Are you always at a loss while planning your finances? Are you aware of the investment options available in the market?
How best can you plan your finances? What are the crieria for evaluating an investment option?
Are mutual funds profitable investment options? When and how should one buy mutual funds?
In an hour-long chat on rediff.com on Wednesday, financial planning expert Sailesh Multani offered some valuable tips. Here is the transcript:
Sailesh says, Goodafternoon everyone, lets start the chat session
Rajesh asked, Hello Sailesh, I have been investing in MF for last 2 years, I have invested approx 120000, most of my invest ment are in tax saving schemes, Please advice on the same
Sailesh answers, at 2009-06-17 12:43:32hi, its good to have some exposure to equities and tax savings schemes are one way of investing in equity markets. I would recommend that you look at non- ELSS divierisified equity funds too for investments. A portfolio of only tax savings schemes may not be a good idea.
Faiz asked, Hi Sailesh. Do you see a market correction taking place any time soon? I would like to invest in stock/MFs but am worried about the budget and its impact. Do you think it makes sense to wait and watch or go ahead and take the plunde?
Sailesh answers, hi, if you are a long term investor i.e with an investment horizon of at least 3 years then equities are the right choice. I dont think you should get bothered too much by the short term correction or event like budget. I would rather recommend that you invest in 3-4 phases may be over the next few weeks. Do not time the markets... you may not get it right
gautam asked, hellow sir, i have 2,00,000/- Rs. free to invest, guid me where i have to invest, stock or mf and which?
Sailesh answers, hi, if you are a long term investor with 3-5 years and high risk appetite then opt for well managed diversified equity funds. If your investment horizon is 3 years and less then balanced funds and MIPs are the ideal investment for you.
sk asked, hi i have some five lacs in FD on Which i want to take OD and This amount i want to invest in some market driven instrument please advice
Sailesh answers, hi, I would not recommend that you take an OD on your FD and invest in any market driven instrument. Yes... you can withdraw from FD and put in debt funds but make sure that the trade off is in your favour.
sks asked, Hello Sir, Can you please advise if it is good to invest about 5%-7% of earning in gold jewelry ?
Sailesh answers, hi, yes its a good idea to have atleast 10% allocation to gold in your overall portfolio. Gold helps in diversification of the portfolio as well as acts as a hedge against inflation. In times of financial crisis like the one witnessed in October 2008, gold is the most sought after asset class.
freepints asked, If i buy mutual funds and sell them within a month or in a year so what wud be the deductions. Does it depend on MF to MF?
Sailesh answers, hi, if you eixt equity funds within a month of investment then you may have to pay the necessary exit load and securities transaction tax (STT).
saurav25 asked, hello sailesh if i want to invest a amount on monthly basis for atleast 3years which uld be the best investment plan u suggests
Sailesh answers, hi, the choice of instrument will depend upon your end objective. If you need the money after 3 years then my advise is to invest in a mix of debt and equity with debt forming a major portion of the overall portfolio. If the objective is 5 years away then a portfolio mainly of equity funds will be appropriate.
rahusach asked, hello sir, i have been regularly investing in mfs. Can u pls advise what allocation (%) one should have in his portfolio? (lime diversified, thematic, sectoral, tax saver, etf)....thanks in anticipation...
Sailesh answers, hi, your equity fund portfolio should have atleast 5-6 schemes with no scheme having more than 25% allocation. I do not recommend that you invest in any sector or thematic fund). Investment in tax savings schemes should be restricted to the amount necessary for reducing the overall tax liabiltiy
PagalAadmee asked, Sailesh, I save 1 lakh per year...so I get the tax benefit also. DO I need to invest more than 1 Lakh per year?
Sailesh answers, hi, the maximum benefit under Section 80C is Rs. 1 lakh. Hence, there is no need for saving more than a lakh for tax saving purpose.
sudhakar asked, Hi Sailesh, Good Afternoon. I would like to invest 40,000 in SBI magnum taxgain this year. Is it good to invest in SBI Tax gain ELSS? Wat are the other good ELSS funds to invest this year?
Sailesh answers, hi, you consider funds like Franklin India Taxshield and Fidelity Tax Advantage in the ELSS category.
Rajeshnl asked, Hi Sailesh, I am planning to sell my house and property in india within december, it may get me some 50lakhs can you give me the best investment option for this money? can be long term investment . Thanks Rajeshnl
Sailesh answers, hi, in case of long term capital gians the best investment is capital gains tax saving bond from Rural Electrification Corporation and National Highway Authority of India. The interest will be in the range of 5.50% -6.00% with a lock in of 3 years. The interest is taxable.
vk asked, Hello Shailesh, I have a spare money of 9 lacs, which I need it after 6 months, where should i invest for these 6 months ?
Sailesh answers, hi, the best investment option from 6 months point of view is liquid funds. There are no entry or exit loads. Opt for the weekly dividend reinvestment option
HKNigam asked, Hello Sir, I am retiring this month, how best I should invest my retirement funds which is around 35 lakhs. I want a monthly income of around Rs. 10000/- and rset can be invested for long terms say for 5 years.
