Managing money matters involves many rules and regulations. Some, I agree, may be cumbersome and complicated. Many, however, are simple and straightforward.
Yet, many times, we are careless. Thus, we get into 'avoidable' problems or create 'unnecessary' inconveniences for ourselves. Wouldn't it be prudent to prevent such 'needless' complications?
Some of the common examples of such carelessness include the following:
a) Forgetting to pay the premiums of our health insurance policies before the due date could have serious consequences. The policy will lapse. We may then have to buy a new policy afresh. This could mean fresh medical check ups. Even the policy continuity may be lost, making it difficult for us to claim expenses on pre-existing illnesses. (Forgetting one's wife's birthday may be less damaging than forgetting the policy premium due date.)
b) If we file our income tax return in the wrong ITR Form, the return could be rejected by the IT officer. This would not only mean filing the returns again in the correct form, but also our case could be taken up for scrutiny. All of us are intelligent enough to read thru' the guidelines given and choose the right form. This may take a few minutes but would spare us lot of agony in the future.
c) Crores of rupees are lying with banks in dormant accounts and with companies as unclaimed dividends. One very simple reason for this is that people have not updated their contact details (address and phone nos.) after they changed their jobs and work places. A little bit of planning with our paperwork will ensure that we do not lose track of our money.
d) It is well known that earlier we invest in PPF, the more returns we earn. It is well known that we should spread out our investment in equity. Yet, when it comes to tax planning, we wait until the last minute to invest in PPF and ELSS. I wonder why, year after year, we never make our tax-saving investments at the beginning of the year?
The proverb "A stitch in time saves nine" is aptly applicable here. Hope you have picked up the needle...
Yet, many times, we are careless. Thus, we get into 'avoidable' problems or create 'unnecessary' inconveniences for ourselves. Wouldn't it be prudent to prevent such 'needless' complications?
Some of the common examples of such carelessness include the following:
a) Forgetting to pay the premiums of our health insurance policies before the due date could have serious consequences. The policy will lapse. We may then have to buy a new policy afresh. This could mean fresh medical check ups. Even the policy continuity may be lost, making it difficult for us to claim expenses on pre-existing illnesses. (Forgetting one's wife's birthday may be less damaging than forgetting the policy premium due date.)
b) If we file our income tax return in the wrong ITR Form, the return could be rejected by the IT officer. This would not only mean filing the returns again in the correct form, but also our case could be taken up for scrutiny. All of us are intelligent enough to read thru' the guidelines given and choose the right form. This may take a few minutes but would spare us lot of agony in the future.
c) Crores of rupees are lying with banks in dormant accounts and with companies as unclaimed dividends. One very simple reason for this is that people have not updated their contact details (address and phone nos.) after they changed their jobs and work places. A little bit of planning with our paperwork will ensure that we do not lose track of our money.
d) It is well known that earlier we invest in PPF, the more returns we earn. It is well known that we should spread out our investment in equity. Yet, when it comes to tax planning, we wait until the last minute to invest in PPF and ELSS. I wonder why, year after year, we never make our tax-saving investments at the beginning of the year?
The proverb "A stitch in time saves nine" is aptly applicable here. Hope you have picked up the needle...