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Ans: Hi Neeraj,

You are badly trapped in a debt cycle.
Your monthly income - 1.6 lakhs; Expenses - 30k; EMIs - 57k per month and another outstanding loan of 21 lakhs.

I would like to know if your spouse also earns? If she can help in any way financially to get rid of these loans faster.

If no, you can start following this strategy.
You are still left with 60k in hand after all expenses and emis.

We will use 40k from the balance 60k for prepaying laons and 20k for building a future safety net.
>> Try and finish loan 2 first by paying 40k additional for 2 months. Will be done by May month.
> Once it is done, you will have free emi of 10845 and 40k - total 50k per month. Use this amount to finish loan 3.
It will be done by July.
>> Now you have 50k + 10k from loan 3 emi - total 60k. Close loan 4 and 1 as well. Once all these loans are done, by 2027 maximum, you wil have 57k + 40k. Use this entire amount to pay relatives loan every month.
You will br debt free in another 2 years.

From remaining 20k, start building an emergency corpus. Park 20k in FD for 10 months. You will have 2 lakhs as your emergency fund.
Once this is done, start investing 20k per month in equity mutual funds for your secured future.

This way, you can finsih off your loans fast and wisely.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Anjan,

Sadly this is how LIC works. Pay the balance amount in whatever way you can at the earliest to avoid getting problems in December.
Being a public co., it will take months to get your money back if you delay paying the due amount. It can be forfeited as well.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Sarvothama,

You are doing great with your iverall investments at such age. Early investment really helps you in the long run. Let us analyse everything in detail:
1. Make sure to have ample emrgency fund in FD or liquid funds.
2. You should have proper term insurance and health insurance for yourself and family. As your spouse is working, she should also have an independent term insurance.
3. 8 lakhs in FD - can be treated as your emergency fund.
4. 6 lakhs in PPF - not recommended as a=you must have your EPF being an IT Professional. PPF is just like EPF, hence make minimum contributions to keep the account active and close it when 15 years tenure is over.
5. Health policy - 5 lakhs >> insufficient keeping in mind rising medical costs. Increase it to a minimum of 25 lakhs family floater for yourself and spouse.
6. 15 lakhs PLI - continue.
7. 15 lakhs + 60k monthly SIP in mutual funds. Very good and you should continue. However, the funds chosen are not exactly great. Entire allocation needs a proper plan in alignment to your profile and long term goal. It is better to work with a professional to choose better funds for your 20+ years goal.
I will not recommend continuing your SIPs in - Quant ELSS, HDFC Retirement Savings, Nippon multi asset and Focused Equity fund.

Hence overall reallocation and distribution in required here.
Do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Ashish,

You have long 16 years till your retirement and proper guided investment can do wonders with your monthly SIPs.
Your concern regarding Nippon Small Cap fund is genuine but this is exactly how markets work. One cannot expect their money to double in an overnight. It needs patience and proper plan to generate even bare minimum of 12% annual return.

I see all the funds you invest in are direct funds. while direct funds are more preferred as they have lower expense ratio of about 0.5%, regular funds are better as they come with proper plan and guidance throughout.
Generating 2-4% returns in these types of direct funds v/s getting 12% return in regular funds - there is always an option.

However, continue with Nippon small cap, Parag Parikh Flexicap, and Motilal Oswal Midcap fund. Stop SIPs in other funds and work with a proper advisor to redirect these funds into better new funds.

Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Srinivas,

The fund you mentioned is a sectoral fund and these works like this only. It is not recommended to invest blindly in a random fund and lose your hard earned money.
Stop this SIP and consult a professional to start afresh. Go for a multi cap fund.

