Invest directly in MF and save commission.

As always, Mutual fund Sahi hai has come up with another beautiful advertisement promoting direct investment in mutual fund, obviously with a caution "If you have knowledge of MF" and a disclaimer at the end.

It is a kind of ad which promotes to buy a toothpaste which you don't need to get a toothbrush free.

Have you ever thought why Virat Kohli or any of the best players inspite of being best, needs a coach. Does coach teaches them how to play, absolutely not.

Biggest role a coach plays is to guide them through their ups and downs, specially when they are performing well, that is the time they are prone to commit big mistake and hand holding them during lows.

Coach can help to see possibilities which you can't and they will make you stay focused on preparing and executing to meet the goal. They act as the lighthouse which is stationary and secure and provides a beacon to direct when you lose focus.

Investing or selecting a fund to invest in MF is not a big deal, but to stay focused and being rationale is.

That is where advisor comes handy.

A media house promoted platform is also publishing full page advertisement comparing extra money generated in 25 years, if invested directly or through MF distributor.

But the question of comparison arises if you invested for 25 years. Who will ensure, handhold and help you to make that journey of 25 years smooth.

Just seatback for a while and think whatever worth you are at today, was it possible to reach, if you wouldn't had an advisor.

*So don't be "Penny wise pound foolish".*

Just one right advise of advisor is worth much then saving few bucks by experimenting yourself.

Have a great weekend.

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

No IPL or Politics for us

The most hot topic of discussion or time-pass these days is IPL and politics.

Normally, a player have limited career. Inspite of being in form they get retired in late 30's or many a times even in mid 20's. Think of a person getting retired in 30's and kind of retirement planning he would require to live atleast 50-60 years.

Atleast for cricketers IPL came as the biggest saviour to boost their career and delay retirement.

Similar, is the case with politicians, they hardly retire. If retirement is enforced even at age of 91 years they make a headline.😜

Most of us are not a cricketer or politician or an actor, but luckily our career graph is much longer.

In the era of fast changing technology and being one of the youngest country, we might not have option to delay our retirement. As our job might become obsolete or will be taken away by an youngster.

*Skip one match of IPL or hot debate of prime time and plan for your retirement corpus judiciously during this working years, we won't have any IPL or political career to support us.*

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

Storms are inevitable

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Summer is next door, when it comes brings sand/dust storm with it. Sandstorms usually arrives suddenly in the form of advancing wall of dust and debris may be kms long and several feet high.

They strike with little warning, but best thing is they don't last long. If not handled properly It may damage our eyes, lungs or even result in big accidents.

Similar is the case with investing. Here are also Storms of uncertainty and volatility keeps striking irrespective of summer or monsoon in India, It will strike even if temperature rises in U.S.,North Korea, Europe,China or middle east.

Whenever, such storm of news flows, instead of being reactive we should look at our needs, goals and ask big question "does it  have any implication on my financial future."

If planned properly, you can sail through storm easily and reach financial destination without  being hurt avoiding  accidents.

So, don't make news to be *basis* of your investment decision.

Have a great weekend.

Regards,
Raj Talati

Lesson I learnt from a Mango farmer

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Just after 12-14 months of planting mango plant, if it's well grafted plant flower will start coming during the season, but first thing they do is pluck off the flowers.Next season again flower comes and are again taken off. They keep doing like this for few years. They don't let that flower to bear the fruit.

They will wait for plant to grow because they know if fruit starts coming out of that plant it would never grow to a full-fledged tree. It will not bear as much fruit as it could, if it bears too early.

This is what an investor must learn from farmer's wisdom, don't try to leave too early. This is the time to think about future as well and for bigger goals, liabilities and expenses in life.

So together with living in today, also *"plan for future as _that is the place you are going to spend most of your life._*"

If you start living too early, you might not be able to live a full-fledged life.

We have built habit of spending without planning, *since 2011 India's household savings has fallen from 26.1% to 16.3% of GDP.*

*Most surprising part is, in past consecutive 6 years personal consumption expenditure has outgrown household income. That means we are spending much more than our earnings.*

So this weekend let's learn and implement some of farmer's wisdom for creating a secured and safe future.

Have a rocking weekend.

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

Was part of Panel discussion for knowledge series on debt conducted by Reliance MF in association with Cafemutual

Easiest way to evaluate Equities.

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Most of the investors during fall in equity markets become sceptical about it and about future of their investments.

