Elevate Your Life: 2014

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Life lessons from a dying pet

HE teaches us something in every interaction, every failure and every disappointment. But if we do not learn our lesson, HE, like any good teacher, will continue to teach us, create more situations for us so that we can learn and become a better person. How fast we learn from our disappointments, is all up to us. God is in no hurry.

Friday, December 26, 2014

2015 Goals : 6 Best Practices that help you achieve more

It is the time of the year, when we have another opportunity to change the way we are going to live our life in 2015. As the saying goes, "Today is the first day for the rest of your life."

I present my report card for the goals I set out for 2014, and also what i am targeting for 2015. I also present six (6) best practices that help you achieve more of your goals, year after year.

Goal setting is critical and important for us to grow. It is one of our vital signs. We do not believe in any gyan unless we have experienced it ourselves. So, here is my report card of 2014.
Not that I achieved all I set out for, but it was good to have goals that I set out for myself last year, so that I could stretch, come out of my comfort zone and expand myself. And so I did.

A summary of what I planned at the beginning of 2014 is shown below:

The report card for 2014 and the goal setting for 2015 is as below:

When you set out your goals for 2015, some of the things that might help you to achieve your goals are as follows:

Make sure you write your goals down or take a print out. Written goals channelize your mind and allows your mind to generate enough ideas to find innovative solutions to achieve those goals.
Paste out the goals on a visible location in your home, car or office. Regular viewing helps your mind continue to stay focused and continue to generate new ideas to achieve them. Once the goals are out on your almirah, your family also gets involved in your goals, and that's a very healthy sign. Your children will learn goal setting, real time practically happening in front of them, rather than theoretically in a management school.
Declare your goals to everyone. Do not be afraid of failing. Wear failure as a badge of honor. Remember that just by creating written goals, you have dared to attempt something that hardly 5% in the world do.
Keep tracking your goals at a regular frequency every month. Life will never go as planned, and you would need to keep intervening and self correcting the path. Goal setting is just the first step. If you fail to track your goals, you are unlikely to achieve them.
Publish the results from your tracking. Dont be afraid if you are under achieving. 95% of the people are not even tracking it.
Prioritize your daily "To Do List" as per the goals you are targeting for the year. Achieving yearly goals is a daily thing. If your daily actions are not aligned to your goals, there are every chances of not meeting your goal.

Get started. Today is the first day for the rest of your life. It is never ever too late. Wish you all a happy goal setting for 2015. Goals should always be aligned to your dreams, which in turn is aligned to the mission of your life. If you need any help in setting up your mission, dreams or goals, you can connect with us.

Related Posts:

Cheers

Manoj Arora

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

More on "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom"

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Goals Setting for 2015 : 6 Practices that help you achieve more.

It is the time of the year, when we have another opportunity to change the way we live our life in 2015. As the saying goes, "Today is the first day for the rest of your life."

I present my report card for the goals I set out for 2014, and my goals for 2015. I also present six (6) best practices that help you achieve more of your goals, yer after year.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Mutual Fund SIPs and their Capital Gains Taxation

Systematic Investment Plans Or SIPs is a very convenient and most commonly used method for most investors to enter the equity market via Mutual Funds. By understanding the tax implications of SIP transactions, you can time your withdrawals accurately and save on taxes.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Happiness Unlimited features in CWB magazine - Another bestseller on the way !!

Since the launch of the book Happiness Unlimited, it has been getting rave reviews. You can read some of them by clicking here. The book also recently featured in the "Complete Well Being" magazine.

It has been 3 months now, and the book has received some rave reviews since its launch. Click here to read some of those comments. You can read some of the comments from its happy readers on Flipkart by clicking here.

Not only that, the book has now stabilized into the Top 40 books on Happiness (current Rank # 35) among the 3,500+ books available on Happiness. It also enjoys a rating of 4.9 on Flipkart and 4.7 on Amazon.

Recently, the book also got featured in the leading well being magazine in India - "Complete Well Being" and again got some awesome response.

You can read the featured section of the magazine in the page below

The Happiness blog hits has been going up every month.

The blog now has 4,500+ hits and is becoming popular every day. Some of the most popular posts on the blog has been attracting beautiful questions and clarifications. You can also subscribe to the blog by clicking here.

The You Tube videos have been increasingly becoming popular. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel by clicking here.

We also recently introduced the Whats-App Service to answer your questions real time. We want you to elevate your life. We want our society to be elevated.

It is a slow and steady uptrend. It is not a race, but a marathon, where mouth publicity has been the prime driver for an author like me, who comes with no clout, marketing or celebrity status. It happened exactly the same way with my first title "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom".

People have been connecting with us to increase the happiness content in their lives. So can you, for whatever you are doing today makes no sense if there are unhappy moments in your life. Each unhappy moment is a life not fully lived.

