Category: How to-Guide

DigiLocker – A Free and Secure way to store your important documents online

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Digilocker is a Digital Locker service provided by the Indian Government for the citizens to reduce the efforts of carrying hard copies of their documents everywhere. It is a part of the digital India campaign.

Many times it is difficult to carry the hard copies of your documents everywhere. And there is also the possibility of misplacing or losing your documents. So to reduce your efforts and keep your documents safer, the government has introduced this new feature where you can save all documents and use them whenever you want.

Now, let’s see how digilocker works.

DigiLocker

 Key Components of Digilocker

When you log in to Digilocker account, on the first page you can see some key components which are useful for the user. These key points are as:

  • Dashboard
  • Activities
  • Shared documents
  • Issued documents
  • Uploaded documents
  • Issuer
  • Requester

Features of Digilocker:

Digilocker is available in both website and Digi locker app form. Various features of Digilocker make it more attractive and convenient for the users. Some of the main features are listed below:

  1. 1 GB space.
  2. Part of digital India.
  3. Can store both uploaded and issued documents.
  4. You can then also share this URI link of the documents to others when you need to submit your document anywhere.
  5. Both Aadhaar holder and non Aadhaar holders can open this account.
  6. Easy and more secure to use.

What are issued and uploaded documents?

Issued documents: 

Issued documents are the documents which are shared by the issuer to the Digi locker of the user through push or pull way of sharing documents.

Push way means sharing the documents to the Digi-account of the user by using his Aadhaar number to search his Digilocker account if he has already linked it with his Digi-account.

Pull way is the way of sharing documents through URI link if the user doesn’t have his Aadhaar number linked with his Digi-account.

Uploaded documents: 

Uploaded documents are the scanned copies of the documents which are saved by the user to his Digi-account.

How to use DigiLocker?

To take the benefit of Digilocker account you have to sign up first which is very simple. To start a Digi-account first sign up for Digi locker and create a Digi-locker account. Go through the steps given below to sign up for a new Digilocker registration.

Step 1: Download Digilocker app or visit the government authorized Digi locker link https://digilocker.gov.in and click on the sign-up button on your right.

Step 2: Enter your mobile number and click on continue. You will get an OTP on your registered mobile number. Once you enter the OTP and click on continue you will be directed to the next page.

Digilocker signUp step1

Step 3: Now enter your username and password and click on sign up.

Digilocker signUp step2

Step 4: Here you will be asked to enter your Aadhaar number. To link your Aadhaar with your Digi-account, your mobile number must be registered with Aadhaar so that you can get OTP. If your mobile number is not registered with Aadhaar, you can skip this step by clicking on the “continue here” button given below.

Digilocker signUp step3

That’s it. Your Digilocker account is ready to use now.

Digilocker account

You can read the user manual for Digilocker here.

Three entities in Digilocker:

Any person having an Aadhaar card can open a Digilocker and save his documents safely in it. There are generally three categories of people considered as the users of Digilocker. These categories are made on the basis of users of this facility.

Three entities in digilocker

1) Citizens/Individual:

The first category includes the person holding the Digi locker account. The person here has all the authorities regarding his Digi locker. Only he can manage the account. And no one can use his Digilocker documents without his permission. On the other hand, this person can use his documents whenever and wherever he wants.

For example: if you go to any government office for some very urgent work and then you realize that you have forgotten to bring one of your document which is very important. what will you do in such a situation?

If you hold a Digilocker account and have saved a copy of that document in that account then you can take print of that document or can simply share the URI link.

2) Issuer:

The issuer can be any Governmental or private institute or company. This issuer provides the e-documents through URI by using persons Aadhaar number. It will help the issuer and the receiver both to provide the document on time and avoid delay.

Besides, there is no need to send the documents physically to each individual on their respective address and track those documents in case that person doesn’t receive it.

3) Requester:

Requesters is the institute or individual who uses your e-documents through Digilocker for the verification or any other legal procedure. When you provide your URI link to the requester then you don’t need to submit any hard copy of that document.

Requester can be universities or any government officials etc.

Benefits of Digilocker:

  1. All the documents shared are paperless so it reduces the efforts of maintaining the paper documents for government officials.
  2. When you save any document to your Digilocker account you can add you e-sign so that it becomes a more authenticated document with self-attestation.
  3. The issuer can directly issue the documents to an individual which makes the document delivery procedure more safe.
  4. User can use the documents saved in Digilocker anywhere, at any time which proves more convenient for the users.
  5. When you use the URI link of the documents directly shared by the issuers, it reduces the possibilities of submitting fake documents.

#Digilocker helpline:

If you have any complain regarding digilocker then you can send your query at [email protected].

 

Now get a short term loan in your Paytm account by ICICI Bank

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Paytm, India’s largest mobile payment network has partnered with ICICI bank to provide short term small loans to its users. This is India’s first scheduled commercial bank tie-up with a mobile payment platform, and it is named as Paytm-ICICI bank postpaid.

The main motive behind this partnership is to provide 24/7 digital money support to millions of Paytm and ICICI banks common customers across all over India.

This feature is introduced to ease the daily expenses of all ICICI bank customers who are using Paytm, by providing them Digital credit. The below image shows you how it works

Paytm ICICI bank tie up

As per this tie-up, you can take digital credit in your Paytm account from ICICI bank, which you can use for your daily expenses like paying bills, booking flight or bus or even buying a movie ticket. You can use this credit anywhere where Paytm payment is accepted.

Please watch below video to know the details.

Type of loan and interest rate

This credit will be interest free for first 45 days. If you repay it within 45 days, then you will have to to pay only the principle amount and no interest will be charged. But if you delay the payment for more than 45 days, then you will have to pay a late fee of Rs.50 and 3% interest.

How much maximum credit can you take?

This credit limit ranges from Rs.3000 to Rs 10000. It means you can take digital credit of minimum Rs.3000 and maximum of Rs.10,000. And if you have a good repayment history which means you payed all your credit loan in time, then the limit can be extended for you upto Rs.20,000.

Which means that this is going to be useful mostly to students and those people who are left with no money by the end of the month or have severe cash crunch.

Right now this facility is available for the customers of ICICI bank who are using Paytm, but soon all the Paytm users also can get benefit of this newly introduced postpaid digital currency.

Who should use this?

If you are using Paytm heavily and if you are the type of person who has severe cash crunch and want to take short term credits, then this facility if for you.

We do not recommend this facility to be used unless you really need the money. Its better to always maintain liquidity in your bank account and not fall for this kind of service.

I hope this information is useful for you. If you have any query, leave your reply in the comment section.

5 min guide to link Aadhaar number with mutual funds online

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Recently, the government has asked mutual fund companies (and many other financial institutions) to link Aadhaar card number of their customers with their financial investments.

This means that if you are a mutual fund investor, you are supposed to link your aadhaar numbers to your mutual fund folios.

How to link aadhaar card number with mutual funds folio online

How to link Aadhaar number with the mutual fund?

There are various online and offline options of linking your Aadhaar number with a mutual fund folios. You can do this linking process through the transfer agent’s platform like CAMS and Karvy who provides services to multiple mutual fund companies

We will mainly look at just CAMS (15 mutual funds) and Karvy (17 mutual funds) serviced mutual funds in this article.

UPDATE: How to check your Aadhaar linking status?

Now you can check your Aadhaar linking status with CAMS and Karvy online. Here are the links :

CAMS – https://adl.camsonline.com/InvestorServices/COL_AadhaarMain.aspx

Karvy – https://vas.karvymfs.com/karvysplproducts/AadhaarlinkingStatus.aspx

Link Aadhaar in Mutual Funds (from CAMS website)

CAMS services 15 mutual funds companies right now as follows. You just need to follow the process of linking your aadhaar once and it will be automatically updated in all the mutual funds. Here is the list of CAMS serviced funds.

  • HDFC Mutual Fund
  • DSPBR Mutual Fund
  • Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund
  • HSBC Mutual Fund
  • ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund
  • IDFC Mutual Fund
  • IIFL Mutual Fund
  • Kotak Mutual Fund
  • L&T Mutual Fund
  • Mahindra Mutual Fund
  • PPFAS Mutual Fund
  • SBI Mutual Fund
  • Shriram Mutual Fund
  • Tata Mutual Fund
  • Union Mutual Fund

The process to link Aadhaar number in CAMS website

We have created a short video showing the process to link aadhaar with your folios.

Here are steps are given below to link your Aadhaar number with a mutual funds portfolio.

Step 1: Visit this page on the CAMS website and enter your PAN number and select Mobile in the 2nd option and enter the mobile number (you can also select a date of birth or email in the 2nd option).

link aadhaar with mutual funds on cams list

Step 2: On the next screen it will ask for your aadhaar number, a mobile number linked with your aadhaar and email id (which is optional). Then click on submit

link aadhaar with mutual funds on cams list

Step 3: You will receive one OTP which is to be entered on the next page

Enter OTP to link aadhaar with mutual funds

So this was the process to link your uidai number with your fund folios in various AMC which are serviced by CAMS.

