Saturday, March 31, 2012

Excerpts From - "Millionaires don't eat cakes...they make them"

Below is the excerpt from Sanjay Matai's publication 'Millionaires don't eat cakes...they make them'. The book illustrates a simple Income-to-Wealth recipe.

Countless books and articles have been written on how to become a millionaire. Countless CDs and DVDs have been produced on the subject. Countless people have given countless number of talks and seminars focusing on this one of the most-preferred topics. Countless studies have been done to know how millionaires became millionaires.
The essence of all these is that millionaires
.... are not magicians who create wealth out of thin air
.... are not privy to some closely-guarded secret
.... are not born lucky
.... are not specially blessed or gifted.
Millionaires are millionaires because they have a certain value-system!
 They do what they love and love what they do. And they dream big!
 Being passionate about their work, they work hard and work smart...and strive to become the best.
 They try and ensure that every rupee they spend delivers the right value.
 They are not stingy, but they hate waste.
 When they invest, they seek to make the best returns (Beware! 'Best' shouldn't be confused with 'maximum' returns. It is about astutely managing risk vs. returns).
 They understand the power of leveraging and employ appropriate techniques to "multiply" money (and not just 'add' money).
 For them risk is an ally, not an enemy.
 And finally, of course, they are patient. They don't rush things, but wait like a tiger for that perfect moment to make their move.
Simple! Isn't it? You knew these things all along. Am I right?
Then why aren't you a millionaire...yet? Why aren't you financially independent?
Well, that's because you find the whole formula too time-consuming and cumbersome. The problem lies, not so much in understanding it, but in implementing it. In today's fast-paced world, where things work at the touch of the button, it seems anachronistic to expect people to work hard and be patient. No one wants to put in all the hard work and then wait until those efforts bear fruits. They would rather sit at home and hope to win a lottery or hit a jackpot.
Yes...the formula does test one's patience and commitment. But let me assure you, it is only the beginning that's difficult.
You know how it is with a car. When you start, it takes some time to overcome inertia and pick up speed. But thereafter the acceleration is much faster. Remember the good old Newton's law you studied in your school? Same thing with your wealth creation too...once you pick up momentum, it becomes easier and easier...and easier.
Want to see how it works? Suppose you invest Rs.5000 every month for 25 years. Thus, you would have invested Rs.15 lakhs. Assuming 10% p.a. returns, you will have about Rs.65 lakhs at the end. Let us see graphically how this money growth looks like.

This is fine. But the more important point to note here is how your wealth accelerates. See the graph below.
As you can see, it takes 10 long years to reach to your first Rs.10 lakhs. But the next Rs.10 lakhs (i.e. from Rs.10 to 20 lakhs) takes just 5 years to accrue; the next from Rs.20 to 30 lakhs in 3 years and so on from Rs.50 to 60 lakhs in merely 1.75 years.
The analogy of boiling water might be quite apt here. What happens when you start to boil water? To begin with, its temperature starts rising...from 25oC to 30oC to 50oC and so on. Though the water is getting hotter, nothing noticeable is happening on the surface... right up to 99.9oC. And then, with increase in temperature by just 0.1 oC, the water starts boiling. If you didn't have the knowledge and patience, you would have stopped heating in between, exclaiming that nothing seems to be happening. This way you would never get your boiling water! Even if you take a temporary break, you may have to start all over again. So, once you begin, never stop in-between.
In short, you will realize your millionaire dreams, provided:
 You don't stop your regular contributions to the portfolio AND
 You are willing to be patient.
At some point, your portfolio will reach the critical mass. And then, like a nuclear explosion, you will experience wealth explosion.
That's what I said earlier. You have to be patient in the initial years. But later the growth will be exponential. Thus, you will achieve your financial independence much sooner than what may initially seem to be a long and interminably wait. This is the magic of compounding. Even a genius like Albert Einstein was a great admirer and supporter of the method of compounding.
The crux of the matter is that if you are good at managing money, even little incomes can be built into big riches. But if your money management skills are poor, you may not only remain poor despite big incomes, but could also land up in a financial mess.
The sun's rays are available to everyone. However, only those who focus them using a magnifying glass are able to convert it into fire.
Everyone earns income. However, only those who single-mindedly use a 'wealth-magnifying' formula are able to convert their income into wealth

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Don't Put All Your Eggs in One basket

We frequently come across individuals who are very finance-savvy but have taken a fancy to one particular asset-class and are totally convinced that it is the best one to sail them through their life. This bias is seen mostly in real-estate investments and in equity investments(stocks or shares, as they are variously called). Unmindful of the danger it poses to their long-term goals, they continue to invest all their investible suplus in their favoured avenue without caring about one of the Golden Rules of Investment - Diversification of assets.
What is diversification? Diversification means spreading your investments over a number of investment avenues.
Why do we need to diversify our investments? Why should we not put it all in only one type of investment which we think is the best? Let’s look at the example below.


A man wants to sell eggs to buyers in the city. He will carry the eggs in a basket and will travel across from his village to the city. The whole process will be done as below:
• Buyers will buy all the eggs in the basket.
• Each egg will sell for Rs 2.
• If a basket carrying the eggs drops, all the eggs inside the basket will be broken.
• Buyer will not buy broken eggs.
• There are total 50 eggs to be carried.


