4 Things That You are Doing to Yourself That is Affecting Your Health Without Knowing

Several ailments are caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. Did you know that as much as 40% of India’s adult population and 20% of children are affected by obesity? These figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlight the severity of the problem. In fact, there has been a startling increase in the incidences of diabetes and cardiovascular ailments in India, both of which are lifestyle diseases. It not enough to have a health insurance policy. One needs to consciously work towards preventing these ailments. Due to our busy schedules, we often forget to take care of our health and indulge in certain activities on a routine basis that can cause serious health issues in the future. Here are a few common things that we do which can have serious consequences on our health.

4 Things That Affects Our Health

1.      Sitting for long hours: Most of us lead a sedentary lifestyle. We work for long hours at a computer, travel home in a vehicle and relax at home by watching television. None of these activities result in any physical exercise. This can increase the loss of lean muscle tissue, make us more vulnerable to diabetes and heart disease and cause greater anxiety and stress. So, it’s essential to make some changes. Go for a short walk after lunch. Stand up at regular intervals and stretch your arms and back. Make it a habit to exercise every morning, even if it is for 5 or 10 minutes. You could even try going for a walk after dinner.

2.      Overuse of the phone: We depend heavily on our smartphone. Apart from attending calls, we check work-related documents, communicate with friends and family via WhatsApp, play a game and update our social status every now and then. According to studies, overuse of smartphones causes chronic back pain by putting the spinal disks under pressure. Light exposure can cause sleep disruption and also strain the eyes. Using the phone too much also results in weight issues as well as high stress levels. So, instead of watching YouTube on your phone before going to bed, it’s much better to read a book.

3.      Snoring: People generally ignore snoring as just an annoyance, but it can be an indication of a severe health issues. It can be an interruption in breathing during sleep because of a disorder known as obstructive sleep apnea. So, it’s important to not ignore snoring and consult a doctor if you snore and face tiredness during the day.

4.      Drinking tea/coffee on an empty stomach: This is the most common bad habit. It can increase acidity, which in turn can cause heart burn and a decrease in appetite, followed by chronic indigestion.

A little precaution and prevention can go a long way in ensuring better health. Of course, do consider getting a good health insurance plan in India to ensure you can afford better healthcare in case you do fall ill.

5 Things to do to Safeguard the Future of Your Child

Every parent wishes to ensure the very best for their children. If you too wish to ensure a good better standard of living for your child, you will need a little financial planning. Investments, such as child insurance plans, could be a good idea. Here are some basic things you should do to secure your child’s future.

1.      Ensure the Best Education

The first step is to decide the school in which you want to enroll your child. Their schooling can open up a plethora of opportunities for them. Unlike the West, in India, it is the private schools, rather than those run by the government, that offer higher standards of education, with a focus on the child’s higher education needs. In this cutthroat world of competition, it is one’s qualifications that can ensure a lucrative and fulfilling career.

2.      Open a Savings Account

Many parents are put aside a specific portion from their monthly income towards their child's future financial needs. While it is a good idea to open a savings account for your little one and put in small amounts at regular intervals, also consider investing in long term fixed deposits, where you can earn higher interest.

3.      Invest in Gold

In India, gold holds a special emotional value and investing in gold jewellery for one’s child’s wedding is what every parent looks forward to. However, given that gold investments can bear good fruit, also consider investing in gold ETFs, which can give you returns without you having to risk owning tand storing physical gold. But make sure that your investment doesn't exceed 10%-15% of your overall investments.

4.      Buy Them an Insurance Policy

Do a little research online about child insurance plans or make a direct inquiry from a reputed company. Choose the right insurance policy, taking into account inflation and your child’s specific needs, while also keeping in mind the premium you can afford. Make sure the child plan offers you waiver of premium, in case you're unable to pay premium because of a disability due to an unfortunate event like an accident or the early demise of the parent. The policy should continue and the child should receive a fixed sum of money after a certain age.

5.      Insure Yourself for a Large Sum

The aim is to fulfill the everyday needs as well as cover your child's future expenses like education and marriage. Certain insurance policies provide money to you or your child when they are in the age group of 18-26 years, in your presence or absence. Life insurance can provide financial support in case of any unforeseen events and keep your family financially secure.

4 Simple Ways to Achieve Inner Peace

The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) suggests that out of 100 working class professionals, more than 40 are victims of depression and anxiety disorders. And the root cause for depression is nothing but mental stress, which in turn restrains you from attaining peace.