Cheers

Manoj Arora

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

What is Capitalised Ground Rent?

If you are liable to pay Ground Rent for your plot or flat, understanding the Capitalized Scheme can potentially help you save tons of money...read on...

What is Ground Rent?

As the name suggests, Ground rent is the rent paid for taking the ground on lease from the land owner. Typically, in case where you leasehold a land or a property from government authorities like DDA (Delhi Development Authority), you ought to pay a fixed ground rent annually.

Who is liable to pay ground rent?

All allottees on "Hire Purchase Basis" are liable to pay Ground Rent till the execution of conveyance or Capitalized Value under the special scheme is paid to DDA. Once the capitalized value of Ground Rent is paid to DDA, all previous dues of Ground Rent and/or interest thereon, if any, are not required to be paid.

How much is the Ground Rent?

Ground rent is payable annually in advance @ 2.5% of the cost of land as given in the Allotment cum Demand Letter in respect of all allotment on lease hold basis.

What if you default paying the ground rent?

In case of default in making the payment of Ground Rent by the stipulated date, the allottee is liable to pay interest at the rate of 10% per annum.

How long do you need to pay ground rent?

The Ground Rent is payable till such time the property remains on lease hold basis. Once the property is converted into free hold, the Ground Rent is not payable.

Do people default on ground rent?

Almost 60% of the population never bother to pay ground rent for years together. This lapse is either because either they are not aware of it, or they simply ignore it. The government also does not have any strict followup on this rent collection. Whatever be the reason, the ground rent keeps accumulating with late fees and interest charges, and the lease holder will be required to pay the entire accumulated amount whenever he or she plans to sell the house or convert it into free hold.

Liberalized Scheme for payment of Ground Rent

As a simple and easy system to clear the dues of ground rent, a one time payment has been introduced under the scheme "Capitalized Ground Rent". Under this scheme, allottee is required to pay only 7.5% of the cost of land as indicated in the allotment cum demand letter on account of capitalized value of Service Charges in respect of new allotment and 5% in respect of old allotments in respect of unpaid & future dues. Thereafter allottee is exempted from paying Service Charges in future.

Remember that the ground rent under this scheme is 7.5% + 5% of the "cost" of land, and not the "price" of the land. In most cases, the "cost" turns out to be drastically low, thus making this a very efficient mechanism for one time settlement of ground rent.

Is the scheme optional?

Yes, this scheme is 100% optional. The allottee who does not opt for the "Capitalized Ground Rent" would continue to pay the ground rent as per original terms and conditions of the allotment cum demand letter.

If you are owning a leasehold property, make sure you find out whether this scheme can help you save tons of money, before you decide to pay the next ground rent.

Related Posts:

Cheers

Manoj Arora

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

More on "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom"

Monday, December 08, 2014

Getting started is critical

How critical is starting something new, even if there is not enough clarity on the way forward? Extremely critical. In fact, in most cases, getting started is the only way successful people get going....Read on..

Thursday, December 04, 2014

New Kisan Vikas Patra KVP 2014 Vs other Debt based investments

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) has been in news off late considering that it has been revamped and relaunched by the government with some seemingly attractive features...but is it good enough? Have a look at the comparison between the revamped KVP and other commonly available investment tools...

Interest Rate

KVP offers 8.7% taxable returns. If you compare this with any commonly available Fixed Deposit, it will be anywhere in the range of 8.75 to 10% (also taxable). So, if you have a bank account and can get a Fixed Deposit (FD) done, there is no attraction of KVP as far as interest rate is concerned. Post Tax Returns from other Debt based instruments like PPF, EPF and MFs are far higher.

Taxability

Interest earned via KVP is fully taxable. This is the biggest drawback of the KVP on date. On the other hand, interest earned through other debt based instruments like Debt MFs are either very low or EPF/PPF where the interest is completely tax free.

Liquidity

Minimum lock in period is 2 years 6 months, while there is no such restriction on Fixed Deposits. Other debt instruments like PPF or EPF have lesser liquidity but offer tax free returns. Debt based MFs are much more liquid. So, it is better to put your money in other debt instruments than KVP

Minimum Investment

Rs. 1000/- is the minimum investment required to purchase a KVP. Here is where it scores. You might find it difficult to open a FD with small amounts as Rs. 1000, though regular SIPs in debt based mutual funds might be a much better idea. So, it is often useful for very small investors like farmers who do not have access to SIP mutual fund investments. The name, Kisan Vikas Patra, is hence justified.

Maximum Investment

There is no limit to the maximum investment. Though PPF has an upper limit of investment, FDs and EPFs and Debt based Mutual Funds do not have any such limits.