I, suggest an easy 3 step decision making process which will be handy to decide whether you should hold on to equities or come out of it.

*1) Just ask yourself how you see our countries _economic_ future as far as income, spending, infrastructure, development, savings, education, power etc etc...*

If you have a conviction it is going to be *better or much better* compared to today. Then, here comes result of first test that you may continue with your equity investments or make fresh allocations as well.

*2) How Much time according to you it will  take to see few or all of above changes to happen. If answer is 3,5,10 or 15 years, then here comes answer for your time horizon to invest in equities.*

Let's say you feel there are challenges in short term due political uncertainty, geopolitical issues, crude, Inflation, current account deficit, fiscal deficit, imports, depreciating currency etc... but you are sure that we will be well off or _atleast better_ in 5 years then here comes your horizon to look for equity investing i.e 5 years.  If your assumption is 10 years then for you it would be 10 years.

But for few of you who feels nothing will change or economy will go in doldrums, then *please please* stay away from equities.

*3) Now, match your goals which you have tagged to equities with above horizon and stop worrying about day to day market movement.*

Have worry free weekends.

*_Wish you all happy and prosperous Diwali and New year._*

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

Financial literacy seminar conducted at SNDT College, Vadodara

Future is product of preferences made today.

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Recently we conducted an Investor awareness program for investors of our association members. We had a capacity of 500 pax.

We invited India's renowned speaker Mr.Krishan Sharma and event was organised at one of the best venue i.e. INOX, Vadodara with food.

Only guests who confirmed their availability, were invited. To take care of last moment cancellation due to some emergencies or unavoidable situation we distributed additional 7% invites.

Each one of us worked really hard to ensure it's packed to capacity.

But to our surprise only 65% of investor turned up out of total invitees.

*I was wondering if we had invited similar no. of guests at same venue for screening of movie _"Badhai ho"_ which was running in adjacent screen, I am sure situation would have been totally different."*

First of all we would have got full capacity by may be calling only 700 pax instead of making over 3000 calls. Secondly, provisioning of 7% for last moment cancellation had to be brought down to 1-2%.

We all want to have entertainment in life so nothing wrong with it.But awareness, knowledge and preparing for future is equally important..

I, always believe majority of Investor's considers financial planning as last priority. Amongst few who are conscious they also have big gap in decision making and implementation or may be goes out of their focus in few years.

*Remember "Future is not decided by how much we earn, but by how we manage it."*

*This weekend give a serious thought and make financial planning atleast your 4rth preference in life.(After may be job, family and entertainment).*

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

*Is there a Big billion sale in Indian Equity markets too??🤔🤔🤔*

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Word *Sale* made me puzzled of what it actually means.

As per dictionary Sale means "Period during which goods are sold at a discount to it's MRP (Maximum retail price)."

*The big question is who decides an MRP and does it remain same during the lifetime of the product. _Obviously no_. It keeps on increasing or decreasing depending on seller's wish.*

So only aspect which decides *sale* is real or not is the *value* we get against such *discounted products.*

That is the reason 90% (In many a cases 100%) of shopping my wife does online, goes for a return. (Thanks to free return policy😜😜). Reason is inspite of buying it in a sale she doesn't find value and that shows how word "Sale" is being manipulated by seller's.

Similarly, I have been getting lot of forwards from advisors as well as investor's regarding Big Billion sale going on in Indian Equity Market.

Big question strikes me again can this be termed as sale.May be "Yes" reference to historical prices, as it is available at big discount. *But what about value against the price we will be paying even now.*

Remember "The markets is most intelligent and dumbest at times". It's our job to find when it is behaving as a dumb (Opportunity) and when intelligent (Safety).

Looking at present macros like ; Crude price, Depreciation of Rupee, Increasing interest rate, Challenges with fiscal prudence, current account  deficit, political uncertainty, trade war etc etc, I don't think market is behaving like a dumb at all.

Actually, It was running much ahead of fundamentals due to heavy liquidity and Tina effect (there is no alternative).

*"Market can remain irrational for longer than you can remain solvent - John Keynes."*

*So do not try to leverage your equities looking at "Sale" even now and stick to asset allocation.*

Remember, it doesn't mean stopping SIP's these are the times it is best suited for.

Have a great weekend.

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

Your Outlook decides your fate

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Once a wise man was taken to a construction site. He was blindfolded and given a task of identifying what job 3 people standing in front of him do, by just asking one question.

