Your journey of parenthood starts from the moment you start planning on starting a family. From planning the colors of the nursery to making house baby-proof, you are required to do lot arrangements for the future of your child. However, the most important arrangement you are required to do for your child’s future is financial preparations.
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In today’s world, having a firm financial support is crucial in order to survive. Your expenses simply double up when you are raising a child. Health, food and education, the expenses just go on increasing and it is always better to be prepared for them from the beginning. For this, you can take the help of mutual funds investment plans. This article will help you understand how to effectively plan your child’s financial future.
Child-birth is considered as one of the happiest times of life. That is why friends and family give gifts in the form of cash. Majority of the parents prefer to transfer to cash to their savings account or few keep them as fixed deposits. Although both of them seems like decent ways to prepare for your child’s future, the best way is to invest this money for your child’s future and let compounding do its work.
Considering the current cost of health-care services, it can be said that child-birth is a costly affair. You have to take care of the hospital bills, medical expenses and other related expenses at a time. People these days rely on the insurance that provides coverage for child-delivery. However, many of them simply underestimate the remaining expenses after child-birth. From the entire vaccination course to cultural rituals like baptism or naming ceremony, you are required to take care of many things once you become new parents.
Many experts concede that mutual fundsare one of the best option for such goals. You can take the help of a child plan provided by mutual funds. These are hybrid schemes with different risk factors. The lock-in period can be a real help to you if you are a new investor. However, if you have knowledge about the market volatility, you can bet on a pure equity fund for a long period and get good results.
Here are the types of mutual funds and their benefits
Above are the different types of mutual funds that you can use to plan your child’s future. Many people underestimate the benefits of mutual funds due to lack of knowledge. However, in today’s world, they are one of the most helpful financial resources that you use to plan your child’s future.
Medical emergencies can come up anytime without any warning. During such a critical situation, you will require urgent finances in order to deal with life and death situations. Most of us are completely unprepared when medical emergencies come in our life.
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During such emergencies, you would like to avail the best treatment and medical facilities, but finances can be a problem. With the help of money, you can get admission in the best hospital, arrange for the best doctor without worrying about the expenses.
While you can deal with minor medical issues through your personal savings, chances are it may not be adequate in case of a major medical emergency. In that case, you must opt for certain ways through which you can get money on an immediate basis.
Getting health insurance
You can buy a health insurance and be prepared for any medical emergency. A health insurance comes with cashless facilities, complete cover for you and your family and many other features which can help you get the necessary funds during an emergency without any hassle.
Using personal savings
You can create your personal fund by saving a certain portion of your income. This personal saving can help you in tiding off certain expenses during medical emergencies whenever it occurs. These savings can be in the form of fixed deposits, bonds, etc.
Borrowing from family and friends
In case of emergency, you can borrow some money from a friend, relative, or colleague to whom you may return on agreed terms.
Medical loan
While you are facing a medical emergency, it may be possible that your personal savings and insurance may not be able to cover all your medical expenses. To avoid a situation of money shortage, you can opt for a medical loan which will give you access to a lump sum amount quickly without causing any delay in medical treatment.
Use credit card
If you are a credit card holder and you have not crossed the spending limit, then you can get a credit card advance for dealing with medical emergencies. But before you use this option, you must know that credit card companies charge high-interest rates on the cash advances. A penalty will be charged if you do not pay back on-time. Hence, consider whether you can repay it before availing.
Overdraft facility
If you are a current account holder, you can use the overdraft facility to tide off expenditures arising out of medical emergencies. You will be able to pay urgent medical bills and other such bills that require urgent attention. Always remember to pay back the money on time.
You can’t fail to notice the significant increase in the use of lithium ion batteries in recent times and that upward trajectory is likely to continue at a pace when you consider that they are being used to drive the electric vehicle revolution.
Their storage capacity is impressive compared to other batteries and there are other significant advantages too, but there are also negative points to consider as well.
The fact that you have to think about using specific packaging solutions from someone like clsmith.com to transport these batteries safely should tell you that they have their unique qualities and there are other considerations to be aware of besides this.
As you might expect with any sort of technology it tends to offer advantages and disadvantages, so here is a look at some of the key pros and cons of lithium ion batteries.
