HDFC EQUITY Fund is a good fund. But HDFC TOP 200 / HDFC GROWTH are performing better. So while renewing your SIP it is better to invest in those funds. Whatever you have invested in HDFC EQUITY fund till now can stay. Regarding Reliance Vision - its performance has fallen. There are better performing large cap funds. My recommendations are all based on value research ratings. I always recommend 5* or 4 *. ...

I N N E R H A P P I N E S S

I live in Indore , in India `s heartland. On our way back from an adjacent
town, my friend and I stopped at a highway dhaba. Placing our order, we
stretched ourselves out on the cane chairs. A motley group of people
occupied other tables.

As we glanced around desultorily, a ragged man sauntered in and sat down. He
poured himself a glass of water from the steel jug. He drank two whole
glasses, but ordered no food, nor did the dhaba boys ask him. When our tea
and samosas arrived, he looked at the food, filled his glass again and drank
it. We saw no greed in his eyes, but it was an easy guess, that the guy was
hungry and had no money.

The dhaba boy told us, `Oh! That madman comes in everyday. If he has money,
he eats something; otherwise he just drinks a few glasses of water and
leaves.. My boss said that since water has been given to us by the Lord, we
must never stop anyone drinking it at our dhaba.`

This logic really touched me. I asked the boy to serve the man a plate of
samosas. When he did so, the man looked at him. The boy pointed to us. The
man looked at us but made no acknowledgement.

As he picked up the first samosa, a little girl in rags walked up and just
stood there. He gave her the samosa, which she wolfed down. He picked up the
second one and handed that to her, too. She grabbed it and ran away. He
pushed away his empty plate, filled up his glass again, drank the water and
walked away from the dhaba without a backward glance.

I asked myself if I were capable of a gesture like that. The most I could
muster was, `I HOPE SO`. If sharing what we have in excess is generosity,
then how would we describe what that madman did? `SELFLESS LOVE`?

It is what intellectuals talk about and madmen practice.

*Happiness comes from spiritual wealth,
not material wealth...
Happiness comes from giving, not getting.
If we try hard to bring happiness to others,
we cannot stop it from coming to us also.
To get joy, we must give it and
to keep joy, we must scatter it.

- John Templeton*...

There will always be contrarian views. If you are confused - follow the middle path. 60-70% in fixed returns like PPF and balance in equity/ equity funds. I still hold the view that equity will give you the best returns in the long run. Most of my generation have made the mistake of putting too much money in insurance schemes. There is no risk free investment. Every investment has its own risks. Equity risk is most easily seen. If you invest in a bank deposit - you will get around 10.5% returnn . After deducting tax your net return is around 7 -8 % ( depending upon your tax bracket). Your money is practically safe. But if inflation is over 10% and your money is growing at 8% - you will find in the long run you are slowly losing your money power. This risk most people cannot see. Ideally therefore, you should diversify. If you are young , invest major portion in equity and as you get older you can reduce your equity component to a minimum of 20-25%. By not investing anything in equity - you are probably taking the greatest risk. ...

Long term equity has given the best returns. Longer your horizon, safer it is. Please do not make the mistake of going towards pension policies offered by insurance companies. Insurance is taken only for the sake of temporary relief for your dependants. Insurance will never solve your financial problems. Insurance only reduces unforseen financial losses. For insurance , take only PURE TERM COVER policies.
For investment, DIRECT EQUITY gives you the best returns. But the risk involved is greater. Start with mutual funds. Invest via SIP in diversified equity funds. If you are young , start investing 5% in direct equity. As you learn , you can increase the amount. Open a PPF a/c. Invest 50% of your 80C allocation for PF + PPF. Balance you can go for ELSS via SIP. In the long term if you create a good corpus,
you can create a good pension by investing it in IMMEDIATE ANNUITY SCHEMES. If you have not invested in mutual funds till now, there cannot be a better time to start SIP. Avoid investing in sector funds and NFOs. Visit valueresearchonline dot com to learn more about mutual funds. ...

Please note that for ladies the basic exemption is Rs.1.8 lakhs and not Rs 1.85 lakhs. ...

Pure Term cover policies are the cheapest insurance policies. There is no maturity value for such policies. The Insurance companies pay the nominees only if the policy holder dies. Otherwise what you have paid is gone. You have paid for the risk taken by the company. Many people think that such policies are a waste. Actually it is not so. If you take an endowment policy the premium is more than 10 times higher. The maturity value of such policies give a return of 5-6% on the premiums you pay.If you take term policies, you save 90% premium. This if invested regularly via SIP in mutual funds or even PPF will give you much more than the maturity value of the endowment policy.
If you enter insurance with the intention of INVESTMENT - you are in the wrong lane. INSURANCE IS NOT AN INVESTMENT. It is an expense. Treat it the way you treat a HELMET.

The premium of Rs 3236 is for a 20 year old for 30 years term.
No maturity value. For your husband (AGE 42)the premium is much higher and term will be shorter. This is a life insurance policy. Your husband will get tax benefit under 80 C .

For mediclaim you have to take from General Insurance companies like New India Assurance Co. The premium will keep increasing with age. It is only for hospitalisation. Your husband will get tax benefit under section 80 D upto Rs 15000. ...

Aegon religare term policy for 30 yrs for Rs 20 lakhs is Rs 3236 per year....

Thanks for the correction. ...

Hi Ranjan, I have valued your opinion at various times in this forum. But I think it is too early to give up on funds which have performed well over the past ten years like HDFC Equity Fund and Reliance Vision Fund. They are tried and tested funds. Shouldn`t we give them some more time? Benghazi...

dear ranjan, hi i am a 40 yr old homemaker and hav 3 kids,aged16,10 and8.my husband is 42.is there any mediclaim policy,which i can opt fr as a family pack.also, the religare policy,u were referring to,means depositing rs3236into20.that means rs64720.aftr 20 yrs will i get rs 20 lakhs.is this policy good or are any bettr than this. regds rashmi...

Ranjan, Can you quote some pure term cover policies of LIC on sale?...

Thanks for your reply. Do you suggest to redeem the existing hdfc equity fund and sundaram select midcap or just to keep these funds unit....

Dear Ranjan, Thanks for your suggestion I have visited aegonreligare dot com they have four policy in term plan 1 Level term plan, 2Incresing term plan, 3 Decresing term plan, 4 Protect term plan I do not know about rider they have two types of rider 1 ADDED rider 2 CI rider I am 41 years old working in a PSU and a son aged 7 years I would like to do a term insurance plan for 10 laks for future sucirity Kindly suggest me which plan will be benefitted most Awaiting for your valuable suggestion With regards, Dev-ghose...

I read about it on: dnaindia . com / report . asp ? newsid = 1205580 But, I an unable to understand it!...