Peace is a term that is often misunderstood by people. Most people think that peace is an endpoint, or a destination, whereas peace is a constant journey of positivity and inspiration.

Stress is the only barrier that stands between you and that journey. It’s a silent killer that gradually erodes us mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But most people are not aware that eliminating stress doesn’t require too much effort. For instance, did you know that by using a simple thing such as an insurance premium calculator, you can ensure adequate financial backup for your loved ones after you depart this world?

So, we present you 4 simple ways in which you can get rid of the excess baggage you’ve been carrying all this while.

4 Tips to Start Your Journey of Peace

1. Accept the Things You Cannot Change

The past is history, the future is a mystery, and therefore try living in the present as because getting stuck in the past or future could damage your inner self and cause extreme levels of despondency and despair.

2. Don’t Let Others Control Your Mind

Be in charge of your own happiness. If you let other people’s comments affect you, you’re not doing justice to yourself. It’s like that quote from renowned spiritual author, Pema Chödrön, “Inner Peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.”

3. Peace, Even after You’re Gone

We all dream of leaving this world without the burden of guilt for not having made clever and responsible investments for our loved ones that would sustain them and give them a life of dignity even long after we are gone. So, right now is the best time to use an insurance premium calculator to choose a plan that fits your requirements aptly. Opting for the appropriate life insurance ensures reasonable financial coverage for your family, in case any unforeseen circumstances occur.

4. Be in the Driver’s Seat of Your Success Vehicle

Don’t let others determine the future course of your success. Realize your true potential, spend time cultivating it, and simply put it into action.

Do keep these tips in mind if you want to live a peaceful life. And don’t forget that your loved ones will always be protected with the simple use of a life insurance premium calculator. Protect you family, and free yourself from stress and anxiety.

Understanding cashless hospitalization

The most useful insurance plans in health care are cashless hospitalization plans. We decode their meaning and significance.

With living expenses going through the roof every single month, it is important for every family in India to budget for the future. It is not enough to rely merely on your income to see you through a rainy day. You must actively invest in such instruments that help pay all your expenses during times of financial uncertainty.

The single most important factor that drains your precious savings is the area of healthcare. Medical treatment, diagnosis and medicine costs are quite high in India. The costs are exponentially higher for prolonged treatment of critical illnesses. Even just one visit to the hospital can empty your savings created over months. Hence, many people resort to buying health insurance plans that protect them and their loved ones from the high costs of healthcare in the future.

What is a cashless hospitalization plan?

A growing area of interest in health care insurance is the cashless hospitalization insurance plan. The advantage of investing in it is that it helps you start treatment on yourself or a loved one without having to pay admittance or treatment costs.

This is how it works: If you have a cashless hospitalization plan and you need to get admitted to hospital, you can simply show your policy credentials to the hospital and get admitted at once. The hospital also starts treatment immediately. This saves precious time during critical health issues; there is no need to scramble to collect money for admittance. Meanwhile, you do not need to pay treatment costs or the room/bed charges. The hospital settles the bills with your insurance provider.

What you must know about cashless health plans

• They are applicable to both emergent and non-emergent cases. Some policy holders actually plan their surgeries well in advance for a convenient time, if they have cashless hospitalization to back them.
• They cannot be used in every hospital or treatment centre. The cashless plan can be used in network hospitals only (also known as ‘participating hospitals’). Your insurance provider will give you a list of network hospitals in your city or town, so you can avail of cashless hospitalisation only at any of the listed facilities.
• The policy holder(s) must only hire an ambulance and reach the closest network hospital in an emergency. This is beneficial for people who are new to a city and do not know any people who can help transport them or their loved ones in case of a medical emergency.
• Cashless hospitalization plans are available for individuals, families and even senior citizens. 

The importance of being earnest…about your future

What would you rather choose – an uncertain future or financial security for your family? The choice is obvious, and the answer lies in term insurance.

Of all the things in the world, what is most important to you?

• Financial security
• The health of my family
• Freedom from financial worry for my parents
• All of the above

If you choose Option #4, it means that you are sufficiently invested in your loved ones’ security to provide them with whatever they need to stay happy and healthy always. This includes investing in your children’s education, maintaining your parents’ home, setting up a savings account for your spouse, investing in property for your family…the list of things to do for your loved ones’ happiness is endless.

And yet, you may have missed out on the most important investment of all – taking a term insurance plan to look after your family in your absence.

