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Thursday, May 28, 2015

8 Mistakes that could serve you a tax notice

Income Tax authorities are on an overdrive. There are collection and compliance targets that they need to meet. Tax authorities now have integrated databases on taxpayers and can track almost all financial transactions of an individual. You are more likely to get an IT notice now, than ever before. Find out some of the key reasons why you could be served an IT notice, and take pro-active steps to avoid them...Read on..

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Time is the essence : Take quick decisions

Many times in life, we are afraid of taking a decision for the fear of taking a wrong one. But here is the fact. No decision is right or wrong, as long as you decide within a reasonable time frame. On the other hand, a delayed decision leaves you mostly on the losing side - because more than the value of your decision, you lose the most important ingredient, which is Time
Here is what my daughter learnt last week...Read on...

"Dad, I am not sure whether I should join this course?"

"Make an objective decision. Look at the pros and cons, and decide." I advised. "Is there way way I can help you?"

"I mean, this course is in addition to my school studies - which would mean extra burden on me, and probably an impact on my excellent performance in school. But this course also gives me an edge for IIT preparation later...So, I am not sure what is the right thing to do." 
Her concern was valid. It was decision time.

"Sleep over it tonight, and take a call tomorrow morning." I advised yet again, thinking the problem to be simple enough.

And the next morning.....

"I am still disturbed Dad, I cannot decide. I dont want to lag in school studies and I dont want to miss this course either."

Inability to take a decision in our day to day life is one of the major reasons for happiness leakage. My lovely innocent daughter remained disturbed for many days. She was not ready to let go the advantage she was likely to get from joining the course. At the same time, she was worried that her top status in school might get challenged as her focus would be diverted to this new course. 
This paradox continued for many days.

Seeing a sullen face, I approached her once again, 
"What happened dear? Can I help you in any way?"

"The same thing Dad, I don't know what is the right decision for me."

"OK, let me share a story with you. Maybe this will help you get the right perspective. The decision will still be yours to take."

"OK Dad"

"Once, there was a person travelling by ship on a pretty long journey. Unfortunately, during the middle of the journey, the ship suffered a setback and hit something below the water surface. Very soon, it started to sink. The person got worried and started seeking help desperately. He used SOS, air shots, radio calls and everything that he could possibly do. Nothing materialised. Now, the ship was about to sink, and he was counting his last few moments. He remembered his family, and then he remembered GOD. He thought of asking God's help as a last resort.
And HE did help. As his ship was about to completely sink, he saw two mini boats (one mini boat can carry only 1-2 people) very near to his sinking ship. He grabbed the opportunity, immediately jumped in the water and swam towards those two boats. This was a real blessing, he thought. 
God gave him not one but two boats. He thanked God, and took control of those 2 boats. 
Since he did not have any ropes or other equipment with him, the only way he thought logical to control both the boats was to have one leg in each of them and sail them together.
Now, when he gave a closer look at the boats, he realised that they were not in a very good condition. One of them was rusted and had some water leaking in. The other one had a broken front. He realised that none of them would last long enough, and he immediately needed to do some repair work to make it to the shore.
In the middle of the sea, with 2 boats - one leg in each, he was thinking whether he should let one boat go. It was difficult to manage both the boats, but it was also important to have both with him - just in case one sinks or deteriorates in condition before he reaches to safety. 
On the other hand, it was becoming almost impossible for him to keep afloat with one foot in each of the boats. The tides were getting higher by the time. It was becoming difficult for him to balance himself with a feet in each boat. Can he let one of them go? But it could just turn out that the one he keeps may drown rather than the one he leaves. That was a big risk to his life. He was unable to take a decision.
He was not sure which one to leave. He kept thinking, till a big tide came and swept away the two boats, and since he was not perfectly balanced in an attempt to control both the boats, he fell right in the cold chilly water with both boats quite far from him now. He made an attempt to swim towards one of them, but could not. The chilly water took its toll, he felt unconscious and finally drowned."

"Ah !! That is a sad ending to the story Dad, but what does it tell us?"