He thought for a while and asked each one of them "What does you do at this site".

First one replied I am laying bricks, second one replied building a wall and third one *I am building a beautiful House 🏠.*

For same question there were totally different reply *although all of them doing the same job.* Which also explains reason for kind of income they earn.

Same is true with investors, there are the one's who just enters the market to trade, other set of people who speculate or follow herd mentality enters the market to make quick gains and very few comes with clearcut vision of *building a beautiful House 🏠.(Wealth creation or achieving a long term goal.)*

So the gains are dependent on outlook or purpose either lay a brick(trader and have small gains), build a wall(speculator - gains when calls go right and lose when it's wrong) or can be an investor who dreams, lay down a plan and work for ultimate final goal ignoring intermittent hick ups.

*This week just ignore noise around, think of your goal and  stay committed, everything else will automatically fall in place(But ensure you goals are long term).*

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

"Experience should define your age and not no. of years".

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Just watching an advertisement of Flipkart which defies age related stereotypes.(Link : https://youtu.be/3WFGHCqC_1c ) Very often we deny ourselves opportunities and experiences because we are being afraid of failed or judged by others.

Do we stop driving vehicle after an accident or do we stop living life because of a big failure.Obviously no, rather *we count it as an experience and learn lessons for future to be more wiser.*

But, why is it that when when it comes to investing we consider our mistake as permanent. If we dig dipper into it to find reasons, *It can make us wiser investor  to be benefited out of it next time instead of falling prey to it.*

The best example is recent turmoil in mid and small cap segment which *would have been sensed by any experienced advisor more then a year back.*

There were investors who kept pumping money by ignoring valuations dazzled with charts, returns and growth shown by newspaper,NFO's, business channels and even business hungry distributors.

So, there is nothing wrong in investing in equities or even mid and small cap stocks or companies. But try to be wiser with your experiences instead of moving away.

*_Financial Advisor wisdom not only comes with the knowledge and experience he have, but is much wiser because of lessons learned from mistakes done in past._*

*So you can be wiser by experiencing mistakes yourself or can become one by hiring a financial advisor.*

Have a great weekend

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

Today's Sandesh Newspaper

"Defining true friendship"

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Sorry for using true before friendship, I believe it's granted that friendship is always true. But I was digging little hard how can we define it. I came out with following criteria.

It's like you understand each other by just looking or talking each other and many a times even without talking.

They will abuse you, fight you, pull your leg, try to do everything to irritate you and even calling with wierd names. (My friends can understand which names I am pointing to😜). *There is only one relation where you can be yourself and are least bothered what others think because of your social, financial or even marital status.*

*_They will forget thousands of reasons which can break it but don't need one reason to make it everlasting._*

It's difficult to have both quality of a true friend and wisdom as well as professional qualification in a financial planner.  *But there are some basics which a financial planner should possess like: being Loyal,Good, helpful, understanding, truthful, trustworthy, supportive, always with you, intelligent and with little sense of humour.*

*_Like friends they should never judge you, help to avoid mistakes, take informed decision, guide and continuously counsel for a successful financial future._*

"If you are really rich can you find an hour a week for your friends." -  P.V.Subramanayam

Take some time out with  friends this weekend to make it wonderful.

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

Every seat is a Hot Seat

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Most of the time seating at home and playing "KBC along" is totally different then  being a contestant. In playing along you have hardly anything to loose. So you play it for fun, but if you get a chance to play in front of Big B, situation might be totally different. Inspite of knowing an answer just in pressure you go for a lifeline or give a wrong answer.

A wrong answer before second leg won't affect much, but any wrong answer after 2nd stage of Rs.320000 comes with a big cost. That might be the reason many contestants instead of trying a sure guess to double prize money, settles  down may be for 12.50 or 25 or 50 lakhs, as a wrong answer at this stage can bring them down to Rs.360000.

*The most reliable and consistent lifeline at this stage of game is expert advice*. There might be cases when they would say sorry for not knowing the answer *but I have hardly come across an instance when they went wrong. The irony is you can use this lifeline only once.*

Thank god!  there is no such limitation in real life.You can have a reliable advisor, specially in financial planning who will always be there to help and guide you to path of success.

