5 New Year resolutions on financial management

We are fast approaching another New Year. We at Shanthala Chits wish to join all our readers and investors and welcome the New Year 2023 with plenty of hope and good wishes for all our prosperity and well being. India is being seen as an oasis of hope in terms of economic development in this period of uncertainty and global slowdown. Lets hope the trend continues in 2023.

We people tend to make New Year resolutions with respect to travel plans, losing weight, waking early and other lifestyle changes. But this year, we would urge our readers to make the following 5 New year resolutions and strive to fulfil them. These would help in our overall financial well-being and remove a major source of stress and uncertainty from our lives. After all, if any crisis comes our way, it is easier to face it when we are in a stable financial position.

So here come the 5 New Year resolutions.

1) Save, save, save!

The idea of living within our means and setting aside money for the future is a deeply nurtured Indian trait. We believe in striving for contentment, not excessive pleasure seeking. It’s only in recent years that the reliance on credit cards and personal loans to meet life’s needs has become prevalent. But we need to break free from this malaise and we can do this by setting a simple rule. That we only spend less than what we already have and save the rest.

The important takeaway is – not to fall for peer pressure. Never blindly assume that you aren’t earning enough, and brood over it. Just work out a financial budget and saving plan according to your earnings. And you will see a simple disciplined living style can make even small salaries look big. A rough ballpark that experts suggest is to build a saving kitty equivalent to 6 months of your monthly expenditure needs. That can serve as a contingency fund if need arises.

Start a PPF account, or a Sukanya Samruddhi Yojana in your girl child’s name. Choose a Fixed Deposit or Recurring deposit scheme in your bank. You can also create a SIP account into some well performing Mutual Funds. Another ideal saving cum investment option for you will be Chit Funds. Make monthly contributions to a chit scheme, for a fixed tenure of 2-3 years. Withdraw your money at the end of the tenure with good returns, and earn in the range of 7-10%. In case of urgent need for funds, you can withdraw the entire prize money anytime during the chit scheme tenure. No penalties, no debt. It’s your own money!

2) Set and meet committed expenses

This year the urge to spend, celebrate and spread cheer is even stronger as the whole country is coming out of the shadows of the Covid pandemic. Now, it’s time to really break free and make grand plans for the New Year.

However, we must be clear about prioritising mandatory and productive expenses which lead to direct well-being of our family. And we must strive to reduce binge spends which only bring short term pleasure and are entirely avoidable. Make clear expenses budgets for mandatory expenses, set aside some money for fun and frolic too. But having made your estimates, work towards restricting your expenses within your planned expense budget.

3) Diversify your financial portfolio

Before the pandemic struck over 2 years back, the property rental market was booming, especially in metro cities. So a lot of people put all their surplus funds into property purchase. But the mass exodus of the working population from cities has seen a sharp fall in property rentals. Another case in point is the sudden flurry towards equity markets. Since the deposit interest rates were falling continuously, there was a sudden jump towards the stock markets by small investors, especially towards IPOs. But except a handful of them, most of them are under-performing, though the market itself is quite buoyant. Property, gold, shares, mutual funds, FDs, government saving schemes – these are all good, sound investment options. But when an individual relies too much on only 1-2 of these options, the risk of failure is very high. So balance out your portfolio. Remember to include Chit funds as one of the investment alternatives in your portfolio.

4) Stay away from debt

There is no such thing as good debt. Unless of course somebody is giving money to borrow at Zero interest! Your salary credit sits in a savings account merely gaining 2.5-3% interest. But you have accumulated credit card bills worth thousands of rupees. Does it make financial sense? By paying only the minimum amount due, you are in effect paying anywhere between 18-40% as interest and penalty!! Same is the case with bank overdrafts, or installment purchases. Read the fine print, work out the actual repayment you are due to make. Then compare it to the appreciation of your capital. Any debt that costs you more than what you earn on your investments or funds in hand is bad debt. Stay away from it. We recommend chit funds as a good alternative for this.

5) Don’t ignore long term financial goals

Long term goals such as retirement goals or a daughter’s wedding are somewhat fixed milestones in your life, so you can easily work towards meeting them. You know what to expect and when. If you are planning on a home purchase, work out how you are going to fund the initial down payment, which is typically 20% of your property value. Or you may be looking to purchase gold or get a new car, an EV may be! These are sound investment options and they would add great value to your living standards in the future. Define your budget for such assets and identify the fund source for purchasing these assets well in advance. When you have such clear long term goals in mind, you will automatically reduce wasteful expenditure and start working towards saving up for it.

ABOUT US

Shanthala Chits has been in the business of chit funds for over 2 decades now. We are a Government approved chit fund company with a 25 year successful track record and thousands of satisfied customers. Shanthala Chits is registered under the Chit Fund Act of 1982, Government of Karnataka. We are one of the most popular chit fund houses based out of Bengaluru, known for our customer satisfaction and secure investments.

Get in touch with us and start with an investment scheme. We will be glad to help you out with the right scheme that matches your needs.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023 !