FAMILY FINANCE

  Conventional investment made by most families are on the following assets: a) Gold jewellery, b) Chit funds, c) Silver and other precious stones, d) Saving in Banks and Post Offices, e) Saving in Cooperative banks  and f) Land & property.   Though all the asset class listed above would not qualify as investment, we shall make a beginning with this list. Each type of asset class has its own merit and demerit which we shall  review here.    Investment in Gold is easy. It can be adapted to the fund available to invest in gold, can be bought from the local jeweller, can be exchanged or sold in case immediate cash is needed. Normally gold price has shown an overall increasing trend with every passing year, though it may fluctuate midway, as per changes in the market. The down side in investment in gold jewellery is that while you purchase or sell them, you stand  to loose money on making charges and wastage which varies from 7 to 22% of th...

  By being a qualified professional or an expert, in any stream - be it engineering, medicine, marketing & sales, teaching - you name it, you do not become a financially literate person. Putting it in another  way, you are  financially not literate. This is the fact, unless you are trained and qualified in the line. As per statistics,  majority of us are financially not literate, which is not a sin. But it is a serious handicap if we do not know how best to manage our finance and grow our wealth, when we are seriously committed to work life long for our own well being and that of our dear and near ones.   To  make a committed beginning towards becoming a successful FAMILY FINANCE  MANAGER the very first step  you must take is to accept this fact. Neither having passed High School Maths or Engineering Math qualify you as a financially literate person. Failing to accept this reality, you deceive yourself. It will be a counter productive...

  The conventional understanding of saving is the amount remaining from your monthly income after meeting all your expenses. A very interesting definition of saving, as per the financially wise, is that saving is  the amount set aside in the beginning, based on your plan for meeting your major financial goals, and the remaining amount from your income is used to meet your  monthly expenses ! Some wise thought indeed. But how many of us are ready to follow such inputs ?   Now, coming to saving, we know it is the amount set aside to meet some unexpected expense in the future. Fair enough. While such saved amount are allowed to be in your Saving Bank account, the annual interest it would earn is hardly 4%, if it is in Fixed Deposit it may touch 7.25 %.   While we  are considering the interest earned by our savings kept in the bank, it would be interesting to know that the annual inflation rate in India is in the range of 5-7% per annum ! So what happens ...

  Like for achieving any important mile stones in a family  - be it educating your child, getting them married, sending them abroad for higher studies or  building your first home - you plan with great care and attention, You  need to make a conscious decision to plan  for growing the family finance and wealth. It is a critical activity which  must be undertaken without delay, at what ever stage of life you are in. As a first step, identify the major mile stones of your family  and the corresponding financial outlay required in the next five years,ten years and so on up to the next 25-30 years.   Next compare these periodic financial targets  to be met at important mile stones with  the current  and future level of income to see whether it would be adequate enough to meet those needs. What is the monthly saving required to meet the future goals? If it is not adequate what is the next step to be taken ? You  need to  giv...

   Welcome to this blog on Family Finance Management. The primary focus of this blog is the typical Indian house wife who is not only adept  at multi tasking in managing  her home but inherently blessed with a sense of  thrift in her monthly spending along with prudence and caution in managing the over all finance of her house hold.    This view does not exclude the male members  who are willing to play an active role in this area of common interest  of any family.   The posting that follows will touch upon  various facets of wealth management starting with the basics and moving on  to  cover other areas of greater importance and interest.    I can assure  you that your active participation in this activity will turn out to be a boon in the long run. More so if you are willing to spread the message among your family and friends. It would not only lead to a greater good among all of us but also, it is ...