Financial Planning and Financial Products

Jul 11, 2024

Lecture Notes: Financial Planning and Financial Products

Introduction to Financial Planning and Financial Products

  • Importance of Financial Planning: Helps individuals achieve long-term financial goals such as buying a house, starting a business, or retiring comfortably.

Introduction to Saving

  • What is Saving?: Refers to setting aside a portion of income/resources for future use rather than spending it immediately.
  • Benefits of Saving: Helps achieve financial goals like buying a house, starting a business, or retiring comfortably.
  • Ways to Save Money:
    • Setting up saving accounts
    • Creating a budget
    • Automating saving transfers
    • Cutting back on unnecessary expenses
  • Uses of Savings:
    • Building an emergency fund
    • Investment for future
    • Achieving financial stability
    • Developing regular saving habits and mindful spending

Benefits of Savings

  • Financial Security: Provides a safety net for unexpected expenses like medical emergencies, car repairs, or job loss without going into debt.
  • Achieving Financial Goals: Helps in buying a home, starting a business, or funding children's education.
  • Emergency Fund: Provides peace of mind and financial stability during crises (e.g., job loss, natural disasters).
  • Retirement Planning: Saves for retirement, ensuring financial security in later years.
  • Opportunity to Invest: Saves money to invest in assets like stocks, bonds, real estate, and retirement accounts for additional income and long-term growth.
  • Reduced Financial Stress: Knowing that there is money set aside for emergencies reduces stress and anxiety.

Time Value of Money (TVM)

  • Definition: The idea that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future because of its potential earning capacity.
  • Factors Influencing TVM: Inflation, interest rates, and potential earning capacity of invested funds.
  • Components of TVM:
    • Future Value (FV): Value of an investment at a specific future date considering interest/return on investment.
    • Present Value (PV): Current value of a future sum of money, discounted back to the present at a specific rate of return.
  • Formulae:
    • FV: FV = PV (1 + r)^t
    • PV: PV = FV / (1 + r)^t

Managing Spending

  • Steps for Managing Spending:
    • Create a budget outlining income, expenses, and financial goals
    • Track expenses meticulously
    • Differentiate between needs and wants
    • Use cash or debit cards instead of credit cards
    • Comparison shopping for best deals
    • Avoid lifestyle inflation
    • Set saving goals
    • Regularly review and adjust budget

Financial Discipline

  • Achieving Financial Discipline:
    • Create a budget and stick to it
    • Avoid impulse purchases
    • Limit credit card use
    • Build an emergency fund
    • Set clear financial goals
    • Automate savings
    • Monitor progress and adjust
    • Educate yourself on financial literacy
    • Stay motivated

Types of Banks

  • Key Types of Banks:
    • Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
    • Commercial Banks
    • Scheduled Banks
    • Non-Scheduled Banks
    • Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)
    • Public Sector Banks
    • Private Sector Banks
    • Cooperative Banks
    • Foreign Banks
    • Development Banks

Banking Products and Services

  • Main Services Provided by Banks:
    • Loan facilities
    • Overdraft facility
    • Discounting of bills
    • Encashing cheques
    • Collecting and paying instruments of credit
    • Exchange of foreign currency
    • Utility bill payments

Types of Bank Deposit Accounts

  • Main Types:
    • Savings Bank Account
    • Term Deposit (Fixed Deposit)
    • Current Account
    • Recurring Deposit

Digitalization of Transactions

  • Net Banking
    • Features: Account management, fund transfer, bill payment, mobile recharge, online shopping, investment, and insurance
    • Advantages: Convenience, time-saving, cost-effective, enhanced security, transaction history tracking
    • Disadvantages: Security risks, technical issues, dependence on technology, lack of personal interaction, limited cash transactions
  • Debit Card
    • Features: Immediate access to funds, PIN-based transactions, ATM withdrawal, purchase protection, budgeting
  • Credit Card
    • Features: Credit limit, interest charge, revolving credit, reward programs, purchase protection
  • Unified Payment Interface (UPI)
    • Features: Real-time transfer, single interface, virtual payment address, QR code payments, bill payment
    • Benefits: Convenience, interoperability, security, cost-effectiveness, financial inclusion
  • Digital Wallet
    • Features: Store payment information, contactless payment, loyalty programs, security measures, transaction history

