As I’ve said earlier – I’m trying to create a directory of financial services providers here, and today I’m going to post a profile of another financial adviser – Shiv.
He has been pretty active on the infrastructure bond posts and has been answering questions clearly and honestly, so I invited him to create a profile here.
The post below is in his own words:
Hi my name is Shiv. I am an Independent Financial Advisor and the Proprietor of a Financial Planning & Investment Services firm, Ojas Capital. I’m going to list out my services on this page, and you can use the comments section to ask me any questions that you may have about any of the current Infrastructure Bonds issues or anything else.
List of services:
- Edelweiss Broking
- Financial Planning
- Mutual Funds, SIPs
- Tax Solutions
- Investment Planning
- Insurance Planning
Contact Number: +91-9811797407
Email Address: [email protected]
Brief Details on Qualifications and Work Experience: CFP, B.Com. (H)
Worked with HSBC & Capital IQ.
You can also use the comments section to review my services and let others know about them.
Sudexos upto Rs 3000/PM are tax exempt.
Hi Abhishek
I saw your queries today only as I didnt check the notification box when Manshu created this page and never visited this page for long as I lost hopes of somebody posting any query to me… 🙂 🙂
As this was the first time that somebody had asked me something, I would not like to miss this opportunity 😉 and also I don’t want to disappoint you or leave you unanswered. I’ll try to answer to your queries one by one to the best of my abilities & knowledge…
1. I’ve very little knowledge about how these Sodexo Meal Coupons work but I’ve a vague idea that these coupons are tax exempted upto Rs. 1,350/- p.m.
2. Its always a wise thing to diversify your Investment Portfolio as per your Risk Appetite. Get your Risk Profiling and Asset Allocation things done first. After that start putting your money in various asset classes like Equity, Debt, Gold, Cash etc. as per the Asset Allocation Target. Gold is considered as the Inflation-Beater (though its has given some tremendous returns in the past 3-4 years, all thanks to weak Global economies, especially U.S.). I think a portion of a common investor’s portfolio should be invested in Gold and that is between 5% to 15%. There are No Tax-Exemptions on Investments in Gold ETFs.
3. As far as Equity Investment is concerned, I strongly feel that every investor should invest in both mutual funds as well as stocks directly. I’m not recommending direct stocks investments only from returns point of view but also from knowledge point of view. This is something which makes the investor always remain on his toes, seeking for various kind of information effecting his stock investments. Basically it makes you active and I advise people to invest that much which makes them active and strictly not to invest an amount which makes them over-active in stocks. As far as tax benefits are concerned, Long-Term Capital Gains in equity are tax-free & Short Term Capital Gains are taxed at 15%.
4. Its advisable to increase your PF contribution if you want to do so but keep your Asset Allocation in mind.
5. You can consider investing in ELSS for Tax Saving u/s. 80C which would also cover your need to invest in equity MFs. I don’t think you should invest in Infra Bonds to save tax u/s. 80CCF till the time you start falling in the tax bracket of 20% or more. You can consider taking Health Insurance to get tax benefit u/s. 80D. Also whenever you take a Home Loan to buy a property you can claim tax deduction on the EMI amount also.
I’ve answered your queries probably taking many assumptions and it depends how some other individual takes it. But I’ve tried to answer them as honestly and simple as I could. Please let me know in case you’ve any doubts or further queries.
Hi Shiv and Manshu,
I just started my career as software engineer couple of months ago with salary of 3.15 lac (basic sal 9,700), I know little knowledge on tax filling, tax benefit and never done so. I heard that from this financial year, salaried person need not file tax returns. It is kind of you, if you can answer the below lame question. Hope these question help young guys like me who are in the same shoes.
1. I currently get sudoxo meal coupon of Rs 500 every month, what can be the tax benefit if I increase the amount to 1000 or 2000Rs every month.
2. I am planning to invest in Gold ETF, one or two unit each month until my Marriage (short term objective)!!! :-)( 2-3Years) just to take care, not to hurt myself to see the gold prices zoom to high (like silver), when I really needed. Is this a good investment or should I consider something else? Is there any tax benefit on this investment on gold ETF?
3. Since I don’t have dependents most of my well wishers said I have a high risk profile, and can try for high risk high return like equity, I know it’s too risky and I believe when you lose something you learn something. Am I right? I started accumulating good companies with good track record of consistent dividend payout, growth and profit on YOY. Would you recommend investing in equity or mutual fund or mixture of both. What is the Tax benefit on investing in equity for long term (2-3 years)? 🙂
4. Would you consider increasing my PF which is currently just 1164Rs. because my medium term objective (6-10 years) is to buy a plot or home in sub urban area.
5. How much do you recommend to invest in tax saving plans like 80c,80xx(sorry I don’t know much) so as to get maximum tax benefit?
I know these are very lame and dumb question from a person who has just started his career with little salary and long objectives and goals in life.
Thanks in advance.
As you may have noticed elsewhere I personally never recommend what an individual should do because in order to do that one has to spend a lot of time with that guy understanding their requirement and so on. This is something I can’t do at the present because I’m neither competent enough to do so nor do I have the bandwidth to spend time on it. So sorry Abhishek.
Thank you manshu, I appreciate your frank reply. I knew the questions were too demanding and required much time and through background understanding.. 🙁
Thanks for not getting pissed off buddy 🙂