Global Meltdown: How safe is your Job?

The writing is clearly on the wall now. There is an obvious meltdown in the world financial markets. The impact is being seen on the jobs as well. The companies have started to downsize the staff (Jet Airways fiasco is the latest example). They actually have no other option. If a company has to survive, it has to downsize to cut costs. The easiest victim would be the employee who is an average performer and is not quite the blue eyed boy...

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Deposit Insurance and Credit Gaurantee Corporation

Off late there has been a lot of talk about some commercial banks going bust/bankrupt. And thus there was a rumor of depositors losing money that was kept in the bank.I was searching on the topic and came to know about this corporation (DICGC). DICGC works on the safety of all the depositor's money kept in savings a/c, FDs etc with the banks. Almost all the banks in India are a part of this corporation and thus the money should be safe enough.List of partner banksBrief History of DICGC:The concept of insuring deposits kept...

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History of Financial Crises

I found this nice article in The Hindu Business Line on the previous financial crises around the world. This is worth a look, so decided to post it here.Not learning from historyParvatha Vardhini C.As the world struggles in the throes of a credit crisis, it seems appropriate to recount some (un)forgettable meltdowns of the twentieth century, the economics behind them and the panic that they created. Each of these major crises had features that have parallels in the current one. Yet, history repeats itself. Could investors have...

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Fixed Diposits: The safe Havens for the risk averse investors

As the Equity markets were on full swing last year, the good old fixed deposits and the post office schemes were loosing their sheen. But now that the markets have tumbled on their head and investors are looking for cover, it's once again time to look at these safest forms of money saving instruments.Investors should go for bank deposits or Fixed Maturity Plans (FMP) of mutual funds which provide cushion and risk free returns during the uncertain times as now-a-days. These can be of paramount importance to senior citizens and...

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Interest Rates and stock markets

Interest is nothing but the cost you have to pay for the use of someone else's money. Credit users know this scenario quite well - they borrow money in order to buy something. When it comes to the stock market and the impact of interest rates, the term usually refers to something else. The interest rate that applies to investors is the RBI bank rate. This is the cost that banks are charged for borrowing money from the RBI. It is the way the RBI attempts to control inflation.What is Inflation?Inflation is caused by too much...

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What is an Insurance?

Insurance works on the concept of pooling of risk. In the ancient times, merchants started this concept by poling the risk of their cargoes being sunk in the sea. They started pooling money which would be used to compensate the damages occurred to the merchant whose cargo sunk.The same concept has been carried forward to the modern day insurance, where one can insure not only his cargo/vehicle but also his health and life!In India, insurance can be broadly classified into 2 categories:Life Insurance: Financially covers the...

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Things to keep in mind while investing

Your journey towards financial freedom isn't complete without obstacles which you must learn to face and conquer. The sooner you learn to take action against them, more money you make.Impulse BuyingAlways buy when you see value not the price movements. Price movements are often due to market momentum and not for the value the stock presents.InflationInflation hurts people particularly those in fixed incomes like the elderly and those whose income isn't indexed to inflation. They lose a part of their purchasing powers because...

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