IS IT NECESSARY TO HAVE INVESTMENT GOALS ?

Yes ?  No ??  or  Dont Know may be the response ,  Right?

Some of you may feel that this question is important while some of you may feel this question is not important while some others may feel what is so big to discuss about it eventhough the answer is yes or no .

I would like to draw your attention to a simple hypothetical case .
(which usually happens in our financial life).

Assume there are two sailors  AKASH AND PRAKASH.

AKASH is given a Ship loaded with all the food and medicines which shall last him for 5 years.
is asked to sail for 5 years but is not given any goal. AKASH directly enters the ocean .

PRAKASH is also given a ship loaded with all the food and medicines which shall last him for 5 years.
                                                                       But
PRAKASH discusses the situation with experienced marine advisors,
decides where he should go,how much distance he shall cover in which direction in how much time and what he shall achieve by going in a particular direction,what are the possible risks of storms and the measures he may have to take to face them etc.

Who do you feel would be in a better position when they are back to the shore ?

Friends I am by no means suggesting that whether one should be like  AKASH or PRAKASH ?
I only wish to leave a point to for you to ponder for yourself what
would be your way of sailing ? AKASH or  PRAKASH.

If you are leading your life without having properly mentioned  financial goals arent you
on for sailing the financial sea like AKASH where COVID  like storms  can damage your financial
journey and  add so much stress to destabilise your personal life ?

If you wish to lead your life like PRAKASH ,then also storms shall be there
but you shall face them well prepared with better ammunition and come out as a winner and continue to lead your personal life happily.


What kind of Financial goals one have ?
Well we all have financial goals , only thing we are sometimes not aware or we neglect it as they are likely to occur on a far off point in our time period.

The goals can be

1] Emergency fund
2] Child education/marriage planning
3] Vacation planning
4] Wealth creation
5] Retirement planning



We at AUM Financial Consultants help you to properly formulate your goals and also offer you tailor made solutions to achieve them with proper tracking them at regular intervals.

You can also link your investments to your goals in our website
www.aumfinancialconsultants.com  and track it your self online.

In case you wish to lead a well planned journey like PRAKASH , pl do get in touch with us by email  at  vivekmulay@gmail.com.

We can meet over skype and discuss further OR click  here  to contact us

Vivek Mulay

LIQUID MUTUAL FUND ACCOUNT - PAWNS OF INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

Friends  I am sure  almost  all are aware  that there exists a liquid fund amongst mutual funds.

For the ones who are not aware of - Liquid funds  are funds for the very short term goals where fast liquidity is necessary with lowest risk.

They are like PAWNS IN CHESS.

Just like a PAWN can save a King from being checkmated in chess , these liquid funds can save a person during financial crisis.

The purpose of this  fund  is  emergency  funding  and not wealth creation.

Friends  4-5  months back we never knew such a thing like Corona can upset our lives to such a extent.

One doesnt know when the event can happen and when the funds would be required  hence it is called as  EMERGENCY Fund.

The investment done by the fund in this portfolio  is in highly safe and secured instruments which does not contain equity at all. 

One can also invest small sums in liquid funds.

EVERYTIME YOU ADD MONEY IN LIQUID FUND  REMEMBER YOU (WHO IS THE KING OF CHESS) ARE  GETTING SAFE AND STRONG FINANCIALLY. 

How much should I have in liquid funds ?

Approximately the funds reqd by you for next 1 year , assuming income is  nil for for next 1 year.

You can also invest and view the savings done by you online on our website www.aumfinancialconsultants.com

We can meet over skype and discuss further OR click  here  to contact us

SIMPLICITY IS THE NAME OF THE GAME

Very often investors ask this question , I have 5 lakhs where should I invest ?

My simple suggestion is pl answer these 3 questions to yourself first before deciding on any product, scheme , asset class etc.

1] What is my goal ?
The goal can be earning regular returns without taking risks ,
earning higher returns by taking risks , accumulating a corpus for retirement or childs education , wealth creation etc.

2] What is the time horizon I wish to keep the money invested?
The answer to this depends on the goal
If the goal is short term - 1-3 years
If the goal is medium term - 3-7 years
If the goal is long term - 7-15 years plus.