The ability to last longer than other batteries
If you had to come up with a headline advantage for lithium ion batteries as the primary reason why you should choose this technology for your energy needs it would be the high energy density that it offers, which means it has more power storage ability and should last longer between charges.
We use a multitude of gadgets and technologies in our daily lives that need batteries that are capable of lasting as long as possible in order to give us the best usage options.
With an impending sense of urgency to switch to electric vehicles in order to reduce carbon emissions lithium ion batteries are going to take a starring role in providing that high energy density required to keep everything moving.
The downside to lithium ion technology is that that density means the battery needs to be protected against going beyond charging and discharging limits.
Fortunately, the protection circuitry required can be incorporated into the battery at manufacture so that it can be left on charge without being subjected to damage.
A lower self-discharge rate
You probably won’t need to be told that batteries can discharge at an alarming rate and that can mean your smartphone, for instance, could be rendered useless when you are nowhere near a charging point.
A notable advantage attached to lithium ion technology is that their rate of discharge is lower than rival rechargeable cells such as Ni-Cad.
Batteries tend to degenerate in performance over time but with lithium ion, you will lose roughly 5% of power in the first four hours of charging and then no more than 2% per month thereafter, which compares favorably to the self-discharge rate of Ni-Cad, for example.
However, it is not all good news as lithium ion batteries do still suffer from aging.
A typical battery using this technology will manage about 1,000 discharge cycles before its capacity begins to descend, although the technology is still evolving and there is optimism that this problem can be resolved in the future.
Good to go
Another advantage of lithium ion batteries that deserves a mention is the fact that there is no requirement for priming the battery prior to being put into use.
This is a distinct advantage when you consider that some rival rechargeable cells need to be primed when they receive their first charge before they are able to be used.
Install and forget
Another key advantage attached to using lithium ion batteries is that they are very low maintenance.
A lithium ion battery will maintain its level of performance without the need for any periodic maintenance. By comparison, Ni-Cad cells need to undergo a periodic discharge in order to ensure that the battery does not suffer from any memory loss.
Memory problems are not an issue with lithium ion batteries and that means you do not have the same concerns with regard to maintenance when you use this technology.
There are various types of lithium ion cell batteries available and that means they offer a degree of versatility across a range of applications. It is clear that with energy-hungry smartphones being an ever-present technology in modern life you will need a battery solution that provides that high-density energy solution required to keep the screen alight.
Whatever application you use a lithium ion battery for it will be the same scenario that moderate maintenance is required to maintain performance.
Of course, there is currently a financial cost attached to accessing such smart battery technology and lithium ion batteries do tend to be as much as 40% more expensive than Nickel-cadmium cells to manufacture.
Some might consider that a price worth paying when you see how well lithium ion performs.
Transportation costs are an issue
If there is one particular issue that is potentially stunting the rapid progress of lithium ion technology from becoming even more mainstream it is the difficulties attached to the transportation of these batteries across the globe.
A fundamental issue that needs to be addressed is that many of the world’s airlines have imposed strict limits on the number of lithium ion batteries they are prepared to have onboard at any one time.
There are other methods of transportation, of course, and container ships full of lithium ion batteries are constantly traversing the major sea routes, but that is a slower method of delivery than transporting by air.
This issue affects personal travelers as well as commercial operations selling batteries to their customers around the globe, and the problem relates to the potential fire hazards. The partitions in this type of battery are fragile and risk being punctured if the unit is damaged, leaving it vulnerable to a spark managing to ignite the lithium, which is highly reactive.
In terms of resolving this issue from a commercial transportation perspective, as already outlined, there are specific packaging solutions available that minimize this risk and help to satisfy the relevant authorities and regulations when you want to move these batteries across borders and even state lines with the minimum of fuss.
In general terms, when you look at the pros and cons of lithium ion technology it would probably be fair to say that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
There are some insurance-related tax deductions you may not know about. Term insurance plans, among other plans, can be deducted from your tax. Therefore, it is imperative to know which of them qualifies for deductions.
Here are some insurance-related tax deductions you need to know.
Term Insurance
Term insurance is an excellent option for those looking for tax savings investment. Any policyholder of this kind of insurance is usually eligible to obtain tax benefits in accordance with the Income Tax Act of 1961. Ideally, the term insurance plans provide the customer with tax deductions as per section 80C. Such a deduction covers premiums for the contributor, their spouse, as well as children. In case anyone else is included, a deduction won’t be available. Also, it is imperative to remember that this kind of deduction is permissible if the premium is below 10 percent of the assured sum.