"Many things....
1) He should have taken a decision to select one of the two boats and let the other one go. Keeping both the boats is equivalent to having none - and that's what actually happened in the end.
2) Taking no decision is also a decision that we take unconsciously - a decision with a high probability of a disastrous result.
3) Time is the essence. There is no right or wrong decision. If he had picked one boat within reasonable time frame, he could have perhaps been saved.

So, you can't have the cake and eat it too. You need to learn to give up one thing to take the other. There will always be pros and cons of every decision. There will always be situations where you would be unsure, but in all such cases, remember that time is the essence. The more time you lose, the poorer is your decision."

"Hmmm... Interesting interpretation Dad."

Inspired by the story, my daughter did finally take a decision, though she was unsure whether it was right or not. She decided to go ahead with the course in parallel to her school studies. Now that she had taken a decision, she needed to learn one more lesson.

"So, the story does not end here darling. Let us imagine that the person in the sea was able to take the decision to let go one boat. Now, he had only one boat. Risks were higher. There were obvious issues with the selected boat that needed immediate fix. But he continued to think whether he took the right decision or not. He was still confused as to whether the other boat would have been a better bet. It seemed too much work in this boat. Time was the essence again. He lost out yet again, and the boat which he was in, started to deteriorate in condition. Finally, he drowned along with the boat. Just before he drowned he thought to himself that perhaps his decision to chose this boat was wrong. May be, the other boat could have been a better bet. Really?"

"What has this part of the story to do with us Dad?"

"It has everything to do with us dear. Now that you have decided to join the course, you have to forget that there ever was a choice. The more time you waste in thinking about whether your decision was right or wrong, the worse are the consequences. You now got to stay focused on how to make your decision come out perfect, how to plan things in context of the decision that you have already taken. If the person in the sea had focused on repairing the boat that he decided to keep or thought of how to stay afloat in that boat, the end result may have been much better. Again, time was the essence."

"I got it Dad. What this tells me is that I need to make a plan of how am I going to justify my decision that I have taken. I must get into the details and make this decision work for me now, Right?"

"Bang on dear...That's the key. Decide Quickly, Time is the essence. Then make your decision work for you. Time is the essence yet again. In fact time is the only currency that makes sense in this world. I know people who stay on the borderline of taking a decision for years and decades together. They are losing out in search of the right decision. I am sure you are not."



The book Happiness Unlimited shows you many such lessons to lead a happier, contented life.

Cheers



Friday, May 22, 2015

Your EPF money will be invested in equity : Rebalance your portfolio

Not that you have any choice, but you should be aware that your corpus of Employee Provident Fund(EPF) (+VPF) which you have been accumulating over many years, is now going to be exposed to equity market. This move has its own merits and demerits. You must understand what's happening to your money, and you may also need to rebalance your portfolio to the extent of your money movement from a debt based investment (EPF) to equity based investment...read on...


Background
This has been a long standing move. Some financial analysts say that we are already 20 years late. Some feel that it is not wise to tweak the design of a fund which is designed for a safe and secure retirement. As we stand today, in all probabilities, this is now going to be a reality.

Options before the Finance Ministry
The Finance Ministry wants a small portion of the EPF corpus to be invested in stocks. Several options are being discussed in this regard
(1) One suggestion was for 1% of the estimated Rs 8,25,000 crore corpus of the EPF to be invested in stocks. That would mean an inflow of Rs 8,250 crore into the stock market.
(2) Another option is for 5% of incremental contributions to go into equities. This would mean an annual inflow of nearly Rs 3,500 crore into equities.
It is very likely that the second option would find favor, since that would be an ongoing annual injection into the equity market.

Impact of EPF money on Stock Market
Whichever option the government finally chooses, this may not really set the markets on fire. However, it will definitely have some impact on the overall returns of the 100% debt-based Provident Fund

What is the International Trend?
Globally, retirement funds are an important part of the economy. Tower Watson survey of 2015 indicates that seven large economies—Australia (51%), Canada (41%), Japan (33%), the US (44%), the UK (44%), the Netherlands (30%) and Switzerland (29%)—are investing a sizeable portion of their pension funds in the equity market. But these are all mature economies where returns from debt based investments is negligible at best.  Many pension funds have also gone bust after they put money in the stock market.