Or better work with a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

I understand that 3 of you come under salary bracket of 6 to 8 lakhs. And you want to know products suitable for you and both sons. Let us discuss pros and cons of each below along with other major necessities you should have:

- As a family, have a dedicated emergency fund of 6 months worth expenses in FD. If your monthly expense is 50k, have 3 lakhs FD and if monthly expense is 1 lakh, habe 6 lakhs worth FD. This fund will safeguard your expenses in case of any uncertain situation.
- As earning members, all of you should have a pure term cover of 1 crore each. Make sure to take proper term insurance and do not mix with any other rider / policy.
- Proper health insurance for family. Avoid mixing it with wealth policies and other policies. Buy proper health insurance for whole family. Can go for HDFC Ergo as it has the highest claim settlement ratio. Avoid going for cheaper premium policies.

Now, when these 3 requirements are done, start investing the surplus to meet your financial goals. Firstly, list all financial goals and invest.
- SBI Life policies - not recommended. Go for proper Term Insurance of Max Life or HDFC Life.
- Wealth Policies - not recommended as these come with high commission end products. It is always better to keep insurance and investment separate. One shall not expect insurance premiums as investment, insurance is always a cover against unforeseen risk and it should be kept like that.
Hence, do not mix your insurance with investment. Avoid all wealth policies and ULIPs and LIC policies.

For investment, choose the following:
- PPF - not recommended if you have an ongoing EPF.
- NPS - not for your sons as the amounts will be locked till 60 years.
- MF - recommended for all. you can choose from a variety of equity and debt instruments wrt your goals and risk capacity. It will generate upto 15% annual returns to meet your financial goals. Funds in MF is not locked and flexible.
- FD - use it only for emergency fund.
- Share market - not recommended. The way you will not google and cure yourself for an illness, same way you cannot google and invest. Take proper help.

You should work with an advisor who will understand your risk appetite and make an investment plan for your family.
Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Madhusudan,

Expecting a better yield in 6 to 8 months is not a good idea. For such short term, capital preservation is the only choice. Park this entire amount in an FD and avoid looking for alternatives.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Can you please share more details such as your and father's household monthly expenses, your income, ages and loan details for me to help you better. Also share the details of the assets you currentle hold.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Share more details like your purpose, risk appetite, monthly withdrawal etc for me to guide you better.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Plans like these are not good. This will hardly give you an annual return of 3% on calculation. Plus your money is locked-in.
It is better for you to surrender and redirect your funds to mutual funds to get double returns. Or a simple FD will give you better returns.

Always "keep your investments and insurances Separate".

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Samarjit,

A random amount of SIP in a random fund like this give such results. Avoid investing in random funds like this for short term.
If you are investing for long term, avoid checking it on regular basis. Continue your SIP if it is for long term. Howevr, you can stop the current SIP and choose Kotak multicap fund instead to make it more diverse.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: It is not the right time to buy silver right now. If you want to invest big amount - wait.
Lets say, you want to invest 1 lakh in silver now, wait and buy silver worth 5000 once in 2 weeks to benefit.

Also make sure that apart from silver, you should have gold and mutual funds as well with you to diversify. Goin with only one asset class is never a good idea.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Yes there is a difference between regular and direct plans.
Direct plans are for people who have a very good understanding and can manage their portfolio. But even those people need an advisor at some point once their portfolio grows into lakhs and crores.
Hence it is always better to go for regular plans from the start as an early guidance helps you achieve your goals in a more planned way.

Choosing a wrong direct plan can adversely affect the portfolio and instead of saving 1% on commissions, one may end up losing upto 10% on an yearly basis.
Also choosing some random plans such as flexicap along with your regular portfolio is not a good idea. An advisor critically measures your profile and work accordingly.
It is always better to listen to your advisor.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Deepak,

Please share more details such as income, expenses, family, current assets & liabilities, financial goals etc for me to help you.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

It is good that you are thinking to invest in gold and silver at your age for marriage. You can open a demat account and buy "goldbees" and "silverbees" on your salary day worth 1000 rupees each.

This way you will accumulate a good amount by the time you marry without losing anything on taxes and making charges.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Selling 15 gram gold would mean oyu getting approx 2 lakhs worth amount (after deduction charges and all).
It is not recommended to sell your gola to prepay your home loan. Hence hold it for longterm as it is always good to diversify your money into different asset classes.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Your current assets are not sufficient for you to leave your job currently.
However, setup the business along with your job and then check the status after 6 months. If you are able to earn more than your expenses, you can consider getting retirement.
But make sure to have enough savings for other financial goals such as travel , health, other major liabilities etc.