Health Insurance
With the health insurance policy, the insurer will take care of the cost of the insured person’s medical expenses in case they fall sick or are injured. However, under Section 80D of the 1961 Income Tax Act, deduction can be claimed for the premiums one pays toward their insurance policy. Deductions that are claimable under this Section include self and family, self and family + parents, self [senior citizen] and family + parents [senior citizens].
Auto Insurance
If you are using your automobile for the purpose that relates to a business, you may be in a position to deduct a section of the insurance premium. Some individuals use their vehicles as an integral part of the business they have, and in such cases, the costs of insurance could be deductible at tax time. Therefore, a person can qualify for a deduction if they are self-employed and use their automobile for business purposes and if they are employed, and the employer does not plan to reimburse them for the expenses that relate to the business use of their car.
Property Insurance
If you own property and claim rental on them, the homeowner insurance on the section of property that is used as rental becomes deductible. If there are many properties used for rental, then the homeowner insurance for the entire rental property becomes tax-deductible. However, you need to know that you cannot deduct the premiums you pay for your residence on your tax returns.
Legal and Liability Insurance
If you are a self-employed taxpayer or you run a business entity, the premium paid for legal and liability coverage may be tax-deductible. However, in most cases, this kind of coverage is not carried as a separate policy but is included in other policies such as auto or property insurance. Therefore, you need to consult a tax expert before you can deduct the premium for this cover.
Bottom Line
Before making any deduction when filing your returns, you need to be certain that whatever you are deducting qualifies. If you are not sure, you can contact an account, auditor, or financial expert for advice.
When you are purchasing property, you are required to pay certain charges which are not covered in your home loan amount. Along with home loan fees and charges, stamp duty and registration charges are two of such charges that you need to pay in order to acquire the ownership of the property.
What is Stamp Duty?
Stamp Duty is a non-refundable charge levied by the state government to validate the registration of property in your name. By paying stamp duty charges, you legalize the ownership document of your property. If you refuse to pay stamp duty, then you are not considered as a legal owner of the property you purchased.
Stamp duty is not included in the home loan fees and charges lieved by banks or financial institutions. This is the over and above expense that you as a buyer need to pay in order to complete the purchase of the property. Although stamp duty charges state to state, there are several factors that commonly influence the amount of it. These factors are as follows,
Age of the property
Owner’s Gender: Female owners get concession in some states
Location of the property
Type of property
Owner’s age: Senior citizens get concessions in some states
Usage of property i.e. commercial or residential
How Stamp Duty is calculated?
Generally, the stamp duty is 5% to 7% of the total market value of the property, whereas the registration charges are 1% of the property value. Here are the stamp duty charges in the main cities of India
You can use various online calculators to know the exact amount of stamp duty you are required to pay while purchasing a property. Moreover, according to Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, you can claim a tax deduction up to Rs. 1,50,00 on stamp duty.
Why paying stamp duty is important?
As mentioned earlier, stamp duty legalizes the newly brought property on your name. It is crucial for your property insurance as well as any future disputes. You cannot acquire the coverage amount of property insurance if the property is not registered on your name.
Many people show undervalued property price in order to reduce their stamp duty. It is considered a legal offence. Any individual who does that get penalized for stamp duty evasion. The penalty can be 8% to 20% of actual stamp duty with imprisonment for certain time.
The fundamentals of stormwater management are about finding a way to minimize the potential damage and disruption that can be caused by rainwater or melted snow runoff, plus it also focuses on maintaining and improving water quality.
As you will discover when you visit a site like cochraneng.com there are various aspects of stormwater management that you have to consider and get it right if you are going to deal with this issue in the most effective way possible.
Here is a look at what happens in a stormwater scenario and how the management of this situation can keep everything under a greater level of control.
What happens?
A good starting point would be to look at what happens when heavy rain creates a stormwater situation that needs dealing with.
In normal conditions, stormwater is easily absorbed into the soil and there is a natural filtration process that takes place as it subsequently flows into rivers and streams, or replenishes aquifers along the way.
A problem arises when the volume of rainwateris too large for the soil to cope and the ground becomes saturated, leading to excess water and moisture running across these ground surfaces and finding a path into ditches and storm drains.
