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How to Choose Car Insurance Policy – Key factors and Riders

Choosing the best car insurance policy is a difficult task for an individual today. This is mainly due to an increase in several car insurance service providers and complicated policy features. One should consider several things before buying a car insurance policy. If you are planning to buy a new car insurance policy or planning to switch over from your existing car insurance policy here is a complete guide explaining key factors, riders, and steps to follow before purchasing a car insurance policy.

Car Insurance Policy

Key Factors to Look for Car Insurance

Type of Car Insurance

The first factor in buying any car insurance policy is policy type. In the market, two types of policies are available third-party and comprehensive.

(1) Third Party – Any injury/death of the third person or damage to third-party property on account of an accident caused by your vehicle is covered under this plan. However, it does not cover any damage to your vehicle. It is mandatory to take third-party insurance for every vehicle owner.

For instance, compulsory third-party or CTP insurance is required to register your vehicle as it covers your liability for injuries caused to others in a traffic accident. The primary purpose of CTP insurance is to provide financial coverage for the vehicle owner against liabilities arising from injuries caused to other people (but not to the insured person) in a traffic accident.

By covering the costs associated with injuries to others, CTP insurance protects the insured from significant out-of-pocket expenses that could arise if they were found liable for an accident. This can prevent financial hardship as a result of being sued for damages.

(2) Comprehensive – Comprehensive plan provides both coverages third party as well as your own vehicle. It is always advisable to buy a comprehensive insurance policy for your car.

Comprehensive insurance covers vehicle repairs or replacement and other parties. It covers damage resulting from theft, fire, vandalism, natural disasters like floods or hail, and collisions with objects or animals.

Moreover, comprehensive insurance includes roadside assistance, coverage for personal belongings inside the vehicle, and rental car costs if your car is inoperable due to a covered incident. This level of coverage provides a broad safety net, allowing for greater peace of mind compared to more limited insurance policies. It’s particularly recommended for newer or higher-value vehicles, where potential repair or replacement costs could be significant.

Also Read – Car Insurance Policy – Unusual Things you Should Know

Premium

The second factor in choosing the right car insurance policy is a premium. You may find some of the car insurance policy at competitive rates. However, a lower premium does not mean that it is a better policy. You need to take a holistic view in terms of features and benefits before buying car insurance. If some extra benefits cost more money and it is really worth it for you, you should opt for the same. Your insurance premium is determined by multiple factors like the type of vehicle, model, capacity, age, fuel type, modification made, etc.

Customer Support & Convenience

Customer support and convenience are other factors you should consider before buying a car insurance policy. The company should be well established and must have a 24×7 customer support center to solve your query.
In addition to the above, the Insurance company should have a large garage network for the repairs. Online facility and claim logging by using a mobile app is a plus point.

Cashless claims

Cashless claims is a new offering by many insurance companies nowadays. You can avail cashless facility if your vehicle is repaired by the authorized garage of the insurer. It is preferable to take an insurance policy where this type of facility is available.

No Claim Bonus

No claim bonus is another important factor you should look for while buying car insurance. No claim bonus facility will bring huge saving in your premium year on year. NCB (No claim bonus) means if you are not make any claim in the previous year you will be given a discount on the premium next year. This discount keeps on increasing and may reach up to 50%. So, you must consider NCB as one of the critical factors before buying car insurance.

Claim Settlement

You should purchase a policy that is good in settling a claim. Avoid purchasing policies with a bad claim settlement ratio. You can get information about the claim settlement ratio from the IRDA website. IRDA releases a report every year that contains details about the claim settlement ratio.

Also Read- Top 5 Car Insurance Companies in India

Customer Review

You should also seek an opinion from your friends and relatives about customer services offered by an insurance company. Please also check the online review, which will help you to prove the credibility of the insurer.

Car Insurance Riders

In addition to the above, you should consider car insurance riders available with the insurer. Select a plan with the appropriate rider. The car insurance company generally provides the following riders.

  • Engine Coverage Rider – The engine coverage rider provides coverage of engine repair in case of oil leakage or water slippage etc.
  • Personal Accident Cover – You can get additional personal accident cover up to 2 lacs under this rider. Some company also offers accident cover to co-passengers. This will cost you extra money so take this coverage if it is absolutely required.
  • Zero Depreciation Cover – Zero Depreciation cover guarantees full claim settlement with zero deduction. Under a normal plan without this rider, your insurer may not cover the entire cost or damage to the vehicle as IDV is low.
  • Ambulance & Medical Expense Rider – This rider covers the expense of Ambulance and Medical costs up to 10,000 Rs at the time of an accident.
  • Rental Reimbursement – Under this rider you will be paid the rental amount until the time your vehicle gets repaired.
  • Road Side Assistance – Some companies provide an additional benefit of roadside assistance and towing arrangements.