You need atleast assets worth 1.1 crores in mutual funds for you to retire to fund your retirement forever (assuming xirr 11% pa.)

Hence try setting up a business side by side. And increase your investments in mutual funds substantially with help of a professional to get it aligned with your plans.

Consider consulting a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Suresh,

It is good that you have built a discipline for investing over the past 4 years.

The SIP funds you mentioned are good for long term, but selection can be improved more to generate better returns in alignment to your long term goals. You can try including large cap fund and make changes accordignly. Or choose to connect with a professional who will help you in improving fund selection.

The policies mentioned are not recommended to continue. Policies like this have a cagd of 5-6% annually when calculated accurately which is even less than FD. Hence you may choose to surrender and close these and redirect the investments into mutual funds for better returns and performance.

Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

As you have done 10 years of service and are 58 years, your entire withdrawal will be tax-free for you.
However, there is a portion called EPS which cannot be withdrawn by you, instead you will get a monthly pension per se the EPS accumulated amount.
9 lakhs is tax-free.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Yes, after you merge your 2 EPF accounts, the combined balance of 4 lakhs will keep on earning interest till retirement without any break.

Thing for you to consider before merging:
- make sure the entire data is correct in both accounts; any discrepancy might delay or reject the merge.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Transferring your old EPF is the most wise decision. Your entire old balance will continue to earn interest till your retirement. And total years of service will be tax-free henceforth.
Thus it is always best to transfer your old PF account to new employer.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

As the servicable tenure is less than 5 years, your withdrawal will be taxable. You can expect a TDS of 10% on that but final tax would be as per your Income Tax slab.
Hence, unless absolutely necessary, avoid withdrawing the EPF and let it as is for your retirement.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

It is natural to fear advancement in technology but that should not turn into sleepless nights. Rather use this opportunity to learn the same and upskill yourself in that field.
However, let me try to guide you with the correct steps for you to take:

1. Your total EMIs come out to be around 90k per month and fixed monthly expenses are 40k. You are left with 70k per month to invest.
2. Try and close the smaller loans of 40,000 first followed by 4 lakhs loan once your job stabilizes.

>> You have 5 lakhs in FD, 2 lakhs in savings and 2 lakhs in debt mutual funds - total liquid is 9 lakhs.
This can be your emergency fund in case of job loss and will keep your emi's and basic requirements on track for 7 months.
7 months is a sufficient time for you to find another upskilled job.

>> Keep the 5 lakhs of equity mutual funds and 2 lakhs of stocks as is.
In the meantime, pause your SIPs for a while, start accumulating surplus of 70k per month in savings account so as to overcome any uncertain situation.

You can resume your SIPs once your job is stable, you have upskilled yourself and are no longer in dilemma of job loss.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

1.5 crores along with a monthly SIP of 3 lakhs can give you 5 crores after 5 years assuming annual return of 12%.

But only these numbers does not hold any significant value unless investments are made in proper investment instruments in alignment with your financial goals and overall individual profile.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Pankaj,

It is really great that you have build a good amount at your age. Let us analyse all in detail.

You are looking forward to build a 10 crore retirement corpus in next 10 years. And your current investments include:
- PF - 50 lakhs; 40k monthly contribution will grow it to 2 crores in next 10 years.
- PPF - currently 2 lakhs. Any further contribution is not required as it gives only 7% tax free return. Rather redirect the monthly investment amount to aggressive mutual funds.
- SSY - currently 8 lakhs and further yearly deposit is good for you to continue.
- MF - currently 15 lakhs with a monthly SIP of 1.25 lakhs. This will grow to 4.5 crores if you do a step up of 10% with an assumed CAGR of 13%.
- Another major portion of your current assets is in real estate which offers less liquidity as compared to other assets. Total net value is 28 lakhs + 25 lakhs + 90 lakhs + 1 crore >> totalling to 2.4 crores and a loan of 67 lakhs. (not counting the self use flat as that is a necessity, not an asset that you will sell).