Link Aadhaar in Mutual Funds (from KARVY website)

Let us also see how to link aadhaar to mutual funds using the Karvy link. Below is a video explaining the process if you don’t want to look at screenshots.

Karvy is the first organization in this field of business providing service to over 90 million investor accounts. A list of the mutual funds is given below to which Karvy is providing service.

  • Axis Mutual Fund
  • Baroda Pioneer Mutual Fund
  • BOI AXA Mutual Fund
  • Canara Robeco
  • DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund
  • IDBI Mutual Fund
  • Canara Robeco
  • INVESCO Mutual Fund
  • JM Financial Mutual Fund
  • LIC Mutual Fund
  • Mirae Asset Mutual Fund
  • Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund
  • Peerless Mutual Fund
  • Principal Mutual Fund
  • Reliance MF
  • Quantum Mutual Fund
  • Taurus Mutual Fund
  • UTI MF

Step 1: Click here to go to the Karvy platform. There you need to enter your PAN number and you will get OTP for verification. Enter that to move to the next step

How to link aadhaar number with mutual funds folios in Karvy serviced mutual funds

Step 2: On the next page, you will see all the AMC’s where you have the investment and a space to enter your aadhaar number. Make sure all the AMC’s are checked marked.

How to link aadhaar number with mutual funds folios in Karvy serviced mutual funds

Once you click on submit, you will see the final acknowledgement that the processing will take place now.

You can also update Aadhaar using the SMS facility

Linking your Aadhaar number with your portfolio using SMS service is the easiest way. You just have to send an SMS which includes ADRLNK<space>PAN number<space>Aadhaar number and send it to 9212993399 from your registered mobile number.

Karvy will do the further linking procedure by considering this as valid information.

Update Aadhaar in Franklin Templeton mutual fund

Franklin Templeton mutual fund is not serviced by CAMS or KARVY, hence you need to do the process for it separately on its website by visiting this link

You need to enter your PAN and other details to start the process.

update aadhaar Franklin mutual fund

Note that it looks like Sundaram mutual fund has still not started the process for aadhaar linking as I was not able to get any information on this. If you have invested in Sundaram funds, kindly get in touch with their customer care to complete this.

How to link aadhaar number with folios by filling up a form?

Both Karvy and cams provide an option of linking your folios with the aadhaar by filling up a form. This will be helpful for those who don’t have a mobile number and email linked with a mutual fund folio. You just need to download the forms and fill up all the relevant information and submit it to CAMS or KARVY office.

Why do we need to link Aadhaar to mutual funds?

According to PMLA i.e Prevention of Money Laundering Act SEBI has made it mandatory for each and every investor to link their Aadhaar number to the mutual fund portfolio. This step is taken forward to prevent money laundering and keep track of all the investments and transactions within the country.

If you don’t do this linking then your folios will the frozen and you will not be able to redeem the money or make any transactions unless you update the aadhaar number. So please take this on priority.

Is this applicable to NRI Investors?

No, This is not applicable for NRI investors, HUF and even non-individuals (like companies and partnership firms)

Let us know if you have any questions regarding this in the comments section or you can also read this FAQ list to get more clarity on this issue

7 sites where you can easily learn stock trading without risking your money

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Do you want to learn stock trading, but don’t want to lose money in the process? In this article, I’m going to tell you about 7 best virtual trading websites or apps which will help you to learn stock trading without risking your money.

virtual trading

A lot of investors are excited to know about stock markets and how they can make a lot of money. They open a Demat account and start trading based on tips from various third party websites, or using their own judgment. But in the process, they lose a lot of money because of various mistakes.

However now, it’s easy to first practice stock trading. Have you heard about virtual stock practicing apps or websites? Have you ever tried using them?

How Virtual stock trading works?

Let me explain virtual stock in market India for those who are new to this

  1. You open an account on the virtual trading platform or app
  2. Then login to the account and load some virtual money in the account like 1 lacs or 10 lacs to start with
  3. You can then start buying and selling various stocks as you do in real life
  4. Like this, you can make various trades and see your profits and loss over time
  5. Over the next few weeks, you will learn how stock market trading works and you can also see how you have performed
  6. Once you are confident about your abilities, then you can open a real trading account and start stock trading with your real money

Now let’s look at some of the websites which you can use to practice stock trading.

1) Moneybhai

Moneybhai, a virtual stock trading game is a product of money control virtual trading which is popular in India. In this game you will get Rs.1 crore virtual money on your portfolio account and also the limit of Rs.1 crore intraday trading limit, which means that you can only buy and sell worth Rs 1 crore in a day.

You will have the option to invest in stocks, mutual funds, FD, bonds, etc. So here you have lots of options for investing with the imaginary brokerage charge of 0.50% in the virtual trade market. This is a great feature because here you are also paying virtual brokerage charge which you have to pay in real life when you trade with your real money, so that is taken care in this website.

Who should use this one: If you want a lot of options to invest like FD, bonds, mutual funds, stock, etc. then this game is good for you.

Moneybhai

You can start trading at any moment once you are logged in. If you feel that you have made any mistake in investing or you went wrong at any point then you can reset your portfolio back to the original corpus of Rs.1 crore and start again. I personally feel that one should not use that option of reset because then you don’t know how you are performing exactly.

2) TrakInvest

TrackInvest as the name suggests itself is an investment guide. It is build up by considering the beginner’s point of view. If you have heard of the stock market but don’t have enough basic knowledge then this website will guide you in your virtual investment.

Who should use this one : If you are an absolute beginner who has no understanding of how the stock market works and you also need tutorials to educate yourself, then you can try this.

Trakinvest

The simple interface and helpful content will ease you into the world of trading. It is more easy than it actually looks. It enables learners by giving a better understanding of the market. You can build your portfolio with zero risks and improve your market skills.

It gives the investors access to the real stock market from multiple global exchanges to trade-in. It also builds up your portfolio like an expert and tests your investment strategies and leverage analytics.

3) Dalal street

Dalal street is an investment journal that offers you Rs.1,000,000 as virtual money at the initial stage and provides an experience of real time stock trading with a virtual portfolio.

Who should use this one: One who wants to learn stock trading by using investment journals can get the advantage of this website.

Dalal street

Here you can also discuss your strategies with like-minded participants in a group. This will help you to improve your skills and strategies by other people’s experiences.

4) Wall street survivor

Here you can get the actual experience of stock trading with the virtual money because of the updated data. Wall street survivor doesn’t believe in the concept of teaching through content only. As per their opinion investment is more like fun, challenging and potentially lucrative activity rather than education.

Who should use this one: If you want practical knowledge through tutorials and improve your skills and decision making which will found new strategies then try this site.

Wall street survivor

This website also offers some courses to educate you about stock trading and tests your knowledge about investment and personal finance. They have lots of articles and videos which will keep you engage in various activities by aiming to improve your skills.

5) Investfly

Using investfly is not as hard as making money through your investment. Investfly make it easy for you to make money first virtually and then in the real stock market.

Who should use this one: If you want to trade with advance information and more trading options then you can try this site.

Investfly

This website provides you a brief summary of how to start investing. This will be of great help for the beginner investor who had never invested in the real stock market. If you are interested in learning about stocks more then this will be a great platform for you.

6) ChartMantra

ChartMantra is a free online virtual stock market trading game cum analytical platform. It is a virtual game for trading. You can learn the basics of the technical analysis in stock trading and apply it to an actual stock exchange to analyze your portfolio.

Who should use this one : This platform is for those who want to learn stock trading and also its analysis.

Chartmantra

Here you will get Rs.1 lac virtual money and the objective of this game is to make as much money as you can from it and go the top of the rank. This game will analyze your buying and selling and give you an analysis of it so that you can track your record and apply the analysis on your real trading account.

The trading will cost 0.1% brokerage which will make the trading more realistic.

7) Moneypot

Moneypot is a game of virtual trading in India which provides the platform of virtual stalk trading to students, corporate as well as investors. It aims to connect an online investment community through a social trading platform.

Signing in here just like other virtual trading sites. Once you open the website you can see the sign-up button and play game button. you can click on sign up if you are new to this site and then can play the game.

Who should use this one : This is the best virtual trading site for beginner investors or stock market learners.

Moneyspot

Advantages of Virtual trading

The advantages of virtual stock trading are as bellow:

  • For beginners it is good way of practicing because it allows the direct buying and selling the virtual stock.
  • You don’t need to invest real money.
  • As there is no real money you can take higher risk.
  • You get basic understanding and knowledge about the functioning of stock market.
  • You can learn through actual practice rather than only reading.
  • Mistakes don’t cause any loss here.

