Do you have financial planning queries?
You can ask rediffGURU Colonel Sanjeev Govila (retd) your questions HERE.
Colonel Govila is the founder of Hum Fauji Initiatives, a financial planning company dedicated to armed forces officers and their families.
He has over 12 years of experience in financial planning and is a SEBI certified registered investment advisor; he is also accredited with AMFI and IRDA.
Anonymous: I am 60 years old, male, retired.
I have a small corpus of around Rs 60 lakhs, comprising of Rs 25 lakhs in equity, Rs 20 lakhs in FD and Rs 15 lakhs in mutual funds.
Overall, the corpus is growing @ 10-12 per cent annually.
I have alternative income for sustenance and am unlikely to touch this corpus in next five years.
However I do spend the equity dividends of around Rs 1 lakh a year.
How can I grow this corpus faster in next five years?
Do I need to modify asset allocation?
Is it advisable to go for PMS for such a small corpus?
Here are some suggestions to consider for growing your corpus in the next five years while maintaining long-term financial security:
Asset Allocation: Given your age and goal to grow your corpus over the next five years, you may want to reconsider your asset allocation because you have a modest corpus and have worked hard to obtain it over the course of your life.
It's vital to strike a balance between risk and profit.
Diversification: Diversifying your investments within equity and mutual funds can help spread the risk.
Consider investing in a mix of large cap, mid-cap and small cap stocks.
Diversifying mutual funds across different sectors can also be beneficial.
Professional Management: While PMS (Portfolio Management Services) can offer professional management, they often come with higher costs.
Given your corpus size, it might not be the most cost-effective option.
You can consider mutual funds managed by professionals as they offer diversification and expertise.
Emergency Fund: Ensure you have an emergency fund set aside in a liquid and easily accessible form to cover unforeseen expenses without touching your retirement corpus.
It's advisable to consult a financial advisor who can provide personalised advice based on your specific circumstances and goals.
Remember, the key to growing your corpus faster in the next five years is to strike the right balance between risk and returns while considering your long-term financial security.
Elizabeth: Sir, I had opted for VRS in 2002 after working for 14 years with a government company.
Today, I am 57 years.
Do I need to wait till I am 60 years to claim my EPF money?
Also, what documents will I need to submit as proof in order to make my claim for EPF?
Full withdrawal of EPF funds is allowed only after retirement.
However, early retirement is considered by the EPFO only after the employee attains the age of 55.
To claim your EPF money, you will need to submit the following documents:
• Form 19 (EPF Withdrawal Form)
• Self-attested copy of your PAN card
• Self-attested copy of your Aadhaar card
• Cancelled cheque
• Proof of VRS (such as your VRS offer letter or termination letter)
You can submit these documents to your nearest EPFO office or online through the EPFO website.
Here is the step-by-step process for claiming your EPF money online:
1. Visit the EPFO website and login to your account.
2. Click on the 'Online Services' tab.
3. Select the 'Claim (Form-19, 10C & 11)' option.
4. Enter the required details and submit the form.
5. You will receive an SMS notification once your claim has been processed.
6. The EPF money will be credited to your bank account within 10-15 days.
Please note that the above information is based on the current EPF rules and regulations.
The EPFO may change the rules from time to time.
It is always advisable to visit the EPFO website or contact your EPFO office for the latest information.
Siddramappa: My earlier question on getting refund of TDS done at the time of sale of property is yet to be answered. I wish to know whether I can claim refund of it and what is procedure to claim it.
Yes, you can claim a refund of TDS done at the time of sale of property. The procedure to claim a refund is as follows:
• PAN card of both transferor and transferee is required.
• Transferee/purchaser needs to register himself/herself in TRACES with PAN.
• On deduction of tax u/s 194IA, the deductor needs to generate 26QB online.
• Tax payment needs to be made online within due date.
• On payment of tax, 26QB needs to be filled within the due date.
• On successful filing of 26QB, TDS certificate in F16B can be generated online and needs to be issued to the deductee within due dates.
• In case of any alteration, Form 26QB can be altered online at TRACES.
For the above, you require the following information:
1. PAN of the seller
2. PAN of the buyer
3. Date of payment
4. Amount of payment
5. TDS deducted
After completion of all the above steps, the system will show a tax credit in 26AS of the deductee.
The income tax department will process your refund request.
Once it is processed, the refund will be credited to your bank account within a few weeks.
Snil: I am govt employee. I want to know regarding LTC taxation under new regime.
In the old regime, it was non-taxable.
Also in public sector under LTA it was taxable when I claim for paid amount however if I produce journey ticket it was non-taxable. But under LTC it was taxable for govt employee even I produce journey ticket in new regime.
Under the new tax regime, LTC/LTA is taxable for employees even if you produce journey tickets.
So if you want to claim LTC/LTA exemption, you will need to choose the old tax regime. If you choose the new tax regime, you will not be able to claim LTC exemption even if you produce journey tickets.
Here are some additional things to keep in mind:
• The new tax regime has lower tax rates than the old tax regime. So, even though you cannot claim LTC/LTA exemption under the new tax regime, you may still end up paying less tax overall.
• There are any number of calculators available online including on the Income Tax Dept website which can give you an idea of which regime is beneficial for you in different scenarios.
Nilu: Hi I am 41. I need to start SIP which can avail me Rs 1 lakh per month after 15 years. How much SIP should I start with?
Before anything, please understand that if you have Rs 1 lakh in mind today, then you will require Rs 2.39 lakh practically 15 years later to buy the same things that you can buy with Rs 1 lakh today, assuming an inflation rate of 6 per cent per year.
Again, due to inflation, this amount will keep increasing.
To generate a monthly income of Rs 1 lakh after 15 years, you will need to invest a minimum of Rs 90,000 per month through a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) for the next 15 years.
Assumptions:
• You will continue to redeem an amount equivalent to today's Rs 1 lakh every month after adjusting inflation until you are 80 years old.
• We have taken conservative SIP growth rate @11 per cent per year.
• The inflation rate is 6 per cent per year.
After 15 years, your SIP investment of Rs 90,000 per month will grow to approximately Rs 4.14 crore. This corpus will be sufficient to generate a monthly income of Rs 1 lakh equivalent even after accounting for inflation.
Note: This is just an estimate and the actual amount you receive will depend on the actual performance of your SIP investments.
- You can ask rediffGURU Sanjeev Govila your questions HERE.
Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this QnA or an attempt to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients.
Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