Why taking term insurance helps

You can guarantee that all of your loved ones – parents, spouse, children, siblings – will realise their dreams while you are present with them, but what happens when you are not? Do you have a lot of money stashed away in savings that will pay all your loved ones’ expenses for years to come? Will your investments be enough to fund their every need? If not, it is time to take a term insurance plan.

A term insurance policy is one of the simplest life insurance products in India today. It has an affordable premium amount, a high sum assured and a term (tenure) of 10, 15, 20 or 30 years. Generally, term plans are beneficial for those who do not wish to spend a large amount of money on expensive policies, while also receiving sufficient life coverage. Also, you can easily buy a term policy online. Many premier insurance providers in India allow customers the chance to purchase a term plan online without a medical examination first.

Thus, though the term insurance plan does not have maturity benefits, its high sum assured is more than sufficiently prepared to deal with your loved ones’ many requirements in your absence. From paying for children’s education to their weddings, from financing parents’ or spouse’s medical emergencies to repaying unpaid debts, term insurance plans have a lot of important uses for your loved ones. Their primary function is to keep your family safely protected from any financial uncertainty in your absence.

What could be a better plan than that?

Did you just buy a car? Here’s what you do next

Your duty as a car owner is complete when you get your car documentation right and take motor insurance.

Most people who do not own cars can scarcely comprehend the psyche of those who do. The average car owner might seem obsessed or even borderline fanatical about his car, and with good reason, too! For a car owner, his car is not just his private vehicle that transports him around the city. It is also his sanctuary, companion and guide every time he takes the wheel. Naturally, he is a little protective about his dream machine!

But for most car owners, the idea of ‘car maintenance’ starts and ends with servicing the car regularly and driving safely. Other tasks like getting the PUC done and insurance premium payment flit in and out of their horizon occasionally. If you are a car owner who thinks like this, here’s what you need to do:

Take insurance first, do other things later

After you purchase your car and get the necessary documentation ratified, it’s time to move to the next step – taking car insurance. But many people try to skip this step, deeming insurance an unnecessary expense. However, taking car insurance is mandatory in India, so every car owner must have a motor insurance plan. Take an insurance plan before you throw a celebratory party for friends and family.

How to take insurance

You can easily take online insurance for your car. All major insurance companies in India offer car owners the option of purchasing and renewing car insurance online. It is fairly simple to take online insurance for your car. Just log on to the insurer’s website, fill in the car details and the plan you want in the application form provided, calculate your premium payable, make your final selection and pay for the plan online.

But why take insurance at all?

…Because you need to be protected from accidental injuries and potentially fatal wounds every time you take the wheel. Your car insurance pays the costs of treatment and hospitalisation in case of an accident.

…Because other drivers and pedestrians must also be protected, in case of an inadvertent accident caused by you. A comprehensive car insurance plan includes a Third Party Liability (TPL) component that helps take care of legal costs and liabilities in such a case.

…Because it gets your car serviced for free. Insurance providers have a network of service centres where you are liable to get a free annual service and any repair work done by lieu of being a policy holder. Without an insurance policy, you would have to shell out these costs from your own pocket.

Besides, taking car insurance gives you and your loved ones peace of mind every time you take the wheel. This is an important benefit that far outweighs the cost of insurance. 

Endowment policies: Safeguarding future generations

Taking an endowment plan ensures protection and stability for your loved ones. We explain how they work.

Life is such that it tests one at various points in time. It can be sweet and rosy one moment, and depressing the next moment. But while one may have no control over one’s destiny, one may at least try to wrest some control over how one fares financially during an obstacle.

There are ways to secure one’s finances for the future, so that the family’s dreams may remain on course for successful fruition! We refer to a useful insurance product known as the ‘endowment policy’. Read on to know how it can help one realise their loved ones’ goals with not much expense in the present moment.

Understanding endowment insurance

An endowment life policy is a policy that has the dual benefit of life protection as well as regular savings to grow your wealth for the future. It encourages and rewards the savings habit by helping the policy holder create a large corpus of money over a period of years. This corpus is given to the policy holder when the plan matures, and it is in reality an appreciation over the money invested through the years.

The premiums paid by the policy holder are split in two parts: one part pays the premium, while the other is invested in equities. This latter component gets capital appreciation and helps pay the bonuses on the policy.

The calculations in endowment policy

When the endowment insurance matures, the policy holder gets the money in the form of a terminal bonus and a reversionary bonus, plus the sum assured. The bonuses are paid annually.

