Powerful Guide to Find Your Passion Says Sachin Karpe

Following your passion can be a tough thing. But figuring out what that passion is can be even more elusive. What are you good at? Unless you’re just starting out in life, you have some skills or talent, shown some kind of aptitude. Even if you are just starting out, you might have shown some talent when you were young, even as young as elementary school says Sachin Karpe. What have you secretly dreamed of? You might have some ridiculous dream job you’ve always wanted to do — to be a novelist, an artist, a designer, an architect, a doctor, an entrepreneur, a programmer. But some fear, some self-doubt, has held you back, has led you to dismiss this idea. Maybe there are several. Add them to the list no matter how unrealistic.

How Best to Use Budgets Explains Sachin Karpe

A budget can help you crush your outstanding debt, get a hold of your financial future, and even make you a happier person in the process. And best of all, setting up a budget is really not that hard, you just need some planning. If you are an independent freelancer, understand that what you bring home is not the same thing as what you earn. Break down what you're spending into categories. This will make it easier for you to see where your money is going. Often, this simple breakdown is enough to start changing habits, especially if you didn't fully know how much of your hard-earned money was going away from you. There should be short-term and long-term as it helps to have something to be working towards to help stay on track with your budget.

How Much You Should Invest in Gold Explains Sachin Karpe

Gold should be seen as one of the numerous investment options for accumulating wealth. The price of gold tends to rise over time. Since investors do not adjust the price for inflation, they see the increase as positive says Sachin Karpe. Gold is valued for its ability to act as a substitute for any other asset, including currency. Whenever there is a crisis in the markets, investors seek refuge in gold. Depending on who you ask, gold is either a wise way to diversify an investment portfolio or an insurance plan against the coming apocalypse. Anyone who tells you they know where the price of gold will be next year or next month is fooling you. No one knows. No one can tell you today whether diversification into gold is a good idea, a neutral idea, or a bad idea. But almost everyone will tell you that diversification is generally a good idea.

Why Shouldn’t I Invest in a Fixed Deposit? Sachin Karpe Explains

Why shouldn't I invest in a Fixed Deposit? is the most common question asked by the investors. Will you invest in a FD of 10k, if the net return will be 6.3% instead of an overall return of 9%? 

Sachin Karpe explains how the fixed deposit calculated. If you have a fixed deposit of Rs. 10,000 with 9% interest rate, pre-tax interest earned during the year would be Rs. 900. Tax on the interest earned at 30% tax rate would be Rs. 270 and net amount earned by the investor would be Rs. 630. This translates into a net return of 6.3% which is much lower than the presumed return.

Sachin Karpe also advices to invest in long term fixed income i.e., debt mutual funds. Long-term capital gains on investments in debt mutual funds are taxed either at 10 per cent flat rate on 20 per cent indexed. Average return of short-term debt funds in the last 3 years is 8.9 per cent. If an individual decides to invest Rs. 10,000 in a short-term debt mutual fund, pre-tax returns earned for one year would be Rs. 890. At a flat 10 per cent tax, Rs. 89 would the tax amount. Net capital gain would be Rs. 801, whereas post-tax interest earned would be 8.01 per cent which is more than the interest rate of fixed deposit.

Planning Equity Investments for 2014

With Lok Sabha elections around the corner, stakes are high on stock market this year. Markets can be expected to see fluctuations owing to the excitement and hope that the new government will announce new policies. Whatever the case may be, equities have their own ways of behaving and the one who plans to invest in it should be aware of the fundamentals, Sachin Karpe observes.

Invest through Systematic Investment Plan or SIP: This way you can divide your investment amount in monthly amounts and monitor the fund performance regularly. This way you escape the risk of putting an entire lump sum amount in a fund.

Keep an eye on market fluctuation: Always look for trend that could affect the market and lead it to climb either upward or go downward. You can monitor net Asset Value of a particular fund and decide to either keep it or sell it off.

Think long term: Equities can be fluctuating, depending on which company and which sector you have put your money in. Or how much is the fund exposed to vulnerabilities. Therefore, it is important to hold on to a fund as it could take positive cues from the market and climb up all of a sudden, leaving you at a good profit.

It is advisable to take equity investment decisions which are in sync with the global as well as domestic economy, Sachin Karpe feels.