Money

SBI home loans are now cheaper

• SBI announces a slew of offers for retail customers with 100% processing fee waiver on car, gold and personal loans

Hold investments in equity for five years

A market crash can either pull you into losses even on a three-year period, or leave you with low returns even in three-five year periods

Know when to part prepay a home loan

Being debt-free is bliss for homeowners, but is difficult to achieve

Home loan at 3.99%: Tata Housing offers new scheme for homebuyers. Details here

• The scheme is applicable to 10 projects until 20 November
• Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri advised that festive offers should be taken advantage of

Why VPF (Voluntary Provident Fund) is a good option? 10 rules you should know

• VPF matches the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) interest rate
• Contributions to VPF are eligible for tax deductions under Section 80C.

SBI announces up to 25 bps concession on home loan rates

• SBI has announced concession in home loan rates by as high as 25 basis points (bps) in order to offer home buyers an enhanced festive delight
• SBI now offers interest rates starting as low as 6.90% for a home loan of up to ₹30 lakh and 7% for above ₹30 lakh

At least 669,914 new employees joined formal work in August: EPFO data

This is the fifth month in a row after India went to a lockdown in March when payroll data shows a gradual uptick after it fell significantly in April. The August fresh additions is nearly 22,000 more than July as per EPFO data

Low risk premium has fuelled equity returns: RBI paper

• The paper provides some insight into the puzzle of rising stock prices despite sluggish earnings growth
• It also highlighted the risks posed by a rally driven by lower risk perceptions among investors rather than fundamental changes in earnings

Four things to consider before rushing into a real estate deal

There are several factors that are luring buyers, but they should do their due diligence before buying

Credit Card 2.0: Now you have 'scan now and pay later' option on UPI

• The company said that Flexpay has been live for almost two months and 30,000 customers have already used the payment option
• FlexPay is geared to provide 400 million plus under-served customers, the company said

EPFO says 'normalcy returns', sees 34% sequential jump in net subscribers in Aug

• Net new enrolments with retirement fund body EPFO rose to 7.49 lakh in July and 10.06 lakh in August
• The number of new subscriber joining the body, has increased from 6.48 lakh in July to 6.70 lakh in August, the payroll data showed

Special fixed deposit scheme for senior citizens: What SBI, BoB, HDFC Bank offer

• The special FD scheme for senior citizens is applicable till 31 December 2020
• Let's take a look at what SBI, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank offer to senior citizens on these special FD scheme

Should you opt for auto-renewal option in fixed deposits?

• The auto-renewal option saves FD depositors from the pain of visiting the branch or using the internet or mobile banking facility.

Returns on my investments

One must also keep in mind the volatility risk of the asset class, liquidity, lock-in rules and taxation

ITR omissions can lead to penal action

• One must be very careful in reporting foreign assets or income in ITR
• An RNOR is also not required to report foreign assets and related incomes in the India ITR

Risk-o-meter is a good starting point but don’t rely on it alone

• The risk-o-meter considers three parameters each for fixed income and equity securities
• The level of risk the fund has taken in the past and how often the risks have changed give clues to a fund’s approach and consistency

Relief to borrowers: Timely EMI payers may be rewarded

The waiver will extend benefit to all types of loans, including home mortgages, and to borrowers who paid their EMIs during the duration of the moratorium