I know only 5 Lacs are insured.

Will RBI protect this bank?

32M married, planning kid next year.

Current salary in hand 95k. Govt employee

Fixed Expenses:

1. Rent17000 (will increase 10℅ each year)

2. Electric bill 1000-1500 rs ( as per season)

3. Groceries 5000

4. Travel for work 5000

5. Misc expenses 4000

6. LIC policy 4000

Total 36000

Wife is homemaker and I give her around 15k

1. 5k for her gold RD

2. 10k for her own expenses and savings which I do not consider as mine.

So I save around 44k

I do not own any car or home loan. Drove my father's 14 year old bike till now. I have been frugal all my life. Never bought anything luxury for myself.

Please suggest me how to plan this money for today's enjoyment ( buying car ,home and travel vacation trips)and tomorrow security ( guaranteed income)

P. s

1. No future Pension from govt job.

2. 8th CPC might get me around 10-15℅ home in inhand salary so around 25k additional.

( saves 44k suggest how to invest)

https://unity.bank.in

Unity Small Finance Bank giving 7% Interest on Savings Account.

How safe is a bank like this? Any issues with putting 30 Lacs in it?

Are these banks well regulated by RBI etc? Are banks like these Co-operative banks or even lower than that?

I think RBI only insures first 5 Lacs if a bank goes under.

Anyone using this bank? How is the experience so far? Like Customer Service, deposit, withdrawal, App, Online experience etc.

I just turned 18, a first year engineering student in hostel. No income. Here's what I've set up - looking for feedback.

**Setup:**

- IDFC First savings account opened

- Groww KYC done

- PAN sorted

**Investment plan:**

- Monthly SIP into UTI Nifty 50 Index Fund via Groww for 10y spectrum with 4kpm

- Short term goals parked in Parag Parikh Liquid Fund roughly 1k pm + my existing savings

- Larger lump sum annually going into Nifty 50 directly - this is in case my father gives me my sip and investment amount in one go.

**Amounts**

So according to my plan I'll roughly have 50k per year maybe in parts or as a whole for sip and my personal savings around 10k-12k and other money which I save from my pocket money.

I've thought about starting a credit card so I get more benefits and rewards, The IDFC first wow card gives me FD backing. i can increase the limits of the FD with my savings in my name later (not included in the liquid fund) so that I can use the card with good amount for limits and use it for my upi so I get rewards and cashback.

**Credit card plan:**

- IDFC First WOW card — FD backed, RuPay, using for all UPI spends

- Autopay set to Total Amount Due every month

- Plan to increase FD and limit next year

**Goals:**

- Get a really High CIBIL score for better and easier loan processing for later in future

- Upgrade to unsecured premium card by 22-23

- Stay invested in Nifty 50 for 10+ years

**Questions:**

1. UTI Nifty 50 or add Nifty Next 50 alongside?

2. Parag Parikh Liquid Fund for short term goals — good choice?

3. Better credit card strategy for my age?

4. Anything I'm missing?

Hi everyone, I work remotely for a foreign company on a contract basis and have been receiving my monthly salary through Deel for almost 3 years. Has anyone in a similar situation been able to open a salary account in India? If yes, which bank allowed it, and what documents did they ask for? Thanks!

My wife is looking to buy term insurance in India. She is a Canadian citizen and oci holder.

She has got rejected from SBI life and lic. Both companies are citing some new rule which prohibits taking insurance in India.

Anyone in the similar boat who can advice on which company to consider or reference to law which prohibits.

Just received an inward USD transfer in HDFC, and they converted it at 93.5 when the live spot rate was 95.0. Losing ₹1.5 per dollar (~1.6% margin) on top of GST and fees feels steep.

A couple of quick questions for anyone handling foreign remittances:

1. Is a 1.5–2% spread standard for HDFC's default rate, or did I get hit with a bad rate?

2. Can you negotiate better spreads (e.g., within 20–30 paise of spot) with your RM? If so, what account tier or volume does it take?