• If the policy has a premium of Rs 21,000 with a Policy term of 25 years and Sum assured = Rs 5 lakh, with the average bonus declared during these years as Rs 48 per Rs 1,000 of the sum assured, it would amount to Rs 24,000 per year.
• Thus, the bonus would be Rs 6 lakh for 25 years. Assuming the plan pays a terminal bonus of Rs 5 lakh (this is an arbitrary number for calculation), the total monies the policy holder gets are Rs 15 lakh. However, the holder has paid premium of Rs 21,000 x 25 years = Rs 5 lakh.
• This means that the endowment plan has given returns at 12% [Total gains/total premium x 100 / Total tenure]

Helping to strengthen the family’s finances

Not only does the endowment life insurance provide life protection, it also gives stable and steady returns over a period of time. The money that comes by way of the plan maturity can fund a variety of expenses, from children’s education to making a down payment for a house. More importantly, it helps keep the family afloat during a financial emergency.

Blood and sweat goes converting a house to a home…

…and insurance helps protect it. Taking home insurance safeguard your precious home from attack and damage.

Buying one’s own home is a cherished dream for most people. Whatever one may or may not achieve in life, one ardently wishes to achieve the dream of buying a house. An owned home is a prized asset that keeps one safe from the outside world. It is as important to one’s emotional wellbeing as the presence of loved ones and a stable job.

But buying a home is not easy. People spend many years repaying their home loans and spend a lot of money in designing the home to fit their tastes. Both home purchase and renovation are costly, time-consuming affairs that test one fortitude to its absolute limits. It is hard work to buy and take care of the house, and keep it in good condition for years to come.

And yet, your home is vulnerable to attack and damage. Protect your precious home with the best home insurance policy in India today.

Why take home insurance?

Home insurance is, in layman’s terms, a protection policy for your home just like a health policy is a protection policy for an individual. It keeps your home safeguarded from a variety of eventualities, such as:

• Theft or break-ins
• Arson
• Natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, lightning strikes, hurricanes, etc.
• Accidents such as fire and partial/complete collapse of the building structure

Whether the catastrophe is man-made or natural, the health insurance plan helps you rebuild your home and more importantly, replace your valuable belongings that may be stolen or damaged. The best home insurance policies cover the factors listed above and also provide coverage for the home and its contents. Hence, you can even insure your valuables such as expensive art work, jewellery and electronic gadgets.

Some excellent home insurance plans also insure your belongings if you live in a rented premises.

Breathing easy with home insurance

Home insurance policies ensure your continual peace of mind about your home. Instead of worrying about what you’ll find when you return home from work or after a long vacation, you can install sophisticated surveillance systems and burglar alarms that deter attempts to break in and enter in your absence. Further, you can bolster these measures with a comprehensive home insurance plan that pays to rebuild your home and replace your precious items.

It does not do to worry constantly about the health of your home. Just like you took a health insurance plan for yourself and your loved ones, go ahead and take home insurance for your house so that you can breathe easy when you’re away.

Sports as a Career

Back in the 1980s, most youngsters in India had a limited set of career options they could choose from. These were careers that were considered safe by the parents and since they were safe because countless others had already opted for becoming a doctor, engineer or lawyer before. Those children who harbored thoughts of becoming professional sports persons were gently but persistently dissuaded from pursuing sports as a means of earning a livelihood.

Changing Face of Sports Careers

Since the 1980s, there has been a sea change in the way the entire country looks at sports as a career. Today, it is no surprise to see top sports persons earn millions from not just playing sports but from endorsements and other avenues. Sports stars are no less than actors or other celebrities and the media follows their every move hungrily.

The T20 cricket world cup and the Indian Cricket Leagues that have sprung up and brought club-class cricket to spectators is a well-known phenomenon. The huge amounts of money that is poured into cricket has led to a maturity in the revenue models that were hitherto associated with sports. Whereas 20 years back, an international or national level sports person had no option but to to fade into obscurity, ignored by the media and their achievements forgotten by those around them. The influx of media attention on sports has helped to develop a platform where players can be recognized and the rest of the country can get to know about their achievements. Not just in playing sports, but a number of related options have opened up in the sports-related industry. Sports marketing, management, administration and training have emerged as new areas. So have sports medicine, nutrition and even sports law. The latter is indicative of new areas where sports and other professions overlap each other, such as sports journalism.

