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Digital Loan against Mutual Funds (LAMF) – Should you opt?

digital loan against mutual funds

Digital Loan against Mutual Funds (LAMF) is new facility by HDFC. This facility allows you to get a loan against mutual funds instantly. So, if you are mutual fund holder and looking for an urgent cash in an emergency situation, you can leverage your mutual fund portfolio to avail money without liquidating your investment or stopping regular investment plans or SIPs.

What is Digital Loan against Mutual Funds?

Digital Loan against Mutual Funds, as the name suggests it is paperless, instant overdraft loan facility against a mutual fund. The main rationale behind the launch of this facility is to reduce the time required for approval of the loan and address instant cash requirement of the customer.

As of now redemption of mutual funds take minimum 3 days. Even any loan approval takes minimum 2-3 days’ time. Even it requires a lot of documentation. Digital LAMF, helps you to get an instant loan in 3 minutes. You just need to select mutual fund which you would like to pledge, calculate overdraft limit and open a current account online and get the money into account instantly. This product is available for resident Indians and for portfolios which are individual holdings. The facility of Digital Loan against Mutual Funds is given to HDFC customers only. The first-time borrower with no credit history can also avail the facility of Digital LAMF.

Also Read – Loan Against Property – Should you opt?

Purpose – The fund raised from LAMF is strictly for the personal purpose usage only. You cannot use this fund for any of following –

  • For Speculative purpose
  • For any anti-social or illegal purpose
  • For purchase of land, Gold, Gold ETF/Gold bonds/Gold mutual funds
  • Not for capital market/purchase of mutual funds/fixed maturity plans/bonds/debenture

How much you can borrow under this scheme?

If you are taking a loan against equity-oriented mutual funds, you can select any amount between 1 Lakh to 10 Lakh in permissible multiple based on your mutual fund holdings. In case you are planning to take a loan against debt fund, you can get loan up to 1 Cr based on the valuation of your mutual fund.

Based on nature of mutual fund schemes loan percentage is decided. If it is equity mutual fund you can get 50% overdraft facility. If it is debt fund you can avail 80% overdraft facility.

Also Read – Loan against LIC Policy – Online Facility

What is interest rate applicable for Digital Loan against Mutual Funds?

The interest rate applicable to Digital Loan against Mutual funds is floating. It is linked to Reference Rate (HDFC Bank’s Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) for the time being). As it is a loan against security, the interest rate charge is lower compared to personal loan.

Annual Percentage rate applicable on Digital Loan is given below.

ProductMin APRMax APRAvg APR
Equity Mutual Funds9.25%11.14%10.32%
Debt Mutual Funds7.95%10.62%9.71%

The interest rate is applicable only on the amount you actually utilized, and not on amount opted by you. In addition to interest rate following other charges are applicable to this loan.

Annual Maintenance Charges – 0.50% of the sanctioned credit limit. Minimum Rs.1000 and maximum up to Rs.5000.

Processing fees – Rs.500

HDFC Digital LAMF is offered against any equity and debt fund offered by following mutual fund companies.

  • DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund
  • SBI Mutual Fund
  • ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund
  • Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund
  • HSBC Mutual Fund
  • L&T Mutual Fund
  • Tata Mutual Fund
  • Mahindra Mutual Fund
  • HDFC Mutual Fund
  • IDFC Mutual Fund
  • Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund
  • Union Mutual Fund
  • PPFAS Mutual Fund
  • IIFL Mutual Fund
  • Shriram Mutual Fund

Key Benefits of Digital Loan against Mutual Funds

  • You can avoid selling your best performing mutual fund and use LAMF in case of money requirement.
  • Instant loan approval and availability of money in few minutes.
  • Entire process is digital and does not require physical visit to bank branch.
  • Loan is offered against both debt and equity based mutual funds.
  • Loan can be extended to even first-time borrower without credit history
  • Overdraft account and interest applicable only on the utilized amount.
  • Loan amount can be enhanced any time.

Also Read – 5 Best Banks for Personal Loan in India

How to apply for Digital Loan against Mutual Funds?

The process of applying for a digital loan against mutual funds is very easy. You can apply for a loan in three easy steps.

