Are we really prepared to live our life?

Life is a beautiful journey. Yes, it indeed is.

William Purkey had once said:

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,

Love like you'll never be hurt,

Sing like there's nobody listening,

And live like it's heaven on earth.”

Sometimes, i do get surprised to see how (un)prepared we are in our life to undertake this beautiful journey.

What is a paid up life insurance policy?

Introduction
I have seen many people who buy insurance policies and start paying premiums only to realize after a few years that they need to continue to pay the premium for another 20 years or in some cases, even throughout their lifetimes. After 3-4 years, they seem to be running out of finances to continue to pay regular premiums for the policy to stay in effect. Do not lose heart. Insurance industry provides a provision in such cases.

If you take it literally, a paid up policy is a policy where life insurance is paid up and you don't have to pay any more premiums.

Tax benefits for NGO donations under Sec 35AC and Sec 80GGA

As i am working on my goal of setting up my first NGO this year, there came the realization that i would also need some funds to run this NGO :). Well, do not worry, i will not bore you with my NGO details on this post. The purpose of this post is to help me collect funds :) just kidding..it is actually for you to know the tax benefits you can avail when you donate money to any NGO. There are different IT Act sections that apply if you are salaried class or if you are running a business.

Can multiple insurance policies cover the same risk?

Background

Insurance policies are designed to ensure that the recipient of the policy benefits do not collect more than the claim is worth (risk coverage), regardless of how many insurance policies may be in force. 

Insurance is designed to protect against financial losses from damage. It is not meant to be used as a way to gamble and make money off damage to your business or personal assets. If you own multiple policies that cover the exact same risk, the payout result depends on the type of insurance coverage.

No Claim Bonus (NCB) for your Car Insurance

Vehicle insurance is mandatory. But make sure that you are not losing out on the No Claim Bonus especially when you are buying a vehicle (new or 2nd hand).

What is a No Claim Bonus (NCB)

No claim bonus is a discount given by the insurer to the policyholder on his / her vehicle insurance policy premium for making no claims. NCB can be accumulated over years and the discount ranges from 20% to 50% on own damage premium. No claims bonus (NCB) is crucial to reducing car insurance premiums.

Health Insurance Tax Exemptions under Section 80D

After Life Insurance, Health Insurance is probably one of the most critical risk mitigation actions that you would under take. While life insurance would cover the risk related to your life and some optional top ups like critical illnesses or accident cover, health insurance is more related to covering risks wrt the expense you may have to incur on account of hospitalization for small, medium or critical illnesses.

Those of you who are in regular full time jobs with reputed organizations might be ignorant of various health insurance nuances and its income tax related implications, for the simple reason that your employer would have you and your family insured for health.

Healthy Breakfast for your mind.

What do you feed your body for the morning breakfast? However fond you may be of junk food, morning is a time when everyone prefers to have something relatively healthy. This is what our body craves for. Surely, a good start to the day is half the battle won.

While you took care of your body by giving it a healthy diet in the morning, did you take enough care of your mind in the morning? We know that the food that we intake has an impact on our overall physical health. Similarly, all the information that goes inside your mind through each of your sense organs has an impact on the quality of thoughts that it creates.

Life Insurance Policy Tax Exemptions - Section 10(D)

This month, one of my old life insurance policies with LIC, which my dad had subscribed for me when i was young, got matured and i received the final amount with bonus in my bank account. While it always feels exciting to receive such amounts in your bank account, it was important for me to understand the tax implications for the same as well.

There is a general perception amongst the taxpayers that all premiums paid for Life Insurance is eligible for deduction under Section 80C subject to overall limit of Rs.1.50 Lacs. Further, it is also a misconception that all sums received from the insurance company against your life insurance policy is exempted under section 10(10D).