Ponzi Scheme

  • Description: Investment fraud paying existing investors with funds collected from new investors.
  • Characteristics: High returns with little/no risk, recruiting new investors
  • Security Precautions: Research, regulatory checks, financial advice, cautious of high returns, transparency

Online Fraud

  • Types: Identity theft, phishing, investment fraud, fake online sales
  • Precautions: Secure personal information, strong password usage, verify website security, beware of phishing efforts, research investment opportunities, use secure payment methods

Investment

  • Definition: Allocating resources (money, time) with the expectation of generating future income/profit.
  • Types: Financial investment (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs), real investment (real estate, machinery)
  • Objectives:
    • Wealth preservation
    • Capital growth
    • Income generation
    • Risk management
    • Financial goal achievement
    • Tax efficiency
  • Forms:
    • Direct investing
    • Indirect investing
  • Financial Derivatives: Contracts or financial instruments deriving value from underlying assets like stocks, bonds, indexes-
    • Types: Futures, options, forwards, exchange-traded derivatives, over-the-counter derivatives

Mutual Funds

  • Definition: Investment vehicles pooling money from multiple investors for diversified portfolio investments
  • Advantages: Diversification, professional management, variety of options, liquidity, transparency
  • Disadvantages: Fees and expenses, lack of control, market risk, tax implications, potential for underperformance, redemption restrictions, over-diversification

Insurance

  • Concept: Provides protection against the risk of uncertain events via risk pooling where individuals and entities facing similar risks contribute premiums to a collective fund
  • Principles:
    • Principle of utmost good faith
    • Principle of insurable interest
    • Principle of indemnity
    • Principle of contribution
    • Principle of subrogation
    • Principle of proximate cause
    • Principle of mitigation of loss

Life Insurance

  • Definition: Contract between an individual and insurance company to pay a designated sum to beneficiaries upon the insured person’s death
  • Types: Term insurance, endowment policies
  • Principles: Utmost good faith, insurable interest, indemnity, contribution, subrogation, proximate cause
  • Benefits: Financial protection, income replacement, tax benefits

Health Insurance

  • Definition: Provides coverage for medical and surgical expenses incurred by the insured person
  • Importance: Financial protection, access to healthcare, preventive care, peace of mind
  • Benefits: Covers medical expenses, access to network of providers, financial stability

Property Insurance

  • Definition: Provides financial protection against damage or loss of physical property
  • Types: Homeowner insurance, renter insurance, fire insurance, commercial property insurance, natural disaster insurance

Postal Life Insurance

  • Features: Affordable premiums, simple and transparent, flexible coverage, high claim settlement ratio, government-backed

Personal Tax Planning

  • Basic Structure:
    • Direct Taxes: Imposed directly on individuals/entities (e.g., income tax, corporate tax)
    • Indirect Taxes: Levied on goods/services (e.g., customs duty, excise duty)
  • Importance: Minimizes tax liability, optimizes financial resources, increases cash flow, encourages economic growth, ensures compliance, manages risk
  • Exemptions: Certain allowances that can be excluded from taxable income
  • Deductions: Specific expenses/contributions that can be subtracted from gross income to arrive at taxable income E.g., Section 80C, 80CCD, 80G

E-Filing

  • Definition: Process of submitting tax returns and other documents to the government electronically via the internet
  • Steps to File ITR Electronically:
    • Visit the e-filing website
    • Login/Register
    • Select filing and status
    • Select appropriate ITR form
    • Fill in the income and deductions details
    • Validate and submit the ITR