  • Log into to your CAMS via HDFC NetBanking facility. You need to use your HDFC bank account ID, password. After entering your KYC detail and selecting relevant options you will be taken to mycams website.

loan against mutual funds

  • Select the mutual funds on CAMS portal to mark lien. Calculate the eligible limit by choosing a number of units from selected MF. Check the LAMF Terms and condition and declaration
  • Input One Time Password (OTP) and enter branch detail where overdraft account is required.

Should you opt for Digital Loan against Mutual Funds?

A most important question that must be popping up in your mind is should I opt for this facility? Well, it depends on the purpose of loan and urgency.

If you want to avail this facility for buying a bike, expensive wristwatch, cloths, foreign vacation or entertainment. It is BIG No for LAMF.

You should use loan against the mutual fund in case of extreme emergency situations such as medical need or dreadful need of fund, where you don’t have any other option and you want to liquidate your investment made for a specific financial goal.

Ideally, you should make an emergency fund. An emergency fund is planning for the unplanned event. The emergency fund will help you to fight with financial emergencies like job loss, unwanted medical expenses and you can avoid taking a loan for emergency.

Dividend Stocks in India – How to find highest dividend paying Stocks?

The only thing that gives me pleasure is to see my dividends coming in. It is a popular quote by John Rockefeller, an American businessman and one of the wealthiest person of all time. Dividend investing is one of the popular investment strategies.

Dividend income can make you rich. You can even reach a state where you need to work again. If it sounds stupid let me give you examples. A famous equity investor of India Mr.Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is making enough income from the stock dividend. He can easily live off from dividend income. Another example is Investment Guru Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett is also earning decent dividend income. I know it is difficult and everyone may not be capable of generating income like this from the stock market. However, one thing is sure Dividend Stocks and dividend income play a vital role when it comes to stock market investing.

dividend stocks in India

Dividend income also helps you stand against a longevity risk. A Longevity risk is a potential risk of increasing life expectancy and no money situation in later life. One solution of addressing longevity risk is buying insurance and second is generating a never-ending income stream. I would recommend the second solution.

You should reach a state where –

(Dividend Income + Rental Income + Other Passive Income) > Living Expense

So, if you have already started working towards passive income and planning to build dividend income by investing in some good dividend-income stocks. Here is a list of highest dividend paying stocks in India. Prior to disclosing dividend stocks let’s discuss dividend yield, calculation of dividend yield and How to find the highest dividend-paying Stocks?

Also Read – Top 5 Dividend Paying Mutual Funds in India

What is Dividend?

A dividend is a pay-out by the company to its shareholders on a regular basis. It is a distribution of a portion of a company’s profit among shareholders as decided by the board of directors. A dividend can be issued as a cash payment or as shares of stock.

What is dividend yield and dividend yield calculation?

A dividend yield is a financial ratio. It is a measurement of cash dividends paid out to the shareholders relative to market price per share. A formula for the calculation of dividend yield is given below.

Dividend Yield = Cash Dividend per share / Market Price per share * 100

Let’s try to understand this by example. Infosys stock price is Rs.1228 and dividend declared by the company for the year ending March 2018 is Rs.25.75 per share. This means a dividend yield of the stock will be 25.75/1228*100 = 2.09%.

Higher the dividend yield means better is the company. This type of company shares a substantial portion of earning with investors. A dividend yield of one company is always compared with other company in the same sector to find out best dividend yield stock.

Please note that dividend yield and %dividend are different. Dividend % means the ratio of the dividend given by the company to the face value of the share.

The face value of Infosys share is Rs.5 hence dividend % in the case of Infosys would be (25.75/5)*100 = 515%

After understanding dividend yield and dividend % let’s understand other important terms related to dividend.

Cash Dividend – A money paid to the shareholder from company’s profit is known as a cash dividend.

Dividend Declaration Date – A date when dividend pay-out will be declared by the company.

Ex-Dividend Date: It’s the time between the announcement done and the payment of the dividend. It usually precedes the record date.

Record Date: Record date is the date which is used to pay-out dividend to investors. For getting dividend, investor’s name should be present on records of the company as the holder of shares. So basically this date decides which all investors are eligible for dividend pay-outs.

