How CAGRfunds Makes Investing Simple For You

How CAGRfunds decodes the complexity of financial planning for you?

When we first started this business, we went out to talk to our friends about what they thought about investing and financial planning. May we say, we were surprised with the kind of responses we got?

While some of them knew bits and pieces of what financial planning means, most of them were upfront about why they never thought about it. Or rather, thought about it but kept on delaying any action. It was just too complex. That is when we decided to keep investing simple. Whether it was the concepts, the terminology, the planning or the transactions, we were absolutely sure that everything about financial planning needs to be simple.

So we started spending time with every such person we met. Our conversation never started from “How much do you want to invest?” We almost always just asked, “What do you do with your salary or earnings?” As we got answers to what people did with their earnings, we asked more questions, and then more answers. We think we are very good listeners. So that helps us to understand how best we can simplify your finances for you. And thus started the journey of decoding or let us say de-jargonizing the process of financial planning.

Likewise, we never get into terms like CAGR, ROI, risk profile, net worth etc. At CAGRfunds, we believe that there is always a simple layman-way of explaining things. So we generally pick up situations from your life to explain every relevant term to you. For example, if you are an entrepreneur and are wondering how risky will equity mutual funds be, we will perhaps take instances of how you set up your company to give you a sense of what risk in equity means.

Being able to de-jargonize and break down financial planning into simple concepts has helped us a lot in connecting with people who have limited understanding of finance and numbers or who are unable to take the right decisions about managing their money. And hence, we love to interact with people.

If you are one of them who wants to grow their wealth but is confused about how to go about it, maybe you should befriend us. We don’t charge you for a conversation, so no harm giving it a try!!

Whatsapp / Call us on +91 97693 56440 or email us on contact@cagrfunds.com.

February 1, 2018February 2, 2018

Budget 2018: What should investors be doing?

The much awaited Union Budget 2018 was presented and views as usual are multi-fold and diverse. Here is a short summary of the key questions that must be on your mind as an investor. Please feel free to post any further questions as comments or reach out to us on contact@cagrfunds.com. You can also Whatsapp us your queries on +91 9769356440.

Which are the sectors which are under Government focus?

The focus of the NDA Government is on strengthening the ground level infrastructure and thus the focus has truly been on the lower pyramid of the society. Most of the budgetary support has been rolled out to sectors which therefore impact the rural economy. Key sectors that are under focus are:

Agriculture & Rural – Focus on agriculture was an expected move this year.

MSPs to be 1.5 times the cost of input to the farmer. This should benefit all agri input companies (Seeds, Fertilizers, Pesticides)
Focus on improving access to maximum MSPs – Historically, farmers have not received the MSPs that they have deserved. While the Government claims to be committed to improving access, we need to wait and watch the success of the same.
Promotion of Organic farming – Will be useful for seed companies, not so good for fertilizers and pesticide companies. But given the small scale of organic farming in India, the impact is not expected to be material
Cold Storage – They are likely to be positively impacted if Operation Green is implemented well. A good part of potato production in India gets wasted and hence this is a welcome move
Overall, several initiatives have been rolled out for improving the rural livelihood. Actual benefits will depend on implementation

Health – Several initiatives have been rolled out for the Heathcare sectorHealthcare sector.

Flagship National Health Programme to cover 50cr people. Poor families to have better health insurance coverage
Focus on medical research
Use of generic drugs likely to increase

Should you then start investing in the thematic funds related to the above sectors?

Every year the budget rolls out some enhanced and some new policies for the key sectors. Short term sops lead to short term gains while structural reforms have a very long term play. From a broader picture perspective, sectors which are over exposed and dependant on Government policies should be avoided as any change in the Government itself or their priorities can have a very significant impact on particular sectors.

We therefore suggest that taking concentrated exposures in particular sectors should be avoided. In mutual funds, diversified exposures are always safer.

What is the tax implication on Equity?

What is grandfathering of returns?

If your investment in Mutual Funds and Equity is there for more than 1 year there would be a tax of 10% on the profit earned which was 0% as of now. For this they have considered Base Year as 31/01/2018 and profit calculation will be based on the higher of the two values – actual purchase price and the price on 31st January 2018.

For Example, consider that you have invested INR 100 on 1st September 2016 and you redeemed on 2nd April 2018.

Price on 2^nd April 2018: INR 180

Price on 31^st January 2018: INR 150

Long Term Capital Gains: INR 180 – 150 (since this is higher than the actual purchase price of INR 100) = INR 30

Tax to be paid: 10% of INR 30.

Short Term Capital Gain remain unchanged at 15%.

With long term capital gains tax on equity being levied, are equity mutual funds still an attractive investment avenue?

