Issue VIII - Sept. 2005
 
 
A home loan is not only for the purchase of a new house. There are several other reasons why you would need a home loan for. The following are a few of them:
 
Home Improvement Loans:
 
 
This loan is made available for you to do certain external work like structural repairs, waterproofing or internal work like tiling and flooring, plumbing, electrical work, painting, etc.
 
Home Extension Loan:
This loan helps expenses of any alteration like extension/expansion or modification of your home. You can avail of a home extension loan, after obtaining the requisite approvals from the municipal corporation.
 
Home Conversion Loan:
This loan is for those who already have bought a home but plan to buy another one and require funds for the same. Such a loan eliminates the need of pre-paying the previous loan.
 
Land Purchase Loans:
This loan is available for purchase of land for both construction or investment purposes.
 
Bridge Loans:
These loans are taken by those who plan to sell off their present house and buy a new one. This loan helps to finance the new home till a buyer is found for the existing house.
 
What are the extra’s that housing finance companies offer?
While interest rate wars were common some time back with each housing finance company trying its best to rope in more customers through rate cuts, today it’s the value addition that rules. What extra can a housing finance company offer to the customer?
 
For a common man house hunting is quite a task. And housing finance companies, in order to offer something extra to customers are traveling that extra mile by searching for the right house for them on the basis of the requirements given.
 
Not just that, companies are also offering insurance covers on home loans. These insurance policies are pure risk covers and take care of any risk to the home loan in case of death of the individual for the specified term. Besides there is also accident insurance offered that will take care of the loan in case of accidental death of the individual. So ask for these and know what all your housing finance company offers before you sign on the dotted line.
 
 
Sensex reaches new heights & you too want to jump in? Hold on!
Before you start investing in the stock market, you have to get certain basics in place.
Follow this checklist to ensure you are on track.
 

People like you and me cannot just go to a stock exchange and buy and sell shares.

Only the members of the stock exchange can. These members are called brokers and they buy and sell shares on our behalf. But you also need to preferably have an advisor who can guide you through the details of the stock market depending on your requirements. And that is where financial advisors come in to the picture. They will also advise you on the amount of money you might want to invest & what would be the best way to go about it.

You can either choose a broker (who is directly registered with SEBI) or a sub-broker (people licensed by brokers to work under them).

If you want an online broker, you can start by looking at the Web sites of some well-known online players: Sharekhan, Kotak Securities, ICICI Direct, 5paise and India Bulls.

 
 
 
Gone are the days when shares were held as physical certificates. Today, they are held in an electronic form in demat accounts. Demat refers to a dematerialised account. You don't have to possess any physical certificates showing you own shares. They are all held electronically in your account. Periodically, you will get a demat statement telling you what shares you have in your demat account. To get a demat account, you will have to approach a Depository Participant.
  
 
A depository is a place where an investor's stocks are held in electronic form. There are only two depositories in India - the National Securities Depository Ltd and the Central Depository Services Ltd.
 
A broker, however, is not similar to a DP. A broker is a member of the stock exchange and he buys and sells shares for his clients and for himself. A DP, on the other hand, gives you an account where you can hold those shares.
 
To get a list of the registered DPs, visit the NSDL and CDSL Web sites.
 
 
The taxman demands that you get yourself a Permanent Account Number. This is a unique 10-digit alphanumeric number (AABPS1205E, for example) that identifies and tracks an individual in the taxman's database.
 
Almost every money transaction demands the use of a PAN. For example:
 
. When you get a job
. When you file an income tax return
. When you open a bank account
. When you deposit cash of Rs 50,000 or more in a bank
. When you buy/ sell shares and mutual funds
. When you buy/ sell property
. When you buy a vehicle
. When you take a loan: home/ personal/ other
. You also need to mention it in every transaction you have with the tax officials & a lot more.
 
A tax consultant, can also provide you with Form 49A (the application form for the PAN number) and give you a list of the documents he needs. For a small fee they can set in motion the process to get you the Pan number. It generally takes around 20-30 days for you to receive the PAN card. However, if you believe in doing things on your own, the process is really not that difficult.
 
Now that you have all this in place, you're ready to take the first steps for the stock market. All the best!
 
 
A state adopts strict new insurance self study CE requirements for its agents. The tests they now require are very difficult, can take no more than an hour to complete, and must be taken at a certified testing center.
On the first day of the new requirements, an agent wanders into a testing center a half hour late.
"You'll never finish this test on time," the test administrator coldly states.
"Just give me the test," replies the agent, "I'll finish it."
Skeptically, the administrator gives the agent the test.
The time limit comes and passes and yet the agent still has not completed the test. Finally, a half hour after the test time limit, the agent brings his test up to the administrator, who is correcting a large stack of tests.
"You can't turn that in," states the test administrator, "you knew there was a time limit."
"Do you know who I am?" replies the agent.
"No", says the administrator.
"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???" the agent says more forcefully.
 
 
"No, and I really don't care" replies the administrator, slightly annoyed.
"Good," says the agent, who quickly shoves his test into the middle of the stack the administrator is correcting and walks out the door.
 
 
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