*In absence of good advisor most of the time investors makes big mistakes time and again, to settle for a lower value (3.60 lakhs).They needs to make big compromises later in life instead of making it bigger and better.(may be 50 lakh, 1 crore or even a jackpot).*

Advisor helps to avoid mistakes and handholds you in tough times to achieve goals comfortably.

*Good things in life comes with a price, but value and wisdom comes with it is - _priceless._* Only one right advise can make good of cost paid during lifetime.

*So don't be Pennywise and pound foolish.*

Have a great weekend with Bappa.
*Ganpati Bappa Moriya*

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

*Time to reset expectations*

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

We are again entering election season, whereby every political leader or party will try to divert attention from real issues and divide us on the basis of religion and casteism.

"Rome was not built in a day and India is an under construction country, thodi dhul to udegi". We are at an inflection point and need to overcome such pity issues. *It's time to reset expectations and concentrate on bigger issues viz employment and housing for all, better cleanliness and hygiene, medical facilities, education, infrastructure etc.*

Similarly, I think it's time for investors to reset their expectation from equity investing as well.

Historically, index has given an average return of 15% and we assume it as an standard for calculating future returns for financial planning.

But, we need to understand logic behind the number 15%. Historically we have seen average inflation of 8-9% and equity generated real return of 6% (15%-9%) (net of inflation).

Now as we know RBI/MPC stated objective to keep inflation in 4% +/-2% range.

If we add real return of 6% then figure of 11-12% will be genuine return expectation from equity over a long term.

Secondly, enough liquidity is flowing in equity market due to TINA effect (there is no alternative for investment) making it more and more costlier, so chances of making additional brownie point there is also limited.

*So, It's time to reset return expectations and alter your financial plan, otherwise chances are high that you might end up way short of required amount.*

Have a fantastic weekend.

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

What is the guarantee of Guarantor

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Recently, I come across an advertisement wherein a company has put big signboards around the city guaranting income for 9 years @9%, *by purchasing a pre leased commercial property through them.*

On website it's mentioned that they lease property to IT companies. Also occupancy or non occupancy doesn't impact Investors return of 9%.

As a financial planner when I digged into the offer found following points to ponder for investors, before falling prey to it :

1) Price of property is decided by them: Even in this bearish phase they dictate their price and inflate it, making it costlier for investor.

2) Rate of return@9% is not adjusted for inflation. Assuming even 6% inflation your return would be meagre 3% from very next year and will keep going down with every passing year. After 6 years effective real return would be negative.

3) Income tax on rental income : Obviously person buying such a costly property must be falling in top tax bracket.So if accounted for tax their is hardly any income.

4) Maintenance and wear and tear.

5) Property tax - Being a commercial property taxes are going to be high.

6) They are giving post dated cheques as a guarantee for rent.PDC's really😖😖

*_The big question is what is the guarantee of Guarantor._*

*With a little common sense, a little patience, and a little sense of humour you can live well on this planet - W.Somerset Maugham*

When we all know rental yields are in the range of 3-4% then why we fall for offers which is *too good to be true.*

It always helps to have a professional by you side, who can guide,analyse pros and cons and help you take a informed decision.

*So next time whenever see such lucrative offers think twice before investing or contact a financial advisor to help you with.*

Have a rocking weekend.

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com

Advisor Zaruri hai to ensure investment sahi hai..

Investoshashtra !!!📜📜📜
इनवेस्टोशास्त्र !!!📜📜📜

Few days back I was watching again movie "PK" another excellence featuring Amir.

In a sequence he explains how same word "Achha hai" have different meaning, the way it is spoken..

"Yaha Bolte kuch aur hai matlab kuch aur nikalta hain, ek hi Shabd ke char char matlab hai...if you shake your head and say Achha is different then said with eyes wide open, if spoken loudly is different from spoken softly.."

Similarly, in investments products or asset classes are same but for every investor it carries different meaning..

A PPF deposit for businessman is different from an employee, it's different for a young graduate then a married couple or couple with kids. It's different for one who has bigger future needs with lesser income, from one who is financially free.

So investment in Mutual fund/ PPF/ Insurance/ Real Estate/ FD/ Gold is Sahi hai.... but advisor bahut zaroori hai to decide and guide which investment and for whom."

So this weekend instead of deciding which product "Achha hai" and end up with an alien (PK😉)👽 try to find kaunsa advisor Achhaaa hai☺☺.

Regards,
Raj Talati
www.rajtalati-abminvestment.blogspot.com