Women and equality is a hotly debated topic. I am not sure how much equality is actually put into practice. Based on my interactions, very little. There is progress though.
One aspect of a woman’s life that has glaring inequality is in the management of money and investments.
I know you are not hearing it for the first time or even for the last time. Women continue to avoid matters of money and investments like the plague.
Let me share some stories and suggestions. The stories first.
A credit score and report have come to play an important role in our financial lives. Financial institutions increasingly rely on your credit score to provide loans. A bad credit score number can shatter your plans for that dream home.
Remember, a good credit score is 750+ (out of 900).
Hence it is important to look at your credit report on a regular basis and ensure that it reflects the correct picture. While you can always buy a report from one of the credit bureaus, you can now get it for FREE too.
In 2016, RBI through a notification had asked the credit bureaus to issue one credit score and report to every user on request. This one credit report can be accessed once a calendar year and comes without any cost, that is, FREE.
Finally, after some back and forth, the credit bureaus have started to provide one free credit score and report every year.
I too accessed my Credit Score and Report from CIBIL. There are other players too including Equifax and Experian, however, I feel CIBIL has the most comprehensive records of credit data.
You can also access your free report from other financial websites such as Bankbazaar but they ask you a ton of data which they are most likely storing with them too. Not too comfortable with that.
So, I used CIBIL to get my free credit score and report.
Here’s a step-by-step on how to access your Free Credit Report and Score from CIBIL.
No election, no war
not even a cricket play
next thing that gets the nation together
is the National Budget day!
Will the govt deliver this time?
there already has been much pain
expectations left high & dry
don’t want more in any other name
Welcome to the first edition of Dhan ki baat!
You might wonder if this is a pick on the other Mann ki baat. To tell you frankly, it is.
You know I write mainly about personal finance and investments, Dhan ki baat is the only thing I can do best.
It is said that to acquire genius and expertise, you need to work hard on the basics till they become second nature to you. That’s also called laying the foundation. I guess same is true for investing as well.
Let’s cover something fundamental today. You might have read about it before or heard from someone. It is still a good reminder.
As you would know, starting April 1, 2016, banks now use a new method of calculating the interest rates to lend. This new method is referred to as MCLR or Marginal Cost based Lending Rate.
So, now banks have a menu of interest rates based on the period of loan you want to opt for.
These periods are:
and so and so forth.
For every such period the bank will declare an MCLR, a so called base rate.
The bank will then add a spread or its margin to that MCLR and offer you a loan at that rate.
Interest Rate = MCLR + Spread / Margin
So for example, if the 1 year MCLR of SBI is 9.15%, it will add its spread / margin of 0.25% and offer you a home loan at 9.40%.
Get it!
Wealth is lost, nothing is lost
Health is lost, something is lost
Well, times have changed. Today, a bill from a hospital can leave a large hole in your pocket.
If you talk to advisers and financial planners, their primary focus is to build your protection or insurance portfolio even before they start talking about your investments. The reason is simple.
You see, it may take you years to build adequate wealth. But an insurance cover can easily help you tide any large medical emergency requirements.
The better news for you is that even the tax department guys support your purchase of an insurance cover. They do it by providing exemptions on life and health insurance premium.
Under section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961, mediclaim / health insurance premium that you pay is exempt from income tax. In short, you don’t have to pay tax on income used for buying health insurance.
Here is how it works.