Skip to main content

Financial Discipline in Investing to reach your Goal

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

The word financial discipline has 2 parts- Financial and Discipline, and both are you aware of separately but finds it very difficult to follow connected. Discipline by definition is the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior using punishment or motivation. All of us have experienced discipline in our life in one way or other.

Schooling lays foundation is one's life. And it is the place where we first experience discipline. To lay discipline in our studies there were a set of curriculum, set of rules, punishments and behavioral strategies to regulate children and adolescence to maintain order. We've experienced a defined standard of clothing, time keeping , social behavior etc. in school. The one who follows every rule with obedience and sincerity gets best student of the year award. Parent teacher meeting gets organised every month to review the kids' progress and point out the gaps if any, so that all the stake holders remain on the same page and goal of kids' betterment be achieved.
 

Discipline and habit

 

Discipline can be brought in through Punishment and motivation. You may scold or punish your kid to refrain him from doing something; also you may offer him some gift or anything of his liking to make him do something like getting good marks in exam etc. As the kids started growing old the former method starts losing its importance. Motivation plays a big role than punishment. Same way some people work hard in job, follow the code of conduct , rules and policies laid down by company, with the fear of losing job , which shows the reason of his discipline is Punishment. On the other side some people work hard with a view of getting promoted or earning appraisal next year and this is motivation. Getting up early for a morning walk might be sort of punishment for many but slowly when one starts feeling the improvement in his health it becomes a motivation and he starts enjoying it and generates more positive results. Many times discipline starts with punishment or we take it as punishment but when we become regular to that and find good results we get motivated to continue with it and later it becomes our habit.

 

What is financial discipline anyway?

 

Complete financial sector work in a defined and disciplined business strategy. They follow the rules and laws set out by regulators which keep a check on their work and financial discipline. And those who don't follow the basic rules of borrowing, spending, investing …face situations like what kingfisher is facing today or what has been happened in the western countries. We have our seniors /bosses who keep a watch on us for our work discipline. But in our personal financial life we are so mismanaged, that many times we find it difficult to go for a movie in the last days of month. We don't take holistic view of our finances and what effect one decision is going to give on other. We come to know of our financially undisciplined behaviour when we get punished in the form of Loan rejection due to bad credit score or life Insurance rejection due to not filing proper income tax return etc.

Now you have two options. Either get the signals in the right sense and find out motivation in that punishment or close your eyes on your financial matters as you always do. Please understand that you just can't blame on government, economy or employer for all those mistakes that you have or are committing. This is your financial life, make it or break it. Going forward your child will ask for a certain amount for his education, you will not be receiving regular pay checks after retirement, Your employer or government will not be there to support your family in case something happens to you. It's high time to understand the responsibilities and show some financial discipline. As I said above that in starting you may have to compromise on many things like you could not be able to buy latest I phone or LED or may have to postpone your vacations …and thus you start taking it as punishment, but going forward the results will motivate you to continue and it will become your habit.

Smart tips to inculcate Financial discipline

  1. Prepare a monthly spending budget and stick to it.
  2. Invest with a goal. Goals give direction and help you in selecting right product.
  3. Avoid loans for your desires. Better do a financial planning check before going in for a big purchase.
  4. Invest monthly to become regularise in your savings and this will also help you maintain consistency.
  5. Motivate yourself by visualising the goals and the end result for which you are working for.
  6. Pamper yourself. Give yourself a party/vacation or whatever you feel like when you achieve your savings/spending target. But please make sure to do this provisioning in your monthly budget. After all your efforts should be properly rewarded.
  7. Penalise yourself if you stop your investments before target date or spend more than what you have budgeted for. Your penalty can be not having any dine out in that particular month.
  8. Be accountable to someone. Both spouses can keep a check on each other on the spending habits.
  9. Take help of financial planner where ever you require. They can be a good source of support.
  10. If your credit cards are bothering you and coming in the way of being disciplined …get rid of them.
  11. Take review of the situations after a set period.

Unfortunately we did not learn in school on how to be in financial discipline, thus you yourself has to find it out. There are a number of obstacles that stand in your way when it comes to financial discipline. Over time we haven't practiced the basics and unfortunately that has led many of us being in debt, unprepared for retirement, with little to no emergency fund. Many of us aren't even aware of what our debt really costs us. We don't really know what our debt looks like, or think about how it affects our future.

See, it's all about giving a start. In the words of Robin sharma -New habits become old habits when you do them every day. So adopt one great new habit today. We only do challenging things if we can convince ourselves that the reward for doing these things is greater than the cost of doing them. I have read somewhere that psychologist say it takes 30 days to create a new habit. Getting up at 5 a.m to jog daily may be hard at first, but after 30 days it will become a routine. The same thing goes with money.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

---------------------------------------------

Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.

Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications

These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also

Some of the best Tax Saving Mutual Funds available ( ELSS Mutual Funds )

  1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan Invest Online
  2. HDFC TaxSaver Invest Online
  3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund Invest Online
  4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
  5. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 Invest Online
  6. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
  7. SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 1993 Invest Online
  8. Sundaram Tax Saver Invest Online
  9. Edelweiss ELSS Invest Online

------------------

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    1. Mid and SmallCap Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    1. Small and MicroCap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    1. Sector Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    1. Tax Saver MutualFunds Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan
      2. HDFC Taxsaver
      3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund
    2. Gold Mutual Funds Invest Online
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

Popular posts from this blog

Mutual Fund Exit Load Changes

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300 Mutual Fund Exit Load Changes AMCs don't communicate about any change in exit load directly with investors, but do update on their website   The exit load applicable to your investments is the load which existed at the time when you invested in the particular fund. Any subsequent changes in the exit load will not be applicable to your investments.   However, Asset Management Companies ( AMCs ) periodically publish addendums in the newspapers, which state any change in exit loads of specific schemes managed by them. Such changes are also posted on their websites. However, a direct communication to an investor is not made, considering the costs involved in doing so. In their own interests, investors should not only track the performance of the funds they i...
Read more

Atal Pension Yojana contribution Tax Benefit for spouse

Contributions to Atal Pension Yojana (APY) are eligible for the same tax benefits as the NPS. This means that the contributions can be claimed under Section 80CCD (1B). The current limit for Section 80CCD (1B) is   Rs   50,000, over and above the   Rs   1.5 lakh limit under Section 80C. Section 80 CCD (1) is a different one, meant to cover employers' contribution towards NPS . You cannot get tax benefit by investing in the name of your spouse under Section 80 CCD . ------------------------------ ----------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2016 Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in India for 2016 1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund 2. Axis Tax Saver Fund 3. Religare Tax Plan 4. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 5. Franklin India TaxShield 6. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund 7. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund 8. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 9. ...
Read more

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund Launches Birla Sun Life NIFTY ETF

Birla Sun Life has launched a new fund namely, Birla Sun Life Nifty ETF, an open ended exchange traded fund. The new fund will be open for subscription from 4th July to 18th July 2011, at an offer price of Rs 10 per unit. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate returns that closely correspond to the total returns of securities as represented by S&P CNX Nifty, subject to tracking errors. No exit load will be charged under the scheme. The performance of the scheme will be benchmarked against S&P CNX Nifty and will be managed by Satyabrata Mohanty.   -----------------------------------------------------------------   Also, know how to buy mutual funds online:   1) DSP BlackRock Mutual Funds: http://prajnacapital.blogspot.com/2011/05/buying-dsp-blackrock-mutual-funds.html   2) Reliance Mutual Funds: http://prajnacapital.blogspot.com/2011/06/buying-reliance-mutual-funds-online.html   3) Birla Sunlife Mutual Funds: http://prajnacapital.blogspot.com/2011/...
Read more

Mutual Fund Reivew: Birla Sun Life Asset Allocation Conservative

Birla Sun Life Asset Allocation Conservative has numbers on its side to prove its credibility… Don't be surprised to find this Fund of Funds ( FoF ) in our recommendations. It has earned its place. And despite the difference in the structure of the product, there is no arguing with the numbers.   Of the total 6 years of its existence, the fund has been among the top 10 funds in its category in four of them. Last year it put up an average show and the only year it underperformed its peers was in 2008.   One aspect to look at when investing in an FoF is the expense ratio. The expense ratio of an FoF is capped at a lower limit of 0.75 per cent (2.50% for an actively managed fund). However, the FoF not only has its own expense (though lower) but even the expense ratio of the fund it is investing into. Fortunately, the fund manager takes that into account. "Expense is one of the important criteria used for fund selection and is the main reason for our investment in BSL Ind...
Read more

Short-Term Investment Options in Mutual Funds

Mutual funds offer liquid funds and ultra short term funds in the debt category, which are suitable for short investment periods. Ultra short-term funds were earlier known as liquid plus funds. Liquid funds invest in money market instruments with a maturity of 91 days or less. However, there are no such restrictions for ultra short-term funds. Who should invest in these? These are open-ended schemes. Investors with a short investment horizon or with surplus cash and low risk appetite should look at these. These could include corporate as well as retail investors. Those interested in staying invested for less than 15 days can opt for liquid funds. Retail investors who want to remain invested for two-four months, can look at ultra short-term funds. The short duration for both liquid and ultra short-term funds shields them from any interest rate volatility.   What kind of returns do they offer? In terms of an investment period less than 15 days, these funds are comparable to a ba...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now