Why Dividend paying stocks are important?

Dividend-paying stocks are extremely important for the long-term investors. Suppose you have invested in the stock for 5 years. Now, if suppose company is not paying any dividend you cannot earn money until you sell this stock.

On the other hand, if a stock is giving good dividend regularly, you can earn regular income along with capital appreciation. So, it is extremely important to select a company which pays a regular dividend from the income point of view.

Also Read – How to live off from dividends? Invest and never work again

How to find Highest Dividend Paying Stocks?

There are multiple methods and websites to find out high dividend stocks. However, I recommend using following two websites.

  • Moneycontrol
  • Screener

Highest Dividend Paying Stocks – Moneycontrol Method

Moneycontrol.com is one of the best websites that provides complete information about Indian Stock Market. You can get complete information about any stocks on this website with a click of a button. Moneycontrol also features the highest dividend paying stock in the specific section. In order to access session of high dividend paying stock click on the link given below.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/stocks/marketstats/bsetopdiv/index.php

Highest Dividend Paying Stocks – Screener Method

Screener.in is a stock screener website that helps you to screen the stock based on criteria mentioned by you. The advantage of screener over moneycontrol is you can customize and add multiple filters while screening stock.

E.g If you want to find a stocks list with consistent paying dividends and growing with the profit you can do that by customizing query as shown below.

dividend stocks

Note – Query given above is for example purpose only. You can customize this query based on your requirement.

Also Read – High Dividend Yield Stocks of Sensex

List of Highest Dividend Paying Stocks

A list of Best highest dividend paying stocks in 2018 with most consistent dividend payment is given below.

  1. Coal India
  2. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
  3. Indian Oil Corporation
  4. NMDC
  5. Oracle Fin Services Software
  6. Hindustan Zinc

Who should buy Dividend Stocks?

Dividend Stocks are best suitable stocks for the investor with low-risk appetite or those looking for regular income. These type of stocks are ideal choice for older or retired investor as a risk associated with these type stock is low. Even young people who want to balance the decline in stock price with dividend can also invest in such stocks. One should consider following things while investing in dividend stocks.

  • A company should be maintaining a healthy track record of distributing a regular dividend.
  • A dividend yield of the company should be higher. At least 7% or above (to beat inflation).
  • One should look at growth along with dividend while investing in stock.
  • High dividend stocks are not necessarily best stocks. Do independent research before investing in any stock.

What is your take on the high dividend stocks mention above?

Do share your queries and comments.

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Happy investing!

5 Best Fuel Credit Cards in India

A cost of fuel is increasing day by day. It may be due to an increase in the price of crude oil or depreciating rupee value. Whatever the case, one thing is sure increasing fuel costs have a direct impact on the household budget. We cannot do much about the increase in fuel price, but we can think of using the best fuel credit cards to reduce the impact of the rise in fuel price.

Fuel Credit Cards

There are several credit cards available in the market that are specially designed to offer multiple benefits on fuel including discounts, cashback, and surcharge waivers. You can make use of a fuel credit card and bring down the cost of fuel expenses from the household budget. Before taking an actual look at best fuel credit cards in India, let’s take a look at factors to consider before selecting a credit card for fuel purchase.

Also Read – Best Credit Cards in India – Review & Comparison

Factors for the selection of fuel credit card

  • Saving of Fuel Bill – The first thing you should consider is how much money you can save by making use of fuel credit card. In order to know you should be aware of fuel spend and benefits offered by the card.
  • Participating Petrol Pumps – The second factor to consider before you opt for fuel credit card is checking a list of participating petrol pumps. The card should be accepted at most petrol pumps or the ones you are more frequent.
  • Fuel Surcharge Waiver – You should also check that if a credit card is giving facility of full fuel surcharge waiver or it offers the partial benefit of surcharge waiver.
  • Annual Fees of Credit Card – Another important factor for the consideration is annual fees of a credit card. Most of the credit card offers annual fees waiver on the spend of a certain amount. Your yearly fuel spends should be higher than a specified amount to avail annual fee waiver.
  • Additional Features – You also need to check various additional features available on the card. You should match this features with your requirement and select the best card.
  • Reward Point Redemption process – You need to know the process of redemption of reward points. The process should be hassle-free.