You are considering selling your flat worth 50 lakhs from which you will get 28 lakhs. You can reinvest this entire amount in mutual funds to meet education requirement for your daughter's education.
Although this amount will not be sufficient, you will need more monthly or lumpsum investment for this particular goal.

>> Your goal to reach 10 crores after 10 years will only fulfil if you liquidate another 1 or 2 properties that you hold. This will lessen the burden of education goal, release your EMI burden and increase your focus on increasing monthly SIP to more than double of the current value.

This way you can fulfil your goals. But make sure that the funds you are currently investing in are as per your risk appetite and other factors. Any misalignment can negate the overall required performance.
Thus it is better for you to connect with a professional advisor who will help you wrt mutual fund investment.

Hence do consult a a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

As this is your 1st time exposure, better to connect with a professional.

Connect with a a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

You can include her name in your policy and increase the sum insured to 20 lakhs. Your overall premium will increase but it is required considering higher medical costs these days.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Yes you can but not recommended. Instead increase contribution to your PF under VPF.
PPf comes with minimum 15 years lock-in, you will not have access to PPF funds till age of 65. Better to go for an alternative.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Surandar,

Investing like this will never work in your favor and instead give you losses along with tax liabilities.
If you do not know about Mutual funds, connect with a professional to start.
Expecting your funds to double overnight is not done here. Mutual funds are for long term and need a lot of patience.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Ram,

Here is what you can do:
1. Locate your old salary slips from STL and try to find the PF number.
2. As the company doesn't exist now, your old PF must have become 'inoperative'
3. Visit Bandra, Mumbai EPFO Office yourself along with your details and request them to trace your old account (should know your PF number from salary slips beforehand).
4. Or connect with EPFO online under 'Inoperative helpdesk' to know what can be done by you.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Rimpa,

Start your SIP of 1700 under Kotak Multicap fund for long term.
If you wish to start gold investment, buy gold ETFs online or choose a gold mutual fund.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Chidambaram,

Please connect with SBI Bank professionals to get such wealth policy. I am a CFP and suggest only mutual funds investment along with comprehensive financial planning.
I do not recommend any such policies to anyone.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

You two are earning well and have accumulated a lot at such young age. Let us analyse in detail:
- Liquid - 1 crore >> this can take care of the immediate requirement for your kid's higher education.
- Your current investments in PF, PPF and MF - can be considered a portion for your retired life.
- Land and Flats worth 4 crores - can liquidate worth half value to keep it aside for your kids marriage.
- Save aggressively in equity and balanced mutual funds till the time you guys are working. Investing as small as 2 lakhs per month for next 10 years can grow your MF corpus from 40 lakhs to 6 crores.
This along with your PF is more than sufficient for the two of you to retire at your respective paces.

Make sure that the current MF investment along with planned SIP of 2 lakhs monthly is done under professional supervision. Any wrong investment can lower returns and create a negative impact.

Summary - You are on the right path. Start investing aggressively for next 10 years and consider liquidating 50% of your real estate assets to fulfil kids education and marriage.

And also consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

It is really great that you have invested across various instruments and have saved a lot. Let us analyse all of it to check if this can cover your retirement.

- Current expenses - 50k monthly; looking for 70k per month income to cover your expenses post retirement.
After 5 years, you will be 52 years old and considering your life upto another 40 years (taken maximum so as to avoid any fund shortage), you will need a total corpus of 1.4 crores which will generate minimum return of 11% post retirement (assuming inflation adjusted withdrawals).
- 1.4 crores is the minimum bare requirement. Any amount over and above is a bonus for your comfortable life.
- 11% return is only possible through strategic investing in mutual funds.

