Consumer Complaints and Grievances

What do we do when we face some issue with Banks, Mutual Funds, Credit Card company, Insurance Company and so on?

The first thing we do is to file a complain with them for our problems and then we wait for their answer. What if we are not satisfied with there reply and want more justice.

We can then lodge a complain with their regulators Ombudsman and grievance cells. Let us see this in more detail.

Consumer Complaints and Grievances

What is Ombudsman?

The ombudsman is the internal complaint department for socially responsible organizations (governments, companies, societies, etc.). The ombudsman has complete access to the organization’s records and personnel, and the knowledge to understand how things work internally, in order to investigate complaints made against the organization.

So we have Bank Ombudsman, Insurance Company Ombudsman and Mutual funds companies Ombudsman etc.

When should you Approach Ombudsman ?

The first thing you should be doing is to contact your Bank/Mutual Fund Office/ Insurance Company and file a complaint with them. If you do not receive any response within some specified limit of days, you should further your complaint  with the Ombudsman.

What If Ombudsman do not reply or take Action?

All the Ombudsman bodies comes under the purview of Right to Information Act (RTI act of 1995). They are legally bound to reply for any complaints made by them ,considering its as per the stated rules.

Banking Operations and Credit Cards

Regulator:RBI
Local Ombudsman: https://www.apnaloan.com/home-loan-india/Banking-ombudsman-area.html
Where to Complain :https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bankingombudsman.aspx

Mutual Funds and Stock Market Related

Regulator :SEBI
Where to Complain:
Track your Complaint Status at: https://www.sebi.gov.in/ComplaintStatus.jsp

Insurance

Regulator : IRDA
Where to Complain : https://www.irdaindia.org/ins_ombusman.htm
For more see : https://www.irdaindia.org/rti_act2005.htm

Note : Ombudsman are the next level of bodies to complain , first try to resolve matter personally with the Bank or Insurance company which is creating problem for you.

Don’t underestimate the power of Compounding

Let me tell you a small story which will help you to understand the power of compounding easily.

There once was a king whose daughter was very ill. The king announced to his people that whoever cured his daughter can marry the princess and ask for another reward. One young man came and cured the princess with his family owned secret remedy.

Power-of-compounding

The king was so happy that he anxiously asked the young man what else he wanted besides marrying the princess as his 2nd wish. The young man pointed to a chess board with 64 squares on it and asked the king to put one grain of rice in the first cube and two in the second, four in the third, and eight in the fourth, and so on until the 64th square is filled up.

The king laughed and confirmed his wish that he really wanted rice grains and not GOLD!! The King did not realize what he agreed to at that particular time.

By the time they reach 32nd cube all the rice reserves of his Kingdom were exhausted! It was staggering 214 Crores grains of rice itself.. Each of the subsequent cubes required the King to double up the number of grains. King had to ask other Kingdoms for Grains and till he reached 45th cube the Rice Grain Reserves of all the kingdoms finished…

Eventually the king had to handover his entire kingdom to this clever person. That’s Power of Compounding!!

What’s the Moral

There are many people in our country who underestimate power of compounding and benefit of starting investing early in life. A thousand mile journey starts with a small first step. A huge fortune is made by starting small.

At first it may look small , but with patience and discipline in investing a sizable corpus can be built over long time. The secret of building huge corpus is to “Start” and “Keep doing it”.

Most important questions you should ask a ULIP agent

When an agent approaches you with ULIP product; before filling up forms, he should be explaining you What is a ULIP and how it works! You should ask him the following 6 questions to make sure you know what you are about to buy!

ULIP

1. What are the returns offered by this ULIP?

As per the rules of IRDA, an agent should explain you the workings of ULIP with an assumptive illustration earning 6-10% returns. However, if he claims that in the long term the policy is expected to give more than 10% then this information is not misleading.

But if he claims that the policy ‘WILL’ earn 18-20% or even Million% returns, you need to stay away from such agents!

2. What are the Charges applicable in this ULIP?

He should give you detailed Information on all the charges that are/will be applicable to ULIP. The important charge you need to know is Premium Allocation Charges.

