Skip to main content

Increase your Savings

 

Increase your savings

 

We have all heard stories of our parents or grandparents putting away money in tins, envelopes and savings accounts. Indians are known to be big savers. That is one of the reasons why the 2008 global recession did not affect us as much as it did people in Western countries. Savings have more or less worked as a great way of safeguarding one's future, until now. With the increasing cost of living, the old methods of saving seem to be falling short of our expectations. Are we letting our standard of living eat away our retirement money? This is one question every person faces sooner or later in life.

As a thumb rule most of us keep a certain amount of our income aside as savings. This is usually between 10 to 50 per cent of the earnings depending on the lifestyle. We assume that if we start saving in our twenties we will have a sufficient amount saved by retirement. However, by the time we near retirement our standards of living are so high that the saved amount seems inadequate.

It is a fact that people who save and invest regularly are better off than those who do not. But merely saving is not enough. One should increase one's savings with proportionate increases in salary.

After living a certain way during one's working life, no one wants to cut down on the lifestyle, especially after retirement, when one should be enjoying it the most.

Put the extra money to good use: Every time we get a hike in our salary we start expecting more out of life. We suddenly shift our focus to our ' wants'. We tend to become lax with our expenses. Knowing that we are saving a portion of our money gives us a sense of satisfaction.

But just as the increment in salary, savings too need to increase. This will help to take care of the change in lifestyle that the increment may have brought about.

Decide how to spend the increment carefully. It can be either a lump sum amount or it can be additional monthly savings. You need to ensure that the additional money in your hand is being used for securing a better financial future and not only to upgrade your lifestyle.

Many of us don't realise that in spite of getting a raise in our salaries, we are still putting aside the same amount in savings we used to when we initially started. We spend most or all of the increment on material things. Instead of focusing on what we are saving, we should focus on what we are spending most of our money on. If we take every hike in our income as something we can freely spend, we will end up saving a very small amount of the total money we earn on an annual basis.

To see the exact difference, calculate how much you earn every year and how much of it you are able to save.

Here is an example.

Imagine you were saving 5,000 every month from your total income of 50,000. After a year your salary increases by 15 per cent and goes up to 57,500. You are still saving the same amount, that is, 5,000 and the rest is going towards lifestyle expenses. If 10 per cent of the income was what you initially saved, it has now gone down to about 8 per cent because 5,000 now is about 8 per cent of your revised salary. Although, you have more money in hand you are unable to retain it for a better financial future. And if this goes on every year you gradually get into a pattern where it becomes difficult for you to spare any extra cash. And with this pattern going on throughout your life you reach the retirement age feeling unsure how to make ends meet.

Follow these simple rules when you receive an increment and/ or bonus: Figure out your savings percentage (not an amount) of your monthly take- home and stick to it. If you emphasise on saving first then spending for expenses, you will build a healthy habit of securing your future Track your expenses every year.

The rate at which they are going up is the rate at which your savings should grow Keep a tab on financial goals and how your savings are helping you achieve them Keep a tab on fixed expense and variable expense items. For example: The equated monthly instalment doesn't change unless you want to change it. Household expenses, school fees, domestic staff are all fixed on an annual basis. Eating out, holidays, shopping, festivals expenses can vary based on your focus on ' wants'. You can set a limit to increase in variable expenses. Any increase in salary can be divided proportionately to increase in savings and expenses and subsequently to proportionate increase in fixed and variable expenses Understand the power of compounding.

Compounding returns can create a huge corpus even if the amount being saved is small but held on for a very long term Understand the cost- benefit analysis of using the lump sum to pre- pay any loan or investing the money for future financial goals.

Although it is hard to save money during the initial stages of your career, allowing yourself to spend just 50 per cent of the raise you get every year can work wonders.

Before you start dreaming big, you should have something to back it up with. Personalise your lifestyle in such a way that it creates a balance between what you have and what you intend to have in the future. Anyone who masters this quality will be able to maintain a consistent standard of living, not only while working but even during his/ her retirement.