1st scenario: put all the eggs in One basket. The man puts all the 50 eggs in one basket and carries to the city. The money he can get from selling the eggs will be as below:
Possibility       Eggs Safe Eggs Broken Profit (Rs)
Basket safe        50             0              100
Basket drops        0             50               0
The maximum net profit the man can get is Rs100. If he drops the basket, he will get nothing.

2nd scenario: put all the eggs in 2 baskets. The man distributes the 50 eggs into two baskets and carries to the city. Each basket will have 25 eggs. The money he can get from selling the eggs will be as below:
Possibility                    Eggs Safe Eggs Broken Profit (Rs)
2 baskets safe                50             0              100
1 basket drops,1 safe     25             25              50
2 baskets drop                0              50              0


3rd scenario: put all the eggs in 5 baskets. The man distributes the 50 eggs in five baskets and carries to the city. Each basket will have 10 eggs. The money he can get from selling the eggs will be as below:
Possibility                   Eggs Safe Eggs Broken Profit (Rs)
5 baskets safe              50             0              100
1 basket drops,4 safe    40             10              80
2 baskets drop,3 safe    30             20              60
3 baskets drop,2 safe    20             30              40
4 baskets drop,1 safe    10             40              20
5 baskets drop               0              50               0


Below is the summary of the above three scenarios:
Scenario No  Profit That Can be earned (Rs)
1st scenario           0 / 100
2nd scenario       0 / 50/ 100
3rd scenario    0/ 20/ 40/ 60/ 80/ 100


In the 1st scenario, which is to put all the eggs in one basket, the man can either get Rs100 or nothing at all. In 2nd scenario, in addition to Rs 100 or Nil, the man also has the possibility of getting Rs 50. In 3rd scenario, the man can get Rs 100 or Rs 80 or Rs 60 or Rs 40 or Rs 20 or nothing.
So, which scenario do you think is the riskiest? Obviously, 1st scenario because you just cannot afford to drop the basket. In other scenarios, you may get something if you drop one or more baskets.
Do you now know why people like to say do not put all your eggs in one basket!
Remember, the main purpose of diversification is to reduce investment risks to your money as some risks can be diversified away.
[Adapted from a web-post on www.ericfinance.com]

Sunday, March 25, 2012

State Bank of India 5-Year Tax Saving FDs: Truth Told - Ashwathama Style!!

Take a 5-year Bank Fixed Deposit (FD) in the largest bank in India and get interest upto 18.55% per annum. Too good to be true – State Bank of India says so! The offering is:-

Put in Rs 10,000 in a 5-year FD with the bank at 9.25% per annum to get back Rs 15,797/- after 5 years. However, since you get a tax saving of Rs 3090 under Income Tax Section 80C, assuming a tax bracket of 30%, your net invested amount is actually Rs 6910/-. Thus, getting back Rs 15,797/- on an investment of Rs 6910/- after 5 years amounts to an annualised return of 17.77%. (Similar calculations for Senior Citizens, who get an interest of 9.75% amounts to a return of 18.55%!!)
Is it true? Can an almost risk-free investment give you 17.77% return?
If so, why does anybody need to invest into anything else ever....?
We have heard of people who have put in substantial amount of their money in such FDs, taking the contents of the advertisement to be the whole truth.
Actually, State Bank of India’s advertisement is Truth - Ashwathama style! What it does not reveal to you is the following:-
1. When the FD matures after 5 years, you would have to pay tax on it as per your tax slab. If you are in 30% slab now (the advertisement calculations are done on this tax slab) and continue to remain so, then your interest gain of Rs 5797/- would get reduced to Rs 4005/- due to a tax liability of Rs 1791.27.
2. It presupposes that you have not already used up your tax-saving limit of Rs 1 Lakh under Income Tax Section 80C. This is the same section under which you claim your major deductions for Provident Fund (PPF / EPF / DSOPF / Company PF), NSC, Life Insurance Policies’ premium (including AGIF/AFGIS/NGIS), children tuition fees and principal part of your Home Loan. If you are already in 30% bracket (or even 20% bracket), there is very less likelihood that you would not have already exhausted this Rs 1 Lakh limit under IT Sec 80C.
If the above two conditions apply to you, then, with SBI paying you 9.25% interest, your post-tax returns after 5 years would actually amount to a mere 6.96% per annum only and not the fancy 17.77% being advertised by SBI!! Also remember that in this type of tax-saving FDs, there is no facility of premature withdrawal, even with penalty.
In fact, there are much better ways to save tax under IT Sec 80C, like Provident Fund, Equity Linked Savings Schemes of Mutual Funds etc, than these FDs, notwithstanding the slick advertising.
If instead of 30% tax bracket, you are in 20% or even 10% tax bracket, but have used up your Rs 1 Lakh limit of IT Sec 80C, your actual post-tax returns after 5 years would still be only 7.88% and 8.75% per annum respectively.

Moral of the Story: It is YOUR hard-earned money. Consider all the possible angles or consult an unbiased Financial Advisor before you make any major financial investments. Look before you leap is the mantra!