Availability

Currently, it is available only at Post Offices, but the government has plans to make it available at PSU banks. The idea was to encourage the rural population who may not have a bank account to get connected to their post offices for these KVPs

Summary

Considering all the above factors, KVPs are designed to enable the rural population into a habit of regular savings and hardly offer anything attractive for the urban population who already have a bank account and can go and open a Fixed Deposit at any stage. So, if you have a bank account, you can safely stay away from KVP 2014 as of now, and ignore all the hype surrounding it.

Related Posts:

Cheers

Manoj Arora

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

More on "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom"

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Article # 3 in CWB magazine : Make your children money-minded

After our articles published in the "Complete Well Being" magazine in their July 2014 and Sep 2014 editions, we got a stupendous response and the magazine wanted us to publish more articles for them. The below article then appeared in the November 2014 edition of the magazine, which also happens to be the 8th anniversary edition of the magazine.

Knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, over number of generations, it has been en grained in our mind that money is the root of all evils. However, it is not. If you are not teaching the fundamentals of money to your children (and they are not going to learn this in any school or college), then they are starting their life on a back foot.

If you want to exactly know what and when to tell your children about money, then this article is for you...

You can download and / or read the entire original article of the magazine here at this portal.

---> Article : Make your children money minded

Related Posts:

Cheers

Manoj Arora

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

More on "From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom"

Friday, November 28, 2014

Descend to Ascend

Descent can be painful. Whether in your job, your life, your relationship or your dreams and passion. But once you set the right perspective, you realise that the descent is temporary, and it is only for your good.

A 100 storey building was bustling with people striving to reach the top floor. All you could see was people getting in - and in a hurry. There were no lifts. Stairs was the hard work that you must do to move up each floor. There were more people coming in from the ground floor than there are people moving up the floors. Therefore, the stairs are expectedly congested, as each one tries to overtake their peer to reach the next floor in a bid to get a better quality future. Of course, the assumption is that each higher floor gives you a better feel because there are less people there.

"Ah !! All these folks are trying to reach a destination which has the potential to give a better quality future by reducing their quality of their today, as they get engrossed in this mindless competition." thought Varun

Varun was one person who decided to take a U turn from the 50th floor. He decided he would not climb up anymore. As per him, this mad race is not leading him anywhere. He has tried to be a part of this race for long enough time now.

"They are all trying to reach the top, and they have never seen how the top looks like. Strange, isn't it?" Varun thinks to himself.

Varun starts to descend, against the crowd. The descent is not going to be easy. Absolutely not !!

During the descend, he meets all those people whom he overtook a few years earlier when he was also in a similar mad race. It is not easy to face those people now. They are surprised at Varun's descent, because he always seemed more skillful to climb up the building, right to the top. Varun also realizes that now people with lesser skills will be moving ahead of him. He is soon going to be the odd one out. He is finding it really tough to descend these 50 floors. It is a long tough journey.
"Should he start climbing back upwards? Because that seemed more comfortable and an obvious option? Is he doing something stupid by suddenly deciding to descend downwards?" he thought to himself.

But then, here is what he can visualize. Just adjoining this 100 storey building is a small one floor house. He can see the top of that one floor building, and he can see the sunshine, the roof, the flowers, the nature, the beauty and very very limited people there. He understands that if he has to reach there, he must first climb down to the ground floor and then reach the top of the adjoining building to enjoy his future.

The climb down is slightly easier now. He understands the 'reason' for the descent. He also understands that others will not understand the reason because that is what is rat race all about. They have not visualised what Varun has. If they ever visualize what Varun has, probably many of them will follow suit.

"They all want to move to the top of this 100 storey building even without seeing what is there at the top of the building. They are climbing because that is what everyone seems to be doing around them - so ought to be the only right way to do it." Varun thinks to himself.

By the time he reaches the ground floor from the 50th floor, some of his colleagues and friends have reached the 60th floor overcoming stiff competition and resistance on the way. They are still struggling, while he is breathing fresh air of freedom now, and he swiftly goes and climbs the adjoining building and reaches the top in no time - there was just one floor to climb. This is a building of his passion - something he loves to do. And though he may be on the first floor but he is enjoying, and his friends may have reached the 60th floor - but still striving to reach the top.

And then comes the biggest surprise. There comes an helicopter to pick him up and take it to the greatest heights he could not even have imagined ever. He asks the pilot as to why there is no such helicopter for people who have been struggling through their lives and have still not reached the top, and the reply comes from the pilot,

"I am what you have been searching all along. I sent you here for a purpose - to chase your mission in life. I sent each one of you with a unique mission. I am going to help you if you are doing that. Money, happiness, - nothing will ever be a problem for you if you are chasing your mission - because I asked you to do that. All those who ignored their inner voice, which was actually my voice, and decided to just follow what others are doing, have no choice but to continue to struggle through their lives. They may conveniently blame other people, situations, family, competition..etc..but they may never realise that they have no one but themselves to blame if they are not happy with their lives."

Varun was glad that he descended just at the right time, though it never looked a popular thing to do.