Equity as an asset class is still attractive when we compare the returns with other asset classes. The benefit of compounding your money at a higher rate is immense when you are planning for your long term financial goal. Further, this taxation does take away some of your gains in the form of taxes, but even after the tax implication the post-tax returns are far more lucrative than other asset classes.

What does it mean for the debt mutual funds?

Debt funds still remain an attractive investment vehicle for people in the 20-30% tax bracket. In the present budget there has been no change in the tax structure for debt mutual funds so it remains an attractive investment avenue to gain from the benefit of indexation in the long run. Read more about how and when are Debt funds useful here.

What does it mean for you if you are a senior citizen?

The budget gives a big relief to senior citizen. Any interest a senior citizen earns either from fixed deposit or savings bank account is exempt to an extent of Rs. 50000.

So if you are a senior citizen and want to park an amount up to Rs. 700,000 for 1-5 years, then a fixed deposit now makes better financial sense for you.

What does it mean for you as a retail equity investor?

If you want to invest for the purpose of wealth creation with a time horizon of more than 5 years

For retail investors on a relative basis equity mutual funds still remain an attractive asset class. On a risk adjusted basis it will still outscore other asset classes. As a retail investor you will gain financial independence by saving more and maintaining your asset allocation as per your risk appetite. Also, it is recommended that choose “Growth” schemes as dividends are now taxable at 10%.

If you want to invest for 3 – 5 years (but more than 1 year) to generate better returns

For people who were using dividend option for such measures will have to re-look as dividends now will be taxed at 10%. However, a hybrid product such as a balanced fund may still outperform other possible asset classes for this objective. Therefore it is suggested that you take exposure in “Growth” options of balanced equity funds through the SIP or STP route. Lump sum (one time) investments in equity or equity mutual funds for such time frame should be avoided.

If you want to park your money for use between 1 – 3 years

Ultra – Short Term and Short Term debt funds where there is no change in taxation still remain an attractive investment avenue.

If you want to park your money for use within 1 year

Arbitrage funds as a category will become relatively less attractive as you will have to pay 10% taxes on dividends received. However, if you are in the 30% tax bracket, this is still a more lucrative option than other alternatives available (since Ultra Short term debt funds are also giving lower than average returns). On the debt side there is no change

If your existing holdings are in below types of funds, then what actions should you be taking?

Arbitrage funds – Stay invested till March 2018 since all changes take effect from April 2018.

If you are in 20 -30% tax bracket and withdrawal is planned within 1 year: Continue to stay invested in Arbitrage Funds even after March 2018
If you are in 20 – 30% tax bracket and withdrawal is planned after 1 year: Split exposure between Arbitrage Funds and Short Term Debt Funds
If you are in 10% tax bracket: Shift to Ultra Short Term and Short Term Debt Funds

Ultra Short Term Debt / Liquid Funds – Continue to stay invested. If funds are not required to be deployed in next 3 years, you can consider taking small exposures in equity on market corrections (if they happen over the next few weeks)

Dynamic Bond Funds – We are not recommending dynamic bond funds in the present scenario seeing the volatile debt markets to retail investors.

Short Term Funds – Short Term funds have had small hits because of the debt market volatility.

Investors should not look into the category for less than 1 year. For less than 1 year stick to ultra-short term funds
Some of you would have seen less returns in the short term funds in the last 3 months because of a sudden spike. We would like to emphasize that during our discussion with you we had suggested these funds for a horizon of more than 1 year. So please hold on the investments as the returns are likely to improve in the next 3-6 months

Duration Funds – We still hold our previous view of sticking to short term bond funds and accrual funds seeing the interest rate scenario.

Equity funds – As long as your time horizon is more than 5 years, stay invested. However, periodic look at the portfolio for re-allocation and re-balancing is inevitable. At CAGRfunds, we are committed to your wealth creation. While we are planning to start are annual re-allocation and re-balancing exercise after 15^th February, 2018, do reach out to us if you want to discuss your portfolio prior to that.

Overall take: We feel that as retail investors we will benefit far more by focusing on the basics (which is our hand) which is consistent increase in our savings. Ensuring regular investments over a long period of time will help us reap the true benefit of compounding and create wealth over the long run. We therefore highly encourage starting / moving to the SIP mode of investment. While short term trading / speculation in direct stocks was never recommended for retail investors, it becomes all the more unattractive now. Also, the objective of investment at the first place is not to save tax. It is to build wealth. Equity mutual funds and a diversified portfolio continue to keep the objective intact and hence no major changes are required in the face of tax implication.

The only way to secure your future is to build it!

Disclaimer : This update is as per the information available as on 1st February 2018 from the budget document

December 17, 2017December 17, 2017

How are CAGR’s lawyer clients successfully managing to stay on top of their finances?