Now let us analyse your current investments:
- 15 lakhs in PPF. This is good but PPF only gives 7.1% return and is not required for you as you already will have an EPF account. You can close this once 15 years are over and shift this amount to equity mutual funds.
- 23 lakhs - SSY. Continue for your kid's education.
- MF - 43 lakhs. Good amount but share more details for me to analyse the quality.
- PO and Bank FD - 9 lakhs. This is your emergency fund.
- Savings account - 5 lakhs.
- Insurance - 8 lakhs. Please share more details for me to guide you in this regard.

Overall assets - 15 lakhs (PPF) + 43 lakhs (MFs) = 58 lakhs.
Shortage of 90 lakhs.
Also consider the following:
1. Proper health coverage for yourself and family. Any medical emergency can wipe off your entire savings in a second. Cover yourself and family appropriately.
2. Consider other financial goals for your kids such as their education and marriage as 23 lakhs is not sufficient consider higher inflation rates.
3. Make a note of all other major financial goals if you have.

1.4 crore retirement requirement is after covering all other basic financial goals.
Work with a professional who will guide you with exact strategy to follow and achieve retirement with the mentioned corpus.

Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: It really depends on your investment amount, other investments that you have. Share these details for me to help you better.

However, refrain from investing any big amount right now. Invest 10% of your total value and invest small amount after every few days.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Nitin,

It is good that you are keen on investing and repay all your loans at such age. Let me analyse things for you in detail.

1. Total Income - 68000 per month; EMI's - 31000 per month (including gold loan) and expenses - 5000 per month.
Your total EMI is approx. 47% of your monthly income. It needs to be reduced.
You are left with approx. 32000 per month. Will device a plan for the same.
2. Finishing off gold loan is necessary followed by your personal loan. Take out an additional 10000 per month to pay off your gold loan first as it has the highest interest rate.
3. You will have 22000 now and you need an emergency fund for yourself. You should have 50k in FD as your emergency fund. Take out 5000 per month for next 10 months. Doing this will leave you with additional 17000 left with you.
4. Make sure to have a separate health insurance for yourself and family. Along with a term insurance of atleast 50 lakhs for now. 5. Invest the remaining amount of 12000 in 2 parts. 7000 for long term in equity mutual funds. Choose a flexicap fund and a balanced advantage fund for this - 3500 in each fund.
Invest remaining 5000 in RD for your travel plans.

This plan will sort your entire obligations and goals. Make sure to stick with the numbers so as to finish off your loans and invest as per the given plan.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Imran,

LIC policies are best known for their low returns of maximum 4-5% over the entire tenure. This return is even less than that of a FD.
But you have already paid premiums for 12 years - 5.88 lakhs; you will get only 4.6 lakhs back. This is the case with every LIC policy.

Whether to continue or surrender depends on your requirement.
- Continue if you are ok with such low returns.
- Surrender if you will reinvest the proceedings in equity mutual funds or if you need money.

Surrendering now will be a loss for you. But treinvesting the entire 4.6 lakhs into mutual funds along with quarterly SIP of 12.5k will give you 17.8 lakhs at the end of 8 years.
And this amount is more than total sum assured if you continue policies. Plus final values will compensate for the loss you will feel now.

Hence better to surrender and reroute those investments in high return generating instruments.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi SharadK

It is good that you are consistent in your investments for past 3 years. Currently you are investing 1.4 lakhs per month.
Your goal is to achieve a corpus of 10 crores.
- Current funds are good for you to continue but a minor rebalancing can do wonders for you.
- Although you are investing on your own, taking a professional's help will actually help you in monitoring the investments regularly, in alignment to your financial goals.
- If you continue this investment for 10 years, you can get around 4.7 crores after 10 years.
- Your goal of achieveing 10 crores will be achieved in next 15 years assuming you continue investing like this generating annual return of 12%.
- However, if you step-up your SIP by 10-15% annually, you can achieve your goal sooner by 3 years.

Right now, you are investing in direct funds as they seem quite lucrative. But investing through a certified professional can actually help you achieve your goal much faster and calmer.

