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Money matters!
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Hassled about where to invest your hard-earned money? Go online!
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MONEY... WHY? Because, you never have enough of it at the end of the month.
One good reason may be collective lack of skills as money managers. For those who identify with this predicament, the Internet is turning out to be a good source of tips to help stretch that buck a little more.
They just cannot stop talking about the financial planning information they find online. "Earlier, people would talk about fixed deposits, dividends and yields, and I had no clue what those terms meant," says Priyadarshini, a business executive. Three months of online research later, she now understands and invests in shares and follows market reports online.
M. Vasudevan, who works with a private insurance company, got a hang of online trading and savings after visiting the websites of financial companies. "I browse through the websites of private banks on a regular basis. I have also registered with portals like www.fivepaisa.com, www.paisapower.com and www.sharekhan.com to update myself on virtual transactions," he says.
Many feel such guidance helps them decide on the right kind of investment. "Websites like www.moneycontrol.com and www.indyainfoline.com give comparative analyses of financial products. Regular updates on the market performances of shares, insurance products and mutual funds are also available. Company executives may not be willing to disclose some information about competitors, but it is easily available on the net for free," he adds.
Calculate your money
Priyadarshini picked up a lot of information from www.iVillage.com/money. It has a cash flow calculator that helps you organise your budget and interactive quizzes that identify your `money' personality and your `shopping IQ'. Tips on how to plan your `spending' are also available. "Life is so fast paced and there is hardly any time to discuss your investment plans with an executive. Here, all you have to do is log on and have financial experts answering your queries in an online interactive forum," she adds.
Another advantage is that you can also study the past and current performances of companies. "Developments in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) can be monitored easily at the click of a mouse. And, if you are looking at investment in stocks, there are also facilities to track performances in particular sectors like cement, media and IT," Vasudevan informs. For B. Uma Maheswari, entrepreneur and advisor of private insurance products, the Internet is a handy tool. "I started off with online transactions for my product range (textile spares) - it brought down operation costs by 50 per cent. Now, I monitor stock movements and fluctuation in prices online and plan investments at my own discretion," she says with confidence.
Women power
The number of women seeking financial advice on the Web is growing. So, do women make better money managers? The thousands managing home budgets would nod. V. Ananthanarayanan, branch head of a financial company, vouches for that. "There is definitely an increase in the number of people accessing the Internet for financial info, and it is women who derive maximum benefits."
Women who surf the Net for financial information include homemakers, entrepreneurs and executives receptive to the new concept. