Prajna Capital - An Investment Guide

Planning investments is a challenge for everyone, and more so for senior citizens. Choosing the right investment product per se is a difficult task for many investors. The task is even more challenging for senior citizens as they will have a limited corpus, while their need for income from the corpus does not remain constant. While a pension plan takes care of a regular source of income, life is not easy if the investor does not have a regular source of income. As a result, senior citizens have to do the balancing act between risk and returns. Needless to say, the risk element has to be as low as possible for this class of investors. Safety over returns As pointed out earlier, safety of capital has to be the underlying principle of investments, and risk can be a component only when the investor has the comfort of liquidity. For instance, the monthly income needs have to be met through fixed return products. Some fixed return products Senior citizens’ savings schemes: T...

A hassled wealth reader enquired about Monthly Income Plans ( MIP ). His concern was that he hasn't been getting any monthly payments (income/dividends) from the fund he had invested in. He has already made huge loss in the fund and withdrawing from the plan would mean a greater loss. Wealth takes this opportunity to tell you all you wanted to know about MIPs A general misunderstanding about MIP among investors is that it is believed to offer regular monthly income. From the name you may infer that MIP gives you monthly returns, but that's not the way it functions. An MIP is generally mistaken for a regular income plan; but actually, it gives you returns based on market's performance. What is MIP? MIP is a hybrid investment that invests a small portion of its portfolio, around 15 to 30 per cent, in equities, and the remaining in debt and money market instruments. This plan is ideal for those who score low or medium on their risk profile . What are the features? Returns MIPs...

Mr & Mrs Achar, both in their early thirties, have a long list of want to-do things post-retirement. While Achar, a private banker, wants to travel a lot and write a book, Mrs Achar wants to look after their children and do some social work. The interesting part, however, is that they want to do this after 10 years, when they plan to retire! Yes, you are right, they do want to retire in their early forties and wish to pursue their passions. Wait a minute... did we hear similar voices from you too. Alright, so let's see how this can be achieved with systematic planning that includes having reasonably aggressive investment plan, regular savings and may be a slight change in lifestyle to ensure a better and safe tomorrow. Early retirement is essentially a lifestyle issue and is proportionate to one's income and consumption pattern. To retire early one needs have to do careful planning and calibrated thinking. Before making any retire plan, one should first prepare a balance sh...