If he doesn’t disclose any Charge that is applicable  then I am sure its not because of his dishonesty and no other reason. Ask him the company brochure mentioning the exact charges where all the charges are listed and explained in detail.

3. How does it suit my Risk Profile and fit in my requirement?

Before suggesting you the ULIP the agent should have asked you all the details about your Cash flow (Salary, Expenses) and your future goals with ULIP investment should be addressed.

He should also try to understand if you can take the risks associated with the ULIP. If he does not ask you these things then you ask him back why he has not asked you these questions. Get the word out of his throat!

4. How is it better than other ULIPS?

Ask him what is unique with the ULIPs he is recommending to you and make sure he does start all non-sense of Sec 80C benefit and high returns and all… Every ULIP has it! Ask him what are the special features with ULIP and how do they address your requirements.

If he claims that his company ULIP is the best and no other ULIP can match it then ask him for references if any states that. Just a plain claim from agents will not do. An agent must have enough knowledge to make you understand how to make best use of your ULIPS.

5. How does it score over Term Insurance + Mutual funds combination?

ULIPS are combination of Insurance and Investment produce, There is no point in taking it, if it cant perform better than Term Insurance + Mutual funds SIP. Switch benefits in ULIPS are the main benefit in ULIPS.

He must put pressure on that point, If not he is him self not aware of it. Refrain from taking the policy if he starts claiming that returns from ULIPS will be much higher than Mutual funds.

6. What was the performance during Market Crash?

Agents generally try to put up rosy picture and hence refrain from disclosing the funds performance in bad markets. If the fund has done bad, that is acceptable. Its investor responsibility to take care of switching and asset allocation.

So there is nothing wrong in performing bad in bad markets. Agents will first try to avoid the confrontation, but finally may tell you that they did bad and returns are very low. Ask him for exact number in return and try to find out how other ULIPS performed.

My personal Experiences

I have never come across any ULIP agent who has tried to sell the product in a professional manner. This has its own reasons like meeting Sales Target pressure or poor training to Agents. Anyways ,its not acceptable and can not be accepted . For so many years, Mis-selling is happening in India.

Conclusion :

Your hard earned money should go in proper investments. There should not be hurry in taking action. So don’t feel shy in asking questions once or twice or thrice, understand the product and its suitability with your requirement.

No product is good or bad, its only bad or good depending on your requirements. So be informed Investor and don’t fall prey to Idiotic agents.

Don’t do mistakes that are already done by tons of investors who took ULIPs for 3 years.

– To save tax
– Make exceptional returns from Stock markets
– Make them self believe its a happening product because it looks so complex

Please share with me if you have taken ULIP for wrong reasons
– Do you think that ULIPS will have any success in future… I feel yes

Tax Exemption limit may be raised to 1.7-2.0 lacs

Today in morning newspaper, I read that in this budget Tax exemption limit may be raised to 1.75-2.00 lacs . What will that mean to a common person like us .

It simply means that we will be left with some extra surplus every year .

A male who has taxable salary of 4 lacs per year and has 1.5 lacs as exemption limit , pays around 40,000 as tax . Now , after the exemption limit is raised to 2 lacs (assumption) , there can be 2 scenarios .

Read How to calculate Tax and tax slab for year 2008-2009

Scenario 1 : Exemption limit is raised but tax rates are not . Current tax rate is not

10% for 1.5 – 2.5 lacs
20% for 2.5 – 5 lacs
30% for 5+ lacs

In this case , he will have to pay 35,000 as tax (assuming tax rates for 2008-2009) . This means a saving of 5,000 on tax from previous year .

Scenario 2 : Exemption limit is raised and tax rates are also adjusted. A common sense guess would be

10% for 2-3 lacs
20% for 3-5 lacs
30% for 5+ lacs

It must be something like that , this is the minimum we will/should get

In this case , the tax would be 30,000 , and savings would be 10,000 per year.

What can this small amount do ?

