Thursday, July 30, 2009

Want to buy a car and no cash ! Go for car loans

car loans
Buying a car in India, is still a luxury thing. But slowly things are improving and buying a car is becoming a necessity for many people. With the changing climatic more and more people are preferring to slip into comfortable lifestyle zone to avoid the atrocities of the weather. Moreover the spending ability of an average individual is growing day by day. Also, increased infrastructural facilities in the country are encouraging the individuals to buy cars. In this scenario, car loans are playing a major role in tempting normal individuals to buy a car. Not only middle class, but also the wealthy people are opting for car loans. Most of the middle class people, are salaried and opt for car loan because they can't afford to pay the full down payment. In general, wealthy people include professionals or businessmen and they also opt for car loan, as they get tax exemption on the interest paid.

There is a tax exemption for people, who declare income under the head, profits or gains from business or profession. So, the professionals and business men, have a tax exemption on the interest paid on car loan. But salaried people has no tax exemption for the interest paid on the same loan. Nowadays, there are so many financial Institutions and banks, who disburse loans for vehicles especially for both new and used cars. However, some main points that one need to keep in mind before taking a car loan are

Interest rates- There are two types of interest rates, floating rate and fixed rate. Choosing the interest rate depends upon the risk taking capacity of the individual and also on the ability to analyse the interest rate movement for the next five years. Fixed rate hardly has any risk element involved but floating rate involves the risk of getting affected as per the fluctuations observed in the market.

Documents required- The main documents that are necessary for procuring a car loan are Identity proof- like passport, PAN card etc. Secondly, Proof of Residence- again driver's license, ration card etc. Thirdly, Income Proof- latest salary slip, form 16 for the last financial year and bank statement for last 6 months and self employed must provide Income Tax return for the last two years.

Also one must take car insurance in order to overcome any uncertainty. There are so many Insurance companies these days which provide car insurance with moderate premium payments.


Car insurance is been categorized into 3 cases Loss or damage to the vehicle case, Personal accident and Third party legal liability where an individual gets coverage.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

An Insurance Variant in the market

General Insurance
Insurance is the form of risk management. It is mainly used to hedge against risk depending on the losses. Insurance is the equitable transfer of risk of loss which could be incurred in future. It is a two party contract or an exchange of risk for a premium from one party(insured) to the other (insurer), where the payment of premium is being done on the installment basis. It is a contract between two entities for financial protection on reimbursement of losses which might occur in future.

There are basically two types of insurance - Life Insurance and General Insurance.

General Insurance includes automobiles, health, car, home, homeowner policies etc. It provides protection against losses incurred from the unavoidable instances. It is a kind of side-on investment which helps us to live our life fearlessly and provides a financial security at the time of need.

There is a long queue in the market of general insurance companies such as Iffco Tokio General Insurance which offers a worldwide range of uniquely customize policies to cover wide range of customers from farmers to the India's largest automobile manufacturers. Iffco Tokio insurance even renders the mega policies for fertilizers and automobile industries, other than conventional products. It has been subjected to the niche products like Credit Insurance, Fine Art Insurance, P & I Insurance whereas even Error and Omission Policies for the IT sectors. This is backed by a robust IT infrastructure which has enabled, among other things, speedy settlement of claims.

Like, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance which deals in the insurance of motor, home, health, travel and others(speciality lines, employee, office, and manufacturing unit). It even offers the comprehensive package of the different kinds of insurance products and claims as a part of their deal for the upcoming customers.

Other major player in this industry is the Shriram Life Insurance, which has reflected the ample of growth in the insurance industry in the last couple of years. The company is even targeting towards the majority of audience as well as to sustain its growth in the market. Shriram Life Insurance is a joint venture between Shriram Group of India and SANLAM of South Africa which covers the subjects like child education, retirement funds, marriage of children etc., with an expectation to provide the highest return on investments.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Loans are the cheapest ways to meet our desires

Loans in India
A loan is a kind of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan implies the re-distribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower. People prefer for loan for the personal and sometimes for various other reasons as well. The economic criteria seems to be very challenging and competitive. Thus, people should be smart enough while selecting the organization which offers them beneficiary deals when it comes down to it.

