Did you know ?

• Danger lies not in what we don’t know, but in what we think we know that just ain’t so. ~ Mark Twain.
• Investors should always keep in mind that the most important metric is not the returns achieved but the returns weighed against the risks incurred. Ultimately, nothing should be more important to investors than the ability to sleep soundly at night.~Seth Klarman.
• October:This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks.The others are July, January,September,April,November,May, March,June, December,August and February.~Mark Twain.
• Its far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. ~ Warren Buffet.
• Its Good to have money  and the things that money can buy,but its good, too, to check up once in a while, and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money cant buy.~ George Horace Lorimer.
• The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything,but the value of nothing.~Philip Fisher.
• It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.~Warren Buffet.
• The underlying principles of sound investment should not alter from decade to decade but the application of these principles must be adapted to significant changes in the financial mechanisms and climate.~Benjamin Graham.
• What’s needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding the frame work.”~Warren Buffet
• “To invest successfully over a life time does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or right information.
• “ I realized the reason most people invest not to lose, is because most people think investing is risky or that investing is gambling. Many also believe that to get higher returns, means you have to take on greater risk. Nothing could be further from the truth.” ~ Robert Kiyosaki
• Becoming wealthy is not a matter of how much you earn, who your parents are or what you do.. it is a matter of managing your money properly. ~Noel Whittaker
• Financial Planning is not sale of financial products but an established personal finance process
• Sir John Templeton: “The only investors who shouldn’t diversify, are those who are right one hundred percent of the time”
• Short-term and long-term needs require to be addressed by short- term and long-term investments
• Asset Allocation is the highest form of Diversification
• HYPE, EXCITEMENT and INDISCIPLINE are the worst enemies of successful investing, especially in growth investments.
• The biggest risk we all face is not moving forward with what we have learned”
• We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next 2 years … …and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10 years, Don’t Let Yourself Be Lulled Into Inaction. Bill Gates
• What necessitates professionalism:” Money may not talk, but its absence screams!
• The risk in old age is not of premature death. The risk is that you will live too long and outlive your assets.- Burton Malkiel
• Due to medical advancement, longevity of life will go up and this poses a threat to retires in their golden years, who’s corpus’s for pension income might deplete.
• 94% of savings in india are in savings bank accounts and fixed deposits, and the real return (post tax) to this large investor class, who is probably unaware of inflation and taxes is hardly 6-7% !
• Inflation is the slow destroyer of wealth.
• Fees Certified Financial Planners (CFP) charge are to ensure all advisory related recommendations are in the best interest of the client and the advisor proves fiduciary responsibility as per the ethics and code of conduct guidelines of the Financial Planning Standards Board of India (FPSB)
• Budget 2013: Securities Transaction tax STT: Mutual funds to reduce from 0.25% to 0.001%
• Budget 2013: Housing and investment boost: For individuals who are buying their first property, for a loan upto 25 lacs, an additional exemption of one lac can be claimed as deduction from their taxable income in addition to the already existing benefit of 1.5 lacs under Sec 24.
• Investing in tax free bonds at 7.80% translates to a pre tax return of 10.37%
• As per Budget 2013, the surcharge on DDT in debt funds has increased to 10% from 5%. Note, this is the surcharge tax and is only applicable to debt funds.
• Rebalancing in Asset allocation, helps investors enter equities at low levels and exit at high levels, thereby avoiding “timing of the market”
• Dividing a portfolio of one’s investments, over asset classes with negative correlation (that is do not move up / down at the same time) helps bring down the risk of the entire portfolio.
• Proper Financial planning and will preparation, can save you and your family undue agony for the future and help the family tide through financial burdens.
• Maturity Values, bonuses received from insurance companies is tax free under Sec 10(10D)
• Interest on housing loan of Rs 150000, helps save tax of Rs 49500p.a under Sec 24!
• An investment under Sec 80C of Rs 100000, helps save Rs 33000 tax for an individual and HUF.
• If your monthly expense is Rs 10000 today, you would need Rs 21580pm 10yrs and RS 100600pm 30 yrs from today  to maintain the same standard of living at an inflation of 8%p.a.(BTW inflation of petrol and food is 10-12%p.a!) Inflation robs your purchasing power
• Why equities are best in the long run
• The diiference between icome and real income
• Withdrawal of dividend amount, by redemption of units in a debt fund before one year, is more beneficial than opting for a dividend, even though dividend distribution tax paid by the fund is just 14.126%. This is because, the withdrawal consists of partly principle amount, and hence, tax liability is only on the interest component which is minimal.
• The equation works better, if withdrawal from a debt fund is done after one year, where long term capital gains tax is reduced to 10% and dividend distribution tax paid is 14.126%.
• The cost of a pure risk cover insurance plan to cover a liability of Rs 1000000 is just Rs 2400p.a or RS 200pm for a 30yr male.
• Your net worth or value to your family is your Human Life Value which should roughly be 10 times your net take home income. This would ensure your family maintains the same standard of living- should anything happen to you today.
• An individual spends 38yrs of his lifespan living with current and future dreams and goals like child education, child marriage, car purchase, home purchase,(all within this 38yrs)  and also needs to allocate resources for the golden years, that span another 20 yrs post retirement at age 60yrs. Therefore, these 38 yrs include planning for present and future needs and spending for lifestyle needs and this is possible only by proper financial planning.
• Systematic Investment planning is meant for everyone and can be started with an amount as low as Rs 500pm and does not require market timing and is the most scientific method of investing, since it helps you purchase more units in volatile markets and helps rupee  cost averaging and can be used as a tool to achieve  most financial goals.
• If you are 25 yrs today and save just Rs 10000p.a for the next 35yrs till age 60yrs, your savings would have grown to Rs 10133456 when you are 60yrs of age and if you had delayed the start of savings by just 5 yrs (that is started saving Rs 10000p.a from age 30yrs till age 60yrs), your savings would have grown to Rs 4999569 by the time you are 60yrs. Half of what you would have earned by staring 5yrs earlier! A delay of just five years has reduced the power of compounding on your investments by 5000000!
• Money doubles in 8 yrs 7 months with current interest rates and used to double in five years when interest rates were in double digit figures.