So we can save in range of 5,000 or 10,000 or someother amount depending upon the changes. What can be the value of this for us as investment point of view.

this money can be invested in a mutual fund through SIP monthly for next 30 yrs ,

5000 can make
14 lacs at 12%
29 lacs at 15%

10,000 can make
29lacs at 12%
58 lacs at 15%

Assumption is that the money can be divided in 12 equal installment and can be invested per month .

What do you think about this ?

Did you check video post for Basic formula’s in Personal Finance and How to choose Mutual funds ?

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NPS , New Pension Scheme , A detailed Explanation

Today we will be talking about the “New Pension Scheme” Launched by Govt. of India.

What is NPS?

Its a pension system recently launched by Govt of India from 1st April, 2009.. You can regularly invest your money in this and get a lump sum at your retirement and a fixed monthly income for the lifetime . It will work almost the same way as Private Pension Schemes.

new pension scheme

Until now the pension schemes was available to Govt employees and employees of Big companies who has Provident fund facility. Any other person had to go with Private Pension schemes provided by Insurance Companies. IT as not a govt scheme for common person, With NPS now its a common person gateway to Pension Schemes.

Read previous post which was a guest post by Nooresh Merani on “How does a day trader looks like”Features

– No upper limit of Investment
– Minimum limit of 6,000 per year (Rs.500 per month).
– Annual Fees of .00009% (90 paisa for Rs.10,000) for Managing the fund.
– Tax benefit under sec 80C.
– Any Indian citizen between 18 and 55 years can invest in NPS.

Read other details below.

NPS Bodies

– Regulator : The one who will regulate the NPS System .
– Fund Managers : Who will invest the money
– Point of Presence : Responsible for Sales and Marketing .
– Central Record Keeping Agency : Responsible for all the document Keeping work (Record Keeper)

Lets see each of them In detail now .

Who will Regulate NPS?

PFRDA(Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) will monitor and regulate all the activities under NPS. It checks how your money in invested and makes sure that the fund managers are following the rules and guidelines.

Its just like “SEBI for Stock Market” .

Who are the Fund Managers?

There will be 6 Fund houses appointed by Government to manage the funds under NPS. You can choose any one of them to be your Fund Managers. They are :

1. SBI Pension Funds Private Limited.
2. UTI Retirement Solutions Limited.
3. ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company Limited.
4. Religare Pension Fund Limited.
5. IDFC Pension Funds Management Company Limited.
6. Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited.

They will take all the decisions of where the money received under NPS should be invested in the best possible way considering all the rules and regulations set by PFRDA.

Watch this video to know about national pension scheme:

Who are Point of Presence?

The following entities have been approved by PFRDA for appointment as Points of Presence (POPs) under the New Pension System for all citizens other than Government employees covered under NPS.

1. Allahabad Bank
2. Axis Bank Ltd
3. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co Ltd
4. Central Bank of India
5. Citibank N.A
6. Computer Age Management Services Private Limited
7. ICICI Bank Ltd
8. IDBI Bank Ltd
9. IL&FS Securities Services Ltd
10. Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited
11. LIC of India
12. Oriental Bank of Commerce
13. Reliance Capital Ltd
14. State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur
15. State Bank of Hyderabad
16. State Bank of India
17. State Bank of Indore
18. State Bank of Mysore
19. State Bank of Patiala
20. State Bank of Travancore
21. The South Indian Bank Ltd
22. Union Bank of India
23. UTI Asset Management Company Ltd

Who will be the CRA?

As per the website of PFRDA there is a Contact of negotiation is underway and NSDL is expected to be appointed as the CRA. there were other bodies too who wanted to be CRA, but the most suitable of all is CSDL. You can see them as the back office for maintaining records, administration and customer service functions.

What are the Steps of Investment?

  1. Visit a point of presence (PoP), fill up the prescribed form with the required documents.
  2. Once registered, CRA will send you a Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN). This will be unique to every person.
  3. Select your Amount and Investment Option.