Now, let’s take a look at 5 Best Fuel Credit Cards in India.

Also Read – Credit Card Limit Enhancement – Should You Opt?

5 Best Fuel Credit Cards in India

Here are Top 5 Best Credit Cards for Fuel in India.

Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Card

Annual Fees – Rs.750 every year

Default Payment charges – 3.49% per month 

Key Features and Benefits

  • Earn 5% cashback on fuel spends up to maximum Rs.200 per month.
  • Get 1 reward point for every Rs.150 spend.
  • Earn 5% cashback on utility bills and telephone bills.
  • Get 1% fuel surcharge waiver at major petrol pumps. (HPCL, BPCL, Indian Oil)
  • 20% cashback on Uber rides up to maximum Rs.600 per month.
  • ATM withdrawal is allowed.

Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Card provides very good cashback on fuel. Apart from that this card also provide benefit of cashback.

ICICI Bank HPCL Coral American Express Credit Card

Annual Fees – Rs.199 every year

Default Payment charges – 3.40% per month 

Key Features and Benefits

  • 5% saving on fuel with 2.5% cashback and 1% surcharge waiver at HPCL petrol pumps.
  • 5% cashback benefit is applicable up to Rs.100 per month.
  • 100 discount up to 2 movie ticket per month.
  • 6 Payback points on fuel spend at HPCL pumps and 2 Payback points at all other retail spends.
  • Get fuel worth Rs.500 on redemption of 2000 payback points.
  • Save up to 15% at over 800 restaurants.

One drawback of this card is all major benefits are applicable at HPCL petrol pump only. So, you need to compulsory purchase petrol from HPCL pump to use this card.

Indian Oil Citi Platinum Credit Card

Annual Fees – Rs.1000 every year

Default Payment charges – 3.25% per month 

Key Features and Benefits

  • 250 as joining bonus.
  • 4 Turbo Points for every Rs. 150 spent on fuel purchases.
  • 2 Turbo Points on Rs. 150 spent at supermarkets and groceries. 1 Turbo Points for others.
  • Fuel surcharge waiver at any Indian Oil petrol pump.
  • 15% discount on dining personal concierge services.
  • Get up to 71 litre of petrol on turbo points.
  • Easy redemption of rewards with multiple option.

The benefits applicable for this card is limited for Indian Oil outlets only.

HDFC Bharat Cashback Credit Card

Annual Fees – Rs.500 every year

Default Payment charges – 3.49% per month 

Key Features and Benefits

  • Enjoy 5% cashback on fuel payment
  • Fuel surcharge waiver benefit
  • Enjoy 5% cashback on IRCTC spend and all Bill Payment and recharge
  • Zero Lost Card liability post reporting of the loss of card

HDFC Bharat Cashback is one of the best credit card for fuel. However, this card does not offer any reward points. 5% cashback benefits is also capped at Rs.150 per month.

BPCL SBI Credit Card

Annual Fees – Rs.499 every year

Default Payment charges – 3.35% per month

Key Features and Benefits

  • 25% + 1% Fuel surcharge waiver on every transaction up to Rs.4000 at BPCL petrol pumps.
  • 5X Reward Points on every Rs. 100 spent at Groceries, Departmental stores, Movies & Dining.
  • Get 1 Reward Point for every Rs. 100 spent on non-fuel retail purchases.
  • Convert transaction to EMI.
  • Maximum surcharge waiver of Rs.100 in a month.

A drawback of this card is fuel related benefits are applicable for BPCL petrol pumps only.

Also Read – 5 Best Premium Credit Card in India

Who should opt for Fuel Credit Cards?

The primary purpose of fuel credit card is to cut down fuel bill, this means these cards are best suited for individuals who spend heavily on the petrol and diesel. If you commute long distance on daily basis either for office or for business purpose fuel card is for you.

However, please note that credit card requirement for every individual is different. You should select a card which is best suitable for you based on your requirement.

Hope you liked this article. Do share these useful tips and information with your friends.

Top 5 Best Investment Options for NRI in India

Best Investment Options NRI – Recently, a friend of mine, got settled in Canada and he was searching for an opportunity to invest money in India. He contacted me and asked me about NRI Investment options in India.