Sports & Business Sense

Traditionally, a sports person was not expected to be good at business matters. As a professional sportsperson, if you had life insurance and a term plan, that was the limit of your forward planning. All that was required was a passion for the game and years of hard work. The hard work usually translated into a coaching or training job when the person has retired from active sports. Sports-related injuries also take their toll over time and many have to step down due to this reason. Many young athletes have had to step down from promising futures in sports due to injuries. Usually, at which point, it is back to the life insurance and term plan calculations, however insurance payouts vary according to the premium chosen and the type of injury. What insurance does is provide the necessary peace of mind to focus on getting back into the game.

Road Trip Tips

Let's say the company you work for decides to shift you to another town. The way things stand, this other town is not too far off and you have already fixed a date for the packers and movers to shift your entire household kit. This usually leaves us with the strange space of having to figure out exactly when should you travel and how much should you take along with you. Actually, how much you take along with you will depend on what you leave out of the truck from the packers and movers and how much luggage you can carry. So okay, you have got the household kit organized, and you have an idea of what will fit into the three bags that you need to survive anywhere and in whatever circumstances. That leaves the car.

At this point, the imagination drifts a little spark down certain neural passages in your brain and you get the bright idea of putting your bags in the car and driving down. However, just like you have a life insurance policy as a backup plan for your family’s future, you need to plan for all contingencies for the road trip.

Designated Driver Duties

Just Kidding: If you are going to take the car, then keep in mind that for the duration of the journey, your car becomes your mobile habitat. Remember how dirty train compartments get with the temporary inhabitants they suffer? Well, a day's driving and you can be equally callous to your earlier standards of cleanliness. Keep this in mind if you have kids and seriously consider how to childproof your car for the trip.

Tune-up: Take the car in for a check-up before taking it out on the highway. Tires, brakes, lights, horn, battery, air conditioner, oils and fluids, coolant and drive belts, get them all checked by a good mechanic.

Sleep Well: No jokes. Avoid the farewell party on the night before and get a full night’s rest. There really is no fun in driving hours on end on a hangover and your mouth feeling like shoe leather. Don't forget, drowsy drivers eventually die by their own hand.

Emergency kits: Pack a blanket, flashlight, jumper cables for starting the car in case of a dead battery, tire changing or repair kit, spare parts such as fuses, bulbs, and other sundry things that might strike you as useful. Don't forget to include a first aid and medical kit.

Do remember to carry all your documents safely with you, including driver’s license, passport, life insurance policy, birth certificate and school records.

Should I get insurance for my luggage on a foreign trip?

Pritesh Mehta could have been in dire straits after he lost his baggage in London. Instead, he called his travel insurer and sorted the issue calmly.

There’s nothing worse than losing your baggage in a foreign land. But Pritesh Mehta* (36) found that losing one’s belongings abroad is not the end of the world. “I was in London three months ago to visit my friends. Then there was a wedding in my uncle’s family, so I stayed back for the reception. I was in London for two weeks – and though I was alone, I had the time of my life!” he says.

In his second week in London, Pritesh, a Sherlock Holmes fan, wanted to visit Baker Street. “It was my biggest wish to see the street of my favourite literary hero,” he explains. “I was so excited about seeing Baker Street that I was a little careless. I had a shoulder bag and a large wallet with my travel documents in it. When I alighted from the taxi, I forgot my bag behind,” he explains.

He had not noted the taxi’s number and he didn’t realise the loss till the taxi had disappeared from view. The irony of the situation was not lost on him – it was a situation that called for the services of Sherlock Holmes! “That bag contained some food, my travellers’ cheques, some cash and my camera. But after rushing up and down the street in panic, I suddenly remembered something important. And I calmed down at once,” Pritesh says. He had remembered that he had a very good travel insurance policy – and the policy could pay to replace his lost belongings.

Thanking his stars that he had had the foresight to buy the best abroad travel insurance, Pritesh proceeded to call up his insurer. “The customer care executive guided me on the procedure to file for insurance, telling me that I would first need to file a police report. I was to attach a copy of the police report with the claims application form, which the company emailed me at once. Though I would probably never see my bag again, at least my insurance was about to pay for my lost belongings,” he reasons. “I proceeded to the police station and filed a complaint. Meanwhile, the claims application form had come through. I just followed the instructions the insurer gave me.”

After this, he went back to Baker Street. “I looked up at the buildings lining the street and smiled. I had just faced a minor setback, but I was not at all worried about it – thanks to my travel insurance abroad! Ordinarily I would have panicked and lamented the loss of my cheques and camera. But since I would be reimbursed for the same, I could breathe easy.”

10 major differences between term insurance and whole life insurance

Whole life insurance is quite similar to term insurance. But there are some important differences.