Hence do connect with a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

You have done good so far, but the overall financials and investments are quite disorganized. Let us have a detailed look:
- You should have a dedicated emergency fund in FD; atleast 3 to 6 months of expenses
- Term cover taken seems good but also need a personal health insurance of minimum 10 lakhs to cover your family. It will come handy when you change job and at present your premium will be less as compared to if you purchase one in future.
- You have a flat with EMI 71k for next 7 years i.e. 44% of your income goes into this. This is a very bad purchase. One should not have any EMI exceeding 30% of salary. Either reduce your emi somehow or consider selling this as rent of 30k per month only gives you 1-2% rental yiled annually. Investing in other instruments guarantees a minimum 12% annual return.
- Land worth 50 lakhs - good but this is not liquid. Can hold it though for long term.
- 4 LIC policies - not at all required. LIC policies gives an annual return of 4-5% and are highly commissioned products which is not recommended to anyone. A simple FD would have been better than this. If you can, consider stopping these policies at a certain loss and redirect these investments to equity mutual funds for long term.

As you mentioned, you haven't planned for anything, you need some aggressive and well planned investments for
- kids education
- parents health
- your retirement
- kids marriage
- and any other major money goal you might have

71k from your current EMI and another 29k from your salary - total 1 lakhs should be invested per month into equity and hybrid mutual funds as per goals. 1 lakh for next 20 years (assuming 14% cagr and 10% step up) will give you 22 crores after 20 years.
And any further increase in investments will increase the corpus amount.

Hence, you need to work with a dedicated professional to start your investments in alignment with your current situation.
You should consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Kashinath,

As the shares were unlisted on 31st Jan, 2018, you have to calculate cost of acquisition considering the following formula:
Cost of acquisition = Actual purchase price * (CII of FY 2017-2018) / CII of your purchase year)

The outcome will be deducted from current value to get the actual gain you have.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Ram,

As you are NRI and looking for an income stream in near future, you have limited options.
- go for NRE fixed deposits which has low risk and provides 6-7% return
- or go for debt mutual funds with less risk and better returns than FD

For long term, continue investing in NPS.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

I am sorry but plans like this doesn't give much benefit and one should never opt for such plans.
It is better for you to surrender this policy now rather than dragging this loss for another 20 years.

You can easily get more returns in simple FD and more than double if you choose mutual funds investment.
Your exact maturity value will be told by LIC office but you will definitely lose more than 15% on what you have paid.

But on a brighter side, surrendering and reinvesting the same in mutual funds with minimum 12% return will vanish your losses in just 2-3 years.

Hence, practical approach is to close this policy.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

If the portfolio generates 12% annual return, you can withdraw 60,000 per month (inflation adjusted) and it will fund you forever and leave a huge legacy for your family.

However, you can tell me your withdrawal requirements for me to guide you in a better way.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Investing in mutual funds and doing SWP to fund expenses is a great idea. If done right, 1 crore can fund you forever (inflation adjusted).

However there is no single fund to put your entire money. Take a professional's help to invest into a mix of debt and equity funds to get a minimum return of 12% per annum. This way, you will be able to beat inflation and increase your annual withdrawal.

Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Investing in gold is a good idea. But investing only in gold is not.
One should not have more than 15% gold in his portfolio.

There are many good funds out there to invest in gold, ICICI Gold Fund of Fund, or HDFC Gold fund. Choose either.
Or if you have a demat, can consider investing in Gold ETFs for long term.

However avoid investing large amount at once in gold. Always consider a professional advisor before making such investment.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

Your concern regarding FDs is right. The interest is taxable and choosing FD is not the most practical approach to park savings.
In your sister's case, a bucket of mutual funds can be made where 7 lakhs will be parked in debt funds out of which SWP i.e. monthly withdrawal will be done; and remaining 28 lakhs in a mix of equity and hybrid funds for that amount to grow the capital.

Usually this approach is handled by professionals. So you can connect with a CFP to help you in this regard.

Hence connect a a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

It is great that you are investing since 2017. Long investments and patience always gives results.
You can easily achieve your goal corpus by the time you turn 58, if investment done correctly.