Similar to my friend there are many NRIs, who are always looking for good investment options in India. They are deeply interested in making an investment in India. The government has also simplified several rules to attract NRI for investment. Favorable economic conditions and deprecating rupee cost are added advantage for NRI.  However, due to the absence of proper advice and guidance, they avoid making an investment in India.

NRI Investment Options

In order to help them, here are Top 5 Best Investment options for NRI in India.

But, before taking look at available investment option, first, let’s take a look at what is exact meaning of NRI and what it takes to qualify as Non-Resident Indian (NRI) as per Indian laws.

Also Read – Health Insurance Plans for NRI in India

Who is Non-Resident Indian?  NRI – Meaning

NRI is legally defined under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Income Tax Act, 1961.

NRI as per FEMA –

A Non-Resident Indian (NRI) as per Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA), is an Indian citizen or Foreign National of Indian Origin resident outside India for purposes of employment, carrying on business or vocation in circumstances as would indicate an intention to stay outside India for an indefinite period. An individual will also be considered NRI if his stay in India is less than 182 days during the preceding financial year.

NRI as per Income Tax –

Income tax act provides conditions for a resident in India. If you don’t satisfy the condition for a resident in India, you will be identified as NRI.

  1. If you are in India for a period of 182 days or more during the previous year; or
  2. If you are in India for a period of 60 days or more during the previous year and 365 days or more during 4 years immediately preceding the previous year.

If above conditions are not satisfied you will be considered as NRI. Condition No 2 does not apply where an individual being citizen of India or a person of Indian origin, who being outside India, comes on a visit to India during the previous year.

Once you are clear with the definition of NRI let’s take a look at prerequisite for making an investment in India as NRI.

Also Read – RNOR Status NRI can save Tax up to 3 Years

Prerequisite for making Investment in India as NRI

The primary requirement to start investing in India is to get a PAN number. If you are already holding a PAN card, you can use the same. If you don’t have PAN card, you can apply for a new PAN card using form 49AA.

The second requirement for making an investment for NRI is to undergo one-time KYC process. You need to declare your residency detail as a part of KYC.

Additionally, you will need to have NRI Bank account. This bank account will be used for doing investment transaction. Any bank dealing in foreign exchange can open a bank account for you. NRI has three options for NRI Bank accounts – NRO, NRE, and FCNR.

NRO Account

NRO Account stands for a Non-Resident Ordinary account. It is rupee based account. This account is mainly used for managing Indian income. It could be rent, dividend or interest income. You can deposit both rupee and foreign currency in NRO account. Foreign currency deposited into the NRO account is converted into Indian Rupees. The interest income on this account is taxable. An existing saving bank account can also be converted into NRO account.

NRE Account

NRE Account stands for Non-Resident External Account. It is also rupee based account. The money from this account is freely repairable. This account is mainly for the income earned outside India. One cannot deposit Indian currency in this account. Only foreign currency can be deposited in this account. Income tax is not applicable to this account.

FCNR Account

FCNR account stands for Foreign Currency Non-Resident Account. FCNR account is like term deposit with fixed maturity period. If you want to avoid and the fluctuations in the exchange rate this account is useful. Interest earned is tax-free and fully repairable.

Once you are done with prerequisites PAN card, KYC and bank account you are good to go for investment. But, before making an investment you should carry out proper financial planning. You can also take help from experts for doing financial planning. Once you are done with identifying risk appetite, financial goal and investment horizon you can start evaluating various investment options available in the market.

Here are Top 5 Best Investment Options for NRI in India.

Also Read – To do list for NRI before leaving India – Financial Checklist for NRI

Top 5 Best Investment Options for NRI in India

  1. Equity

One of the Best Investment Options for NRI is Equity. NRI can invest in direct equity under the portfolio investment scheme (PIS) of RBI. Under this scheme, NRI is permitted to open single PIS account. Any transaction done via this account is reported to RBI.

In addition to PIS account following things are required to start dealing in equity.

  • NRE/NRO account with a bank authorized by RBI
  • Demat Account to keep share in the dematerialized format
  • Trading account with SEBI authorized broker.

