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    • Archive for June 11th, 2008

    Men Vs Women

    Posted by sushilgirdher on 11th June 2008

    Men:

    1. All men are extremely busy.

    2. Although they are so busy, they still have time for women.

    3. Although they have time for women, they don’t really care for them.

    4. Although they don’t really care for them, they always have one around.

    5. Although they always have one around them, they always try their luck with others.

    6. Although they try their luck with others, they get really pissed off if the first woman leaves them.

    7. Although the woman leaves them they still don’t learn from their mistakes and still try their luck with others.

    Women

    1. The most important thing for a woman is financial security.

    2. Although this is so important, they still go out and buy expensive clothes and stuff.

    3. Although they always buy expensive clothes, they say they never have something to wear.

    4. Although they never have something to wear, they always dress beautifully.

    5. Although they always dress beautifully, their clothes are always just ‘an old rag’.

    6. Although their clothes are always ‘just an old rag’, they still expect you to compliment them.

    7. Although they expect you to compliment them, when you do, they don’t believe you.

    Posted in Info | No Comments »

    Diet Food: More expensive, less effective

    Posted by kumar on 11th June 2008

    Everyone is climbing onto the ‘diet foods’ bandwagon these days — wholewheat bread, oatmeal and fat-free dressings are to be found on most kitchen shelves and people are spending huge sums of money in the name of health.If you’re planning on stocking up on health foods too, or are already in the process of doing so, here are some little-known facts about those available in the Indian market:

  • 80 percent of these foods are not really ‘diet’ or low-fat, as they claim.
  • Most diet substitutes are more expensive than regular food items.
  • Real diet food does not taste as good as the original.
  • You cannot eat diet food in endless quantities and cease to worry about your calorie intake.
  • Most diet foods will have you feeling lighter — but only in your wallet!If you are a calorie-conscious person and plan to become or stay slim, you need not spend large sums of money on diet foods. You can eat healthy without overspending and here’s how:
  • The first thing you need to do is make a habit of reading the labels on every food product you buy. A dessert that is advertised as ‘completely sugar-free’ may be using artificial low-calorie sweeteners to replace the sugar content, but what about the fat? Ask yourself — is it really possible that a ‘fat-free sponge cake’ is completely devoid of fat? Usually such cakes don’t contain butter or margarine, but they more than make up for with six to eight egg yolks, which can shoot your cholesterol levels through the roof!
  • Sometimes one bad ingredient is replaced by an even unhealthier substitute — for instance, instead of normal cane sugar your product may be using liquid glucose, sucrose, fructose or any other form of sugar to appear sugar-free. This not only makes it more calorie-dense, but also more expensive.
  • So quit falling for the following gimmicks and get practical: 
  • Brown bread — Do you know that 90 percent of the time a label that reads ‘brown bread’ actually means that you are paying extra for coloured white bread?While normal sliced white bread costs between Rs 12 and Rs 15 per packet, brown bread can cost anywhere between Rs 25 and Rs 40. So read the label to see if the brown bread is actually whole-grain or made with at least 75 percent whole wheat flour and only then invest in it. Also, eating a slice or two of white bread in a day is not really such a big deal even if you are on a diet, provided you are eating sufficient whole grain foods throughout the rest of the day.
  • Diet colas — You might think you’re doing yourself a favour by sipping on a diet cola instead of a regular one whenever temptation takes over. While that is okay once in a while, drinking colas (diet or otherwise) regularly gets you addicted to them due to their caffeine content. They use artificial flavouring and their acid content is not good for your teeth and bones in the long run.Moreover, a can of a diet cola costs about Rs 25, while a natural and much healthier option like coconut water costs only Rs 15 and comes with a side-benefit — it’s great for your skin! You can also up your dose of Vitamin C and refresh yourself with a glass of freshly-squeezed lime juice for just Rs 5. So replace those colas in your refrigerator with natural drinks that are cheaper and healthier and don’t forget the cheapest and best drink of them all — water.
  • Light mayonnaise: A 200 ml bottle of ‘light mayonnaise’ costs about Rs 100. One tablespoon of light mayo contains 50 calories, as compared to the 90 calories in regular mayo. But while the calorie counts differ, do not forget that you are taking in those 50 additional calories from the fat content in the light mayo anyway.If you want to make a low-cal sandwich spread, tie up a large bowl of curds in a piece of cheese muslin cloth and leave it to hang overnight (or for two hours minimum) with a dish underneath. Once the whey has drained into the dish, add a little garlic, salt and pepper — it will make an excellent low-calorie sandwich spread. If you refrigerate it, you can use the spread for at least 2 days.The cost? Rs 5.
  • Gelato: One scoop of low-fat Italian gelato can cost approximately anywhere between Rs 45 to Rs 100. While it’s a tasty way to beat the heat once in a while, indulging in it all the time will cost you too much money and too many calories. I would like to reiterate once again that while these foods do contain less fat than the original product, they are definitely not fat-free!A better, cheaper option? The ice-candy sticks available locally, each of which contain only about 40 calories and cost Rs 5 to Rs 10 each.In conclusion, if something really is making a difference to your health, it’s okay to spend a little bit extra on it — tetrapack milk, for instance, is less adulterated and more hygienic than what you buy from the local milkman. But weigh your options carefully before spending your hard-earned money on foods that don’t make a dramatic difference to your calorie intake and still cost a lot more than regular products.

    • A Pure Herbal and natural food is the best for our body.

    (Source: rediff.com/getahead )

     

     

     

     

    Posted in Health, Info | No Comments »

    ULIPs Vs. Mutual Funds : Who’s better

    Posted by sushilgirdher on 11th June 2008

    Unit Linked Insurance Policies (ULIPs) as an investment avenue are closest to mutual funds in terms of their structure and functioning. As is the case with mutual funds, investors in ULIPs are allotted units by the insurance company and a net asset value (NAV) is declared for the same on a daily basis.