How to choose a car insurance policy?

Suppose you are confused and unable to decide how to choose the best car insurance policy. I have made a simple process chart that will help you to decide the best car insurance policy.

Car Insurance Selection

Remember to look beyond the premium and know exactly what you are paying for. Follow the steps above to ensure that your car insurance needs are met the way you want them to be.

How to update change EPF Nomination online with UAN?

A nomination is extremely important for any financial products. Before starting today’s talk on EPF Nomination, let me share one recent incident with you. My friend’s father has recently passed away. He was holding PPF account in the SBI. This PPF account was opened by him before 19 years ago and no one was nominated in his PPF account. My friend has gone through all legal process of establishing him as legal hire. As no nominee was defined in PPF account he got only 1 lac as claim, although account was containing more than 5 lacs. Hope you have now understood importance of Nomination. After understanding importance of Nomination. Let’s talk about EPF Nomination and How to update or change EPF Nomination online with UAN?

Also Read – E-nomination facility by EPFO on Unified Member Portal

How to update change EPF Nomination online with UAN?

Ideally, you need to contact EPF office with Form 2 for nomination change in EPF. However, after launch of UAN it is extremely easy to update or change EPF details. Follow the steps given below to change EPF Nomination online.

  • Log on to UAN portal through your UAN (Universal Account Number) and password.
  • On the UAN dashboard, click on the “Profile” tab and you will find “Edit Nomination Details”.
  • One form will open containing your personal information like birth date, UAN, Establishment ID, Marital status etc. All these data are fetched from the database and cannot be edited. You can only edit permanent address and present address field. If present address is same as the permanent address you can copy the permanent address in present address tab. To update the address, click on “Update” button.
  • Apart from an address, you can edit family member details on the same tab. The defined member would be eligible to receive widow/child pension in the event of your unfortunate death.

Also Read – New PPF Rules – Premature Closure Relaxation

epf family nomination

  • At the bottom, you will find a tab of updating PF/EDLI nomination details. In this section, you can nominate the person(s) to receive outstanding EPF amount in the event of your unfortunate death. This nomination will cancel all previously nominated person(s) from nomination. You need to give following details for the nomination.
  • Name of person
  • Relationship with member
  • Date of Birth
  • Total Amount of share

epf nomination

On pressing submit button the screen will appear showing the Generate PDF button. You need to click on the Generate PDF button.

After clicking on Generate PDF button you will be prompted for “Nomination declaration check box”. Select the checkbox click on “Submit to Employer for Approval”. Now the online nomination form is submitted in the system to the employer for his approval or rejection.

epf nomination generate pdf

Take a printout of pdf form (Form 2), sign on it and submit it to an employer for approval.

Important Rules about EPF Nomination –

  • It is necessary to nominate a person for every EPF account. The nominee will get accumulated EPF funds in case of unfortunate death of subscriber.
  • You can nominate more than one nominee for EPF account. You can even define the percentage of share for EPF corpus.
  • Nominated person should be from family. Nomination of a non-family member shall stand invalid.
  • If the nomination is made before marriage, a subscriber needs to file nomination again after marriage.
  • In the case of a minor is defined as a nominee, the guardian should be the family member.
  • If no one is nominated the EPF fund will be equally distributed to family members. The amount shall not be distributed to major son or married daughter.

Over to You –

Have you filed your EPF Nomination?

Do you think an online method of changing or updating EPF Nomination will help you?

Why middle class people always remain under pressure?

middle class

In a world, we find three types of people rich, poor and middle class. Out of these three middle-class people is one who suffers badly due to many reasons. In my childhood, my father used to say “We are from middle class family, we cannot afford it” at that time I could not able to appreciate the meaning of this sentence, but once I started earning a money I could realize the meaning of this sentence.

So, today’s talk is on middle-class people. If you are from middle-class family and always under stress, this article is for you. In this article, I will share various problems of middle class people. I will also provide remedies for the same.

This is a long post with approximate 1320+ words, so if you wish you can add Moneyexcel.com in favorite or add this post in the bookmark, so that If you cannot complete reading of this post at a single go you can come to this page again.

Why middle class people always remain under pressure?

A middle class people always remain under pressure. There could be multiple reasons for this pressure like Inflation, taxes, social responsibilities, financial responsibilities, low-income level etc. However, most common reason is financial problem.