For further information contact Prajna Capital on 94 8300 8300 by leaving a missed call

Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300

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 Mutual Funds Online

Invest Any Mutual Fund Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Any Fund Application Forms

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

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Franklin India Bluechip
      4. ICICI Prudential Top 100 Fund

B. Large and Midcap Funds Invest Online

      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
      4. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
      5. Franklin India Prima

C. 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
      5. Birla Sun Life Dividend Yield Plus
      6. SBI Emerging Businesses Fund
      7. HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund
      8. ICICI Prudential Discovery Fund

D. Small and MicroCap Funds Invest Online

      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
      2. Franklin India Smaller Companies

E. Sector Funds Invest Online

      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
      3. ICICI Prudential Banking and Financial Services Fund

F. Tax Saver Mutual Funds Invest Online

1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan

2. HDFC Taxsaver

      1. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      2. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

G. Gold Mutual Funds Invest Online

      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund
      4. Birla Sun Life Gold

H. International funds Invest Online

1. Birla Sun Life International Equity Plan A

2. DSP BlackRock US Flexible Equity

3. FT India Feeder Franklin US Opportunities

4. ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity

5. Motilal Oswal MOSt Shares NASDAQ-100 ETF

Popular posts from this blog

Surrender ULPPs

  ICICI Pru LifeTime and ICICI Pru Lifestage are Unit Linked Pension Plans. Such insurance linked retirement plans are neither good investments nor do they offer sufficient insurance cover. As you can see, these have turned out to be bad deals. In the Lifetime plan, the fund value is not even equal to the total premiums that you have paid and in the Lifestage plan your return is just about 6% which is quite low. The mortality charges are as per your age which is why they have increased. Moreover, once these plans matures, you will have to compulsorily opt for annuity (regular income) and the annuity rates are generally modest. Assuming these plans mature in the next one year, it will be wise to surrender the plan now and curb your future commitments.   Before you choose to buy a term plan, you have to consider a few points. You need to insure yourself, only during the time you are working and your family is financially dependent on you. At the age of 59, not all insurance companies w...

ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt dividend

Invest ICICI Prudential Constant Maturity Gilt Fund Online ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund   has announced dividend under the following schemes: Scheme Dividend ( R /unit) ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt-DQ 0.26543239 ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt Direct-DQ 0.27171609 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I-D 0.10617296 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I Direct-D 0.10703967 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I Ret-D 0.10617296             The record date has been fixed as June 13, 2016.   ----------------------------------------------- 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. Franklin India TaxShield 4. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund 5. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund 6. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 7. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 8. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) ...

NPS Investment Choice for Safe Investors

Invest NPS Online       Whether they invested through SIPs or put in a lump sum amount, risk-averse individ uals have earned the highest returns. These are investors who stayed away from stocks and divided their NPS corpus between G class gilt funds and C class corporate debt funds. On average, gilt funds have given 9.75% annualised returns while corporate debt funds have churned out more than 11% in the past five years. As a result, the average return for ultra-safe investors in the past five years is in double digits. Even in the short term, ultrasafe investors have been the biggest gainers among NPS investors. Will the good times continue? The gilt funds of NPS are holding long-term bonds with an average maturity of over 19 years and a modified duration of about 9 years.These funds have done well because interest rate cuts have pushed down bond yields. But experts say this trend will not stay forever. NPS is a long-term investment and the bonds are predominantly held to matu...

Buy Health Insurance Plan even if you are covered with my Employer

Buy Health Insurance Plan Online Yes, getting a private insurance cover now, which extends beyond your retirement age, is recommended There are a few reasons why buying a health insurance plan may make sense even though you get medical insurance from your employer. Here are the points you need to think about. Firstly, your employer's insurance coverage will only protect you as long as you are employed with the company. The policy will terminate when you quit the job or when you retire. Post retirement is perhaps the phase when one needs it the most but you won't have it then. Moreover, buying a new insurance policy after the age of 50 means that there will be no coverage for pre-existing diseases.   Lastly, health insurance policy you get from your employer may or may not cover your dependants. ------------------------------ ----------------- 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 M...

SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP ONLINE

Invest SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP ONLINE   SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP fund didn't fare well in its initial years but, in recent years, has steadily improved its performance under the capable hands of its current fund manager. Although investing predominantly in mid-cap stocks, the average market capitalisation of its portfolio is lower than other category peers.   Although the stock selection approach is mostly bottom-up , the fund manager doesn't shy away from taking bold sector bets , as is reflected in its large exposure to the healthcare sector. She is equally adept at handling performance across market cycles--the fund has captured more of the upside during market upticks and contained the downside during downturns in a better manner than its peers.   Given its superior risk-reward equation, the fund is a worthy pick in its category.     ----------------------------------------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing EL...
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