Every person wants the best for his family. Thus, every person toils hard every day to make sufficient money for his family’s comfort. However, one may work hard all his life and still not be confident about the future: after all, what can the family do when its breadwinner is absent, and has gone without leaving too much money to fall back on?

This is why most people take life insurance. It is a reliable safety net for the future, ensuring that one’s family is taken care of in one’s absence. Your loved ones should not need to sacrifice their future dreams for lack of resources – and life insurance can go a long way in helping make these dreams come true.

However, most people gravitate more towards whole life insurance rather than choose term insurance in India. Term insurance is also a life policy. Though both term and whole life insurance provide life cover, there are significant differences between the two as outlined in the chart below:

Parameter	Term insurance	Whole life insurance
Tenure of the policy	A fixed term of time (say 10, 15, 20 years)	Till the life time of the policy holder
Benefits type	Death benefit only	Maturity benefits
Returns offered	No returns offered	Low returns offered
Affordability	Very affordable, with low premiums	Expensive, with high premiums
Good investment?	Not an investment policy	Yes, especially when timed with major life events
Market-linked?	No	Yes, especially with ULIPs
Bonus potential	NIL	Good, especially with claim-free policies
Tax benefits?	Premiums are not taxed	Premiums may be taxed
Surrender value	NIL. Policy is terminated when premiums are not paid	There may be a surrender value based on when the policy is surrendered
Revision option	NIL	Yes

Perform these checks before you buy a house

Deciding to buy your own home is only half the job well done – the other half involves performing some essential checks before applying for a home loan.

After much deliberation (and paying rent money for years) you have reached a decision: you will now buy your own house. But after taking stock of your finances, you realise that you have only about a quarter of the money that you might actually need. The remainder must come from a home loan.

Accordingly, you start looking at houses and finally find one that you really like. But before you rush off to apply for a home loan, do check:

1. The locality. The house you buy must be located in an area that has all or most of these amenities: a hospital, school, entertainment centre, garden or park, gymnasium, swimming pool, fire brigade, grocery stores, bus stand, etc. Take a walk around the neighbourhood to see where everything is located and how far the house is from your place of work. Also speak to the immediate neighbours on the floor and ask them about their experiences in that locality. Find out if the building has any rules that you are not comfortable with, such as a ‘no pets’ policy.
2. Who is the developer? If you are scoping out under-construction properties, you must run a thorough background check of the developer’s credentials. With the real estate market facing a slowdown at the moment, many projects are stuck for lack of permission and funds, so you should ensure you are not stalled in your home purchase. Take a look at the developer’s other projects to determine quality of work and speed of completion. The best idea is to look for homes in projects that have a pre-sale tie-up with housing loan lenders. The loan process proceeds quite fast in such cases.
3. Is the price right? Do not accept the quoted price at face value: get in touch with a reputed broker in the area to find out the current market price for the house you want to buy. If the price is correctly quoted, you can run a calculation check using a home loan EMI calculator to see if you can afford to pay the EMI on the loan amount you require. If you are being charged above the asking price, find out why and negotiate heavily.
4. After you find your dream house, it is time to assess your finances again. Use a home loan EMI calculator to arrive at an EMI figure that you can repay every month without over straining your budget. You can use the home loan EMI calculator also to check the difference in monthly outgo basis fixed and floating rate of interest.

What do you want your legacy to be?

Not safeguarding the family’s future might leave them vulnerable to several future problems.

It is said that one’s life flashes by in front of one’s eyes as one is about to depart the world. One sees quick images of memorable incidents in one’s life in the last moments of consciousness. At this time, one is either contented about a life well spent or distressed about several tasks left incomplete.

Which one will be true in your case?

Life many others, you must wonder from time to time about your existence. Questions like ‘What is my value in the world?’ and ‘What legacy will I leave behind for my family?’ must occur to you. Chances are that you do not have all the answers yet. But you are certain of one fact: you want your family to think of you with love and admiration even after you are gone.

To this end, you must protect your loved ones from every kind of financial trouble in the future. Your absence must not stop them from fulfilling their destiny. Hence, it is important to take term insurance to safeguard their future interests. Not doing so may result in:

The household expenses suffering. Inflation continues to creep upwards and expenses rise daily. The prices of vegetables, fruit, toiletries, medicines and other essentials just keep on increasing. Then there are bills to pay as well. No amount of income is able to fully pay for all household expenses. Not taking term plan insurance will compromise your family’s lifestyle as they will be forced to forgo many expenses due to lack of money.