As per my opinion, a middle class man increases his financial responsibility but he/she never tries to find additional income sources. As income is limited and spending is unlimited it will create a problem. It is like if you try to wear trouser with a size of 32 inchs, on your waste of 34 inchs one day your trouser will torn off. I would like to justify my opinion with evidence and explanation.

  1. Lack of financial knowledge

A middle class people don’t care about financial literacy. Even our education system does not emphasise much on financial education. No school is ready to teach how to manage finance and how to grow our money. Middle class people don’t even try to get financial knowledge.

I have heard many middle-class people saying that “Money is required to generate more money and without money I am unable to do anything”. So, my question to them is if it is the case how kids from middle-class family or poor family have become rich? We have many examples of middle-class people like Dhirubhai Ambani, Narayan Murthy, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates etc. who turn billionaire in their life with no or little money.

As per me it is not all about money it is about financial knowledge. A middle class people never learn how to make money from money?  They keep their money in the bank or they purchase insurance policy thinking that they will have big corpus at the time of retirement. However, it is known fact that saving bank account or life insurance policy can’t beat even inflation.

  1. Increase in Spending without Increasing Income

A middle class people always purchase liabilities thinking it is an asset. They try to find out ways of increasing spending without increasing actual income. In order to fulfill the unrealistic dream of purchasing a big home, a car they take a loan and remain under pressure of EMI.

When it comes to increasing income a middle class person thinks of getting a new job with higher salary or promotion. They never think of doing business or finding additional income sources.

  1. Risk Adverse

A middle class person is risk adverse. He/she is not ready to take a risk in life. They watch Hindi movies but don’t understand dialog “कुछ पाने के लिए कुछ खोना पड़ता है”. They always invest their money in risk adverse options like fixed deposit, saving bank account and life insurance policy. They never explore other investment options like a stock market, mutual funds etc.

  1. No desire for learning

I have observed that middle class man always thinks that he knows everything. He has no desire to learn new things. On the other if you talk with rich people you will realize that they are ready to listen to you and they try to learn something from you. No desire for learning a new thing is another reason why a middle class person remains under pressure.

Also Read – How to become rich? – Your salary paycheck cannot make you rich

  1. Way of Thinking

Apart from house and money a middle-class man also inherits thought process from elders. A middle class person is being taught to be good employees.  A process flow from beginning of our childhood is

Go to school –> Get good grades/results –> Get a good “JOB” –> Work hard –> Maintain good credit

We never understand that it is not your boss’ / employers job to make you rich. Their job is to give you a pay check . . . for work you have done & nothing more. You have to decide what you want to do with this money. You need to change your way of thinking. You need to come out from job mentality to business mentality. 

  1. Ashamed of Small Work

 I personally feel that a middle-class person is ashamed of doing small work. I would like to share one example of my friend. He recently lost his job, I asked him to start own business of selling small home based stuff. He refused by saying that selling stuff is a small job. I will be embarrassed and will not able to sell things properly.

Similar to my friend all middle class people are in the same boat they don’t want to become rich by selling anything. However, all rich people have become rich by selling products or services. Relaince, Tata, Vodafone, Airtel or Patanjali of baba ramdev all are earning money by selling product or services. But, middle class people are afraid of selling product or services as they feel ashamed of small work.

  1. No Additional Work

A middle class people are not interested in doing additional work. They are happy with 9 to 5 Job and limited income source. They remain satisfied and never move ahead in life. They see dreams but never try to fulfill it.

  1. Small Vision

A vision plays an important role in life. A middle class people suffer from No or small vision syndrome. They don’t plan things and they don’t know what to do next in life. They think of salary rise and promotion but never think of starting own business or making an extra source of income. If you want to reduce pressure in life you have to think big and act on it.

  1. Additional Reasons

In addition to above few other reasons makes middle class person life miserable.

  • Inflation
  • Increase in Tax burden
  • Increase in Medical Cost
  • Black Money
  • Social Responsibility
  • Work Pressure

Due to the reason mentioned above, middle class people remains under pressure and can’t make progress in their life. So, what can be done to overcome this situation?

Also Read – 250 Small Business Ideas with low investment

How to overcome this situation?

I was also from middle class family. However, with grace of god and blessing of elders, I could able to surpass this class by establishing multiple source of income. So, I will be sharing proven tips which I have already tried and got success.