Investment Options and Structure

Structure wise they are very similar to ULIP’s or ULPP’s from Investment Point of View . You have different kind of funds options with different exposure to –

– Equity Instruments
– Corporate Debt
– Fixed Income Instruments
– Govt Securities.

Different Options

Risky option : The higher allocation in this option will be in Equity. To decrease the risk, Equity Investment is allowed only to invest in Index funds which tracks Sensex or Nifty. Also the equity exposure is caped at 50%.

Moderate : IN this options Main exposure would be Corporate debt and Fixed income securities with some exposure in Equity and Govt securities. It will be moderately risky and rewarding.

Safe : In this option mainly the investment will be done in Govt securities, and very little will be invested in Equity.

There will be a Default option , under which the allocation will be decided as per your age, where Equity Allocation will be high in the start and then it will come down as your age increases . You can also decide your own asset allocation as per your Risk appetite

Cost

There are different kind of Costs in NPS.

– Fund management charges of .0009% per Annam, which is excellent if compared to ULPP’s or Mutual funds charges .

– Annual Maintenance charges of Rs.350 and Rs.10 per transaction to CRA (soon, it will be Rs.280 per year, Rs.6 for per transaction).

– Rs.40 for registration with PoP and Rs.20 per transaction with them.

– There are other small costs too, lets leave it for now.

Taxation Issue

Sadly, As per the current law, the amount received at the end from NPS would be taxable, PFRDA is trying hard with govt to exempt the tax. You will get the 80C benefits on the amount invested in NPS.

UPDATE May 3, 2009

“Under following circumstances your account may be closed before attaining retirement age?

– death
– account value reduces to zero
– change in citizenship status.

Thanks to Viral for bringing up this point
Read NPS FAQ here

Conclusion

As per my views, Its a good initiative from Govt to introduce a Pension Scheme which will give common people a chance to invest in Pension schemes which is from Govt.

One important thing to understand and note is that Even though its a pension scheme, the returns are not guaranteed. It can vary drastically depending on your asset allocation and how you choose the fund options.

Other Negative point at this point is that the amount received at the end would be taxable which can have adverse affect on the return potential. But I am sure soon govt will make the final amount received non-taxable.

Currently I don’t rate it at par with PPF or EPF. At this point it would be wise to invest money in this if you have any money left over after your PPF and EPF contribution. Waiting for some more time before taking a call on this would be worthwile . Overall NPS passes 🙂

Question for you

– Are you personally impressed by NPS and will you invest in NPS?
– What else govt can make changes in NPS to make it attractive to you?

Previous Post : Nooresh Merani Guest post on How does a Day trader looks like?

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– Please leave your Comments/suggestions/disagreements .

 

What is a COW !! , A truth about Indian Financial Sector

Do you know what is a COW !!!

Keep reading , don’t thin’k its not related to Personal Finance, After you read the paragraph below and read further you will come to know. This posts talks about the state of knowledge of Indian ulip and mutual funds agents.

Indian Financial Sector

The Indian Cow

“HE IS THE COW. “The cow is a successful animal. Also she is 4 footed, and because she is female, she give milks, [ but will do so when she is got child.] She is same like-God, sacred to Hindus and useful to man.But she has got four legs together. Two are forward and two are afterwards.

Her whole body can be utilized for use. More so the milk. Milk comes from 4 taps attached to his basement.[ horses don’t have any such attachment.

What can it do?

Various ghee, butter, cream, curd, why and the condensed milk and so forth. Also she is useful to cobbler, waterman’s and mankind generally. Her motion is slow only because she is of lazy species. Also her other motion.. gober] is much useful to trees, plants as well as for making flat cakes [like Pizza ] , in hand ,and drying in the sun..

Cow is the only animal that extricates her feeding after eating. Then afterwards she chew with her teeth whom are situated in the inside of the mouth. She is incessantly in the meadows in the grass. Her only attacking and defending organ is the horns, specially so when she is got child.

This is done by knowing her head whereby she causes the weapons to be paralleled to the ground of the earth and instantly proceed with great velocity forwards.