Disadvantages of Virtual trading

The disadvantages of virtual stock trading are as bellow:

  • As we said you don’t invest actual money, there is a possibility that you may not get emotionally attached with it because you are not losing anything in any case, which does not happen in real life.
  • If you don’t get emotionally attached to it you will get bored after some time and stop playing.
  • Sometime there is a possibility of getting bored because they are not getting any return in actual.
  • If you make profits in virtual trading, people tend to get very over confident about their abilities to make money

Now as you get a lot of options for virtual trade practicing you can start to learn to trade and get the real experience  of stock exchange. Leave your queries in the comment section and let us know your views regarding this article.

How to check a fake GST number online in just 30 seconds

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Now a days various restaurants and businesses are putting fake GST number on the bills and charging extra from the customers without registering with the GST department. In this article, we will teach you how you can check the validity of the GST number and its really valid of not in just 30 seconds. It’s a simple process that can be done with 2 clicks.

GST is now a reality and almost everywhere GST is charged. You can see that suddenly those restaurants who never mentioned any taxes in their bills have also started adding 18% more on the bill on the name of CGST and SGST (more on that later)

How fake GST number on bills is creating a hole in your pocket?

GST is a big reform in the country and while govt claims that it’s a simple tax, there are lots of inherent complications to this taxation system. A common man thinks that now everything has got costly by an extra 12% or 18% (especially in smaller cities)

One of my friend in Varanasi told me that a small shop near his place is charging extra Rs 2 on a packet of biscuits now telling the poor customers that its GST tax which is now to be paid.

example of charging GST without valid number

While that’s an example of a mid-level city, many restaurants have also started putting fake GST number on the bill and have started charging extra taxes which they will never deposit to anyone.

How to verify the GST number?

Verifying the GST number online is a very simple procedure. First of all check the GST number on the receipt. It’s 100% mandatory to mention the GST number on the invoice or bill.

Example of how GST number looks like on the bill

If someone is charging GST, without mentioning the GST number, then it’s illegal. Earlier it was service tax, now it’s GST number which is mandatory to put on the invoice.

Here is how to check if GST number is real or fake?

  1. Check the GST number on the bill and note it down
  2. Visit this page of GST website and enter the GST number as shown below
  3. Enter Captcha and press Submit.
  4. You will see the business name registered, match it with the name of the business on invoice

How to check if a GST number is fake or real ?

What if I don’t have a GST number?

Some businesses still don’t have the registration number confirmed, but they have the provisional GST number with them, so you can also check the provisional GST number online and verify them. Even you can verify the business based on their PAN.

Here the steps to verify GST number in this case

Go to this link and you will be asked various details which you need to enter.

Fake GST number

 

Here you need to fill the data required correctly i.e. state, ID type (PAN number, GST number or Provisional ID), ID number and verification code. At last click on submit and then scroll down to see the details of the registered business.

How to find a fake gst number online

This is how you can verify if GST number is valid or not with the help of a provisional ID or PAN number. As of now, there is no way of finding or verifying the GST number just by entering the name of the business entity.

GST is a 15 character code

It’s an important point to know that GST number is 15 characters which are a combination of numbers and characters. These 15 digits are broken into 5 parts as follows

  • First 2 digits are state code where the business is registered
  • Next 10 digits are PAN number of the business
  • 13th digit is registration number of that store or business with same PAN number
  • 14th digit is Z by default for right now
  • And the last i.e. 15th digit is a check code

GST number structure

What is someone says “I have applied for GST number”?

Some shopkeepers and business owners are playing the trick of “I have already applied for GST number, It’s not yet approved?”. This is to give a feeling to customers that they are rightfully charging GST. But this is again a fraud.

Because when they apply for GST number, they get a provisional GST number anyways and they need to either put a GST number or provisional GST number on the invoice/bill

Don’t fall for this trap and demand to see the GST number.

Where to complain about fake GST number?

GST department has dedicated the helplines for you to complain or ask any queries regarding GST. Here are the emails and phone numbers

  • GST Complaint mail id: [email protected]
  • GST Helpline Number: 0124-4688999 or 0120-4888999

Let us know if you have more questions on how to check if the GST number is valid or fake?

How to File RTI Online in 4 simple steps (screenshots + process)

Posted on by Anuradha Singh

Earlier RTI filing was too much pain, because it was very much time-consuming as it was an offline process.

A form was to be filled and then a Rs 10 stamp was to be attached and the entire form had to be sent by post to the required department of the government. The form took approximately 3 to 4 days to reach the concerned department.

So many people who wanted to file RTI refrained from doing it.

How to file RTI Online ? Steps and process explained

However now filling RTI is just a click away because we can file it online. I will tell you 4 SIMPLE and EASY steps to file RTI ONLINE without any hassle. But before that, let me explain to you in brief what is an RTI act.

What is the RTI?

The Right to Information Act 2005 commonly known as RTI is a law using which an Indian citizen can request for information from state or central government departments and offices. And such a request should be processed in a timely way as mandated by the RTI Act.

Let me now share what steps you should take to file RTI form online.

Step #1 – Create your free login or file RTI as a guest

To create a login, visit RTI website and click on sign up option.

If you do not want to create login then continue as a guest (by directly clicking to submit request button). To make it simpler I have attached the screenshot of the login page.

RTI login page where you can sign up and login to file your RTI request online

When we log in or even directly click on “submit request”, then the below image will appear and you just have to tick on “I have read and understood the guideline and click on submit button”. Below is a snapshot!

RTI guidelines

Step #2 – Fill the RTI form

The next step is to fill the main RTI form, you can access it directly by clicking here.

Filling an RTI form is a bit tricky. There are lots of things you should take care. There are dozens of govt departments and ministries which handle a different kind of work. So it’s important to know which department or ministry handles your RTI form.

Whatever is your complaint, it is important to write to the point and not hit around the bushes and also to write in bullet points because it will be very easy and eye-catching for the RTI OFFICER to understand your query and reply you even faster.

Let me make it easier for you by giving an example.

CASE STUDY – Mr. Shyam wants to file RTI for reasons for delay in roads repairs.

After the rainy season was over, Shyam noticed that the road was not at all in good shape. He also noticed that there were frequent accidents on that road and many people were losing their precious lives. He complained to the authorities, but no actions were taken and 3 months had already passed.

Shyam finally decided to file an RTI to know what is the reason behind so much delay.

How to fill online RTI form

If you are not sure which ministry you should choose while filing the RTI, then just Google search about it, and most probably you will find that information.

Step #3 – Make the fees payment

Once you click on submit, then the final step is to make the fees payment. The Fees for filing RTI is Rs 10 only. Two modes of payment are mentioned as

  1. Internet Banking (only SBI bank option in there)
  2. Credit or Debit Card / Rupay Card

how to make online payment for RTI application

Step #4 – Submit your application

The last and final step

  1. Once you have made the payment click on to the submit your application. A unique registration number is generated. (please save it for future reference).
  2. Now, wait and watch for a maximum of 30 days and you will mostly get a reply for your query.
  3. If you have not received the reply or you are not satisfied with the answer from RTI department, then you can file the first appeal, which is free of cost for the first time. Learn more about first appeal here

You can’t File RTI to State Govt departments online

Note that the facility of filing online RTI is available only for central govt departments and ministries. You can’t file RTI for State govt departments through this online portal. For that, you should follow the offline process of RTI only.

I hope this article has taught you about filing RTI online and answered most of your basic queries. Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below.

Buying Term Insurance Plan? Here are 20 Critical things to keep in mind

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

If you are planning to buy a term insurance plan in coming weeks, then you are at the right place, because today I will share dozens of points which any term plan buyer should know before they buy the cover.

So, if you have no idea of how does term insurance work, and if you have asked yourself – “Which term plan should I buy?”, then you are at the right place today.

Most of the buyers who are new to term insurance plans do not understand various critical facts and points which they should consider while they are buying the policy and because of that, I came up with this checklist which will help you.

Let look at each point in detail.

buy term plan checklist

1. Earlier you buy a term insurance plan, better it is

There is no minimum or maximum age for term insurance. Earlier you purchase the policy better it is.

Do not be very late because as time passes, your premium amount will also increase depending on your age and also if you develop any illness or disease, it will get tougher to get the policy later. So once you are clear that you require a certain amount of life cover, go ahead and complete the action within a few months.

2. Buy the term insurance policy only till your retirement age

Till what age should you buy a term plan? Should a 30 yrs old guy buy a term plan up to 80 yrs? The answer is NO.

You should not buy it for the longest tenure possible because you only need life insurance policy till your retirement and not beyond that. This is because not many family members will be financially dependent on you beyond your retirement age.

When we are young, we have more financial responsibilities, and hence it makes sense to take a big cover. But as our age increases, our assets will grow and at the same time, we will be moving towards the retirement age, at which point we no longer remain provider for our families.

3. Don’t get mislead by “per day premium” marketing gimmick

A lot of insurance companies have started to advertise their term insurance plans by sharing the cost per day basis, like for example – “Buy 1 crore term plan just for Rs 25/day”. However, note that these numbers might be applicable only for a certain age group and tenure of the policy.

Like it might happen that the advertised premium per day is only for the clients around 25 yrs and for a policy of 40 yrs.

cheap term plan premium

Your case will be different and the premiums might differ for you, so don’t get trapped by the lure of cheaper premiums.