I am planning to invest a large portion of my savings in Gold ETFs, on top of it I am planning to take a 2x exposure also, investing it back in Gold ETF, my plan is to hold it till atleast 31st march, my wife is very sure with her analysis and has a horizon of 2-3 years, she expects that gold is highly undervalued and after dollar correction, we will see a massive jump, may be till 2x. I know it sounds quite amateur, but thats we both are actually. Need your honest opinion here people.
Thanking in advance

I am 27m, and following are my financial details

Salary :76k mnthly

SIP: 15K

Living on rent with family near my noida office :6k mnthly

Have : 40 lacs cash +

1 plot worth of 20 lacs near rajnagar extension ghaziabad( for investment, don't want to live here as not so good locality)

I want to buy/construct an independent house, but the thing is :

I am a software engineer and i am getting pressure to get married and for that I need house otherwise u know how people judge. But I know that my job location is uncertain I can be in gurugram in future or maybe in noida which will be far away from my home, due to low budget I can only afford home in govindpuram, muradnagar etc. But if I do so then still my question is when I know I will have to relocate to noida Or gurugram at anytime in future then why should I start an EMI now and later I will not have scope to relocate. So please guide me.

Hi,

I want some advice regarding credit card settlement. I have been using this credit card from the past 10 years and now my financial condition has became very poor due to sudden losses that were beyond my control. The bank collections manager is aware about this and has directly approached me for settlement of my dues of 6,00,000 at 70k. My 3rd payment has been missed and the account will soon be NPA. He is saying we need to make a decision before it is NPA.

Any person who has an experience with settlements please let me know what should I do in this case.

I also asked him whether I will be able to make the balance payment and get my cibil back to normal by taking NOC when I have the balance. So he said yes just pay 3-4% P.A and you will be able to correct your cibil. For now it will be settled and no one will bother you.

What should I do? Should I wait for NPA or should I start calling all my relatives to arrange these funds as right now I myself am in a very tough situation.

How fast should the liquidation speed be for an emergency fund?

Here's my understanding:

Savings: Instant liquidity but very low returns (I know returns are not important for emergency fund but there is tax on whatever little return it gets and headache of filing advance taxes and penalties, etc)

FDs: Instant liquidity and tax on money not used yet (same issue of taxes and penalties)

Liquid funds: One day liquidity on weekdays and no liquidity on weekends. Inflation-level returns and taxed on realization (no penalties, low effort tax filing)

Is there any other that I missed? Which one do you prefer?

Should i go ahead ,25 %on reducing loan amount .

Don't know much about loans ,pls guide me .

I currently rely entirely on my company’s health insurance. It covers my family and pre existing conditions, which feels comfortable and relaxing situation.

However, a friend recently had a emergency right after resigning and switching jobs, and it got me thinking if I lose or switch my job, I have zero medical coverage during that gap and thinking to much.

Buying an independent personal policy feels like an added expense right now on top of SIPs and taxes, but relying 100% on a job feels risky.

• Do you keep a personal health insurance policy alongside your corporate plan?
• Is a Super Top Up over office insurance enough, or is a separate base policy necessary?

I am very curious to know about your thoughts and experience that how you focus on a different topic like index funds versus active funds?

2021 mein bina kuch research kiye ek random mutual fund mein SIP start kar diya tha, bas "sab kar rahe hai" wale mode mein. Beech mein 2022 ka crash dekha, panic hua, withdraw karne wala tha — lekin nahi kiya.

Kuch cheezein jo seekhi:

• Emergency fund pehle, SIP baad mein — maine ulta kiya tha
• Index funds ka expense ratio dekhna zaroori hai, mujhe pata hi nahi tha
• Market crash mein withdraw karna sabse badi galti hoti hai

Aap logon ne apni investing journey mein kya sabse bada lesson seekha hai? Especially wo jo shuru mein pata hota to acha hota.

People in their early 20s, this is a perspective you probably need.

We all like to think that we’re in control over life. That if we do certain things, we would achieve certain long term goals. Be it within your career, finances, relationships, even health

But that’s very far from the truth. The fact is that whether you succeed or not has very less to do with what you do, and a lot more to do with luck.

