The Book now makes an entry in "The Free Press Journal"

Now, "The Free Press Journal" acknowledges the book - "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom"

"The Free Press Journal" - one of the renowned daily publication in Mumbai and 4 other Indian cities, acknowledges the attempt made by the book "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom" as it showcases this book among some other great books and work being done in the field of art and literature.


On Sunday, 26th May 2013, FPJ published a section on the book and the core message that the book tries to convey. Here you go...

As the momentum grows, and media starts to acknowledge this path breaking book, make sure you are not left behind.

Visit the RR2FF portal and get connected to this journey, where i have a mission to make you financially free

• so that you can start to focus on the "real" things in life
• so that your ultra powerful mind can come out of this slavery of money making and start "thinking" things other than money.
• so that you can chase your true calling in life
• so that you can make a difference to the world around you.

and when all this happens, my mission to change the world around me gets accomplished.
Stay connected. Write back to me and i will tell you how you can get financially free.

Cheers

Manoj Arora

RR2FF Portal | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

I am humbled by your feedback -THANK YOU

During the pre-launch of the book "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom", i was circulating copies of the book to some renowned personalities and known contacts in my network so that i could get some feedback and reviews. The response was overwhelming. 

But what has truly humbled me is the response from all those "unknown" and "young" readers who are not obliged to send me any review comments, whom i do not know and who have no reason to write an email to me.

Some of those review comments that i have started receiving from such users are simply amazing and very humbling.

• Yesterday i bought your book and when i started reading , i felt like, so many of my financial questions got answered through this book.

• The contents are very well written and  up to mark. I would like to congratulate and at the same time thank you for creating such a wonderful piece of work.

• Though i have read "Robert Kiyosaki" books on financial freedom but this book makes a lot of sense to me as this is written in Indian perspective.

• I feel proud that one of us (Indians) came with such a masterpiece.

These are the people who are taking out time for their future. 

These are the people who will get financially free and will have the luxury of both time and money in their lives. 

These are the people who are having the guts to take their next step towards their true freedom in life.

The mission has just begun. I encourage each one of you to not only read the book, but to open up your minds to the endless possibilities, to come out of your comfort zones, take the next step and start creating your financial freedom plan.

The doors are open for you. I am there to guide you, coach you, mentor you at every step because my own mission in life is linked to your success. My mission is not fulfilled till enough of "educated us" will have the freedom from the slavery of working for money and are able to invest our time in building a better family, society and nation. The change will come, and will start from each one of us.

Feel free and write back to me on help@ratrace2freedom.com and i will jump in to help you. You can send me your queries, feedback, reviews, issues, anything - just anything that i can help you with.

Remember that time is your most important asset in life that you can potentially earn, and financial freedom gives you precisely that. 

Go for it.

Cheers

Manoj Arora

RR2FF Portal | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

What is PRAN number

 

Dreams grow bigger : The Book (Rat Race to Financial Freedom) Launch mega experience

Dreams do come true... and this was one dream which i had been chasing for some time - launch of my maiden book. It has been more than 3 years since i started on this venture which finally culminated in the launch of "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom". For sure, me and my family had a very proud and fulfilling day on 10th May 2013.

It was a jam packed and interactive audience, an inspiring chief guest speech, a supportive publisher, a first time author and GOD who made this day very special for me.

Sharing a few snaps here and if you are keen, you can surely visit the book's Facebook page.

The wonderful audience right behind us

3 Musketeers

Opening up

Explaining the intent of the book

Book and the Dreams that make it

The formal launch

The Questions

The Celebration

What next?

The dreams always start small and then they grow bigger and bigger and bigger if you keep feeding them with the right mix of perseverance, vision and the right intent. 

My intent is to spread this message to as many as i can - that anyone can get financially free and then go on to chase their dreams in life - whether those dreams are personal or are to elevate our society or nation - it is possible to do it. If a common man like me can do it, you can do it too.

So, wake up, start today and fight for your personal financial freedom so that your immensely powerful mind can start thinking of possibilities in life which are not constrained by money and its rut. There is much more to life than earning money.

Cheers

Manoj Arora

What are Chit Funds

Introduction

"Chit" is a Hindi word which basically means "Receipt" in the form of a small piece of paper. The formal English meaning closest to this is "a short letter or a note". A Chit fund is a kind of savings scheme practiced in India. For someone seeking a loan, it is a source of costly, but convenient, credit. For the small saver, it is an option that enforces monthly investment discipline. And for the un banked rural investor, it is a crucial step towards financial inclusion.

The Chit Fund Model
A chit fund is a traditional savings and borrowing mechanism. Members pool in a specified amount every month and one of them gets the entire sum that has been pooled. This process is repeated every month till all members get the booty. The winning member is chosen through an auction where the bidder accepts less than the pooled money. Organizer of the chit fund also gets a fixed amount.