4. Don’t buy single premium policies

At times, you have to choose between single premiums vs. regular premium while purchasing a life insurance policy. A lot of people think that just because they can afford to pay a onetime premium, it makes sense, but it’s not true.

Other than some cases, it does not make much sense to pay a one-time premium (single premium) while buying a term plan. The best option which will work for most people is the yearly premium. So if your agent is trying to explain to you how a one-time payment will help you save the cost, run away and don’t fall for it.

5. Take an increase in premiums in a positive manner

This is a big one which is critical to understand.

When you buy a term plan (or even health insurance), sometimes your premiums can increase after your medicals are done and you may be asked to pay an extra premium. This increase in premium is due to health issues and it’s very valid to ask you to pay this extra premium.

Most of the buyers are very critical of the premium increase and choose to not move ahead or postpone their decision of buying the plan.

However you should understand that the premiums increase is a natural thing to happen if you are of the high-risk category (like a smoker, alcoholic or if some past illness). It’s actually a good thing that the company is beforehand checking the facts and still offering you the plan, though at a little high premium which is very fair from their point of view.

If you are still not clear on this, you should learn how insurance companies work and what is their model?

At that point, rather than postponing the decision, the best thing is to go ahead and buy the policy.

6. Don’t get over-excited by term insurance riders

“Riders” are great add on with a term insurance plan, but only if you really require them or if they are specific to your case. Don’t add them just because it’s available and gives you a sense of more security. I mean if you do a lot of travel and are most of the time in your case, the risk of dying in an accident is higher for you, so in that case, you can add an accidental rider. Here are various types of term plan riders

  • Accidental Death Rider
  • Permanent & Partial Disability
  • Critical Illness
  • Waiver of Premium
  • Income Benefit Rider

In the same way, if you feel that you want to cover the risk of some critical illness in the future and don’t want to buy a separate policy, then you can add critical cover. But don’t add any term insurance riders for the sake of it.

7. Buy the basic version of the term insurance plan

A term plan comes into various flavors nowadays. The most basic one is the one which pays you a lump sum on death. However, there are other variations now which also gives you income for 10/20 yrs along with the main cover, or pays only the income for the next 10/20 yrs and a small lump sum at the time of claim.

I think one should just choose the base policy in most of the cases. Most of the other options are designed for very specific situations and they are not “better” or “bad” compared to the base policy. To check this, you can go to any term insurance premium calculator and find out the premium with rider and without a rider.

8. Tell them if you are smoker/alcoholic

One of the worst things you can do while purchasing any life insurance plan is to hide the fact that you are a smoker or consume alcohol. Please don’t hide it. There is nothing like a best term insurance plan for smokers in India at the moment.

Your premium calculation happens based on this critical information and if you hide these facts, then you are actually breaching the contract with the company and almost always your claim will be rejected at the end. Also, don’t think that just because you smoke just once in a while does not make you a non-smoker.

Below is some data from economic times on the rising number of claim rejections because of the hiding of information.

Claim rejections in life insurance

If you smoke (even though every fewer number of times), you are a smoker in the eyes of the life insurance company. Same is the case with those who take alcohol.

Make sure you fill your own form because there have been cases when an agent just mentions the policyholder as non-smoker or non-alcoholic to make sure the policy is easily issued.

9. Don’t hide your health information

Another grave mistake done by policy buyers is to hide any critical health information while purchasing the policy. If you have any health issues or have gone through any major operations/surgeries then you should clearly communicate that to the insurance company. One of the reasons for term insurance claim rejection is hiding important facts while purchasing the policy.

Please don’t wait for the insurance form to ask you the exact details.

An insurance policy is actually a proposal from your end in the eyes of law where you have to disclose all the facts and the company will accept your case or reject it. So the bonus of providing all the information is on you.

10. Don’t hide your family health history

Even your family health history matters. If your parents or siblings have some illness, then even that should be shared by you. Please don’t hide it because even that information impacts your premium.

Many people think that just because their parents had diabetes, it does not matter at all. That’s not true.

11. Don’t take small insurance cover (like 10-20 lacs)

Do you know that the average sum assured per India is in the range of Rs 90,000 to 1 lac only? Indians on average are highly uninsured, however, that’s mostly true for those who do not have term plans. But even those who have term plan try to cut the corners and eventually take less term insurance cover.

The most favorite number nowadays is Rs 1 crore. I see most of the people just taking a 1 crore term insurance plan thinking that it’s the right number. No, it’s not the case.

life insurance formula

With the rising costs and lots of aspirations, Rs 1 crore might not be enough for most of the families all their life. I suggest you should take a good enough cover which gives you enough peace of mind.

Make sure you add up all your liabilities, 300 times of your monthly expenses and some more amount which can help your family reach your other financial goals and take at least that much cover.

If your life insurance requirement is Rs 1.3 crore, better than a 1.5 crore and not 1 crore.

12. Don’t overanalyze and delay your decision

Do you see that ad these days on TV where a lady shouts on her dead husband for forgetting to buy the life insurance even though they had decided to take it

“Kya, tum term insurance Lena bhul gaye, ab Ghar ka kharcha Kaise chalega”?

One of the biggest issues with most of the potential policy buyers is that they want to buy the best term insurance policy and don’t want to make any mistake. They are aware that they need a life cover, they also start searching for the policy, do the term insurance comparison, but then start to over-analyze the policy, its features, the premium comparison and what no.

Finally, they just don’t take any decision because of the analysis paralysis. They postpone the decision and think that they will “soon” buy it.

Don’t do this

But a decent term plan asap. Do some study, but don’t get into that zone where you are just stuck because of small points. It’s better to have a good term cover with any company, rather than having no cover trying to search for the best company.

13. Don’t forget adding nominee name

While filling the insurance form, make sure you carefully put the nominee name. But who can be a nominee in insurance? Ideally, it should be wife, children or someone whom you want to pass the term plan money. But try to avoid very old people as the nominee (in general).

Also make sure you mention this fact in your WILL too, or if you are not going to create a WILL right now, you can take the life insurance policy under MWP Act, so that your nominee will be the final person (it can only be wife and kids if you add MWP) who gets the money.

If you have bought the term plan long back and now your preference has changed, it’s better to change the nominee name.

14. Don’t take more than 1-2 policy

You should ideally have 1 term plan policy in your life insurance portfolio, the max can be 2 policies. But nothing more than that.

I have seen some people dividing their 2 crores of the cover into 4 policies of 50 lacs each with 4 different companies and it’s a little bit of stretch. In almost all cases, 1 single policy of a big amount is good enough.

However, if you still feel that you want to break it into two policies, that’s the maximum you should do. Also, some people who are buying another term plan after a couple of years should not note this point that they should eventually not have more than 2 policies.

15. Disclose the old insurance policy

When you buy any life insurance policy, it’s mandatory as per their rules to disclose the old insurance policy you already have. In most the cases, when people buy a term plan for the first time, they already have a couple of traditional insurance plans, but they fail to declare that.

I suggest you don’t do that because as per life insurance policies, a company should know how much coverage you already have and only based on that they will offer you additional cover.

One should disclose old insurance policy while purchasing new insurance policy

If you have already bought a term plan without mentioning your old policies, you should reach the customer care of your term plan company and share with them about your old policies.

16. Be open to try online brokers

There are various online brokers which are building a long term business in the insurance space and provide various extra benefits to their customers like fast service, claim settlement assistance without you (customer) incurring extra cost, because they get compensated by the insurer (without putting any additional cost on your pocket).

The premium for you is the same if you buy it from the company directly only or through these brokers. These brokers give you various options to choose from and help you buy the policy which you want.

You can approach these brokers if you really feel they will add value to your transaction. I am not saying that online brokers are the only way to buy. If you are very critical of them or are old fashioned, then you can directly reach to company or your neighborhood broker.

17. Check the policy papers once you get it

One of the things which you should immediately do after receiving the policy is to check all the fine points and a copy of your medical examination. Nowadays, the policy papers have your medical records.

Kindly go through each point and make sure things like your age, name, blood group, address and other important things are mentioned correctly.

There have been cases, where the information has been wrong. If things are wrong, you can reach out to their company customer care to get it corrected.

18. Don’t fall for “10 times of Income” marketing

Almost all the call center marketing people try to sell you the cover equal to 10 times your yearly income. This often is a very simplified way of finding your life insurance coverage.

A better way to find out your coverage is to find out 300 times your monthly expenses and add up your outstanding liabilities to it. In the end, you can include 30-40 lacs more into the final number to take care of your other financial goals in future like kid’s education, etc.

For example, a guy with monthly expenses of Rs 50,000 per month and with 60 lacs of the outstanding loan will need 300 x 50,000 + 60 lacs = 2.1 crores at the minimum. So he can take a 2.5 crore term plan for himself.

However much life insurance you should take is a function of your expenses and liabilities and not your income. What if a person earns 6 lacs a month, but a modest Rs 50,000 month expenses with no liability?’