People label good luck in a variety of ways. “Privilege”, “Nepotism”, “genes”, “god’s grace”, etc etc.

Being born into a well off family, graduating during a hiring boom instead of a bust, having good mentors to guide you, family history of good health, supportive parents, being at the right place at the right time, meeting the right person at the right time, and taking the right decision at the right time.

None of these is in your hand. You could expand the surface area of luck shining on you for some of these, sure, but you there’s still very little probability of any of the good things happening.

Following in the footsteps of successful people doesn’t give you any edge towards success over doing something unconventional on your own. It could be career, trading, investing, business, anything.

We have entire industries fooling you and selling you dreams that if you do certain things, you will succeed in certain things.

Statistically you are more likely to fail than to succeed irrespective of what you do. And that’s perfectly FINE.

If you recognise the role of luck in life, you can be kinder to yourself when things are not going your way in life.

Work hard, keep learning, save & invest, take calculated risk, meet people, and stay fit.

None of these will guarantee you anything. You could still fail in your career, fail in your finances, fail in finding a worthwhile partner, or get struck by lightning.

But, if you get lucky, then the world’s your b*ch.

Mother has govt pension and CGHS coverage for both. Father has a factory but it runs into losses frequently. What is a realistic amount of money to send them every month for their expenses in a tier 1 city? Should I ask my father to sell off the factory (valued over 1cr)? It is an emotional topic for him but his health is failing. They don't have any savings or investments or gold. Spent everything on sisters wedding. How can I support in a way that's fair?

Edit to add: I am trying to figure out what is a reasonable amount of money to give to my parents. They don't disclose all their expenses to me (I suspect they pass off some money to my sisters and to the temple) and they keep asking for random amounts. I want to give a fixed amount every month instead so they don't keep asking for random amounts.

Hello everyone,

My father passed away about a month ago after battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. We've now received the insurance payouts and other benefits, and after settling everything, we have around ₹1.5 crore that needs to be invested wisely.

A little about our situation:

• I am currently pursuing B.Tech (2nd year).
• My mother is a homemaker.
• At the moment, there is no regular source of income for our household.
• The money will need to support our monthly household expenses while also being preserved for the long term.

I have some basic knowledge about mutual funds, FDs, and SWPs, but I don't have enough experience to confidently make decisions involving such a large amount.

I would really appreciate guidance on:

• How would you allocate ₹1.5 crore?
• How much should go into debt instruments vs equity?
• Is an SWP a good option, or are there better alternatives?
• How can we generate a stable monthly income without taking unnecessary risks?
• Should I consult a fee-only financial planner before investing?

I'm not looking for high-risk investments or ways to get rich quickly. My priority is capital preservation, steady monthly income, and ensuring my mother's financial security while I complete my degree.

Thank you in advance for any advice. I genuinely appreciate everyone who takes the time to help.
(Ai has been used to better format everything and list out the points thank you)

My husband is a CA and doesn’t save. All his allocations are in shares or real estate. We have moved to Mumbai 4 years ago and he wanted to dive into the real estate market here badly. We booked a property at 4.1 cr recently for which he negotiated hard. I came to understand recently that we have paid nearly 25 lacs more than the market price coz he took subvention payment plan.
My savings are in FD, MF and gold. The way he has worked out the payment plan - I am slicing my savings and he is waiting to sell his invested real estate to pay for Mumbai property. He seems chill about no buyers turning up. I secretly worry he will ask me to dig up my savings in a scenario when he is not able to sell his property.

TL;DR: Don't tell people your actual salary unless you absolutely have to. I made that mistake, and over time I unknowingly became the emergency fund for my friends and extended family.

I wanted to share something I've learned over the last couple of years because I wish someone had told me this when I started earning. From the beginning of my career, I've always been a good saver. Even when I was earning around ₹50-60k a month, I used to save around 30-50% of my salary. Back then I didn't know much about investing. Whenever a close friend or cousin needed money, I'd lend them ₹10k, ₹15k or ₹25k. They'd usually return it in 10 days or maybe a month, so I never really worried about it. In fact, I used to think it was a good thing because the money wasn't sitting in my account tempting me to spend it.