Example
Bidders accept amounts less than the pooled money in order to get the kitty in a particular month. The lowest bidder for that month gets the pooled sum and the amount he forgoes is distributed among all the members. For instance, if 20 members pool in Rs 1,000 every month, they will have a kitty of Rs 20,000. If the lowest bid in the first month is Rs 16,200, the surplus of Rs 3,800 will be divided equally among the members. This will bring down the first month's net contribution of each member to Rs 810


Merits of Chit Funds
The chit fund participants see this as a win-win situation.
The bidder gets the money he desperately needs, and the other members get to pay a lower sum than the original amount agreed upon.
For the bidder, it means a quick loan that he will repay through monthly contributions till the end of the chit. For the other members, it means better returns on their investment in the chit.
The organizer (also known as foreman) of the chit fund also benefits. He gets to keep up to 5% of the gross amount every month as his commission. So, the foreman in our above example will pocket Rs 1,000 every month. This money will come out of the kitty amount, so the take-home lump sum for the bidder for that month will be lower than the amount that the winner of the auction had bid for.

Legal Acceptance
Chit funds are governed by the Chit Funds Act 1982. Though chit funds are governed by the central legislation, the administration of the Act is left to the state government. Section 89 of the Act also gives power to the state government to make rules to give effect to the provisions of the Act in consultation with the RBI.

Summary
The uncovering of the Saradha scam unleashed a media blitzkrieg against chit funds. However, the tainted company, Saradha Realty India, was not really a chit fund.
There is a lack of awareness about chit funds among the media and general public. Anything that fails is branded a chit fund, while the fact is that there are many well managed and long running chit funds which benefit small rural investors and play a crucial role in financial inclusion of the society. 

Cheers 

Manoj Arora

http://www.ratrace2freedom.com

Media coverage : Hindustan Times Mumbai Edition 5th May 2013

We had a great book launch event yesterday for our book: From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom.

Soon, I will be posting a few snaps and uploading a few videos soon. 

The book has been off to a great start and i know that i will find enough people around me who would be willing to go the extra mile, get to financial freedom, and then go on to bring a change in our society and the world - one at a time.

Attached is the snap of the first coverage of the book in the media. This was published in Hindustan Times as a part of HT Cafe in the Sunday, 5th May 2013 Mumbai edition. This lists my selection of five best books that i recommend to the HT readers.

Get started : http://www.ratrace2freedom.com


Cheers

Manoj Arora

Double Indexation Benefit on Debt Funds

Background

Many investors park their surplus fund in fixed maturity plans (FMPs) and other debt funds in March every year to take advantage of the double indexation benefit and to bring down (and almost eliminate) the tax liability on returns.

The Trick

Investors can take advantage of double indexation by investing in March of year 1 (let us say FY 2012-13) and then selling in April of year 3 (FY 2014-15). Note that you are investing for effectively 13 months but you get the indexation benefit for 2 years because of the timing of your investment.

This virtually brings down the tax impact to a very low level if not to zilch. In some cases, you can even show a capital loss (although you have made a gain). This means whole yield on such investments becomes tax free.

How does double indexation work?
Double indexation would kick in if you invest in the end of the first financial year and sell in the beginning of the third financial year. So if you invest in March 2013 (financial year 2012-13) and sell your investment in April 2014 (financial year 2014-2015), you can get the benefit of double indexation. This may help you to reduce your income tax liability on long-term capital gains that will arise on redemption of mutual funds.

Example

Suppose you invest 1 lakh in a debt fund in March 2013, with say an average portfolio maturity of five years. Now you will get accrued interest of approximately 9% on this investment. Since you have invested for more than one year, you are liable to pay long term capital gains tax. As per tax laws, you have the option of paying tax on long-term capital gains with or without indexation. Assuming a 9% return on your investment, your total fund value will be 1,09,000 (investment 1,00,000 and a capital gain of 9,000) in April 2014 . Now the tax calculation works as follows:

The CII (cost inflation index) for the year 2012-13 is 852. Assuming 7% inflation, for the next two years, the CII for 2013-14 will be 911 and that for 2014-15 will be 975.

If the debt fund is redeemed in April 2014, you can also take into account the CII of 2014-2015. So, your adjusted investment amount considering 2 years CII would be (975-852)/852*10,000 = 1,14,437.

Your maturity value, considering 9% accrued interest would be : 1,09,000/-

Long Term Capital Gains = 1,09,000 - 1,14,437 = (5,437)

Thus, as per the calculation, you make a loss of Rs. 5,437. That means you will pay zero tax, or your returns are tax- free.

In fact you can even carry forward this loss for eight years and can set it off against long-term capital gains.

Had you invested one month late or withdrew one month early (in nutshell, if you do not time your investment and maturity correctly), you would have actually made a gain of Rs. 1,000/- on which you would have paid 20% long term capital gains tax.

Summary

For risk averse investors looking to invest in the debt market, making an investment in March every year could be fruitful. These kind of tax free returns are anytime better than Fixed Deposits, which are least tax efficient.

Are you eligible for Form 15G and Form 15H?

You may be avoiding TDS by submitting Form 15G / 15H. On the other hand, you may not be aware that your bank deducts a portion of tax on your FD interest before it pays you the interest along with the principal. In either case, be careful of what you do. Understanding the need and eligibility for these Forms (Form 15G / 15H) can be your first step....Read on...