She has got tail also, situated in the backyard, but not like similar animals. It has hairs on the other end of the other side. This is done to frighten away the flies which alight on his cohesive body hereupon she gives hit with it.The palms of her feet are soft unto the touch. So the grasses head is not crushed.

At night time have poses by looking down on the ground and she shouts. Her eyes and nose are like her other relatives. This is the cow. ”

source : Arun. K. Mukherjee blog

Most of the agents in India who sell Mutual Funds or ULIPS talk in the same way about it . They know very little about it , only to an extent which can make ignorant people feel that these agents know a lot . They have no understanding of How to choose a good mutual fund or How to manage Ulips effectively

And these agents work for big houses , I have often came across agents who explain me mutual fund or ULIP in the same way you read “what is COW!” . They don’t have communication skills to sell a product or convince a person who knows something about the product .

If you are slightly informed person , just call an agent and ask him internal questions about the product . you will see in how much water they are in .

What should be Done !!

There should be strict accountability from agents . Though you can never put all responsibility on agents for any loss of yours , at least there should be some quantifiable measure for the standard of there recommendation .

I am not saying that all agents are like this , but majority are . Some of the agents are very nice . like the one I dealt with while buying for me for the first time .

Apart from this , the biggest responsibility lies with you , you have to be well informed yourself . If you are your self an idiot , agent has all the right to make you one . So be informed , knowledgeable and understand what to do . You have to understand how to Find out if a product fits you, (Look at GFactor )

Question for you :
Do you think that eliminating agents (one who recommend products) will make situation better or Worse !! .

I think it wont affect a lot in current scenario !! , what do you think ?

I wrote a post on how does a common man think about money , read it

A common Man’s Dream about Money

How much do you want to earn ? What kind of Financial life do you want ?

Don’t we claim to lot of people that Money is not important to us in life ? We want happiness, We want time to do things which we “like”. We are interested in health , happiness and peace of mind, We want to spend time with our family, play with kids, take our spouse for a world tour and a lot of similar things.

dream about money

Average person thinking

Most of the people will claim that money is not the biggest thing in there life , but still we see most of the people working consistently for 50-60 hrs a week , some work 70 hrs+ . We are free only on weekends and that too goes in household chores and planning for next week and may be one evening which one can claim to be the way “they wanted it to be” .

The truth is most the people can achieve there financial goals but are not fully committed towards it . This may be true because of lack of knowledge or attitude towards this .

We all have desire to achieve our goals in life , and that will happen only when we are financially independent , No wonder that we will have to work in the starting period of our lives . Every will have to do that , but better financial management can help in achieving your goals earlier than average .

So take out some time to work on your personal finance , thats what you are working for whole your life !! , incase you dont know 🙂

People Invest and then forget

Most of the people invest or take decisions and then forget about it , they feel that there job is done . this may be because of the fear of loosing money or coming to know that they made a wrong decision .

How many times it happened that you took a share , mutual fund or a policy and it didn’t work for you , didn’t give you returns as expected and actually made losses . Did you care to find the reason for making a mistake , did you take any step to confront the situation and take measures to fix the mess . Or you just left it to destiny saying “I will just give it some time , it should be fine in 1 yr or so”

Successful people take hard decisions , they work for there money , they read , they go to websites to find out things , they take out time to contact people and get information about it .

My experience

I took a Term Insurance from SBI (SBI Shield Plan) last year . It was the best plan which suited me .After some months there was news that term insurance premiums have come down and there is a new entrant “Aegon Religare ” in the market . I calculated back and saw that Reliage premium was Rs 1,000 cheaper than SBI (for my policy) .

I contacted my Agent and asked him to provide me the numbers (premium) for this year and told him straight forward that I will surrender the policy this year I I dont get a good deal . Atleast I will not choose them for my additional Insurance cover .

I don’t think many people care to find this out and take the “pain” of doing it all over again for the sake of small money . remember that its not small money … Small is Big !!

People make fortunes by investing regularly small chuck of money . So if get a chance to save even a small bit , do it . It will show in future .

What to do ?

