરી બોલી પણ પપ્પા કેરી તો ન ખવાય  એવું મમ્મી હમણાં કહેતી હતી...

મેં તેના માથે હાથ ફેરવી કીધું..બેટા આ સ્પેશ્યલ દવા છાંટી તારા માટે જ મંગાવી છે...

હું અને મારી પત્નિ ભગવાન ની મૂર્તિ સામે ભીની આંખે જોઈ બોલ્યા પ્રભુ આ મધ્યમવર્ગ જીવે છે ફક્ત તારા ભરોસે ...અમારી શ્રદ્ધા ડગી જાય તેવું વાતવરણ ઉભી થઇ રહ્યું છે.....

મેં સ્માઈલ આપતા કીધું હે પ્રભુ હવે તારી કસોટી છે..

જોઈએ તું જીતે છે કે અમે હારીયે છીયે....

ચોપાટ માંડી છે તારણહાર તે...

હારીશ નહીં થાકિશ જરૂર

ફેંકવા એમ ફેક્જે પાસા

દાવ મારો પણ બાકી છે

હારવા રમ્યો નથી જીત મારી પાકી છે

આજ ભલે પડે અવળા પાસ મારા

કાલ તો હજી મારી બાકી છે....

Many investors ask me questions like “what do you think about direct funds?”, “Should we invest in them?” My simple answer to them is a question. Do you operate yourself looking at a video on youtube? If the answer is yes, go ahead and invest in direct funds, if no, don’t.

Direct funds are for those investors who do not need an advisor. An advisor helps you to

1. Select right fund
2. Provides you with service like collection of form
3. Transaction execution
4. KYC process
5. Switching when fund is not performing well
6. Help you redeem such that you bear no or minimum tax and much more.

Direct mutual fund platforms do not provide any such service. They display products for you to select and buy.

Role of mutual fund advisor was, is and will be there in the industry. The day people will treat themselves without going to doctors, role of advisors will end.

The below chart shows that still 82.7% of retail investors prefer advisors.

Select your advisor wisely. At Baxi Investment we have the policy where, we do not sell Mutual Funds but we help you to purchase Mutual Funds. Our advice is customized and no two clients will receive the same advice.

What is Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP)?​

Systematic Withdrawal Plan is used to redeem your investment from a mutual fund scheme in a phased manner. Unlike lump sum withdrawals, SWP enables you to withdraw money in installments. It can be viewed as an opposite of SIP. In SIP, you channelize your bank account savings into the preferred mutual fund scheme. Whereas in SWP, you channelize your investments from the scheme to the savings bank account. It is one of the strategies to deal with market fluctuations.

With the Systematic Withdrawal Plan, you can customize the cash flow as per your requirement. You can choose to either withdraw just the capital gains on your investment or a fixed amount. This way you will not only have your money still invested in the scheme, but you will also be able to access regular income and returns. The money that you withdraw can be used to reinvest in some other fund or can be retained by you in the form of cash.

How to Set up an SWP?

You need to fill up an SWP form and submit it at the office of the AMC (fund house) concerned. You have to specify the SWP amount and duration of the SWP in the form. If you have opened an online account with an aggregator, you may be able to set up the SWP by filling up an online form instead. If your bank account is registered with the mutual fund, your SWP amount will directly be remitted into your bank account through ECS (Electronic Clearing Service).

There are two options for a Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP):

• Fixed Periodic Withdrawal

A fixed periodic withdrawal allows the unitholder to withdraw a fixed sum on regular intervals, say monthly. The mutual fund house will sell units equivalent to the SWP amount and transfer the amount to the investor’s account.

• Appreciation Withdrawal

In the appreciation withdrawal method, mutual fund units holder makes the choice to withdraw capital appreciation on his fund at a fixed frequency. Suppose an individual has invested Rs. 10 lakh in a mutual fund which generates returns at an average of 1.5% per month. If the investor picks up a monthly SWP plan under appreciation withdrawal, about Rs. 15,000 per month would be credited to his account.

While in the fixed withdrawal plan, the corpus may deplete over a period of time, there is no such possibility in the appreciation withdrawal plan as only capital appreciation gets transferred in the form of an SWP.

Example: Click to see real life example