Gold is glittering as always and is one of the best ways to invest money since the time of our ancestors and is also one of the best ways to liquify your funds whenever needed. Currently, as I write, gold is trading at 27880.00 INR/10g and is predicted to reach around 30,000 levels in 2012. So, are you tempted to buy the glitter? I bet you are! But are you aware of the various options available for that? If not, this article will teach you how to invest in gold.

To know more about investment tips click here 

Five Ways To Invest In Gold

• Jewellery

  The biggest advantage of buying gold in the form of jewelry is that you can show it off to others and add that extra charm to your pride and personality while watching it appreciate in value.

  An important point to keep in mind is that while buying jewelry, you have to pay making charge of around 200-350 INR per gram over and above the cost of the gold. But while selling it or exchanging it for new designs, you don’t get back that making cost.

• Bars,Coins & Biscuits

  Buying gold from banks in the form of bars, coins and biscuits is one of the best options. Reason being that the gold is in its purest form and is in tamper proof covers.

  However, they are sold at a price higher than the prevailing gold rate by almost 5%, which is usually the bank’s profit for providing you with the purest form of the gold. You must also remember that you can’t sell it back to the bank.
  So, it would be better to buy it from a reputed jeweler.

• Gold ETFs

  Gold ETFs units are equivalent to 1gram gold and are held electronically in the demat form and traded on the exchanges. They offer good liquidity as you can sell the units quickly at the prevailing market price.
  
  The only drawback is that ETFs don’t mimic accurate gold prices as they have to keep a part of the corpus aside as cash or in liquid funds and also there is a fund management fees (1% a year) and a brokerage fee (0.25-0.5% on every transaction).You will also need a demat account which comes with the annual maintenance cost of 500 INR a year

• Fund of Funds

  To avoid the hassles of gold ETFs you can invest in gold funds but this comes at a cost. Expense ratio of FoFs is usually higher (2.5%) and a charge of 1-2% exit load if the investment is redeemed within a year.

• E-gold

  You can buy e-gold setting up a trading account with an authorized participant with the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL). Each unit of e-gold is equivalent to 1gram physical gold. E gold offers better liquidity than ETFs and is the only form of gold that can be converted to physical gold.
  To know more about e-gold click here.

Hope this article will help you in deciding your investment option. How do you invest in gold? We would love to hear what option you chose and how your experience was.

If you are working in a private or a non-pensionable public sector, you must be aware of the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) scheme. It is a fund run by the Government of India to which both the employee and the employer contribute 12% of the monthly basic salary of the employee each month. The employee gets this amount + interest on this amount after the retirement.

Though the employee gets this amount only after the retirement (you can even get it before the retirement in some cases), it is very likely that they would want to know the balance in their EPF account from time to time.

Till some months ago this was a very difficult process. But in July 2011, EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organization) made these details available online. So, now you can easily find the balance in your EPF account from the comfort of your home.

How To Find The EPF Balance Online?

Before we start, keep your PF account number handy, as you will need it. It is generally given in your monthly salary slip. If not, you can contact your finance department. This is how a PF account number looks like:

AP/HYD/12345/098765

Now follow the steps given below to find your Employee Provident Fund (EPF) balance online:

Frequently Asked Questions

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Traditionally in India every house has been purchasing assets like gold and silver on all the auspicious occasions, like Diwali, marriages, or receipt of annual bonus. We generally purchase gold and silver in physical form, either in the form of jewelry or coins. But now you can also purchase it in electronic form called ‘E-Gold’ and ‘E-Silver’.

What Is e-Gold?

‘E-Gold’ is an electronic gold currency operated by Gold & Silver Reserve Inc. under e-gold Ltd. ‘E-Gold’ units can be bought and sold through the exchange called National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) just like shares. ‘E-Gold’ launched by National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) has the perfect combination of both the forms – physical and electronic. Currently, NSEL offers gold, silver and copper trading in their E-series. NSEL enables you to buy gold in electronic form, and hold it in a Demat account. It provides a digital, crystal clear, and centralized trading platform with the facility to approach and enter in the market remotely. It facilitates risk free and trouble free purchase and sell of specified commodities to commodity market. NSEL is recognized by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and Government of India.

How To Buy E-Gold?

Since ‘E-Gold’ can be purchased in electronic form, you need to have a demat account. A demat account is like a case where you can store your stock shares, assets and bonds electronically. The existing demat account which you are using for transaction in shares etc. does not work for holding E-Gold units. Therefore, you need to open a separate demat account with one of the depository participant impaneled with the National Spot Exchange Limited. The list of such depository participants can be downloaded from the web site of National Spot Exchange.