Money can be generated but with discipline , you have to understand this and act on this . Invest systematically for a long period of time and use well know principles of Asset Allocation and Portfolio Rebalancing (read what is it) , portfolio rebalancing .

Just like we have lots of data , confusion and noise in Stock market , in the same way we also have it in personal finance . There are thousands of products claiming to be better than others . There are mutual funds who claim to give 25% consistently (there are many which have actually given) .

You have to get out of the noise , and understand that you dont need much to make long term wealth . You just need better than average returns .

Let us see some components required :

– Strong Planning

– Stick to the plan and follow it with Discipline

– you dont need 20% or 30% returns (and don’t even look for it) . Just 5-6% above inflation is good and that’s what you should expect .

So plan your finances well in advance , have a path to follow and then just follow it without deviating in between . Dont get greedy .

Please let me know how do you like this new look for the blog , I am sure many like it , It gives better look and feel .

Answer me following question

– Do you have any financial plan for future ?
– What kind of returns do you expect from your investments as per your thinking ?

What is Financial Planning – CFP

This post is for people who want to make career in Financial Planning . I will be talking about CFPCM Certification here .

CFP

What is CFP Certification ?

CFP or Certified Financial Planer Certification programmes in India are offered mainly by Financial Planning Standards Board India. Its a certification after doing which you will be a certified to be a Financial Planner and take different roles in the area of Financial planning .

What is FPSB ?

Its Financial Planning Standards Board India , The board authorised to give CFP certification in India . FPSB is a Public–Private Enterprise and a Professional Standards Setting body for Financial Planners in India.

FPSB India proactively guides the development and promotion of standards for Financial Planning professionals to benefit and protect the public in the country.

Who should do CFP ?

Its for people who want to enter the field of Financial Planning , People are interested in the subject and recognise the huge potential and rewards this area may benefit . There are many other courses in Finance like CA , CFA , ICWA or MBA (finance) , but they are totally different from CFP .

CFP mainly deals with planning of Finances in area of Investment , Insurance , Taxation . So its more inclined towards financial planning for individuals .

People who are working professional in other industries and want to switch there career in Financial planning can also go for CFP , its easy to complete the CFP certification while working .

Is it worth doing CFP , What is the Future of this ?

My take :

India has 1 billion+ population ,where financial awareness is almost non-existent , People here save money but do not understand how to invest it or take care of it in the best way . They don’t even know the basic steps for Financial planning . Currently there are handful of CFP’s in India who are in great demand .

In days to come CFP professional will be the most sought after and highly paid professional’s in area of Finance and overall .

So CFP is the next big thing all over India . That is my personal opinion .

How easy it is to do CFP , Is it too costly ?

How to register : There are many Education Providers (colleges) in India certified by FPSB to offer the study material , you have to enroll with some EP of your choice and do the course , They may offer the course through classroom coaching or Distance learning , you have to decide what suits you.

Giving Exams : The exams are conducted though nseindia.com just like NCFM exams , you have to register for an exam date , pay the fees and give the exam. thats it !! .

Cost : Its not at all costly compared to other courses in same field . There are 6 modules you have to clear . Following is the Fees structure

  • FPSB fees : 10,000
  • Exams for 5 module per module : 13000 (2000 for 4 modules and 5k for last module)
  • EP Fees : 20000 (that is average , Many charge from 10k to 1 lacs)

So In total it should be around 45,000 – 60,000 .

Its one of the best career options in India currently at this cost .

people who want are in Bangalore can go for “MANDAR Learning Acedamy” as there EP .

To get more details , go to https://www.fpsb.co.in/Scripts/RegisterForCFPCertificationProgram.aspx

When do you become a CFP ?

You become CFP only after passing all the CFP module exams and having experience as per CFP criteria , Its either 3 years experience in Financial sector or 6 yrs experience in Non-financial sector . For details see there site .

Note : The information given on this post if not 100% information , I just gave a brief idea about CFP . for details you must see fspb site .

See my previos post of GFactor

Conclusion :

CFP is one big thing for India . Indians badly need right financial planning for them and in this country of 1 billion , CFP’s will be the king of future . So if you have interest , time and and some money , go for it .