If we talk in legal terms, a loan is a contractual promise made between two parties where one party is the creditor, who agrees to provide the sum of money to the debtor, the other party who makes a promise to repay back the money to the creditor either in one go or in installments. The return could be in any form regular installment, partial repayment, or in the form of annuity. The agreement may include the additional payment as the rental charges on the funds being advanced to the debtor for the time period the funds being in the hands of the debtor as interest.

Loans are bifurcated under two sections- secured and unsecured ones. Secured loan is the loan in which the borrower pledges some assets such as car or property as collateral for procuring the loan. Whereas Unsecured loan is the financial assistance (i.e. personal loans) that is secured against the borrower's asset(s). These loans could be availed from the financial institutions.

Many of the banks provide numerous choices in this form of financial help. In addition to it, you can even get the best compared home loans deal and also a long list of leading lenders, who could provide you with same. Whereas an online application system of disbursing home loans render a hassle free work and get the paper work done in the minimum fuss.

HDFC home loan as it says 'what better place to put your money than your home'. It provides the best option to fetch your dream house with a loan. Whereas the other lenders are also in a queue to benefit the customers with the most accountable alternative.

Monday, July 13, 2009

General Insurance policy : Your Second Life

Insurance Policy
Insurance is a kind of protection, a form of hedging and a way to reduce risk that is prevalent to your life. Insurance is a defense against the exposure to the effects of unexpected events and happenings. Insurance is an answer to all kinds of problems.

There are way too many types of Insurance's provided by Iffco Tokio General Insurance ranging from Car and home Insurance to boiler and pet insurance. Insurance is a means for many people to ensure their security as well as of their loved ones. Insurance has become an essential part of every persons' life. Its such an universal product that almost every person on this globe banks on it and has some form of insurance or the other either on him or something dear to him. Insurance has become very diversified with Jennifer Lopez getting her butt insured for a $ 1 million or Paris Hilton getting her pooch carry bag insured. Insurance has become a mass product with products diversified, changed and modified according to individual customer needs. Many types of insurance can be clubbed together or unique insurance policies can be created for even the most ordinary everyday customer.

Major advantages of having an insurance policy from Bajaj Allianz General Insurance are many but a few are mentioned below :
Convenience
Save Money
Emergency solutions
Comfort
Stress Relieving

And as very well mentioned by iffco tokio general insurance in their advertisements “Muskurate Raho” and expertly described by the Bajaj allianz general insurance “ When you're protected you live carefree”.The above statements pretty much sums up the meaning of Insurance to the common people. Insurance is important to anyone's future financial planning and an easy cost effective way of reducing risk. Insurance can save your life and make it less stressful and let you concentrate on the finer things in life.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Indian Real Estate- turning Realty into reality

real estate in India
You don't need to be an economist to realise that real estate sector in India is witnessing resurgence. Real Estate, as a sector is also considered as a great employment generator and could play a vital role in growth of cement, steel and other connected industries. A study reveals that for every one crore (10 million) rupees of investment in housing, nearly 290 industries in the building material sector get activated beside, the core manufacturing sector constituting of cement, steel and bricks. The increasing demand for Indian real estate has not only generated employment, it has also recorded growth in steel, cement, bricks and other related industries. It is estimated that the development in Real Estate in India is increasing by as much as 30% every year. Approximately eighty percent of Indian real estate sector has been developed for residential space, and only 20% of it includes shopping malls, office complexes, hospitals and hotels.

That's not all according to the latest Real estate research, it is expected that revenue in the same sector would increase to $102 billion from $14 billion in the next decade. There has been an increase in the mass consumption pattern in India and new trends are also altering the consumption pattern of luxury goods and corporate houses due to great purchasing power of the people in the retail field of real estate.