Lawyers are known to have extremely busy lives. With multiple cases lined up across various locations, most of their time is spent either travelling or reading tons and tons of case laws. This leaves them with very little or no time to manage their wealth. As a result, a large sum of money is almost always lying in the bank or traditional investment products such as Fixed Deposits.

How do these lawyers then stay on top of their finances?

At CAGR, we spoke to several lawyers to get their view on this subject. We received some interesting insights about professionals who are extremely busy with their work and have little time to spend on growing their wealth.

Nature of work is such that it demands substantial amount of time to be spent on professional requirements
Have some knowledge about financial assets such as mutual funds, but have little time to spend researching on the same
Automated digital platforms to start investing are convenient, especially if transaction time is reduced to a few seconds
Have an extremely high need for developing a trust based relationship with their financial planner who can cater to their queries and requests real time

With several lawyers as our clients, we have experienced the enough elements time and again. And delivering on requirements such as above has been the DNA of CAGR’s offering. In our view, lawyers need a good mix of hand holding and quick processing. Neither do they have the time to research on various investment instruments, nor do they want to spend time in transaction formalities. A trustworthy and seamless investment experience is a core requirement. In addition, every now and then we have received a Whatsapp message with a quick query about a lesser known investment instrument and a quick take on whether the concerned client should invest in the same. In our experience with lawyers, a seamless digital platform is only a hygiene factor. The reason our clients have loved us so far is because of the customized and hybrid model that we offer. Anytime Anywhere – Let us Grow Together!

Call / Whatsapp us on +91 97693 56440 for a FREE financial consultation!

November 16, 2017

4 Ways To Kickstart Your Retirement Savings in Your 20s

If you are fresh out of college with a job, you are one of the lucky ones who has finally “made” it. You have a salary that is expected to pay for all your dreams. But somewhere, there is a risk of losing sight of one favor that you ought to do to yourself – your retirement planning. Kickstarting retirement savings in your 20s is probably the best decision you would take in your life. But even though it is such an important step, most of us graduate quite unprepared for this. We, at CashGyan and CAGRfunds, have always advocated Personal Finance as a mandatory subject that should be taught in colleges but it is not. Fear not! We have listed out three ways you can kickstart your retirement savings in your 20s.

Save 10% of your salary

When you are just starting out, you start out pretty much with a clean slate. Except maybe an educational loan. You are at a stage where you have the luxury of planning for your life’s oncoming big expenses like higher education and wedding. This means you can better plan now for how much you want to save for retirement. It is recommended that you save 10% of your salary exclusively for retirement. Set up auto-transfers to ensure that you don’t forget moving the money every month. This could be a monthly SIP that could earn you higher interest rates or just plain transfer to another account.

Save For Emergency

Apart from retirement, ensure that you are saving separately for an emergency. If you are not saving for an emergency, you are bound to dig into your other savings. Oftentimes, we don’t have exclusive savings for an emergency. It is important that you separate it out to avoid dipping into it for expenses. It is recommended that emergency savings should be three to six months of your salary. Goal-based investing is a smart way to get this started and if you go for short-term plans, the money is accessible immediately when needed.

Invest Now

As it goes in life, the 20s is the best time for taking bigger financial risks as well. So, go ahead and get yourself educated in the fundamentals of investing in the right way. There is also a steadier, lesser risk option of investing in Mutual Funds. Instead of your money lying around in bank accounts earning minimal interest rates, make it work for you. Investing in mutual fund is now convenient, seamless and technology friendly with companies like CAGRfunds. More importantly, it guarantees returns, in the long run, making consistent investment an attractive form of retirement savings.

Start an NPS account

According to pfrda.org, an NPS is an easily accessible, low cost, tax-efficient, flexible and portable retirement savings account. Starting with a minimum annual contribution of INR 6000, the funds contributed by you are safely invested as per the PFRDA investment guidelines by the PFRDA registered Pension Fund Managers (PFM’s). Utmost care is taken to ensure that contributions are not affected by the market fluctuations and the amount is protected. These contributions are locked up until the age of 60 years. Even better, NPS under Section 80CCD (1b) provides a further deduction of INR 50,000 for tax saving purposes.

Achieving financial independence is a remarkable milestone that is worth celebrating. But true financial independence is achieved when you do not have to worry about times when you may not have a steady income. Retirement comes at a delicate age where you would have more than one financial obligations and medical expenses don’t make it any easier. Also, life expectancy has been increasing along with the desire to retire early. This means one is expected to live for 20-30 years without a source of income. So, think out of the box and kickstart your retirement savings in your 20s. Your older self would thank you!