How to calculate life insurance cover value?

The “10 times of your income” marketing will say that he should buy a 6 crore term plan, whereas his right number would be in the range of 1.5 to 2 crore only.

19. Choose a strong and good brand while choosing Insurer

There are 24 life insurance companies in India (the year 2017) right now. Do you think each of them are equal in terms of surviving, claim settlement experience (not ratio), dealing with clients, depth of medical examinations, integrity in conducting business and what not?

Here are the list of all the life insurance companies in India as of 2017.

  • AEGON Life Insurance
  • Aviva Life Insurance
  • Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance
  • Bharti AXA Life Insurance
  • Birla Sun Life Insurance
  • Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance
  • DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance
  • Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance
  • Exide Life Insurance
  • Future Generali India Life Insurance
  • HDFC Standard Life Insurance
  • ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
  • IDBI Federal Life Insurance
  • IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd – India First
  • Kotak Life Insurance
  • Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
  • Max Newyork Life Insurance
  • PNB MetLife Insurance
  • Reliance Life Insurance
  • Sahara Life Insurance
  • SBI Life Insurance
  • Shriram Life Insurance
  • Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance
  • Tata AIA Life Insurance

When you choose a life insurance company, you should make sure you choose the one which has a strong presence, along with a good brand (not the biggest). Read reviews online and check their data and read about them.

20. Communicate to your family that you bought a term plan

You should share about buying the term plan with your family immediately along with the policy papers and the contact number of the insurer.

You can also write down the claim process on paper and keep that at a safe location and share it with family. I know it’s not an easy conversation to do even though it’s a logical thing to do. But at least communicate with your family about the important things they should be aware about.

20 things to know before buying a term plan

Steps to follow while buying the term insurance plan online

  • Understand your requirement first, find out how much insurance cover you are looking for
  • Go to various term insurance premium calculators on the web, and see what is the premium amount
  • If the premium is within your budget, then apply for the term plan
  • Make the initial premium payment and start the documentation
  • Medicals will be arranged for you by the term plan company which you should complete on time
  • Once everything is fine, your policy will be issued.

Let us know if you still have any queries?

How much HRA can you claim? (with calculator and video explanation)

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Do you get HRA as part your salary? If yes, then it’s critical for you to understand how the HRA exemption amount is calculated?

In this article, we will talk about things like what is HRA? How to calculate HRA? And various other things related to house rent allowance. You can check out the video below to quickly understand everything about HRA

What is HRA?

HRA i.e. House Rent Allowance is the amount paid as a part of salary by the employer to the employee. Employee can get tax benefit on this HRA amount if he is living in rented house and paying rent. This simply means that if your salary skip has HRA component, then you don’t have to pay income tax on this amount. However you can’t save income tax on the full amount.

There is a rule on how much HRA you can claim and save tax on it. In this article, we will look at the rules and calculations. But before we move ahead, here is one good news.

If an employee does get HRA as part his salary, but paying rent, even then he/she can claim some part of HRA for saving tax and there is separate calculation for that. We will also look at that today.

How to Calculate HRA amount?

Lets now see how the HRA is calculated, but the calculation depends whether you are getting salary component from your employer or not (it should be mentioned in your salary slip).

Case #1 – When you get HRA from employer

Actual HRA offered will be the lowest of the following 3 things:

  1. Actual HRA received.
  2. 40% (in non-metro city) or 50% (in metro city) of your salary.
  3. Actual paid rend is reduced from 10% of basic salary.

Let’s take an example of how HRA is calculated.

Example: An employee who lives in a metro city, has basic salary Rs.30,000 per month and the HRA part is Rs.15,000. The actual rent he pays is Rs.10000 per month. Then the exemption he will get is –

  • Actual HRA received = (15,000 x 12) = 1,80,000
  • Actual rent paid – 10% of basic salary = (10,000 x 12) – [(10/100) x (30,000 x 12)] = 84,000
  • 50% of basic salary = (30,000 x 12) x 50/100 = 1,80,000

Now the lowest amount in above calculation is 84,000. So the employee will get exemption of Rs.84,000.

Case #2 – When you don’t get HRA from employer

If you are living in a rental house or paying for your accommodation and do not get HRA from your employer then also you are applicable for the tax deduction in income tax return. These people can also claim for HRA exemption under section 80(GG) of IT act.

Actual HRA offered will be the lowest of the following 3 provisions:

  1. Rs.5000 per month
  2. 25% of your total income
  3. Actual paid rend is reduced from 10% of basic salary.

Though there are some conditions which should be fulfilled if you want tax deduction in this case. The criteria are as bellow:

  • You should be salaried or self-employed and paying rent for accommodation.
  • You haven’t received any HRA in the financial year in which you are claiming for HRA exemption.
  • As per HUF our spouse or minor child should not own house registered on their name.

If you do not meet any of the above criteria then you can’t claim for HRA. Here is chart which explains the same thing which we talked above.Do you get HRA?Important points regarding HRA?

  • HRA is applicable only to the salaried person and not to those who are self-employed. If a person is living in his/her own house then also he/she can’t claim for HRA benefits.
  • If the employee living in a rented house is paying more than Rs.1 lac on rent in one financial year then he has to submit PAN details of landlord along with HRA claim.
  • If a person is living in his parents’ house and paying rent to them, he is applicable for HRA claim. However he cannot claim if he states that he is paying rent to his spouse or child.

Documents required for claiming HRA

The first thing you need to know is that you don’t need to submit anything to Income tax department to claim HRA. You only need to submit the documents to your employer and your employer will verify documents and give you the exemption and then issue form 16 and include these details in that form.

If there is any enquiry by the income tax department, only in that case you need to present further documents asked by them.

So basically at the start of the year, you need to update your employer on the rent you are paying each month and based on that data the employer will deduct the TDS from your salary. Finally at the end of the year, you will have to submit following documents

  • Rent receipts or the proof of paying rent
  • Form 12BB (here is more details)
  • PAN card of landlord if the amount is above Rs.,1,00,000.
  • Some employers may ask for lease and license agreement

Also, In last few years, many tax payers were found submitting fake documents for HRA claim in many cases. This is the reason that IT department is asking for more and document while claiming for HRA exemption. If there is any scrutiny by income tax department, you might have to submit some more documents like

  • Electricity bills
  • Water supply bill
  • Agreement or a letter from housing society

Some cases when charges of IT department can make enquiry are

  • If a person has a house loan and also applying for HRA.
  • If a person living with parents without paying any rent but still apply for HRA and says that he pay rent.
  • Adding higher amount in receipt than he actually pays.

Download HRA Calculator

We have created a nice HRA calculator and analysis tool, which will help you to calculate your HRA and also help you know how much HRA are you not able to utilize and how much is it covering your rent paid.

If you look at the same example which is mentioned above in this article (salary = Rs 30,000 per month, HRA = Rs 15,000 per month, and Rent paid = Rs 10,000 per month, and living in metro) and if you do the HRA analysis , you will find out two things

  • He is only able to claim 46% of his HRA provided to him (84k our of 1,80,000)
  • He is able to cover 70% part of his rent paid through HRA (84k out of 1,20,000)

Here is a snapshot of our HRA calculator

HRA calculator

Click here to download HRA calculator

Can you claim both HRA & deduction on home loan interest?

If you have bought a house in a different city and you are doing job in different city, then in that case, you can claim HRA benefits as well as home loan interest too. However if you have the house in the same city of your job, you cannot claim the HRA benefits.

Housing.com has explained it in a nice way.

Rules regarding HRA and home loan benefits

Are you claiming HRA tax benefits? Do you follow any other process which is not part of this article? Can you share some more HRA related tricks which you have learned over part few years?

Do you want to Retire Early in India? A detailed guide with Excel calculator

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Today you will read one of the fascinating stories of one of our readers (Naren from SavingHabit.com) who has shared his personal journey on early retirement and also gave a step by step path on how to change your mindset about it. This is a long article, but quite deep on the topic of early retirement. I suggest you read till end.. Over to Naren

–

A few weeks back, I had shared my comments on early retirement on the “Myth of Early Retirement” article and Manish asked me to to elaborate on my comment and also do a guest post on this topic.

In this post I will go in detail on how to plan for early retirement and also share my personal early retirement journey.

Disclaimer : This article is purely the author’s personal opinion. The author is not a certified financial planner. Seek the help of a certified financial planner for your individual situation.

How to plan for early retirement - A real life study and guide for beginners

When mid-level IT employees in their 40s are being forced into early retirement anyway through layoffs, it has become a necessity for our generation to pro-actively plan for an early retirement. As early as 2011, JagoInvestor reader Ujjwal working in IT predicted this exact scenario and recommended planning for early financial freedom.

How I discovered Early Retirement?