Advantages of E-Gold

• Due to rising price of gold in the present scenario, investing in e-gold is seen as safer options today. Since gold is an excellent protection against inflation, it is always best to buy gold as an investment.
• Purchase Cost: The purchase cost is the main factor why I want you to prefer e-gold over physical gold. In e-gold, you need to pay a small brokerage charge of 0.50% where as in case of jewelry, the cost may rise to 10-15%, which eats away your gold returns.
• Small Denomination: If one wants to take physical delivery of their e-gold units then they can take it in multiples of 8 grams, 10 grams, 100 grams and 1 kg too.
• Storage: E-Gold doesn’t have any risks of getting stolen or lost which is a big worry when it comes to buying physical gold. It is always beneficial to buy these digital assets, as there is no storage or holding costs like that for lockers. A small custody charge is levied which is to a tune of 60 paisa per unit per month.
• No Problem while selling Gold: There is a significant mark up when it comes to selling physical gold, which is again up to 10%. There is a small brokerage charge in case of e-gold

Risks Associated

• The biggest risk associated is that of the price movements in the leading market. In case you have a ‘BUY’ position and then the price starts to go down, or vice versa, you will be in a loss. Don’t just go by the traditional price hikes. Market works indiscriminately and what has been going up till now can start falling down anytime and at any moment. So from a trader’s point of view, it is required to keep a close eye on your investment.
• Another risk regarding e-purchase of these assets is that the buyer is not the outright holder of the gold, as the institution holds the metal on his behalf.
• With ‘E-Gold’, cyber security is also a matter of concern, as there is always a risk of account being hacked.

Were you aware of this product? Have you invested in e-gold or planning to do so? Share your views through your comments below.

A couple of days ago I came across a website that runs on “Rajni Power” and doesn’t need Internet connection. At first, I thought this to be another Rajni joke. However, on visiting the website www.allaboutrajni.com I found that it actually worked without Internet!  Or, so it seemed to!

So, let’s now understand how this website actually works.

On visiting www.allaboutrajni.com, you will be greeted by a message as shown below:

Only after you disconnect the Internet connection, the website can be accessed. If you connect to the Internet again, the site will stop loading and you will see a humorous error message as shown below:

No doubt this is a very interesting and innovative concept. But there has to be a logical explanation to it. So, let’s now understand how this works.

How Does The Website Run Without The Internet Connection?

Well, it does not! No website can run without the Internet connection. The developers have used a simple logic that makes it seem to work without it. When you open the website, a flash file gets loaded in the background. The developers have created a very lightweight flash file using vector images, so it loads within few seconds. A script runs in loop to check the internet connection status, and as soon as you turn off the internet, the script allows you to see the flash file that was already loaded in the background.

Here is the link to the flash file:
http://www.desimartini.com/allaboutrajniV1/Design.swf

How To Check If The Website Needs Internet Connection?

You can easily check whether the website really works without Internet connection or not. Instead of first opening the site and then disconnecting the Internet, do it the other way round, i.e., disconnect the Internet first and then open the website. The site won’t load, which proves that the site needs the Internet connection.

So, what looked like a revolutionary concept is nothing but a simple trick! But I’ll appreciate Webchutney and Desimartini for the creative thinking that they have put into this.

An insurance policy not only provides financial security but also peace of mind to the individuals who invest in it as it comes with the reassurance that their family will be protected in their absence. They hope their family will not have to go through any financial trauma and that the insurance investments reap returns when they most need it. Hence, it can be agonising if the insurance claim, filed by the nominee, is rejected by the insurer, leaving the bereaved unequipped to deal with the loss.

Unfortunately a large number of rejected claims are often a result of the insured not understanding the policy details or carelessness while purchasing the policy or filling up the nomination form.  A customer must follow a few simple steps to avoid the needless worry of whether the claim will be cleared when it is needed the most.

Steps For Hassle Free Claim Settlement

Information Disclosure

One of the most common reasons for claim rejection is incorrect information provided in the proposal form. It is very important to be honest while filling up the forms and disclose all facts, including age, income proof, health condition like blood pressure, diabetes, etc, and lifestyle habits such as smoking/drinking, truthfully. An insurance contract is entered into on the basis of “utmost good faith”, and it is incumbent upon the policyholder to be aware of this. Though such disclosures may result in a slight increase in the premium of the policy, they make the process of claim settlement very smooth and provide peace of mind in the long run.

Premium Payments

Its essential to be regular with your premium payments if you want to ensure that your loved ones can avail the benefit of the insurance policy that you have purchased for their financial security. You can choose the frequency of your premium payment depending on your convenience. Once the policy is purchased, one must not default on any of the premium payments. For example, if the customer feels that he/she will be more comfortable paying premium every month rather than a lump sum annually, he/she should opt for monthly premium payment.

Register Claim Early

Its essential to register your claim at the earliest with your insurer. Some insurance companies specify the time (60-90 days) allowed for intimation of a claim. Make sure that the claim is registered within the stipulated time to avoid unnecessary hassles and delays. The website for all insurance companies have a documentation list required for claim processing. The claimant must register the claim with all the required documents in one go to ensure speedy processing of the claim. The claimant must submit the original or attested copy of the death certificate- the most critical document for claim processing. In case of death due to illness/ in hospital, claimant should submit the available medical documents. Most importantly, all claim documentation must be completed by the nominee.

Inform the Nominee

Do inform your nominee about the policy details, benefits and clauses. The insured must share all documents related to the policy with the nominee so that while making the claim he/she can submit the relevant details with the insurer without much delay.