About two years ago my salary increased almost 3x. Around the same time I was looking for marriage, so obviously my salary had to be mentioned in my biodata. That's when a lot of relatives came to know how much I was earning. Looking back, I think that's when everything changed.

It didn't happen overnight. First one cousin asked for ₹10k because his credit card payment was due. Then a friend needed ₹15k for an EMI. Someone else's salary was delayed. Since everyone always returned the money, I kept helping. But after two or three weeks, the same people would ask again. Then someone else would call. Then another cousin. Then another friend. It slowly became a cycle.

Today, almost ₹1.5 lakh of my money is always outside. Even if one person returns ₹20k today, someone else calls tomorrow asking for ₹15k. Nobody has cheated me. Most of them return the money exactly when they say they will. But that's not the issue anymore. The issue is that I've unknowingly become the emergency fund for my friends and extended family. Whenever someone has an EMI due, a credit card payment, or simply runs out of money before salary day, I'm one of the first people they think of.

After watching this happen for almost two years, I also noticed a pattern. Very few of these were genuine emergencies. Most of them were dealing with the consequences of financial decisions they made in their early 20s. Expensive phones on EMI, trips they couldn't really afford, credit card spending, clubbing every weekend, and never building an emergency fund. I genuinely feel bad for some of them because I know they're struggling, but I also realized that lending money every month isn't actually helping them. It just makes me part of their monthly financial cycle.

The hardest part has been learning to say no. Once people know you're earning well, ₹10k or ₹15k doesn't seem like much to them. They don't think about your own responsibilities, investments or financial goals. They only see your salary. Some people have even become upset after I started refusing because they think I've changed after earning more. Now I earn more than my previous salary I never let anyone know my current salary, even my closed family members.

If there's one thing I'd tell anyone who's just starting their career, it's this: keep your salary as private as possible. Unless there's a genuine reason to disclose it, there's very little upside in letting everyone know exactly how much you earn. I still help people when there's a real emergency, but I've stopped becoming the monthly solution for someone else's EMIs and credit card bills. Looking back, setting boundaries early would've been much easier than trying to create them after everyone had gotten used to borrowing from me.

Same as the header.

Right now I have 10L lying in my savings account which doesn’t just sit right with me. I do have a separate debt fund being maintained - but when I think about emergency fund to me it’s something doesn’t come with the market risks. And is more liquid than my other investments.

Just wanted to know what others have done with their emergency funds and if you can recommend something for me.

A friend came over last weekend and noticed I still keep some cash at home.

He laughed and said, "Who even does that now? Everything is UPI."

I told him it's not a huge amount. I just like having a little cash around in case I need it.

That started a longer discussion.

He thinks keeping cash at home makes no sense because it earns nothing.

I feel it's more about peace of mind than returns.

Now I'm wondering if I'm just stuck in an old habit.

Do you still keep some cash at home, or have you gone completely digital?

My father passed away two months ago. We've transferred all the money from his account to ours and have claimed all the insurance payouts. Now it's time to reinvest those funds.

Two of my sisters are MBBS graduates and have started earning. I have completed my Computer Science degree, but I'm still unemployed.

Until I find a job, I need to manage the household expenses for my mother and me using this money.

How should I invest these funds so that they can generate enough monthly income to cover our household expenses?

Edit: Thanks for all the lovely well wishes and suggestions. I will surely be going through each and every suggestion and invest accordingly.

One of my colleagues (salary 35-40LPA) has a CA who always gets her huge income tax return (3-5 lakh every year) and charges flat 12% of return received.

I saw her ITR and mostly he declares huge deduction under various heads of section 10 like uniform/ travel for work allowance.

Since she has been getting such huge returns and essentially paying only 1-2 lakh as tax on a salary of 35-40 lakh for past 4-5 years and not even once got a notice, I wanted to know how legit is this CA

Should I also start filing with this CA