All the best !!

A Small tutorial on “How to start Trading?”

What does it takes to be successful in Trading ?

We are going to see 2 articles on this subject, this is Part 1. In this part I will give introduction to Trading and tell you what exactly is it and how should you approach it (if you want to do it).

Trading

Dr. Alexander Elder, explains in his legendary book “Come in to My Trading Room”, the 3 M’s of Successful trading, which I will touch upon today and will explain it in my own way to you. In the second part we will see the 3 M’s in my way of explanation.

Let us first see what exactly is the difference between Trading and Investing and then we will go over the explanation.

Difference between Investing and Trading

Investing means buying a stock of financial instrument for a long period of time, typically over several years. Assessing good investment opportunities often makes use of fundamental information, such as earnings, but can also use technical analysis to detect long-term trends.

Trading means buying and selling stocks or other financial instruments for shorter periods of time, typically less than a few months. Assessing good trading opportunities typically makes use of trading systems or chart-based techniques to detect short-term patterns.

The main advantage of trading over investing is that it provides the ability to make money regardless of the overall direction of the market or the price of an individual stock. The general consensus is that You can make more money in bear markets with Trading than Bull markets. Because bear markets provide steep movements compared to bull markets .

How Risky and Rewarding is Trading ?

Risk : Trading is considered as one of the most risky business you can ever do. Trading can wipe out your entire money so fast that you cant even imagine. As per the data, every 19 person out of 20 who does trading eventually looses. So the success ratio is not more than 5%, even out of this 5%, 3-4% just make small money, actually big money is made by 1% of people.

Reward : If done correctly and successfully trading can make you enough money you cant imagine. Most of the successful traders make more money in a month than people who are considered as “making good money” make in a year. but this numbers is for highly successful traders.

The other reward for successful trader is Independence. Once successful, you are your own boss, can work whenever you want, trade from all corner of the world while travelling.

For people who want to try there skills in trading can try mock trading on moneyvidya.com, Just buy and sell stocks and see how much money are you able to make in 2-3 months, It will give you some feel of trading. You can also read past my article on MoneyVidya.

Should you try Trading ?

Well, Just anyone who thinks that trading is a “get rich quick” thing, is doomed to failure, this is the biggest reason why people fail, they start or see trading with wrong attitude, they want to make millions (if not billions) in just a month or a year from Trading, They underestimate the Risk part and over estimate Reward part of Trading and eventually fall pray to Market’s anger.

Just because its “BUY” or “SELL”, they think its easy. and they need to read a little bit and because they are so successful and smart in whatever they are doing currently, they will succeed in Trading too. The approach Trading in a wrong way with totally unrealistic expectations.

So the main question still is “Is it for you ?”

you have to ask your self some of the questions which are as:

  • Are you ready to take Great risk of losing money ?
  • Do you have time and energy to learn the stuff required to Trading ?
  • Do you like Markets, numbers and what ever required for Trading ?

Some of the thing which “does not matter much” in Trading are :

  • Are you highly intelligent person ?
  • How successful you have always been in whatever you have done earlier in your life ?

Conclusion :

Understand very well that Trading is a very very risky business and not an easy thing , you have to learn it just like any other profession like Medicine or Software and it takes time . But , now a days I would say Trading is much easier compared to earlier days , Now with the online trading and lots of data available on Internet , there is lot of scope in Trading now .

In the next post we will quickly see 3 M’s for successful Trading . here is Part 2

Disclaimer : I am myself a student of Trading and still in my learning Phase , I have lost good money in Trading and still struggling to break even . But Eventually its going to happen, because I have not lost the confidence and still on fighting in the battlefield (Markets) .

 

Asset Allocation presentation

I am putting a small presentation prepared by a friend Subbu . This talks about asset allocation at different stages of life .

Incase you have not looked at “How to be a better than average Investor” series articles . You can look at them

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

These articles talk about use of Technical Analysis to find support and resistance levels to make better BUY and SELL decisions . Please share them with others too .