The funds you mentioned have so much overlapping and scattered. It needs rework and complete reallocation. Maximum of 5 funds should be there. Take the help of a professional to align your portfolio with your goal and customized profile.

A random portfolio like yours can create an opposite impact and generate negative to zero returns.

And try to increase the monthly SIP by 10% each year. This will take care of inflation power.

Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi,

As a 39 year old, you have sufficient time of 12 years to invest for your goals and let compounding do its work. Let us have a detailed analysis:

- your current monthly sip of 44.5k is not well distributed. overall portfolio is cluttered and overlapping of funds is there. Entire portfolio and money needs reallocation to work in alignment with your goals.
- also goals with soecific portfolio is good but quite cumbersome to maintain, hence not recommended for you.
- you should work with a professional who will work for an investment strategy keeping in mind your NRI status and reducing tax implications in future.
- it is also important for you to maintain a stable investment like PF account (but you can't because of NRI status). alternatively, go for balanced advantage fund of 10% of investment value to go for stability factor.
- choose aggressive equity funds like multi asset funds and small caps for kids marriage and retirement; and choose flexi cap and nifty index funds for education goal.
- stop current SIPs and reallocate them to the new chosen funds.
- but it would be better for you to consider taking a professional's help.

Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Vijay,

While you have shared a lot about finances, it would be better if you could have mentioned your age as well for me to guide you better. Exact details would have helped me to guide you in a better concise way to plan your finances.
Please share other mandatory details. Also will try to help you without age for now.

- this is a case of 'asset rich & cashflow tight'. Your total income is Rs. 1.81 lakhs and emis of Rs. 2.26 lakhs with expenses of 90k.
- prepay the loan of 58 lakhs; this will improve your cashflow by 71k per month.
- consider closing loan 3 of 61k per month emi.

When you close the 2 loans, your overall cashflow will become positive; total emi will reduce drastically by 1.32 lakhs.

- Do not close loan 1. Kepp it active and keep paying EMIs on time.

When Rs. 1.8 crores arrive, I suggest the following wrt goals you mentioned:
> Keep some amount as your emergency fund in liquid funds. keep a minimum of 10 lakhs for this purpose.
> Education Goal - requirement in 2031 and 2036 - invest 60 lakhs for this goal in hybrid funds.
> corpus requirement in 2042 and 2046 - invest 1 crore for this goal in multicap funds and other aggressive hybrid funds.

- use the rent of 37k to invest in REITs instead of buying a commercial space as property is not liquid where as REITs are. And buyin a property would mean going for 1 more EMI. Avoid the new emi.

Also, would suggest you to go for a professional advice to start your investments in a holistic way to fulfil your financial requirements within the specified timelines.

Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/

Ans: Hi Nitin,

Building a portfolio for financial independence with Rs. 1.25 Lakh per month is a significant commitment. Since your timeline is 7–10 years, let us have a closer detailed look.

- you have mentioned 8 funds and chosen segments are very over-diversified. Example - only 5k in small cap i.e. 4% of total value. It doesn't really work. Proper strategy should be applied while choosing funds.
- direct RIET investment is just a FOMO created via influencers. you really do not need one.
- several funds/ categories have huge overlapping of stocks and it will not perform well.

I understand your need of keeping your operating expenses at minimum, but a DIY portfolio like this often generates negative return. While direct funds are quite popular because of their low expense ratio, but a regular fund portfolio performs much better due to the involvement of a professional.

Your total monthly investment of 1.25 lakhs is not a small amount. you need serious guidance here as even a slight mistake can double your timeline or vanish your returns.

Hence do consult a professional Certified Financial Planner - a CFP who can guide you with exact funds to invest in keeping in mind your age, requirements, financial goals and risk profile. A CFP periodically reviews your portfolio and suggest any amendments to be made, if required.

Let me know if you need more help.

Best Regards,
Reetika Sharma, Certified Financial Planner
https://www.instagram.com/cfpreetika/