Sunday, January 18, 2009

Money Matters

These days I hear lot of people talking about fear of Job loss and its implications. I seriously feel that there is no way you can avoid being affected by slowdown but we can definitely reduce the impact by good financial planning. Often,investment for most individuals begins and ends with tax planning. Although it is important to avail tax breaks but it should not be the only criteria for saving.
As I am at beginning of my career , I do not have clear understanding of my future needs. Today I was going through news paper and there was a nice article on wealth creation for salaried individuals. It talked about investment in corpus funds,understanding exemptions and deductions.
There are some tips which I would like to share

  • Start early so that you can do an effective financial plan, along with tax savings and evaluate various investment options.
  • Some tax saving do not require you to invest, take full advantage of them.
  • Understand your long term financial goals, this is the starting point.
  • Secure your health/life ricks.
  • Understand time frame for contributions, and lock-in periods for investments.
I have always been a nasty spender but now time has come when I need to look at my expenses. First thing I want to do it to keep money inaccessible. Next, I am going to prioritize my expenses.