Merits of moving EPF money to Equity
  • NPS funds for central and state government employees, which invest 8-12% of their corpus in stocks, have outperformed the Provident Fund by a significant margin in the past five years. So, you can expect slightly better returns with equity being a part of EPF investment portfolio.
  • The current EPF return of 8.75% is not enough in these days of high costs. Equity exposure with all safeguards would generate higher returns in the long term
  • Most salaried employees have limited means to invest in stocks on their own, so EPF investing a small amount in equities will be good for them,
  • When the economy matures, interest rates of debt products will come down. Then you will have no option but to invest in equities to generate returns

Demerits of moving EPF money to Equity
  • The basic design of EPF was a stable long term corpus accumulation with decent returns. If someone was interested in high returns, there are always better investment tools like Mutual Funds and direct equity investments. Playing with the design of an investment tool is not something that is a very advisable move.
  • The investor (i.e. you) lose the freedom to decide whether you want to invest your money in equity or not. Your fixed money will be invested irrespective of your desires. You can only play a counter move to balance your portfolio by taking out an equivalent portion from your existing equity investments and moving them to debt, in case this move makes your portfolio skewed on to equity side.
  • The stock market is volatile, and one is never sure of the amount that one will actually get at the time of retirement. If the market is in a dull phase, there could be significant erosion of your equity component when you retire and money the most. Though the positive side is also true, but this volatility is what most investors fear - when it comes to retirement tools like EPF.

The fact is that you do not have a choice, unlike in other retirement and pension schemes like NPS, where you can chose the equity portion of your corpus (from 0% onwards). This forced equity investments seems to be a global trend primarily to bring positivity into the sagging equity market. Having said that, remember that if ever there was a long term debt based investment option which could be moved to equity, it has to be EPF.

Cheers

Manoj Arora
Freedom can buy you.... what money cannot !!

More on "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom"

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

It does not matter how much you have

It does not matter how much you have, what matters is what you do with what you have. 
Like me, you must have heard this umpteen times in your life. It was only until my daughter narrated me its real meaning, that I realised its true power.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

2 Years.....and counting !!

                                                       

This week, we completed 2 years of the launch of our first book "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom". Since the launch, it has been an amazingly satisfying journey in which thousands of lives have been positively impacted.
The feedback from all of you during the last 2 years, via one-one sessions, seminars, blogs, social media, Whats-App and emails has been extremely overwhelming and has been one of the key reasons that has kept us motivated to scale newer heights. 
Here is a glimpse of what all we were able to achieve with your support in these 2 years...
The journey is long, but beautiful and worth every moment, when all of us are together....Read on...


Success Stories

Nothing succeeds like success. Thousands of readers whose life have been elevated are a testimony to the grand success of the book. Why don't you read some stories here and try and create an uncomfortable zone around you which pushes you to strive for the extraordinary.

Blog
This was our first point of connect when we were trying to create a reader base. The blog took birth 12 months before the book launch. Today, we are so proud to have 2.17 Lac+ hits on our blog with 400+ registered subscribers. 
We are adding 300+ hits and 1 new subscriber every single day !!
So, if you have not yet subscribed to our weekly blog posts, you are missing out on key information that can help you amass great wealth. 
Click here to subscribe.

Facebook
We also launched our Facebook page just before the book launch.
Today, we have 500+ Facebook followers for this book. 
You can stay connected with us on Facebook by clicking here.

Whats-App

We introduced all our services through Whats-App. 
It is easy to stay connected, ask questions, and receive regular broadcasts by subscribing to our Whatsapp service. Of course, all free for anyone who is serious about financial freedom.
Click here to know how to subscribe.

Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Reddit, Linked-In, Quora, StumbleUpon ....
You can choose the mode you want to stay connected with us. You will find us everywhere you go. Whether it is Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Reddit, Linkedin, Quora, StumbleUpon - get connected, stay connected and continue to receive inputs, interact and get benefitted as we encourage you to come out of your comfort zone and make your life beautiful and worth living.
Visit our Official Website here to get connected on any of the social media channels.

Classle On line Learning
Almost 6 months back, we launched an online course on Wealth Management Principles and completed 2 successful batches until April 2015. 
The feedback from the freedom seekers who enrolled for these batches speaks for themselves. Read the course feedback here
Watch the introductory video here.

Media
Our articles related to financial freedom and wealth management have found prime space by multiple renowned magazines like 'The Week', 'Complete Well Being' and many others. 
Have a look at the list, and also feel free to read some of the articles from these magazines by clicking here.

Ranking and Rating
The book as always been receiving rave reviews since its launch. The biggest USP of the book is its simplicity, and when it comes in a subject like finance, it does make the life of a common man easier. 
Ranked 4.7 at Flipkart, Amazon and major online retail sites with close to 120+ 5-star ratings at Flipkart, Amazon and Goodreads, this book has been a reader's delight.
It continues to rank in Top 5 books in Personal Success and Top 10 Books in Finance ever since its launch.
Read the feedback at Flipkart, Amazon, Goodreads or Freedom Portal and do not hesitate to give your own feedback.

2 Year Journey of 'From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom'

Revision 2 of the Book
So much has changed in the last 2 years. 
With all your love and affection, we understand that we need to improve further to meet with the changing times. We will soon be coming up with Revision 2 of the book which will be much more simpler, smarter, crisper, and with enormous value adding features and practical tips just for you.
Wait for Revision 2 in the next few months.

Our mission moves forward..
And in the end, do remember that we are doing all this so that we can take our mission forward, elevate lives, and elevate this nation. 
Read our mission here.
Each one of you can get financially free and contribute to the building of this nation. 
We can help you get started on your journey - and of course, there are no charges, no constraints. 
Write to us at help@ratrace2freedom.com or visit http://www.manoj-arora.com for more details.


Cheers

Manoj Arora
Freedom can buy you.... what money cannot !!

More on "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom"

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Dots connect only in retrospect


Ever wondered why a particular unfavorable incident happened in your life? Why is that you are mostly at the receiving end of all unwanted incidents? Why are you the chosen one? What have you done wrong? Actually, there is nothing 'wrong' in the picture. It is just that you are unable to connect the dots today. It is just a matter of time before the picture reveals itself....read on...

Thursday, May 07, 2015

10 Financial Checkpoints in the new Financial Year

The financial year 2015-16 started more than a month back. Thats how fast time moves. Now that you are well into the new financial year, make sure you do not miss out checking on the following 10 (ten) financial checkpoints to have a financially rewarding year..read on..


1. Calculate RoI for the last year
Most people have no clue about how their portfolio is actually performing year on year. When I ask the so called 'financial wizards', they start talking about returns on real estate or stocks or mutual funds, as if Fixed Deposits, Recurring Deposits, Employee Provident Fund, Public Provident Fund etc were not a part of their portfolio. 
If you have had a chance to seek financial freedom advise from us, I am sure you would be tracking your entire portfolio, and not just a part of it. But even if you have not started tracking your portfolio, no problems. It is never too late, and it is not difficult. Just go to the Freedom Portal, login and download the Step 2 Template for Assets from the 'Dive in the book' section. Just fill in the current value of your assets and get going with your portfolio tracking. You should be able to find out what returns you are getting on your overall portfolio and how you can tweak your portfolio to balance it for risks and rewards.
Knowing RoI on your portfolio is a critical input for financial freedom planning and wealth generation.

2. Monitor Inflation Data
Understand what average inflation has been going on for the last 10 years. This is critical to make assumptions for your future expenses and calculating future value of money. Look at some of the inflation figures by clicking here. Make sure that you take a rolling average of inflation and adjust your financial plan and financial journey every year. A 2-3% variation in inflation can have a drastic impact on your wealth calculation.

