Insure yourself against Terror Attacks

Loss, more than anything else, opens our eyes to the need of insurance. It was the Mumbai attacks that shows the need of a terror attack insurance as well.All though almost all of us have insurance policies, but it is important that we check our policies once again for an insurance against terror attacks. Here is a look at some major insurance covers and what we should look at while taking the cover:Life InsuranceWhile most basic life...

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Reimbursement of Medical Expenses - R.N. Lakhotia

As a general principle, any perquisite in one form of a medical allowance is typically taxable. On the other hand, reimbursement by an employer of medical expenses incurred by an employee is generally tax-free. Read on below for the full picture Medical Expenses Allowance If a fixed allowance is received by an employee for the discharge of medical expenses, it is a taxable perquisite. Hence, an employee should avoid the receipt of an allowance...

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Leave Travel Allowance - Sixth Pay Commission

The sixth pay commission has recommended some modifications to the Leave Travel Allowance rules for the Government employees. These changes have been made effective from September 1, 2008. I've tried to put in most of the changes in this post. Highlights:Parents dependent on the Govt. employees are eligible for LTA irrespective of whether they are staying with Government employee or not. Fresh employees can avail 3 home town travel and...

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What is Sum Assured?

Almost everyone who has a Life Insurance, must have heard the term "Sum Assured". But, do we know the real meaning of the term? How does this affect ourselves? We will try to put some light on this in this post...The Sum Assured is actually the reason for which we buy Life Insurance. This amount affect the insured while living as well as after life. It is the amount that would be paid to the nominee in case of the death of the insured...

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Gold: The best defence against recession

As worries over a global recession deepen, investors should now shift to gold as a safe haven. History also supports this. In the great depression of 1929, Gold was the best performing asset. People had even dumped the currencies and converted to Gold with the fear of even central banks being fail. At that point in time, Gold was the standard on which each currency value was measured. Dollar was fully convertible to Gold and so were many...

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Don't Let your Insurance Policy Lapse

The markets are falling on their head. There is bad news all around. People are losing their jobs. Companies are shutting shops. So, what would one do to cover their finances? First thing that comes to mind is dip into your investments to get money. After all this was the day that you have been saving for...But then there are certain investments that one makes with a goal in mind. It would be better if one doesn't touch those. Your insurance policy can be one such investment. If you have a ULIP (the type that gives better returns...

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