Your children’s education being jeopardised. School and college fees are quite high in India today, and higher education is even costlier. Your children might wish to pursue higher education abroad, or travel for a while after taking a gap year, or even start a small company. Or they might wish for a grand wedding. But inadequate money can scupper all these plans. Take term plan insurance to protect your children’s dreams.

Unpaid debts creating problems for the family. If you are gone without repaying all your loans, creditors will come calling on your loved ones. If there is no money to repay these debts, your family may have to sell a few things to deal with creditors. But taking term plan insurance means that the policy money can safely pay back the borrowed money.

Dependent family members not getting help. Your aged parents or younger siblings might be financially dependent on you. Your parents, especially, are vulnerable to financial constraints once they retire and their income stops. Instead of leaving them exposed to the vagaries of fate, it is wiser to take term insurance that can help them in their old age.

Why life insurance should be called ‘Love insurance’

The ultimate measure of the love you have for your family lies not in spending a lot of money on them, but in securing them from harm forever.

What have you done to prove your love for your family?

• Taken them on a foreign vacation every year
• Purchased a big house recently
• Bought expensive gadgets, jewellery, clothes
• All of the above

Most people would like to select Option 4, but have succeeded in at least one of the others. What if we told you that the most important option is not even included in the list?

We’re referring to a wonderful instrument known as the ‘life insurance policy’. It is a way of safeguarding your and your family’s financial future against every kind of setback, including your absence from their lives. At maturity, it provides a large fund of money that can take care of a variety of expenses, right from paying for a second home, funding your children’s education and wedding and even settling your parents in a nest egg of their own.

So why should you buy a life insurance plan?

1. Because you care for your family. Your family comprises you, your spouse, children and dependent parents. All of them are equally important to you, and their collective future is in your hands. Just imagine a future when you are absent from their lives. Will they be able to sustain their lives as they do now? Can the household expenses go on as before? If not, you need life insurance to take care of them when you are absent.
2. Because you may have borrowings. A lot of people need to borrow loans at some point in their lives. The loan may be personal (to buy a home, to pay for children’s education, etc.) or professional in nature (to buy office space, to open a new office in another city, etc.) At the moment, the loans are repaid through monthly EMIs. But what happens in the future when your income stops and the loans are still unpaid? How will your loved ones deal with creditors who come asking for their money? A life insurance plan provides the corpus to repay these debts.
3. Because you are committed to your family’s dreams. Your family has every right to dream big. Your children may plan to settle in a foreign location, your spouse may want to travel all over the country and your parents may want to have a separate retirement abode of their own. Making these dreams come true is your responsibility. You can do so only with adequate planning for the future. Your life insurance plan can pay for all these dreams and make your family the happiest one in the world!

Car insurance renewal has never been easier!

Both buying and renewing car insurance is easy if you take the online route.

In more ways than one, your car is your best friend. It gets you from spot to spot, becomes your silent companion on long drives and comforts you when you are blue. You can sit in your car on a rainy day and have a solitary cup of tea in the hills. Or you can take your family out on a road trip and have a lot of fun. Your car is your trusty steed and an important member of your family.

Since taking car insurance is mandatory in India, you probably already have an insurance policy on your car. Taking a good car insurance plan is the hallmark of a responsible car owner. It is also easy to buy a good insurance plan for your car – you can browse online for the best plans, take recommendations from other users and friends and select the best features basis your requirement. Some people prefer to buy car insurance through a broker, but this entails filling out paperwork and entrusting payments to the broker.

Just as important as taking a good car insurance plan is the timely payment of premiums. It does not do to be lax about premium payments – the policy might lapse entirely and you cannot get any of the benefits on it. The same applies to missing the car insurance renewal date. On the face of it, there is really no excuse to miss the renewal date: every insurance provider sends a reminder about the same well in time for the payment date. There is usually a grace period for paying the premium and renewing the policy. However, if the car insurance renewal is not done even in the grace period, the policy may lapse and the policy holder will have to buy a fresh insurance plan.

Also, driving the car without renewing the insurance plan is hazardous: you are completely unprotected if the car meets with an accident or causes damage to another vehicle or is damaged due to a freak incident or natural catastrophe. Not having a viable insurance plan at such a juncture will result in the policy holder shelling out huge costs of car repair and third party liability from his own pocket.

Thus, there is no excuse to skip getting your car insurance renewal done on time. It is true what experienced and responsible car owners say about driving without insurance: it is like crossing a busy road blindfolded! The chances of your meeting with an accident and becoming embroiled with costly repair and compensation payments become exponentially higher when you take the wheel without adequate protection.