He clearly understood that, The descent was temporary - The ascent now is permanent. !!

Cheers

Manoj Arora

Official Website | My Mission

Life elevating books :

From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom | Happiness Unlimited | Dream On

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Your assets are your employees

You are the CEO of this company called as 'Life'. Your assets are your employees. If you treat them any less, the results will not be surprising. Ignoring your assets, not paying attention to what they are doing for you, what returns they are giving and can potentially give, and not investing time on them is the worst treatment you can give to your employees...read on...

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Found your lock?

Each lock has a unique key. You are the key that HE has created for a unique purpose. You must not rest till you have found out your lock. Else, this key is just a piece of metal to be thrown away after it has rusted and degenerated.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Video : You can only make efforts

You can only make efforts. You do not control the results. The acceptance of this fact can take off a lot of unnecessary stress from your life, and allow you to lead a happier and fulfilling life.

You child can do the best possible preparation for the exam, but can he or she control the mood of the teacher who prepares a tough paper or who is strict while checking the answer sheet?
You can plan your best to be on time for the client meeting, but can you control the traffic jam or a flaw in your vehicle while driving for the meeting?
You can perform at the very best of your capability at your workplace, but does that assure you a great appraisal?
You can chase your dream, but whether it is achieved or not is dependent on hundreds of other factors that you do not control.

There are always hundreds of uncontrollable factors that come together to get you the result you desire. These factors are not in your control. These are all managed by the best manager of all. Let HIM manage them.

Watch Video : You can only make efforts

Making an effort is what we can do. That is the only thing we can do, and we must learn to be happy if we have done our best possible effort. We are not here to achieve great results, but make best efforts. It is always the journey and never the end result that should matter. Neither success nor failure makes you. You are already powerful and happy and you go out making your best effort every time, every day - for the rest of your life.

Cheers

Manoj Arora

Books to elevate your life
From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom | Happiness Unlimited

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Meet another Freedom Seeker : Ms Kamini Gupta - a CEO from Hyderabad

Last time, we met a a young and dynamic lady who is a QA associate with a global IT company in Gurgaon, India : Mrs. Annapurna Sharma who are already on the journey towards financial freedom now. The response to such posts has been overwhelming. You can read more about her journey and experience till now by clicking here.

In continuation with our effort to interlock you with some common men and women who have been seeking financial freedom, today, it is a chance to meet another young and dynamic lady - Mrs. Kamini Gupta. She is the CEO of Edge Fx Kits and Solutions, Hyderabad - a leading provider of kits and solutions in India.

We have mentored Mrs. Kamini Gupta and helped her to build a financial freedom plan of her life. This monthly track-able plan, once executed, has the potential to bring her and her family out of the rat race and allow her to chase the true dreams of her life. This plan can make her experience "true freedom" in life.

And as we all know "Freedom can buy you what money cannot !!"

So, lets meet Mrs. Kamini Gupta to know who she is, what her dreams and goals are, why is she chasing financial freedom, and how has been her experience since she has set herself on this journey towards financial freedom. So, here we go, lets meet with our next freedom seeker : Mrs. Kamini Gupta.

Kamini is passionate about contributing to the society. She wants to pursue her passion for traveling the world. She wants to be absolutely free to do what she truly likes doing. She is passionate about taking her company to World No. 1 in its area of work. At the same time, she wants to leave a legacy and help the girl child in her own way.

Life need not be an either-or. She has started this journey while being in a corporate job. She has kick started her journey towards financial freedom with a target of June 2034 to be free from rat race and start living the life of her dreams.

We will be together monitoring her journey. We will also tune her portfolio during the course of this journey, so that her journey stays on track. Our regular mentoring with Kamini would include maximizing her returns from her existing investments, tuning the portfolio, tuning the plan depending on how life shapes up for her and her family.

We wish her all the best for her life and wish that she can go on to chase her true dreams and calling in life.

Kamini is just one among all of you. She is no different, except the fact that she took a step to connect with us, was open to accept our advise, and then worked on that advise. She took the first step. She came out of their comfort zone and will surely be rewarded for the same in times to come.

Do you think it is wise to have a financial plan in place for your life, instead of randomly doing investments with no target in mind?

Do you think life should be much more than just earning money?

Do you exactly know how much money you need to get financially free?

Do you exactly know how much time you need to accumulate that kind of corpus which can fund your and your family's expenses for the rest of your life?

Do you know how can you maximise your returns on your net worth?

If you have any of the above questions pondering in your mind, or you have any genuine financial query, or you have strong dreams on which you are yet to start working, do write to us at help@ratrace2freedom.com OR at help@manoj-arora.com and we will be happy to share our experiences with you, so that we can work together and plan your future better.

There are no charges, no constraints ... only freedom !!

If you fail to plan, you are planning for failure !!

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Cheers

Manoj Arora