  • I graduated in computer science straight into a recession caused by the double whammy of the dot-com bust and the 9/11 attacks. My father had recently retired from his public sector job and I did not have any job offer on hand as campus hiring dried up completely. It felt like I was being tossed around by economic forces beyond my control.
  • When I finally entered the workforce at a Big Company, I was soon frustrated by the usual job stress and job insecurity.
  • I decided to end this “working for money” problem once and for all by joining an early-stage internet startup. Joining a startup was also my dream since college and I had plans to start my own later. The idea was when the startup will sell for millions, I would strike it rich and never have to work again. Well… 6 years later when the startup was sold, my services were no longer needed. I was out of a job without striking it rich 🙂
  • Around this time, I discovered the early retirement community online that talked about focusing on the one thing I could control  : my savings rate. All along I had focused on things outside my control and failed to solve the “working for money” problem. Out of all the options available to salaried employees to achieve early financial independence, early retirement offers the highest chance of success because its success or failure is under your control: how much you save each month.

WHAT IS EARLY RETIREMENT?

Most of the Early Retirement literature online is from the U.S which is understandable because they have a longer history of regulated stock markets & mutual funds compared to India.  

In this article I’ll do my best to translate Early Retirement for Indian conditions as we have our cultural differences when it comes to money like parents paying for child’s college expenses, joint families where children take care of  parents in their old age etc and recent cultural changes mirroring the U.S  like home loan EMI, SIP, credit card spending, low savings rate etc

Let me first start with what most people think when they hear the term “Early Retirement”:  

  • It is a stage by Age 40 when you are able to meet all your expenses through passive income from investments like Real Estate (rental income), Mutual Funds, Stocks (dividends) etc.
  • So you don’t have to work anymore to meet your expenses.
  • You can easily live on only investment returns post-inflation so your corpus will last forever beating inflation…theoretically.  

While this is the “popular dream”, in reality Early Retirement simply means achieving financial independence early in life so you can focus on achieving your important goals in life. This is popularly abbreviated online as FIRE : financial independence/retiring early.   

early retirement meaning

You can be employed at this stage, but in alignment with your life goals for example:

  • To do something you love
  • To spend more time with loved ones
  • To earn money with less stress & more work-life balance
  • To lead a healthy & active lifestyle

It is possible to retire early by age 40 but only if you aggressively save at least 50% of your income starting early in your earning life instead of doing a small monthly SIP with the goal of retiring in old age at 65.

Save 50% of my income??!! I can barely meet my expenses each month

Relax! You are already saving more than you realize. You already contribute 12%  of your basic income mandatorily to your EPF and get another 12% employer match. That is a 24% savings rate on your basic income. So calm down and I’ll discuss some strategies for increasing your savings rate later in this article.

There is a reason behind the 50% savings rate

High Saving Rate

This is the simple idea behind Early Retirement before inflation & investment returns enter the picture. 50% savings rate may not be possible immediately for people whose income is low or expenses are high but early retirement is not possible unless you increase your savings rate to at least 50%

Here are some inspiring real-life people saving close to 50% :

–  1 income, EMI, 1 kid, private sector, Bengaluru. Income: 81K, Savings:43K

– Unmarried, private sector, Mumbai. Income: 65K. Savings: 30K

–  1 income, Government job, no kids, Rajasthan. Income: 70K, Savings: 42K

–  Both working, 1 kid, private sector, Mumbai. Income: 1.05L, Savings: 45K

Here is the link to the “Family Finances” section from ET Wealth magazine. Make sure to look for households who fit your profile and are saving at least 50%. Ask yourself : If people similar to me can save so much, why shouldn’t I save more than my current rate?

Let’s step back here for a minute

First, you need to be very determined to retire early.

When you truly want something you will come up with solutions rather than excuses and you’ll get inspired instead of finding faults.  Imagine in your mind’s eye for a moment all the positive reasons why you want to retire early like Family-time, Freedom, Health, Low-Stress, Travel, Security  etc.  

Now get yourself into an optimistic “can-do” frame of mind before reading further.

you can do it

(Source)

Early Retirement is an improved version of Conventional Retirement

Around 100 years back even conventional retirement at age 65 was not possible for everyone. What was once a fantasy is a reality now. Now everyone believes it is perfectly normal to retire at age 65.

Similarly, for the first time in history, due to innovations like regulated stock markets, mutual funds &  SIP, even the salaried middle-class can now retire early which was previously possible only for high-earning executives or businessmen. So if you try and understand Early Retirement you too can take advantage of it and enjoy a better quality of life.  

Be ready to take some tough decisions on what is important to YOU in life rather than just going with the flow of what everybody else is doing with their life.

Can I just retire early and never have to work ever?

The typical dream of Early Retirement is to “sit and eat” from the retirement corpus without having to work for money from age 40 to age 90 which is a long span of 50 years which no one can predict.

It is a difficult feat to pull off as Life has a habit of springing surprises especially when you have kids and elderly parents. But it is possible if key variables outside your control like the stock market returns work in your favor and there are real-life success stories like Mr.MoneyMustache.

Two big problems with this  “I never want to work again” Early Retirement thinking:

  • UNCERTAINTY:
    • If a family member has a major health expense not covered by health insurance, how will you meet that expense if you are not earning any additional income?
    • If you cannot find a tenant for your rental income house for more than a year, how will you meet household expenses if you are not earning any additional income?
    • If the stock market crashes by 15% and goes into a 5-year recession, will you have the stomach to withdraw money for monthly expenses from an already depleted corpus?
    • What if all of the above happen simultaneously in your life like the expression “When it rains, it pours” ?
  • STRESS:  you’ll replace the stress of a job with the stress of obsessing over running out of money every single day of your early retirement.

My Alternative Early Retirement Plan for Indian conditions

Stop working for “money” but don’t stop working
  • By Age 40: Finish saving up for retirement by saving at least 50% of your income in retirement SIP.
  • After Age 40: Stop your retirement SIP & switch to work that you truly enjoy in order to cover monthly expenses.
  • From Age 40: Let compounding double your retirement corpus every 6 years until age 65!

The idea is to permanently secure your comfortable lifestyle by age 40 so you can follow your dreams without fear. Even in the worst case scenario you’ll always be guaranteed to enjoy the comfortable lifestyle of your 30s.

The benefits of this alternative approach

FREEDOM: Free by Age 40 to do work you truly enjoy

While saving up for retirement your monthly budget at 50% savings rate will look like this:

Income Rs.1 lakh =  Rs. 50K Expenses + Rs.50K Retirement SIP

By age 40 once you finish saving up for retirement, you don’t need the retirement SIP anymore and your budget will look like this

Income Rs.1 lakh = Rs.50K Expenses + Rs.50K Surplus

After age 40, you can work for a 50% lesser salary at jobs that are more fulfilling and less stressful but fully pays for your monthly expenses including support for kids & elderly parents:

Income Rs.50K = Rs.50K Expenses

Most people who want to retire early simply are tired of the job stress and deep down are not averse to working if there is work-life balance and they are working on something they truly enjoy.

SECURITY: Your retirement fund is actually a 25-year emergency fund!

If you ever lose your job before age 65 like the TCS/Cognizant/Infosys mid-level managers in the headlines : you can use a small portion of your  retirement fund to fund monthly expenses for even 3-4 years while you re-skill and find another job after which you can replenish the amount you took out during the jobless period.

Instead of trying to live off the retirement fund for life from age 40, you strategically use the retirement fund to build a safety net for uncertain times and take calculated risks like starting a business or a new career.

LESS STRESS: Not having to worry about money running out

It is an open secret that even the pioneers of early retirement that I hero-worship like MMM & ERE bring in active income in their “early retirement” from working on their passions like building houses by hand or working as a quant trader/researcher leaving their retirement corpus to compound meaning they are not solely living off of their early retirement corpus themselves.

So if the early retirement gurus are bringing in active income why shouldn’t you factor in the active income from your dream-job in your early retirement plans?  Why assume that working on something you enjoy won’t cover monthly expenses even after working at it for 3-4 years?  

You’ll be sitting on a 25-year emergency fund in the form of your early retirement corpus for God’s sake!  If you are still unsure, you can start working on your dream-job as a side-project while you are still working at your day-job to give yourself enough runway and confidence that it will make money by the time you quit your day-job.

PRACTICE: Great Training for “full retirement”

Scaling down your work by 50% by age 40 is a great way to get a preview of what “full retirement” will look like at age 65. You will get a lot of wake-up calls mostly around the state of your health, investment returns , wasteful expenses and whether you really have any true passions in life or were you just lying to yourself about “dreams & passions” to mentally escape from job stress 😉 So while planning for Early Retirement also work on your passion on the side to prepare yourself for the post-40 life.

4 STRATEGIES TO INCREASE YOUR SAVINGS RATE

Strategy #1 – Lower your expenses: This is the only thing under your control so tackle this first.  Analyze your lifestyle using apps like Spendee to cut down wasteful spending without being “penny wise and pound foolish”.

For example: In our house we use the internet for entertainment so no T.V or cable expenses, we mainly eat home-cooked food so our eating-out expenses are low, we do yoga at home so no gym fees, we own high-quality phones & laptops that are expensive but we maintain them carefully for years so they work out cheaper in the long run.  