While that might sound ok on the face of it, it should be noted that the water carries all sorts of contaminants in the form of bacteria, eroded soil, and other possible pollutants such as chemicals and general debris.
These pollutants are then being carried into various streams, lakes, or rivers, creating a potential problem in the process.
How good stormwater management can help deal with the situation
You obviously need a viable plan to be able to deal with this rainwater threat and that is where good stormwater management comes into play.
Urban and developed areas pose unique challenges because there are impervious surfaces such as pavements that will be doing their job in preventing this rainwater form finding a natural way to soak away into the ground.
What happens in this scenario is that the water searches out storm drain and sewerage systems as a potential escape route and that can quickly lead to localized flooding.
A particular threat when this scenario unfolds is that you could witness a sanitary sewer system overflow plus the very real prospect of damage to the surrounding infrastructure.
What a stormwater management system will do is capture that rainwater in an expedient manner and work on restoring natural hydrologies by removing the threat caused by pollutants.
The bottom line is that stormwater management has a fundamental purpose which is to retain excess stormwater safely and remove the pollutants contained within that water source.
A combination of initiatives
The main point to take on board about stormwater management is that it involves a number of different initiatives all combining to create an effective system.
In order to prevent runoff, stormwater management requires the utilization of berms, catch and retention basins, and an effective storm sewer system. It also commonplaces to use channels and ditches for erosion control.
A standard feature of a stormwater management system will be a slope that leans toward the cap of the landfill to keep the prospect of standing water to an absolute minimum.
Detention basins are used as a way of holding the stormwater that has been collected for a defined period of time.
The reason for this is that there needs to be a certain amount of time that passes after collecting the water so that there is sufficient opportunity for the solids to settle out before the discharge can take place to the relevant receiving water body.
Sampling wells are required
Good stormwater management always involves a series of balances and checks to make sure that the contaminants and other pollutants have been satisfactorily dealt with.
Whatever type of solid waste management facility you are creating there is always the need to incorporate a system that allows sampling of the collected groundwater.
These sampling wells are sometimes referred to as sentinel wells but they perform the same task, which is to flag up the presence of groundwater contamination.
When you are creating an effective groundwater management system there will always be a requirement to incorporate at least one upgradient well alongside a suitable number of downgradient wells in order to cover all the bases when it comes to detecting contamination from whatever location it originates from.
Industrial applications
As you would expect, there are a number of specific requirements attached to creating a stormwater management system that deals with industrial applications and threats.
The fundamental purpose remains the same, which is to create a pollution-prevention system that includes a few very important concepts that have to be upheld in the design process.
The number one aim is to prevent the prospect of pollution by dealing with the threat of rainwater. In addition, you need to be able to create an effective collection and treatment process combined with suitable source segregation methods.
In simple terms, pollution prevention means factoring in the prospect of either accidental or routine exposure to the threats posed by stormwater and pollutants.
Understanding source segregation
The concept of source segregation is finding a way to separate out clean and dirty water when the stormwater clearly doesn’t distinguish between the two.
The end result of achieving good source segregation is the ability to boost the impact of your efforts to concentrating the contaminants in the runoff in such a way that it becomes easier to deal with, making it a fairly critical precursor to the stormwater treatment itself.
Your aim should always be to use source segregation as a way of eliminating, or at least reducing, the level of contamination at the pinch point of the process.
Stormwater treatment is a vital component in the overall stormwater management program and this overview should, hopefully, have served as a clear illustration of how important it is to have a system in place that helps you deal effectively with the threat posed by excess rainwater.
Planning a wedding can sometimes become a little overwhelming. It is a far more complicated task than imagined. Many couples would opt to hire a wedding planner to manage their wedding.
But if you have decided to plan the wedding by yourself, then you will be dealing with dozens of vendors, multiple things related to wedding preparations and managing your guests. There is a high possibility that you might miss out on something.
Hence you must follow the below list of essentials which you must not miss out while planning a wedding.
Prepare a budget
Preparing a budget is the most important step while planning your wedding. Once the budget is prepared, you will be able to decide on wedding expenditures and thus help you organize funds accordingly. You can take the help of a personal loan if you are facing the problem of a budget shortfall.
Search and book a wedding venue
You must start searching for a suitable wedding venue and book it at least 6 months in advance. Booking prior will help you save money plus you can choose and book a venue of your choice with ease.
