Some debt fund categories gain as rates decline, but FDs lose out

• A flip side to the lending rates coming down is that the deposit rates offered by lenders such as banks also comes down
• When lower interest rates are accompanied by higher inflation, then investors see their real returns decreasing

Expect loan, deposit rates to go down, despite RBI pause

• Borrowers can expect banks to lower rates as transmission of earlier rate cuts is yet to happen
• While there was not much for borrowers and savers in the monetary policy statement, all eyes are now on the upcoming Union budget

Real estate industry disappointed with RBI pressing the halt button

• Rate cut was needed to boost the sentiments of the industry and increase the incentives for home buyers by reducing cost of buying a house
• Real estate sector is going through an unprecedented slowdown over the past few years

Soon, new instrument linked to your bank account for digital payments

• The loading/reloading of such prepaid payment instruments will be only from a bank account and used for making only digital payments

Bank fixed deposit (FD) rates compared: ICICI Bank vs Axis Bank vs Yes Bank

• Over-exposure to FDs is not good, and you need to assess your asset allocation and goals to decide how much money you should park in them
• Here is a list of banks that offer the highest FD rates for deposits up to 1 crore over various tenures

Payday loans can help plug cash flow gaps but they can cost up to 360% annually

• These are unsecured ultra short-term, high-interest loans that can fill the gap in your cash flows.
• You will need to submit an ID, residence proof, a copy of 3 months’ salary slips and bank account statements. Once you do this, the amount will be credited to your account within 60 minutes

Delhiites pay ₹15,000 crore as brokerage every year, says Saurabh Garg

• Saurabh Garg, said, ' ₹15,000 crore is paid as brokerage while buying, selling or renting properties in Delhi NCR annually'
• Launched in 2014, NoBroker.com first started off in Mumbai and Bengaluru and has now expanded its services to six cities

Assess financial portfolio periodically to ensure funds’ good performance

If you put your portfolio together with your own research, you should make sure that you are investing in the direct plan variants of these schemes and not the regular plans to save significantly over your investment period

Rera lacks teeth to set things in order

• Getting Rera orders implemented is another battle for buyers
• For a sector that holds nearly 77% of household money, it took eight years for Rera to see the light of day

Income tax refunds increase by 22% so far this year

• The income tax department has issued ₹1.46 lakh crore refunds to 2.1 crore taxpayers
• Out of the ITRs processed so far, refunds were issued within 30 days in 68% of the cases

Cabinet approves launch of Bharat Bond Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

• This will be the first corporate bond ETF in the country
• It will help in deepening the bond market in India

Opinion | As old economic order gives way, investing strategies need to be smart

Lots of smart work and agility is needed in this dynamic environment to stay the course

SBI flexi deposit scheme interest rate, minimum deposit explained in 5 points

• SBI flexi deposit scheme is a sort of recurring deposit (RD) facility
• SBI also offers account holders the facility to open a flexi deposit account online

Best health plans

For family floater plans, there are four sum insureds ( ₹5 lakh, ₹10 lakh, ₹20 lakh and ₹50 lakh) and two age categories—eldest insured is 30 years old or 45 years old

PMC case shows why dual regulation doesn’t work

• Having a single regulator and tight auditing norms can help prevent bank frauds
• The PMC Bank case exposes chinks in the regulatory armour, but it’s not the first one to do so

Should you invest in debt ETFs, index funds post Sebi norms?

• Look at the ETF’s mandate, AMC’s track record and whether an active fund will serve your goal better
• Sebi norms on debt ETFs and index funds are extremely broad in the extent of risk allowed to be taken

Adopted child is class-1 heir and has equal rights in father’s property

• Father’s properties will devolve equally among all class-I heirs under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956
• An absolute owner of a share in property, one can absolutely and without any fetters deal with his share in the property in the manner he deems fit

Tax dept issues 21 mn tax refunds till Nov; ₹1.46 lakh cr refunded

• 68% of refunds were issued within 30 days from the date of the e-verification of income tax return
• 20% increase in processing Income Tax refund returns this year, says CBDT

What is gender pay gap and why is it so wide in India?

• Unequal pay refers to situations where women are paid less than men for doing the same work
• The gender pay gap stems from the difference in the number of men versus women who work