India needs a strong infrastructure to support its development processes and perhaps investment in real estate is the best way to boost up the development. More than 50 shopping malls are going to set up at National Capital Region (NCR) alone. Other places include Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Ahmedabad. It easily indicates the growth level of the real estate developers. Due to ever-increasing Indian population, the residential sector is also witnessing a surge in demand. As per industry reports, currently, there is a requirement of 19.4 million residential units in India which offers huge opportunities to the real estate developers in the segment. Nowadays, Indian masses too are getting more support from the financial institutions like HDFC, SBI and ICICI who are providing home loans at optimum interest rates. The Indian real estate is maturing day by day and it can be reflected from the fact that big real estate developers like DLF, Ansals, Parsvnath and Omaxe are coming up with their Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The foreign real estate developers like Signature from Dubai, Ayala from Philippines and many more from Malaysia and other parts of world are also planning to invest in India.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Credit Card: My Plastic Saviour

credit cards
Let me explain this piece of plastic which has changed my life, my bank balance and also my spending habits. It is called Credit Card. It has enlightened many lost souls about the importance of financial planning and living within your means. Credit Cards are a very popular source of short term credit for individuals in developed countries and have also established themselves in India to some extent as well.

I have Cards from two banks basically. There is one I got from SBI or 'The State Bank of India' and the other from 'Standard Chartered'. The SBI credit card I got from my father was really cool. It had these reward points scheme which was like this, for every Rs. 100-125 spent, like through the Gold Card, one gets a point for every Rs. 40 spent and 8 points for every Rs. 100 spent on their co-branded one with Tata. The value of every point ranged from 30 paisa to a Rupee. I get reward points on buying fuel as well a fuel surcharge waiver, book my Railway tickets online, pay my utility bills and their ATMs are like everywhere.

Now the Standard Chartered Credit Card gets me a 5 % cashback on fuel and my phone bill. Then the 1 % cashback on everything else. I had gone for this holiday in Jaipur and there I discovered that you get 20 % discount on tariffs through this credit card if I stay at Fortune Hotels. My father has Standard Chartered Credit Card, the business one. The SBI Credit Card is the employee one. And together and separately they are proving to be very beneficial for my finances.

Credit cards are a pretty good alternative and can prove an asset but it has to be used very wisely. They are to be used very sparingly and not as a second source of money. Credit Cards details need to be protected and kept secret. Credit Card details once leaked can be easily misused, so you better stay watchful.

So, if you do not want to play the lead role in the above-mentioned unfortunate chain of events then better try to use your credit card wisely and judiciously. Try to take advantage of the little schemes and reward plans. Use it for the service it provides such as online transactions etc and keep away from expenses you cannot afford. One can actually save a considerable amount of money with the help of credit cards. Just try to maintain distance from the dark side.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Easy Car Loans in India

cars in India

'Dreams have no legs', I always heard this since, I have been a small kid of five. But, in the modern world especially in India, owning a four wheeler is one dream that almost everyone is running after.

Cars have always been featuring on every one's charm list, be it a new car or a used one. They come in many colors, many varieties and models of cars on sale in India. The product portfolio of cars in India has been growing day by day. Almost every auto brand has now been looking forward to encashing the potentiality of the market of India as the buying capacity of Indian middle class and upper class has been on rise quarter after quarter. This is one of the main reasons that even during the time of recession when world-over car manufacturing firms were fighting for survival, positive growth Indian auto market was witnessed.

The small car segment in India has attracted the most attention. Maruti 800, one of the first city cars, manufactured by Maruti Udyog Ltd in India, is the largest selling car in India. Gradually, situation improved and today we find as many (more than) 20 auto-major firms competing against each-other to acquire higher share in the segment. Its not only the small car segment that has gained momentum but has also caught the fancy of interested car manufacturers, who are looking for an opportunity to foray into the Indian market. Mid-size car along with luxury class cars have been given due credit by the Indian customers. Its every one's dream to own a car and that can some times be realised by opting for car loans.

If you have been dreaming off purchasing your dream car, than there are ample of options available in different Car Loan Schemes. Features like low interest rates, easy repayment options, total transparency has made owning a car in India, a reality. The twentieth century is an era of instant buys. Even the Research suggests that 60% of the cars bought in the last decade were through finance. The consumer is being offered so many options in car loans that he certainly need not take tension regarding it. I think these days, owning a car is just a bank away.
Other most important aspect, which you should consider after buying a car is car Insurance. Future always eludes you as it is unknown. Same is in the case with your dream car , you need to protect it with Insurance. India Car Insurance has opened a new window for insurance sector in India, which has resulted in higher revenue generation to the insurance companies. On other hand, car insurance also relieves you from the burden of incurring various unprecedented expenses.