Plus, it is extremely simple to renew your existing plan online. Simply log on to the insurance provider’s website, and check the relevant field marked ‘Insurance renewal’. This button directs you to a form asking for your policy details. After this, you can pay the payment online and your policy is considered renewed after the payment is debited.

With no need for paperwork and a quick turnaround time, why put off car insurance renewal for a second longer? 

You MUST read this if you love your car

If you love your car, you will do everything you can to protect it from harm. Here’s why taking car insurance is the first step in this direction.

A car in a battered condition reveals its owner’s cavalier attitude. We often see dusty cars parked on the roads, with their tyres in urgent need of air and the side mirrors hanging off their moorings. Contrast this with a shiny, freshly-washed car that gleams in the sunlight – you glance at it and think, ‘This owner really loves his car!’

If you belong to the second category of car owners, who shine and buff up their cars and do everything to prevent them from being damaged, you must read on.

Your car is your pride, and you take great pains to keep it in top notch condition. You realise early on that keeping your car in good condition results in the vehicle giving you good service – a well-tuned car has great reflexes, is likely to stall less and is less prone to frequent repairs.

But nothing prolongs your car’s longevity like car insurance. Taking a good car insurance policy helps protect the car in many ways. For one thing, it protects the car against damages arising out of accidents. Damage to the car results in costly repairs, right from replacing vehicle parts to the final painting and denting jobs. Just one car repair job can set the owner back by thousands of rupees. But instead of spending the money from one’s own pocket, one can simply have the motor insurance plan pay for it.

Car insurance providers have tie-ups with reputed service centres so that annual servicing, maintenance and repairs may be done at no cost to the policy holder, and using standard parameters. Also, this ensures less hassle by way of less paperwork and faster processing of claims. Most tie-in centres also conduct free annual maintenance for the car for a specified period of time.

But car insurance is extremely useful in another key area: Third Party Liability (TPL). Say your car is in an accident that is inadvertently caused by you, it can result in damages and injuries to another vehicle. In this case, you must bear the costs of damages to the other car as well as hospitalisation for the car’s driver and its occupants, if required. Hence, if you have taken comprehensive coverage when taking vehicle insurance, the TPL component of the policy safeguards you against the liability and pays for the damages caused.

Taking car insurance is mandatory in India. Instead of viewing it as an added expense, it is important to view it through the prism of safety and financial security. So while most people who drive a car take the bare minimum insurance necessary, a car lover like you must take a plan that factors in every eventuality. 

What do you choose: Safety or Regret?

You might choose to ignore accident insurance, but the costs can be both financial and emotional. The choice is yours.

If only we could accurately predict the highs and lows of our lives! While man wishes to have the ability to have wings and fly, the ability to foretell the occurrence of a disaster must rate higher than this wish. After all, forewarned is forearmed – if we are aware of when a tragedy can befall us, we can take steps to prevent it from happening.

Realistically speaking, it is impossible to predict the sharp turns and glorious successes of our lives. It is true what they say about nothing being constant except change, since life is full of unpredictability. But while we may be unable to do anything about a disaster that befalls us or our loved ones, we can take proactive steps to deal with it when it occurs.

Take, for instance, a personal accident policy. As the owner of a vehicle, you are prone to several small and major accidents every time you take the wheel. A speeding car may ram into yours, a jaywalker might suddenly loom ahead, or a child might chase after a cricket ball right onto the street. Or it may happen that you might lose control of the wheel for a split second and become involved in an accident.

Many people who drive believe that they do not need to take a personal accident policy. They believe that they do not need to take accidental insurance if they drive carefully and take good care of their car. However, taking car insurance is mandatory in India, so most people take just a basic plan.

Choosing a plan with a low sum assured and not enough benefits is akin to choosing uncertainty over safety. A good personal accident policy covers not just your car from costs of expensive repairs, but also provides the costs of hospitalisation and treatment if you are injured. More importantly, it provides coverage for partial or complete disability arising out of an accident, and also looks after your family’s needs in case of your unfortunate demise. In case your income stops temporarily or permanently after an accident, your family is taken care of by the accident insurance plan. Even in case you are hospitalised and need sustained treatment thereafter, the accident insurance can pay for the same, leaving your savings intact.

When you select an accidental insurance plan, make sure to pick one that emphasises on helping your loved ones in case you are absent from their lives. One cannot predict when an accident will take place, but one can certainly implement every safeguard possible to cushion loved ones from the financial repercussions of the event.