Make a guest list
To ensure that you don’t forget any important people, prepare a guest list and stick to it. Avoid calling too many guest or last-minute additions to avoid problems such as insufficient food or seating.
Working on wedding invitations
Before sending wedding invitation cards to your friends and relatives, make some effort and prepare a well-designed card that has all the required information for your guests. You can also try out sending e-invites through WhatsApp.
Finalizing caterers and menu
During the wedding, food plays a key role hence no compromise should be done on the variety and quality of the food provided. So choose the caterer after checking their service record and decide on the cuisines in advance. Taste the food samples to be sure of the food which will be served to your guest.
Hiring photographers and videographers
Your wedding photos and videos will be your lifetime of memories, so select the best photographer and videographer. Before you finalize on them, check their work samples and explain what you expect from them.
Book musicians well in advance
Avoid booking musician during the peak wedding season. You may not find them, or if you get them, they will charge you a lot. So, ensure that you book your preferred band or DJ well in advance.
Book a beautician
During the wedding reception, you must hire a beautician. Make sure the beautician is aware of the wedding outfit you are planning to wear during the wedding so that they can groom you accordingly.
Buying wedding outfits
Selecting the right wedding outfit may take time as you need to find the right design, require multiple fittings and search for matching accessories. So start searching for it well in advance.
You can also go for a readymade wedding attire if you are not so much into preparing your own outfit. Whether it readymade or as per your specification, make sure you wear a wedding outfit that makes you feel comfortable and attractive.
All the above-listed points are necessary while planning a wedding. So plan it accordingly and back yourself with adequate funds with the help of a marriage loan.
With the increasing number of diseases, taking care of your health must be your topmost priority. Nothing could be better than purchasing a health insurance policy. Before you put your money in any other investment goals you might have, buy a health insurance plan.
Now that the government is in place, the health insurance industry has grown tremendously. Government of India is taking successive measures, but still, a significant population does not have a good healthcare plan.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India [IRDAI] along with the Government of India has introduced a few changes in the health insurance sector of 2019, to provide better healthcare to the entire population.
Listed below are the changes
Waiting Periods have been made shorter
This is the time when you can’t claim a particular ailment. This applies to pre-existing diseases. The insurance providers won’t be able to prescribe waiting periods of one to four years for ailments like cardiac conditions, hypertension and diabetes (lifestyle diseases), according to the recent drafts. Unless the illnesses already exist, there is going to be a cap of 30 days during the waiting period.
Compulsory Coverage
Health-related diseases as well as ailments that are acquired after you’ve issued a health insurance policy, won’t be covered and can’t be excluded permanently. However, infertility and maternity are not included in this. Ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, AIDS/HIV and morbid obesity are in the list of exclusions. Health insurance policies offer the provision of adding a rider called critical illness insurance to cover life threatening diseases.
Severe health conditions will be covered
Previously, people having physical disabilities, cancer survivors and epilepsy patients were not given health insurance cover for unrelated ailments. Now, the insurance providers must offer health insurance plans to such individuals, as per the IRDA. However, pre-existing diseases won’t be covered throughout the policy tenure.
For this same reason, the IRDA released a report that has a list of 17 conditions such as kidney diseases, chronic liver, valvular heart and congenital disease, HIV/AIDS.
Pre-existing diseases are redefined
The insurance companies are told to provide an even more straightforward definition of pre-existing diseases for preventing any disputes over interpretation between the insurer and you, by the IRDA. The definition that has been suggested is, ‘Any condition, ailment, injury or disease that is diagnosed before buying the first policy, for which medical advice or treatment was recommended by, or received from, a physician’.
Deductibles
Deductibles aren’t permitted under the base cover. As per IRDAI, “It is desired that the industry adopts a uniform approach while incorporating the ‘exclusions’ as part of product design as well as for the wording of the exclusions.
This is why IRDAI set up a team of ten members, for providing a detailed list of medical exclusions that are prevalent in current health policies. Specific exclusions will also be kept in check by the committee that won’t be allowed at all.
Delhi’s High Court accelerated this entire course of action. It was stated in February this year that genetic orders and congenital anomalies can’t be excluded by the insurers.
Compare the various types of health insurance policies such as family health insurance, health insurance for senior citizens and more to select the most appropriate plan for you.