It took us almost 3 years to systematically reduce our spending without feeling deprived.  In your household, what are the top 3 categories where you could get the same value but for way less money?

Strategy #2 – Increase your income: If you’ve cut all wasteful expenses and are still not saving enough then your only option is to increase your income. Your early retirement goal gives you the clarity and urgency to do what is necessary to  get that promotion or better-paying job. It will not happen overnight but you can work towards it purposefully now that you have a time-bound reason.

Strategy #3 – Get out of Debt:   If you’ve made the mistake of buying a house on exorbitant EMI at an early age, you need to first crush your EMI or education loan before attempting early retirement.  You need to simultaneously lower expenses and increase income. Read : Is home loan EMI jeopardising your other financial goals? Here’s what to do

Strategy #4 – Work as a team with your spouse: By age 30 you are probably married and both of you are earning. Get your spouse on board and work together as a team.  If all you want is a couple of years freedom to try your hand at a new career or business, try a mini-retirement instead.

If you are debt-free and your spouse’s income can take care of expenses, you can quit your job with the safety net of your spouse’s income. If you succeed in your venture and are able to cover expenses then your spouse too can quit their job to follow their dreams. This way both of you can make money doing what you like. Even if you fail in your venture, you can re-join the workforce & try again later.

Wow! An investment of Rs.75 lakhs in SIP over 35 years has given a retirement corpus of Rs.11.7 crores

But look closer and you’ll notice that this is a bad bargain for the number of years this person has to save. Why should you take 35 years to accumulate 75 lakhs?

Let’s see what happens if you try and accumulate the same Rs.75 lakhs within 10 years and then stop your SIPs but let the Rs.75 lakhs compound untouched for another 25 years.

saving plan for 25 yrs

WHAAAAT???!!! How did you end up with Rs.12.8 crores at age 65 even though you stopped SIPs at age 40!!!

THE SECRET : Compounding really works its magic on large numbers

SIP does not do the compounding by itself…only when you finish saving up a large corpus does meaningful and substantial compounding gets started. That is why you should accumulate your retirement corpus as early as possible for compounding to start doing its job.

See here, here and here for others who’ve illustrated  how saving up early then stopping and letting the money compound untouched grows the money like crazy meeting or even exceeding your goals as compared to doing a small monthly SIP for decades.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE TWO APPROACHES VIA EXCEL CALCULATON

saving approach

Download Early Retirement Calculator

MATHEMATICAL PROOF

THE RULE OF 72  a.k.a What they did not teach you in school

Question 1: How long will it take for Rs.75 lakhs to double @ 12% annual return?

You don’t need a calculator to answer this. Use The Rule of 72.

This handy thumb-rule derived from the compound interest formula says that to find the number of years required to double your money at a given return %, you just divide 72 by the return %

So 72/12 = 6 years.

Answer: Rs.75 lakhs @ 12% annual return will double in 6 years

Question 2: How many times will Rs.75 lakhs double @12% annual return over 25 years?

Answer: 25/6 = 4 times

Rs. 75 lakhs @ 12% return will double 4 times over 25 years

Question 3: What’ll be the final value of Rs.75 lakhs after doubling 4 times at the end of 25 years?

Answer:

Doubles first after 6 years       :            Rs.75 lakhs  x 2   =  Rs.1.50 crores

Doubles again after 12 years :         Rs.1.50 crores x 2  =  Rs.3 crores

Doubles again after 18 years :               Rs.3 crores x 2  =  Rs.6 crores

Doubles again after 24 years :               Rs.6 crores x 2  =  Rs.12 crores

Total doubling : 4 times

Final corpus : Rs.12 crores

  1. Now refer back to the alternative accumulation plan’s final retirement corpus of Rs.12.8 crores to verify that the Rule of 72 produces a result remarkably accurate to the result from a lumpsum investment Calculator.
  2. Also verify using CAGR calculator  that the initial lumpsum invested and future compounded corpus works out to a 12% annual return.  

A word of caution on debt: Compounding works against you when you have outstanding debt. For example: Say you have a 36% annual interest Credit Card and an outstanding balance of Rs.1 lakh on it. If  you don’t pay back the debt for 2 years then the credit card balance will double to Rs.2 lakhs.

How? Rule of 72:  72/36 =2. So your debt will double in 2 years!

compound interest quote

(Source)

FAQ 1: If I’m saving first for my retirement what about saving for my child’s college expenses?

Use the same Early Saving strategy to save for child’s college expenses:

At the time of the child’s birth itself, invest the prevailing cost of college into mutual funds and let it compound for 18 years to beat education inflation. For example: 4-year engineering course at IIT currently costs Rs.8 lakhs. Say your kid was just born this year. If education inflation is 12% y-o-y the same course will cost Rs.60 lakhs in 18 years. To beat this education inflation: Invest prevailing cost of Rs.8 lakhs in mutual funds at the time of the child’s birth itself and let it compound over 18 years to Rs.60 lakhs @ 12% annual return by the time your child is ready to enter college. Your child can take out an education loan for any shortfall over and above your savings.

If you don’t have Rs.8 lakhs to invest in mutual funds at the time of your child’s birth:

  1. Finish saving for your retirement first by age 40 so you don’t have to worry about losing your job or sacrificing your dreams.
  2. Then start SIP for your kid’s future expenses like higher education or wedding
  3. To bridge any shortfall between your SIP savings & the education or wedding expenses, your child can take out an education loan or scholarship for college and a personal loan for their own wedding.
  4. Since you’ll be earning while your child is in college, you can help out with whatever college expenses you can afford. Your child may also earn income through internships or side-projects while still in college.

Take care of your own retirement first before you save for your child because the child has other viable options like education loans, scholarships, low-cost weddings etc.  No bank will give you any “retirement loan” if you’ve not saved enough for your retirement!!!

Plus you can be a role-model to your child by balancing your dreams & your reasonable duty towards your child. You will be giving them the inheritance of them not having to worry about your retirement also when they make their own retirement plans

Like how the air hostess tells us in the safety precautions before every flight…..

oxygen mask

Image Source

I highly recommend that you read Manish’s article on how not to stress too much about the inflation in higher education expenses.

FAQ 2 : What about buying our own house?

I recommend from personal experience: Don’t buy a house on EMI at a young age in your 20s or 30s when you don’t know where you’ll settle down permanently. We move to other cities and even countries for work these days and there is no knowing ahead of time where you will settle down in old age.

Instead save SIP in mutual funds towards buying a house until you have 100% clarity closer to retirement in your 50s or 60s and then build or buy a brand new house or flat fully in cash without EMI. The SIP returns should be able to match the real estate inflation.  Until your retirement it is cheaper to rent in India at 4% rental yield even at 10% annual rent increase instead of paying EMI at 10-12%  and also property tax, water tax, maintenance, repairs, association dues etc. only to end up with an “old flat” after 25 years!

A couple we know are doing exactly this: after traveling all over India for work & renting throughout they are now building a house in their hometown for retirement in their mid-fifties.  Subramoney also recommends the same approach: See point #9 of his article.

Recommended reading: Why large investment in property at young age could be risky

FAQ 3: But we want to do extended travel frequently. That’s why we want to retire early and stop working!

Think win-win: Once you achieve financial independence you can quit your job and travel for say a year.  After a year of travel,  you can recharge both yourself and your bank accounts by returning to the job market for a couple of years to work on something you enjoy (maybe something related to travel!).  Then travel again. Repeat the process until your 60s by which time hopefully you would have traveled everywhere you wanted to and your compounded retirement fund will be waiting for you!

My Personal Journey so far

  • Age 36. Married. No kids yet.
  • We’ve saved up 30% of our retirement target so far
  • By age 45, we’ll finish saving up 100% of our retirement target & then let it compound untouched over the next 20 years
  • Own a flat bought with savings & no EMI in a city where we don’t live 🙂  Although it gives us a modest rent that we SIP, I consider it a poor decision as we could have reached financial independence already by renting instead of owning.
  • 3 years in Big Co IT dept : paid off student loan & credit card debt so savings rate was low :  around 25%. Debt-Free so I work at Internet Startup for 6 years : Saved little over 40% of my salary!
  • 3 years back, wife and I took a calculated risk to start own business when we had a savings runway of 6-7 years. 3 years later business income now covers monthly expenses and savings rate is climbing slowly towards 50%
  • Once we reach our retirement target by age 45, I may take up a job at a non-profit working for a better India at a much lower salary but only if it fully covers our already low expenses.
  • We exercise 30 mins to 1 hour daily towards our Health SIP & maintain a healthy diet. We plan to be be fit and healthy in our 60s when no health insurance will cover us.
  • We’ll save what we can for our future child using the Rule of 72 since the child has age on their side for compounding to work until age 18. But we’ll definitely teach the child to be financially independent in their 30s itself and follow their dreams without needing money from us 🙂

This is our story in brief.  We took calculated risks and re-invented ourselves with the safety net of savings that would have lasted for only 6-7 years. Imagine how you too can work on your dreams stress-free with the safety net of savings that’ll last for 25 years.