  • First is you should increase your financial knowledge. There are multiple ways to do that. You can gain knowledge by reading books, joining course or by reading blogs.
  • Plan for future by doing financial planning. If you have any query about financial planning refer to financial experts or planners.
  • Come out from Job mentality and develop skill and entrepreneur attitude.
  • Increase your source of income remember “Your paycheck can not make your rich”. In order to increase your income you can start home based business or part time business.
  • Stay Hungry about knowledge. In short ready to learn new things in life.
  • Please remember that “There is no substitute of Hard work”
  • Increase your investment every month. Invest in good mutual funds or stocks using SIP route.

Friends, I have tried my level best to explain you problem of middle class people and probable solutions. Hope these tips will help you move ahead from the middle class to upper class.

Do share your views in comment section.

Sukanya interest rate slashed from 9.2% to 8.6%

interest rate change

Sukanya interest rate is slashed by the government recently. New Sukanya interest rate is 8.6%. This rate cut is applicable from April, 2016 for the first quarter of FY 2016. Apart from Sukanya, interest rate of other small saving scheme like PPF, KVP, NSC is also reduced by the government. The main reason behind the rate cut of small saving scheme is to align them with current market rates.

This is a third big surprise from the government this year. Prior to this government has already given two big surprise first is not allowing Full EPF withdrawal and second is imposing five additional taxes. Please note that this is one of the biggest rate cuts in the small saving scheme in a long time. Let’s take a look at a new interest rate applicable to small saving schemes after April 2016.

Small Saving Scheme Interest rate from April 2016 to June 2016

  • Sukanya interest rate slashed from 9.2% to 8.6%
  • PPF interest rate is reduced from 8.7% to 8.1%
  • Kishan Vikas Patra interest rate reduced from 8.7% to 7.8%
  • Senior Citizen Scheme interest rate slashed from 9.3% to 8.6%
  • Monthly Income Scheme interest rate is cut from 8.4% to 7.8%
  • 5 Year NSC interest rate is reduced from 8.5% to 8.1%
  • 5 Year Recurring deposit scheme interest rate is reduced from 8.4% to 7.4%
  • 5 Year Time deposit rate has been cut from 8.5% to 7.9%
  • 3 Year Time deposit rate has been cut from 8.4% to 7.4%
  • 2 Year Time deposit rate has been cut from 8.4% to 7.2%
  • 1 Year Time deposit rate has been cut from 8.4% to 7.1%

sukanya interest rate

Source – Finance Ministry

How Sukanya Interest rate cut will impact investors?

Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme is one of the most lucrative small saving schemes after PPF. Big slash in Sukanya interest rate is difficult to digest by many investors. This rate change will reduce maturity corpus of SSA investor. Let’s calculate how much money you will be losing by this rate change.

Also Read – Sukanya Samriddhi Account – Calculator Download

Calculation

If you are investing maximum amount 1.5 Lac in SSA at the beginning of the year.

As per current 9.2% interest rate, Interest amount in your account at the end of year – Rs 13800.

As per new Sukanya Interest rate 8.6%, Interest amount in your account at the end of year – Rs 12900.

Change = Rs 900 yearly

Assumption – New interest rate 8.6% will remain constant throughout the year.

How PPF Interest rate cut will impact investors?

PPF is one of the best investment schemes for the small investors. PPF interest rate reduction from 8.7% to 8.1% will reduce PPF corpus at maturity. Let’s see the calculation.

Calculation

If you are investing maximum amount 1.5 Lac in PPF at the beginning of the year.

As per current 8.7% interest rate, Interest amount in your account at the end of year – Rs 13050.

As per new PPF interest rate 8.1%, Interest amount in your account at the end of year – Rs 12150.

Change = Rs 900 yearly

Assumption – New interest rate 8.1% will remain constant throughout the year.

Overall Impacts of this rate cut

  • This rate cut will badly impact small investors as their corpus will reduce.
  • A new investor may not participate and open Sukanya Samriddhi and PPF Account.
  • As an adverse effect, we may see a reduction in fixed deposit rates by the bank.
  • Now Investing money in these small saving schemes means only beating Inflation rate.
  • An investor may start investing in the stock market instead of small saving schemes.

Social Media Reaction on Interest rate change –

interest rate change

Over to You –

What is your reaction to the change in Sukanya Interest rate?

For me, this rate cut matters a lot as my hard earned money is going to earn less interest now onwards.

Initially, the government has shown lollipop of 9.2% interest rate on Sukany Samriddhi Scheme for the investment. As a majority of investor has invested their money in SSA now they are reducing the interest rate 🙁

Hope the government will increase interest rate of all small saving scheme in next quarter.

Do share your views in comment section.