postaday2011 | wealthymatters

Just How Good Is Your Income?

December 10, 2011 Leave a comment

wealthymatters Ever wondered how your income stacks up against others?Here are some figures to help you gauge just how well you might be doing.The per capita income in India is Rs.54,527 in 2010-2011,up from Rs.46,492 in the previous year.In fact the per capita income,which was Rs.18,450 in 2001-02, has been growing at an average annual growth rate of about 12.8% in the period 2001-02 to 2010-11.Have you been able to grow your income at the same or higher rate?

Filed under Tidbits, Tool Kit Tagged with Income, per capita income in India, postaday2011, RandomBlog2011

40 Tips For Budding Entrepreneurs

December 10, 2011 6 Comments

Here is a pretty nice article from today’s ET .The article is apparently an excerpt from the June ’11 issue of Southwest Airlines’ Spirit magazine.Enjoy!From Deccan Air in India to Ryan Air in UK, Sourthwest Airlines has been the role model for all low-cost airlines in the world. In being the lodestar, it also revolutionised air travel. On its 40th anniversary, the airline shares 40 funny yet insightful reasons that made it a success —each a valuable lesson to entrepreneurs
1| Keep Idea Simple Enough to Draw on Napkin
In 1966, Rollin W King sat with his lawyer, Herb Kelleher, in San Antonio’s St. Anthony Club and drew a triangle on a cocktail napkin. And lo, the napkin begat an airline. Rollin, owner of a money-losing commuter airline, wanted to start an intrastate carrier so the airline wouldn’t fall under the aegis of the Civil Aeronautics Board. Hence, the triangle. He labelled the corners “Dallas,” “Houston,” and “San Antonio”—The Golden Triangle of Texas. Read more of this post

Filed under Entrepreneurship, Theory Tagged with Entrepreneurship, Herb Kelleher, John Peace, postaday2011, RandomBlog2011, Rollin W King, Southwest Airlines

The Farmer And The Calf – An Investment Story

November 28, 2011 3 Comments

wealthymatters.com Hello People ! I’m sorry I was gone for so long.I was having a pretty stressful time and blogging just wasn’t an option.

Today’s post is a nice allegory I found here: http://value-picks.blogspot.com/2011/11/farmer-and-calf-investment-story.html

‘This story is about a farmer who received a calf from a rich man. Hopeful that the calf will be able to help him have a better life, the farmer did his best to take care of it. But as the calf grew, so did the farmer’s expenses.One day, he said to himself, “I don’t want to wait anymore for this calf to become an ox. I’ll just sell it and buy several sheep which are easier and much cheaper to take care of.”And so he did just that.After several months, he realized that breeding sheep were not as easy as he thought. And so he said to himself, “It takes too long for these sheep to give birth. I better just sell them and buy myself several hens which can lay eggs for me everyday.”And so he did just that.The plan worked very well, he was earning good from selling all the eggs. Life improved for the farmer. But after several months, the hens started to lay less and less eggs until one day, the hens couldn’t produce anymore.The farmer was devastated. In his anger, he cooked all the hens and had himself a feast.Later that week, he remembered the single calf that started it all and realized that after all his hard work, nothing had changed in his life.”

A good warning for those of us who won’t take the pains to sit down and work out our goals and think through what we need by way of time,effort ,money etc for achieving them. Read more of this post

Filed under Theory, Tidbits Tagged with allegory, investment story, patience, postaday2011, RandomBlog2011

Options for Buying Gold Bars

October 10, 2011 7 Comments

Gold bars require somewhat deeper pockets but they are pretty good value; so if you can afford to pay the entire amount at one go, typically, your local jeweller will offer the best deal.A local jeweller would have sold a 50-gram gold biscuit on January 2011 at Rs 1,03,150.Even here, take the trouble to walk the streets and ask around about prices.They vary by brand and from dealer to dealer. Negotiate.

The next best place to buy these bars is from NBFCs like Muthoot Finance and Mannapuram Finance.In January 2011, a 50-gram gold biscuit from Muthoot Finance used to cost Rs 1,12,842, inclusive of taxes (VAT and service tax),if you bought it outright.These NBFCs also offer you the chance to buy old bars and coins on EMIs.They charge an interest calculated annually.In this case,after making a down payment of Rs 11,750 (10 per cent of the cost), the remaining could be paid via EMIs of Rs 9,356 over a 12-month period.The gold would be handed over to you after you complete the entire payment.The total amount paid through EMIs comes to Rs 1,12,272.Add to it the initial down payment of Rs 11,750, the total cost would come to Rs 1,24,022. Read more of this post

Filed under Precious Metals Tagged with buying gold bars and coins, gold purchase loans, Mannapuram Finance, Muthoot Finance, postaday2011, RandomBlog2011

Some Gold Market Facts

October 9, 2011 5 Comments

wealthymatters.com India is the world’s biggest market for gold.

Imports meet almost all the country’s 800-900 tonnes per year requirements for jewellery and investment.

The market was only freed up in 1997, when the government allowed banks and other state-run trading firms to import the sensitive commodity directly.Only 31 state-run and private banks along with government trading agencies have licences to import gold because of its implications for foreign exchange flows. Read more of this post