3. Claim your Leave Travel Allowance (LTA)
When was the last time you claimed your LTA? 2014-2017 is the current block of 4 years wherein you can claim the LTA twice. If you missed out in 2014, dont miss it this year. Give your family the break they deserve, and save taxes as well. Read more about LTA / LTC claims and other rules by clicking here.

4. Re-balance your portfolio
If, over the last year, because of the bull run in the equity market, your stocks + mutual funds (equity component of your portfolio) has over shot the prescribed thumb rules for investment, you may want to re-balance your portfolio by moving some of the money from equity towards the debt portion. Read more about understanding the portfolio here.

5. Re-validate your Life Insurance needs
Most people get their life insurance done once and seem to believe that they are done for their life. Even more feel that life insurance is an investment and expect it to give decent returns apart from covering for risk. 
Life Insurance is a risk cover and should never be mixed with investment. Also, life insurance needs change with your changing financial profile, passive income, standard of living, liabilities, assets and so on. Get a financial planner re-assess your life insurance needs and bridge the gaps, if any. If there is any confusion, feel free to write to us.

6. Re-validate your health insurance needs
Health insurance needs also change with age, lifestyle, medical inflation and so many other environmental factors around you. Get a financial planner to re-assess your health insurance needs and bridge the gaps, if any. If there is any confusion, feel free to write to us.

7. Start investing in Section 80C right now
Most often, we invest and save for saving taxes. While we must get smarter in saving taxes, investments should not be driven primarily by tax savings. The best way to counter this psychological human behaviour is to save taxes at the beginning of the year rather than leave it for the last minute rush at the end of the financial year. 
Section 80C has the biggest bucket (after home loan interest) available for tax savings. So, whether it is PPF, EPF, SSY, NPS or any other investment tools, get going from this month itself.

8. Submit Form 15G / 15H, if applicable
Only if you are applicable, do remember to submit Form 15G / 15H. Every year, you need to resubmit this form to your bank so that they do not deduct your TDS. For applicability and other rules, click here.

9. Check applicability for Sukanya Smridhi Yojana
This (SSY) was a new scheme launched in this financial year specifically for the girl child. It is said to be better than PPF. Check the eligibility for your girl child, if applicable and take a decision whether you want to invest in this. To understand the merits and demerits of this scheme and for a comparison with PPF, click here.

10. Decide on NPS investments
With the Budget 2015 proposals, investing in NPS has become more lucrative. It offers additional tax savings over and above the limits posed by Section 80C. But again, investments done just for the purpose of saving taxes often prove themselves to be a liability in the long run. Read a comprehensive article on NPS investments by clicking here before taking a decision.

The book "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom" takes you through all possible investment options to enrich your financial freedom journey.


Cheers

Manoj Arora
Freedom can buy you.... what money cannot !!

More on "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom"

Monday, May 04, 2015

The Gold Coin

Have you ever felt that you do not have the time to do what you love to do? Rajesh was struggling with the same constraint, until he met his mentor friend- Varun - who told him a simple technique to generate time for his passion...Read on..


"I am getting frustrated man." 
Rajesh thumped the glass of drink on the table in front of Varun.

"C'mon Rajesh. You have always been a top performer at your job. You seem to be doing so well. You have grown up the ladder and have been leading big teams at your workplace. You have also been adequately rewarded by your company. I dont see any reason for such a frustration."

"You will never understand Varun. Now that you write books, take seminars, give interviews to magazines, sign copies, go on vacations - you can say all this. You are chasing your passion of life. I am not."

"Oh, I thought you loved what you are doing, but it seems you dont. And whats your passion of life by the way, if you would like to share."

"Thats the whole point. I dont even know that. I dont know why I came to this planet, I have no purpose of life. I am just following the herd. I am doing what everyone else around me is doing, without knowing where are we headed in life. Worse, I dont even have the time to try out anything different in life."

"If you say you do not have the time to try out something new, I can only give you sympathy in that case Rajesh."