    Similarly ULIP investors have the option of investing across various schemes similar to the ones found in the mutual funds domain, i.e. diversified equity funds, balanced funds and debt funds to name a few. Generally speaking, ULIPs can be termed as mutual fund schemes with an insurance component.

    However it should not be construed that barring the insurance element there is nothing differentiating mutual funds from ULIPs.

    Despite the seemingly comparable structures there are various factors wherein the two differ.

    In this article we evaluate the two avenues on certain common parameters and find out how they measure up.

    1. Mode of investment/ investment amounts

    Mutual fund investors have the option of either making lump sum investments or investing using the systematic investment plan (SIP) route which entails commitments over longer time horizons. The minimum investment amounts are laid out by the fund house.

    ULIP investors also have the choice of investing in a lump sum (single premium) or using the conventional route, i.e. making premium payments on an annual, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly basis. In ULIPs, determining the premium paid is often the starting point for the investment activity.

    This is in stark contrast to conventional insurance plans where the sum assured is the starting point and premiums to be paid are determined thereafter.

    ULIP investors also have the flexibility to alter the premium amounts during the policy’s tenure. For example an individual with access to surplus funds can enhance the contribution thereby ensuring that his surplus funds are gainfully invested; conversely an individual faced with a liquidity crunch has the option of paying a lower amount (the difference being adjusted in the accumulated value of his ULIP). The freedom to modify premium payments at one’s convenience clearly gives ULIP investors an edge over their mutual fund counterparts.

    2. Expenses

    In mutual fund investments, expenses charged for various activities like fund management, sales and marketing, administration among others are subject to pre-determined upper limits as prescribed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

    For example equity-oriented funds can charge their investors a maximum of 2.5% per annum on a recurring basis for all their expenses; any expense above the prescribed limit is borne by the fund house and not the investors.

    Similarly funds also charge their investors entry and exit loads (in most cases, either is applicable). Entry loads are charged at the timing of making an investment while the exit load is charged at the time of sale.

    Insurance companies have a free hand in levying expenses on their ULIP products with no upper limits being prescribed by the regulator, i.e. the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. This explains the complex and at times ‘unwieldy’ expense structures on ULIP offerings. The only restraint placed is that insurers are required to notify the regulator of all the expenses that will be charged on their ULIP offerings.

    Expenses can have far-reaching consequences on investors since higher expenses translate into lower amounts being invested and a smaller corpus being accumulated. ULIP-related expenses have been dealt with in detail in the article “Understanding ULIP expenses”.

    3. Portfolio disclosure

    Mutual fund houses are required to statutorily declare their portfolios on a quarterly basis, albeit most fund houses do so on a monthly basis. Investors get the opportunity to see where their monies are being invested and how they have been managed by studying the portfolio.

    There is lack of consensus on whether ULIPs are required to disclose their portfolios. During our interactions with leading insurers we came across divergent views on this issue.

    While one school of thought believes that disclosing portfolios on a quarterly basis is mandatory, the other believes that there is no legal obligation to do so and that insurers are required to disclose their portfolios only on demand.

    Some insurance companies do declare their portfolios on a monthly/quarterly basis. However the lack of transparency in ULIP investments could be a cause for concern considering that the amount invested in insurance policies is essentially meant to provide for contingencies and for long-term needs like retirement; regular portfolio disclosures on the other hand can enable investors to make timely investment decisions.

    ULIPs vs Mutual Funds

      ULIPs Mutual Funds

    * There is lack of consensus on whether ULIPs are required to disclose their portfolios. While some insurers claim that disclosing portfolios on a quarterly basis is mandatory, others state that there is no legal obligation to do so.

    4. Flexibility in altering the asset allocation

    As was stated earlier, offerings in both the mutual funds segment and ULIPs segment are largely comparable. For example plans that invest their entire corpus in equities (diversified equity funds), a 60:40 allotment in equity and debt instruments (balanced funds) and those investing only in debt instruments (debt funds) can be found in both ULIPs and mutual funds.

    If a mutual fund investor in a diversified equity fund wishes to shift his corpus into a debt from the same fund house, he could have to bear an exit load and/or entry load.

    On the other hand most insurance companies permit their ULIP inventors to shift investments across various plans/asset classes either at a nominal or no cost (usually, a couple of switches are allowed free of charge every year and a cost has to be borne for additional switches).

    Effectively the ULIP investor is given the option to invest across asset classes as per his convenience in a cost-effective manner.

    This can prove to be very useful for investors, for example in a bull market when the ULIP investor’s equity component has appreciated, he can book profits by simply transferring the requisite amount to a debt-oriented plan.

    5. Tax benefits

    ULIP investments qualify for deductions under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. This holds good, irrespective of the nature of the plan chosen by the investor. On the other hand in the mutual funds domain, only investments in tax-saving funds (also referred to as equity-linked savings schemes) are eligible for Section 80C benefits.

    Maturity proceeds from ULIPs are tax free. In case of equity-oriented funds (for example diversified equity funds, balanced funds), if the investments are held for a period over 12 months, the gains are tax free; conversely investments sold within a 12-month period attract short-term capital gains tax @ 10%.

    Similarly, debt-oriented funds attract a long-term capital gains tax @ 10%, while a short-term capital gain is taxed at the investor’s marginal tax rate.

    Despite the seemingly similar structures evidently both mutual funds and ULIPs have their unique set of advantages to offer. As always, it is vital for investors to be aware of the nuances in both offerings and make informed decisions.

    Posted in Investments, Mutual Funds | 1 Comment »