With the new year almost here, many of us are busy making resolutions and setting new goals. But your list of new goals is incomplete if you haven't thought about improving your finances in the upcoming year. Not sure about how to do it ? Don't worry, we've got you covered.
Wealth advisors advise investors to diversify their investments across assets such as equity, debt, FDs (fixed deposits), precious metals and alternative assets.
Instead of tying their investment solely to equity in order to beat inflation, it is vital to invest in fixed income instruments. At the same time, investors should take life and medical insurance policies on a priority basis, according to them.
And importantly — regardless of the levels the market indices have touched, it is not advisable to pause the systematic investment plan (SIPs) since timing the market is not feasible, the experts advise.
“A decade is mightier than a year, so investors should accept short-term volatility for long-term growth. There could be volatility in the market in a particular year, but the compounded returns would turn out be higher over a long period of time,” says Sridevi Ganesh, co-founder of Chamomile Investment Consultants.
These are the key investing lessons one can follow:
1. PPF and insurance policies: Investment advisors suggest that investors should take some basic steps towards financial planning such as opening a PPF (public provident fund) account and getting health and life insurance covers in the beginning of the year.
“We are advising clients to complete some basic steps towards their financial planning- like opening a PPF account, getting health insurance and term life cover. PPF is the only triple Exempt investment product - contributions are tax exempt, the accruals are tax exempt and the withdrawal is also tax exempt. Also, insurance comes before investments, so we are advising clients to tick their insurance to-do in January itself. Some clients are jittery given the Covid scare in China and our advice to them is to stick to their financial plan and continue with their SIPs,” said Ravi Saraogi, co-founder, Samasthiti Advisors.
2. Asset allocation: Another money lesson worth implementing is to do proper allocation of assets. It is seen as another key tool in the arsenal of wealth planning.
“In order to achieve success, asset allocation is important. The year gone by gave high returns on gold, and the year before that was good for small cap funds. So, one should not chase the asset that gave high returns in the previous year. Instead, one should do proper asset allocation,” said S. Sridharan, founder and principal officer, Wealth Ladder Direct.
But while choosing the assets, investors are advised not to chase complicated products.
“Young investors should keep their investments simple, and not chase esoteric products or complicated portfolios. They should instead follow the structured products,” says Renu Maheshwari, CEO and principal advisor of Finscholarz Wealth Managers.
3. Do not pause your SIPs: Notwithstanding the unprecedented high levels touched by the market indices i.e., Sensex and Nifty; investors are advised not to pause their SIPs (systematic investment plans) in mutual funds.
“Pausing your investment is not the right approach. One doesn’t know where is the market headed. Nobody can time the market and hence, nobody knows if this is the peak or not,” adds Sridharan.
4. Invest in fixed deposits (FDs): Since most commercial banks have raised interest rates on their term deposits in the wake of repo rate hikes to the tune of 225 basis points in 2022, it is seen as a good time to invest in the fixed deposits.
As part of asset allocation, investors ought to keep aside some part of their portfolio in fixed income instruments, particularly fixed deposits (FDs). And since the interest rates given on FDs keep fluctuating, it is advisable to follow the fixed deposit (FD) laddering.
And regardless of the change in calendar year, the rules of financial investment, more or less, stay the same.
"To build a winning portfolio we need to be consistent and disciplined in our approach throughout our investment journey. Whether it be 2023 or 2033, the rules of making decent returns will always be the same! Those who invest in bad times will always reap the benefits in good times," says Amit Jeswani, founder, Stallion Asset.