3] What is my risk appetite /
Am  I ok with the volatility of the markets ? Yes/No
If yes then upto what levels ?
Am I ok for getting high returns even if portfolio shows a volatility of
-10 %,-20%,-30% . ? or
I prefer very very low volatility on downside say max -1 % , but doesnt mind the returns are limited.

Once the answers to these questions are crystal clear then comes the asset class and scheme selection into picture which is then a consultants skill set to suggest the appropriate asset class and scheme so that the investor achieves his investment goal smoothly.

The focus should be on achieving the goal and not on investing in a particular scheme.

At AUM Financial Consultants we insist on

1] goal based investments.
2] tracking those investments at periodic intervals
3] changing and reallocating the asset class and schemes if reqd only .

Happy Investing !

We can meet over skype and discuss further OR click  here  to contact us

Investment Factors

Investment Factors

Friends let us  start the journey to the fascinating world  of  wealth creation through investments.

I feel there are 2 basic  Investment Factors  which  further have sub factors.

A]  Internal Factors

•  Neutral Mindset
•  Discipline
•  Willingness to learn new things
•  Unbiased approach while evaluating any new investment proposal.
•  Above all a passion to create wealth.

Internal factors needs to be developed by one himself by reading appropriate books,articles.  

B] External Factors

     Macro Factors

    There are macro factors like government policies,inflation,crude,

           political stability,interest rates etc.

          These cannot be changed by any individual .

    One only has to accept them and perform in the given conditions. 

  Investment Products

So lets try to understand how we can develop our knowledge about the products which are given to us and play them right in the given set of macro factors.

First of all let us understand the basic difference between the investment products.
Investment products can be classified into 2 categories.
Physical assets and Financial Assets.

Physical Assets	Financial Assets
Real Estate , Gold, Silver Poor transparency Poor liquidity Fluctuating returns High maintenance cost Not tax efficient	Equity Shares, Fixed Income Securities, Mutual Funds. Highly transparent Highly liquid Depends upon the instrument Low  maintenance cost Equity and Mutual Funds are tax efficient

Now let us understand the Financial Assets

1] Equity Shares

For simplicity purpose

Assume a company issues 100 shares of Rupees 10 each and raises a capital of Rs 1000/- to do business. You purchase 10 shares by investing 100 Rupees.

This means you are owner of the co to the extent of your share capital in the company.

If the company makes progress your share  appreciates , your dividend income goes up etc. Similarly if the company does not progress you stand to make losses.

Essentially it means when  you own equity shares you own the company to the extent of your capital.

You take a risk on the performance of the company .The returns on your investment can be high or low or even losses are possible.

Equity is all about owning a business. It is a good instrument for creating wealth.

B]  Fixed Income Instruments also known as Debt Instruments

Fixed Income Instruments are all about lending your capital to the borrower at a predetermined  fixed rate of interest also called as coupon for a fixed tenure and the borrower returns the capital back after the tenure is over.

The interest rates are determined by the market forces like inflation, demand and supply etc credit rating of borrower etc.

The risk here is comparatively very less (depends upon the borrower) and the returns are predecided , which are in line with inflation.

This is a good instrument for savings, short to medium term goals and protecting the  capital  created through equity investment.

C] Mutual Funds

Equity investment carries risk and hence it is very difficult to decide which cos to invest .

Similarly there is also some element of risk in fixed income investment  like counter party risk , interest rate risk,  etc.

So there is a option of Mutual Funds where the funds are handled by experts in the particular asset class and the investor invests into the units of mutual fund scheme.

Here also there a lot of schemes in each asset class and to decide which scheme is suitable to  the investor it is better to consult a financial advisor.

The benefits of mutual funds are

1) Professional Management
Fund managers monitor market and economic trends  and analyze securities in order to make informed investment decisions.

2) Diversification – Mutual Funds offer investors an opportunity to diversify across assets depending on their investment needs.

3) Liquidity   -(Subject to no lock in )
Investors can sell their units on any business day and receive the current market value of their investments within a  short period.

4) Affordability
The minimum initial  investment for a mutual fund is fairly low for most schemes (as low as Rupees 500/- for most schemes)

5) Convenience
Mutual Funds are highly convenient  as the investor can make  lumpsum investments, monthly investments, automatic withdrawal plans, automatic reinvestment of dividends etc.