Sailesh answers, hi, you need to divide the retirement corpus between fixed deposit and equities. Ideally 15% should be invested in equities an the balance can be invested in fixed deposit with bank so that you are assured of a regular income.In your case you can invest upto 25 lakhs in fixed deposit and balance in equity with 5 years time frame.
SG asked, Hi shailesh, Is MF-sip is better or LIC Jivan tarang is better for long term (like 20 yrs
Sailesh answers, hi, you seem to be mixing the two - insurance and investments. MF SIPs are suitable for building a corpus to meet your future investment needs. Insurance should be purely for protection in case of any eventuality. In case of insurance go only for term plan.
gg asked, I have a fund of rs. 80 lakhs which I have deposited in SBI at 8.5% interest p.a. Do you think, I need to look into different avenues also to get more returns?
Sailesh answers, hi, SBI fixed deposit is among the most safest investments. Given the current interest rate scenario, in my view the rate of 8.5% is quite attractive. If you are looking at more returns then you will have to take more risk and the returns will not be assured.
karyrediff asked, what is the future reliance infrastructure & growth fund. Also how about fidelity?
Sailesh answers, hi, infrastructure funds are thematic funds which invest in sectors like steel, cement, construction, telecom among others. The performance of these funds is dependent on the performance of the underlying sectors. In times when these sectors are not doing well the fund manager does not have the flexibilty to go into more defencsive sectors like healthcare and FMCG. In my view one should always look at diversified equity funds.
Suresh1234qaz asked, Hello Shailesh, I have very small capital of around 20000 to start investing. I want your help on how should I start (e.g. bank/shares etc.) investing it to get maximum output.
Sailesh answers, hi, in my view you should aim at building a portfolio of equity and debt. For equities you should consider investing in equity funds with a good track record to show for. SIPs are the best way of investing in equity funds. For debt, you can consider fixed deposit with any bank
ISLAM asked, Hi, I have a monthly salary of 15000/-. I am 39 yrs old. I have a saving of Rs 5000.I want to know as to how much shold i invest in equity?
Sailesh answers, hi, ideally 100 minus your age should be the allocation to equity. In your case atleast 60% should be allocated to equity. However, please note that this is only the begining point. The actual allocation will depend upon several other facotrs like your overal financial condition, job security, liabilities and no of dependents.
zzzz asked, Hi Sailesh, if I want to invest in Gold as a part of my portfolio, can you please tell me whether I need to buy gold or any gold based funds are available? if so please point me.
Sailesh answers, hi, if you are considering investment in gold then Gold ETFs are the best. To invest in Gold ETFs you need to have a demat account. You have to place an order to buy the units through your stock broker. The units are directly credited to your demat account.
ravisaxena asked, i have five lakh rupees to invest for long term with high returns and ready to take some high risk
Sailesh answers, hi, if your investment horizon is 5 years and willing to take high risk then equity funds are the best option. Of course, as a prudent investor do not put all your money in equities. Do keep some money in safe assts like fixed deposits and gold.
anandbhat asked, dear Sir, I want to invest 5000 in SIP which is the best mutual fund now to start?
Sailesh answers, hi, you can consider funds like Franklin India Bluechip and HDFC Top 200 among others to start with.
marya asked, Mary asked : I have Rs. 5 Lacs, I want to deposit this and I want monthly income for study of my children, where I deposit this money
Sailesh answers, hi, you can consider investing this money in Post Office Monthly Income Scheme that gives 8% retrun p.a. You can even consider various fixed deposits that have monthly income plan. For e.g. HDFC Ltd. Fixed Deposit has the monthly income plan
mike asked, Hi..Mr.Sailesh,gud afternoon.I have three SIPs started about a year ago.Now I have stopped all of them.Its showing a gain of about 45% in average and it comes to about Rs.1.2 lacs.My finance adviser is telling me to redeem it and book the profits.She is als o telling there will be a large correction in the SENSEX.Please advise what to do.Thanks in advance.
Sailesh answers, hi, redeem your investment only if your asset allocation suggests. For e.g. if you your asset allocation before the sensex moved up was 60:40 but now it is 75:25 then it is wise to book profits to balance your asset allocation. Do not redeem because the stock markets are likely to correct.
Mukund asked, Hi Shailesh, I manage to save Rs, 40,000/month and I wish this amount each month. I am 35 years old and need to build wealth so that it ensures worryless retirement. Can you please advice.
Sailesh answers, hi, the anser to your question lies in building a retirement plan for yourself. The plan will suggest how much retirement corpus you will need to ensure that your life post retirment is comfortable. It will also suggest if the monthly saving of Rs 40000 is sufficient or not or you need to save more. It will also suggest the asset class in which the monthly savings has to be invested in.
Sailesh says, Thank you all for participating in the chat session. If you have any further queries, please feel free to mail me at: info@personalfn.com