Rajesh and Varun picked up their glasses and took the next couple of sips without any further discussion. The music in the room was soft and gentle, but Rajesh's mind was ruffled with thoughts he still wanted to pour out.

Before Rajesh could utter anything, Varun reached out to his bag and took out a handful of silver coins.

"What do you intend to do with this change, buddy? It is not going to be enough to set me financially free...huh..." said a nonchalant Rajesh.

Both of them smiled and then laughed. They gave a high five and recalled their school days and how good they have been as childhood friends. They played and studied together, went to the same school and college, got almost similar grades and also started off well with their respective jobs.

Somewhere a decade back, Varun decided to change his path and follow his passion while Rajesh continued to try and 'win' the 'rat race'. Here they were, at another cross road of life, discussing over their glasses, as Varun extended his hand towards Rajesh and handed over those silver coins to Rajesh. These coins were 24 in all, and all of them were silver colored, of similar size.

"Take these in your hand...hold these coins carefully" explained Varun as he handed over the coins to Rajesh and tried to somehow stuff them all together in his one hand.

"What are you trying to do man? What do I do with these coins?" asked Rajesh, struggling to hold all of them together in one hand.

"Have patience Rajesh. You have become very impatient now a days. You were not like this in your childhood days."

"You may be right Varun. But perhaps this is my frustration."

"May be..anyways, keep these 24 coins intact in your hand..Don't spill them, OK?"

"OK, now what?"

Like a magician, Varun took out another coin from his pocket and stretched it towards Rajesh's hand - a hand which was already full of coins. This new coin was of the same size as the previous ones in Rajesh's hand, just that it was golden in color.

"Here, take this one more, Rajesh."

"I cannot Varun. Can't you see that? My hand is already full. If I try to accommodate one more, many would actually fall."

"But this is a gold coin Rajesh. This is much more important than the silver coins that you are holding. You must take this."

"I do not what you are trying to convey. If my hand is already full with all these coins, how can I take another one - irrespective of the color."

"But this is important. This is golden. You must take this."

"Go to hell..Here you go..." 
Rajesh murmured in frustration and dropped a few silver colored coins from his hand, and picked up the golden coin for which Varun has been so adamant.

"This is what you wanted, right? ... here you go..now you are satisfied."

Varun smiled. And Rajesh was getting even more frustrated.

"Now buddy, don't test my patience once again. What is making you smile? I do not see anything funny in here."

Varun kept his smile and started explaining to Rajesh, 
"Buddy, you have just learnt one of the most powerful concepts of time management. Each of those 24 coins represented the 24 hours of your day. Your hand was all full, with no space to add more hours or more tasks. But you forgot that your golden coin, which is your dream or passion, is still lying outside, and you are getting frustrated because you have no space in your day to accommodate that golden coin."

"And now you know how to create that space. You got to drop a few coins that are not as important as your calling in life. May be take a role in your organisation that does not pay you that much but gives you some time back in your hands, may be change your organisation, may be do something that takes less of your time even if it pays less, but gives you space to pick up the golden coin."

Rajesh had his glass back in his hands. He was resting against the sofa, his eyes staring the revolving fan just above his head. He was thinking. All his life, he thought he did not have time, while the fact was he never set the right priority. He just needed to drop a few coins and yes, then he had time to do what he loved to do, he had the time to think what he actually loved doing. 

"Oh !! beautiful life, where were you till now?" thought Rajesh to himself.

He stood up, and so did Varun as they engulfed in a hug, which was reminiscent of their childhood days - when they used to win a match against an opponent team.
The golden coin had done the trick.

And if you think you dont know what your golden coin is, you got to first drop a few silver coins - which will give you the space to think - think beyond the comfort zone, beyond the realms of your day to day routine. These silver coins could be your job role, the time you spend in reading newspaper, watching television, extra sleeping, unproductive hours in office, commuting time or anything else, which is less important than your passion of life. Drop a few of those silver coins and pick up the golden coin, and for sure, you will end up with an enriched life for yourself and your family.

The book Happiness Unlimited shows you many such lessons to lead a happier, contended life.

Cheers