We are a regular couple with middle-class values. If we can do it so can you. Good luck!

Special Thanks: My wife & I are forever grateful to Mr.MoneyMustache for demonstrating that you can simply save your salary to freedom 25 years ahead of schedule!

I want  to end with a well-written poem about “A Man with Savings” that makes the point much better than I ever could with all the math & personal stories.

Please share your thoughts about early retirement under comments section. I would be happy to read them and also discuss more on this topic.

Have you linked your Aadhaar with PAN? If not PAN may be blocked soon…

Posted on by Jagoinvestor

Government has decided to make it compulsory for every individual to link their Aadhaar Card with PAN card by 31st July, 2017. This is part of the digital India campaign and an attempt to digitalize everything.

Why it is mandatory to link Aadhaar with PAN?

There is a great chance that there are a lot of fake PAN cards in India, because it can be easily applied online with fake identities and anyone with a little luck can get a duplicate PAN card. Hence in order to identify those fake PAN cards, govt wants to link Aadhaar card with PAN.

Why to link Aadhaar card with PAN

Because each person will have only one Aadhaar card, they will only be able to link it with a single PAN. Rest other PAN cards will be of no use after this process. This is an important move and is necessary for an orderly society and also to keep pace with the technology.

Importance of linking Aadhaar with PAN

PAN card and aadhaar card are the unique identification cards which can be used for verifying a person’s income and address respectively. Let’s have a quick view why this linking is important.

link PAN with Aadhaar

Some reasons behind linking aadhaar with PAN in details are as below:

  • Fraud PAN cards– Because of this linking a person can use only one PAN card wherever it is necessary which is linked with his aadhaar card. Though he has any fraud/duplicate PAN card, it will be of no use.
  • Tax Evasion – with the help of this, government will be able to track on the taxable transactions of an individual or an entity.
  • Tracing money launders- Aadhaar card is a full-proof identification of an individual and it cannot be duplicated easily so that linking of aadhaar with PAN can also be useful for tracing money launders.
  • There are fewer chances to have a duplicate aadhaar card as it is a more secured source of identification. Because Aadhaar card is the only identity proof which has all the possible information including Bio-metric. So it is little bit difficult to have a fake aadhaar card as compared to PAN Card and voter ID.
  • Curb corruption: This is also useful to curb corruption to a significant level as the record of each transaction will be verified by the government.
  • ITR-V: While paying tax, now you don’t need to send your ITR-V acknowledgement if your Aadhaar card is linked with your PAN Card.

Also, the government wants to get every individual identified by their Name, Address and also their income. A lot of PAN cards were very old, and many people have changed their address, contact details etc which were given to govt at the time of applying for the PAN card decades earlier. With this linking, all the data will also get updated.

What is the process to link aadhaar card with PAN?

If you are unable to link your aadhaar card with PAN, no need to worry. Here are the steps to link your aadhaar card with PAN.

  • Visit the page of Income tax e-filling portal & register if you are not registered with it. If you have your registration already then just login.
  • Login with the details i.e. registration ID, Password or date of birth.
  • Your PAN no. will be your registration ID
  • once you login you will immediately get a pop-up to link your aadhaar with PAN
  • If you don’t get a pop message then check the blue bar above and click on “Profile setting” and then on “Link aadhaar” in the list.

Aadhaar linking with PAN card

  • Or you can also see the option “Link Aadhaar” on the left side of the site when you open it without logging in. Simply click on it.

 

how to link aadhaar with PAN card

 

  • The details like your name, gender and date of birth will be given there already as per the registration. Just check that the details available there are same as on your aadhaar Card.
  • If the details match with aadhaar card then fill your aadhaar card number and captcha code and click on “Link Aadhaar”.
  • Once you submit you will get a pop-up that your aadhaar has been linked with your PAN successfully.

What happens in case of name mismatch between Aadhaar and PAN?

UPDATE: Now you can link your aadhaar card with PAN without changing your name as the option “Name on Aadhaar” has given there.

procedure of linking Aadhaar with PAN card

Now it’s suggested that you first decide what is the exact name you want to keep for future, in case you have different names on various documents.

If your aadhaar card has the name which you want to keep, then you should change your name in PAN. However if your PAN has the desired name, then change it in Aadhaar card.

Now, for those who want to change their name in aadhaar card, they can follow this process or watch the video below.

And if you want to change your name in PAN, follow this link

We really feel that one should have the proper name in Aadhaar card, because it’s going to be the universal documents in future.

UPDATE: New Feature by IT department

Besides this, there is also a new option on the e-filling site from where you can link you Aadhaar card with you PAN card without changing your name.

Only date of birth, Name and Gender on both the documents should match, however we feel that as a long term solutions it’s a good idea to have the same name on both the documents.

What to do if I don’t have one of the documents (Either PAN or Aadhaar)

Now a days, almost all the people at least in urban areas have both aadhaar and PAN, very rarely it happens that someone does not have both the documents. However incase one of the documents is missing, here is what you should do ..

For those who do not have PAN

If you don’t have PAN card, then this rule is not applicable to you right now. You don’t need to take any action at the moment.

When you apply for PAN in future, at that time you can give your Aadhaar details as the address proof while applying for PAN offline or you can choose an option called digital e-kyc and e-sign, where you will be asked for aadhaar number and it will be automatically linked to your PAN. Below is a snapshot of the e-KYC looks like.

link aadhaar card while applying for new PAN

What do you if you don’t have Aadhaar?

If you don’t have Aadhaar card then you should apply for it soon, because anyways it’s going to be the universal mandatory documents very soon and every PAN has to be anyways linked with aadhaar. You can apply for aadhaar card by online or by visiting its office and providing you essential documents.

How to Check whether your PAN card is linked with Aadhaar card or not?

For some people their PAN might be already linked with Aadhaar card. To check this you just have to visit the official page of e-filling and click on the login button on the right corner of the site. Fill your PAN number and captcha code and click on OK.

If your card is already linked then it will show “Your Aadhaar is already linked with PAN” and if your card is not linked then it will show “User ID does not exist”.

Below is the demo of this process

Is it safe to link your PAN details with Aadhaar?

Recently there was a news that M. S. Dhoni’s Aadhaar details were leaked somehow, which shows that aadhaar details are not 100% secured. If this can happen to a big celebrity, this can happen to anyone.

Many people are wondering if it’s safe to link their Aadhaar with their PAN?

  • Will their bank details be exposed ?
  • Will there be any fraud involved?
  • Will others get access to their income tax data ?
  • Will others get access to my personal data like Mobile number, Email and Bio-metric details?

But, you don’t need to worry!

The solution to problem is here. There is no need to worry about the security of your PAN after linking with Aadhaar. UIDAI has introduced safety features of aadhaar Card.

Now there is a facility of “Lock” and “Unlock” of aadhaar details.

If you “Lock” your aadhaar details, all your data will be freezed and the access to any third party will be blocked. All you will need to do is, verify the OTP which is sent to you when you apply for this “Lock” feature online. If you want to get details about all the safety features, you can download this PDF.

What will happen if your Aadhaar card is not linked with PAN card?

  • As per this amendment if a person do not link his aadhaar with PAN card then there is possibility that he could lose his access to the PAN card after December 31,2017 as per Hindustan Times.
  • You will be unable to file IT returns and pay the dues or claim the IT returns.
  • It’s been also said that the use of PAN cards may stop in upcoming days as Aadhaar card will be the unique Identity proof. So if you don’t link it now you have to link it with your PAN in future in any ways.
  • Because your PAN card will be blocked, and for higher value transactions PAN is mandatory, you will not be able to do many high value transactions online as the bank will keep asking for PAN

UPDATE:   What if I have both the documents but don’t have any Income Tax Returns?

If you don’t file any Income Tax Return then this rule is not for you. It will not affect either you link your Aadhaar card with PAN or not.

But if you have both the documents, we suggest to link the documents.

UPDATE:   What if I’m an NRI and have only PAN card?

NRI’s can also apply for the Aadhaar card. The procedure and documents required for NRI and Foreigners are same as Indian residential’s. Only thing is they have to be physically present at any of the Aadhaar card center in India.

But it is not mandatory for NRI’s till date because as per Indian Government Aadhaar is an unique identity for the person who is living on Indian soil. Read this PDF by UIDAI.

How can I apply for Aadhaar if I’m out of India?

If you are not in India currently and wanted to apply for Aadhar crad then the procedure is almost same. But you should have an introducer who can introduce you by providing his/her own Aadhaar card.

The verification of your identity will then become the responsibility of the introducer.

So, what are you waiting for ?

You should quickly complete this whole process as it’s just a 5-10 min work. Not completing this can impact you in negative way, so do not wait for the last minute.

Also you should spread this news among your friends and help others to complete this important step in their financial life.

In case you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them in comments section