6) Various Investment options
There are various investment options in Mutual Funds like equity funds, debt funds, hybrid funds, money market funds, gold funds etc.

7) Simplicity
Mutual Funds provide you with detailed reports and  statements that makes record keeping simple.

8) Tax Benefits
The income tax act provides various tax benefits  on returns earned from investment in mutual funds.

Following are some of the Basic Investment rules for success and achieving financial independence 

In my next article we shall discuss the techniques of investing .

Regards

Vivek R Mulay
AUM Financial Consultants
Office no 18 , Shreeram Complex , Model Colony,
Shivajinagar, Pune - 411016
M-9822107757
vivekmulay@gmail.com
www.aumfinancialconsultants.com

To contact us you may click here

Why Is Investing necessary ?

Investment Insight no 1  - Why Invest ?

What else can be a better reason for a logical mind to invest especially when it comes from a stalwart like Warren Buffet whose only business is to invest and the result is he is the 2nd wealthiest person in the world.

This is to give an idea of where can a successful investor reach in life.

But let's keep aside the big story and concentrate on why even in our daily life we need to save and invest?

I would like to mention here that Saving is different from Investing.

Saving is done with a short period in mind for attending short term cashflow requirements and hence return is more or less in line with inflation.

Investing is with a longer time horizon to achieve bigger financial goals with a focus to beat inflation and create wealth.


Friends first let me take you to the 3 basic factors required for saving and investing.

1] Money 
2] Instrument to invest
3] Time to stay invested.

Now comes the most interesting aspect of investing phenomena.

1] Money - can be unlimited, depends on how much you earn  and  also can be recurringly earned- Infinite

2] Instrument to invest - are always available in plenty and can be manufactured in plenty in the days to come by financial institutions - Infinite

3] Time to stay invested - Cannot be manufactured as everyone has limited time and by the passing of each day , one is lesser by one day to invest.- Finite

So there are 2 infinite factors and one finite factor.

Now, what is more important?
Obviously, finite factor is most important as it is limited.

The most important point is not to allow time to pass by without using it to invest.

Now you may say that unless money is there to invest what use is the time?
So we are talking about only those who are already earning money.

Now even after earning money people neglect to invest and allow the money to lie in savings bank accounts or in bank Fixed Deposits?

So friends Investment is a financial sport and in every sport, there are following 
points which we need to take note of

1] Rules of the game
2] Challenges of the game
3] Right technique and Right temperament.
4] A coach


A good coach takes care of the first three and also gives the necessary handholding.

A person who wants to get into the game without the coach has to manage the first three himself.

e,g lets talk about cricket

Rules of the game are known beforehand but the challenges keep changing 
in every match, so you need a coach to constantly guide you on the technique, temperament, and also physical fitness.
The work of the coach is before the match, during the match, and also after the match for the next match.

The coach can guide better because he observes the entire game and is an intense observer during the match and is doing nothing else than observing.

The point I am trying to make here is if you are playing the Investment Sport then 
it's better you have a proper qualified Financial Advisor as a coach.



Now coming to challenge?
The biggest challenge in Investment Sport  is INFLATION  

Inflation is the rise in the prices of goods and services.
e.g the rate of inflation is 6 % p.a.
Now, what does it mean?
It means that the goods costing rs 100 today will cost 106 Rs 1 year later.  
This means that 100 Rs you have today should become a minimum of 106 rs after 1 year to purchase the same goods.
Now by remaining in savings bank it becomes 103.50 
This means the wealth has depleted by Rs (106-103.50 )=2.50 Rs
This is the cost of not investing.
on 1 lac rs, it becomes rs 2500/- 
The same money can be invested in a liquid fund which will at least earn the inflation return.
The effect is much larger in a 20 year period. 

So the  Insight is 

1] Do not allow money to lie idle in the Savings bank account.
    Always invest in the liquid fund for a short term requirement

2] Always have a coach.

I hope you enjoyed this article, would request your feedback.
I shall share more insights in my further articles on Investment Insights.

Vivek Mulay
AUM Financial Consultants
vivekmulay@gmail.com
M-9822107757

To contact us you may click here