Financial Planning demystified

Welcome to RaagVamdatt.com!

In the articles that I write here, I try to capture the essence of whatever I have learnt from a decade's experience in personal finance, investment planning and investing.

(Note: This website is primarily focused on India. But that doesn't mean it can't be useful for non-Indians! Please read A Message For Non-Indian Readers)

Having grown up at a very fortunate time in India's financial history, I have witnessed major breakthroughs in the investment avenues available in India.

There was a time when there were very few avenues to put ones money in - LIC for life insurance (and tax saving), UTI for mutual funds, the 4 public sector insurers for non-life insurance, bank FDs, and government fixed income investment, like National Savings Certificates (NSC), National Savings Scheme (NSS), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) for virtually risk-free returns. Back then, tax planning just meant investing in LIC, PPF and / or NSCs!!

Slowly, India's financial sector opened up, and now, we have a plethora of avenues to invest in, and have multiple players & offerings for each! So much so, that it seems like a mammoth task to choose among the players and their offerings, necessitating sustained guidance from the experts in this field!

This website is an effort on my part to simplify financial planning and help readers plan their investments the smart way.

RaagVamdatt.com also offers financial planning service in India - Please check out "My Financial Plan" for more details.

Here is a brief introduction to everything you can do on this site.

Please note that some functionality may be available only to registered users. To find out what's available to registered users v/s guests, please Click Here. Here's your link to Register for Free.

Articles: Here you will find articles written by me on various topics - general investing, investment planning, stocks, mutual funds, real estate, loans, insurance, gold - basically, everything that is relevant to an investor.

You can add your comments to the articles, or reply to the comments entered by other users. You can also rate these articles!

Upcoming Articles: Want to know what to expect in the days to come? This section will host a list of articles that I am planning to write, along with a short introduction to the topic.

You can also write to me if you want a specific topic to feature here. To write to me, please Click Here.

Definition of Common Terms: Desperate to crack business and financial jargons? Be it general investing, investment planning, stocks, mutual funds, real estate, loans, insurance or gold - this glossary section explains these jargons in layman's terms, so you can go ahead and flaunt them! These are the terms an investor definitely needs to be familiar with. You can say it is a small but useful financial glossary.

You can add a definition to this glossary if you want. If you want to know the meaning of a term that is not already there in the glossary, just add the term (without its meaning), and I would add the meaning for you!

Your Queries: Need tailor-made solutions? In this section, you can ask me a personalized question - you can describe your specific investment situation, and I would provide an analysis and a customized solution for your investment needs.

When you ask a question, please do not forget to include details like your age, your income range, number of dependents / kids, and other details unique to your situation. This would be necessary for carrying out appropriate analysis, and for providing suitable solution.

Please note that the questions you ask would be visible to other users of the site. Therefore, if you choose, you can refrain from giving exact details that may reveal your identity.

(Note: Starting June 2009, asking questions through "Your Queries" has been disabled. You can ask your questions through the comments section that is present below each article.)

Tips That Worked: Have you ever done something unique that proved to be extremely useful to you? Something that you can tell others so that they can follow your advice and profit from it? This section is the right place to share your tips with other users.

Alternatively, you can read about stuff that has worked for other users, and get inspired!

Discussion Forum: (Also known as Message Board) This is the place to discuss various things with other users... Voice your opinion, and ask for advise or recommendation, or help a fellow user by answering his query. If you have something to share, mention it here... If you are facing some difficulty, ask for help from other users here... The possibilities are endless!

There are various categories to choose from - Stocks, Mutual Funds, Insurance, Investment Planning, Loans, Real Estate, Gold, Tax Planning and Others.

There are multiple forums within each category, so that you can post your message where it belongs. So, choose from a wide variety of forums like IPOs, Secondary Market, Equity Funds - ELSS, Equity Funds - Sector, Debt Funds, Life Insurance, Non-Life or General Insurance, Retirement Planning, Home Loans, Auto Loans, Personal Loans, Residential Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, etc.

So, start posting your messages now, and become a part of the community!

Grievances and Complaints: Did your bank arbitrarily increase the interest rate or EMI of your home loan? Did a mutual fund agent sell you a wrong fund? Did an insurance agent sell you a ULIP promising sky high returns, and is not owning up to it now? Did you not receive the interest that was due on your debenture?

This is your chance to get back at them - if you have any grievance or complaint regarding matters related to personal finance, put it here so that all readers can benefit from your experience. And you never know - may be the company's public relations department would see your complaint and act on it - after all, they would not want other investors to think negatively about their company!

Also, if you have found a trick to tackle an issue posted by another reader, you can narrate it and everyone about it.

Reviews: You sure have read a book on investing, finance, etc, or used a financial product / service. Write your review about it here, so that other users can gain from your experience.

Alternatively, you can read reviews written by other users, and benefit from it.

Polls: Time to vote!! I would be conducting polls on the hot topics relevant to investors. Feel free to cast your own vote, and see the result of the Polls.

Downloads: This section contains useful artifacts to download - calculators, spreadsheets containing examples used in various articles, etc.

Useful Links: Here, you would find links to other sites, categorized into sections based on the topics they address. These are the sites that have proved to be useful to other investors.

If you have been to a website that you found useful, you can add its link to this list. You can also rate the various links already present.

Articles By Others: Here, you can read articles on personal finance, written by other authors. The articles are presented as collections, arranged by date.

Business Directory: This directory lists the name, address, phone numbers, email address, and other contact details of all the businesses you would need in the course of investing - financial planners, investment advisors, stock brokers, mutual fund distributors, insurance agents and brokers, loan facilitators, gold sellers and valuers, real esate agents, income tax return filing services - all under one roof!

And if you are one of these, and want to list your business in this directory for Free, fill out the listing form in the "Business Directory" section.

(Note: Starting June 2009, the Business Directory has been removed.)

Some functionality may be available only to registered users. Please click here to Register for Free . To see a detailed listing of the features available to registered users and to the guests, please Click Here.

Note: Though most of the articles written on this site target the Indian audience, I sincerely hope the views expressed are beneficial to readers from all over the world. Please read A Message For Non-Indian Readers

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