NRI cannot deal in all Indian stocks. RBI publishes a list of stocks that are eligible for NRI investment. You can find this list on RBI website.

NRI cannot do intraday trading in share market. They are not permitted to do the short selling. They have to compulsory deal in delivery basis.

Tax liability for equity is exactly same as residents. NRI need to pay short-term capital gain tax and long-term capital gain tax. The tax amount is directly deducted by a broker. If your tax liability is less you can file ITR and claim a refund.

  1. Mutual Funds

Mutual Fund is most popular investment option in India. Resident and NRI both prefer mutual fund for short term, medium term, and long-term investment. If you are NRI and planning to make an investment in mutual funds you need NRE/NRO and demat account. KYC is mandatory for making an investment in mutual funds. You need to issue payment from NRE/NRO account for purchasing mutual funds.

There are certain restrictions imposed on USA and Canada based NRI. They are allowed to invest in mutual funds schemes of specific fund house only. This limitation is due to strict FATCA compliance rules. The fund house that allows investment from USA and Canada based NRI is given below.

  1. Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund
  2. SBI Mutual Fund
  3. UTI Mutual Fund
  4. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund
  5. DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund
  6. L&T Mutual Fund
  7. PPFAS Mutual Fund
  8. Sundaram Mutual Fund

NRI are allowed to invest in all types of mutual funds scheme including equity, debt, balance.

Tax liability on mutual funds is same as that of a resident. Both long term and short term capital gain tax are applicable to mutual fund.

Also Read – NRI Money Transfer Options Tips – Send Money to India

  1. Real Estate

Real estate is one of the most promising investment options for NRI. Most of the NRI love to invest in real estate. This may be due to emotional attachment to country or due to advance retirement planning.

NRI is allowed to purchase both residential and commercial property in India. NRI is not allowed to purchase agriculture land in India. NRI can inherit agriculture land or accept it as a gift.

The payment for buying property should come from NRE, NRO or FCNR account. The payment currency for the transaction would be rupee. You need a valid passport, PIO card, address proof, PAN number and photograph for buying property. You can also take home loan buying home in India. For more information, you can visit – NRI guide for buying property in India.

The flexibility offered for repatriation of money depends upon which account you have used for buying property. If you have used NRO account for making a payment you will have complete flexibility.

  1. Fixed Deposit

Fixed deposit is one of the best investment options for NRI. There are three types of FD for NRI. NRE FD, NRO FD, and FCNR FD.

NRE FD is maintained in Indian rupee. No tax is applicable on NRE FD. The principal and interest earned are fully repatriable. The interest rate applicable to these type of FD variable and depends on the bank.

NRO FD is similar to FD taken by Indian resident. Tax is applicable on NRO FD. In case of NRO FD, only interest amount can be repatriated. NRO FD can be opened for 7 days to 10 years.

FCNR FD is foreign currency FD. This type of FD can be opened by depositing income earned overseas. Taxe is not applicable on such FD. The principal and interest amount are fully repatriable. The interest rate of this type of FD is generally in the range of 2-3%.

  1. Bond or Government Securities

The government needs money from time to time for doing various projects. The government issues bonds and securities to source the money. NRI can invest in such bonds or government securities. These type of bonds or government securities offers fixed returns. In most of the cases, a bond is for the fixed duration with applicable lock-in. You can use NRO and NRE account for making an investment in bonds.

Also Read – How NRI can transfer money abroad from property sale?

Points to Remember when investing in India

  • Before making an investment in India one should understand tax liability of NRI. NRIs are liable to pay income tax on income earned in India.
  • NRIs are not allowed to make an investment in certain schemes such as post office schemes, PPF, NSC etc.
  • Certain mutual funds do not accept investment from NRI. You should check with fund house before making an investment.
  • TDS is applicable on interest income earned on NRO account.

Conclusion

As an NRI, you have many high return investment options in India. Go ahead and evaluate best investment option as per your requirement. Make sure to understand tax compulsion and repatriation restriction before investing.

I hope your queries related to NRI investment options are addressed. If you have any further questions/advise/objection, please do not hesitate to write me here. I would love to learn more about this with you.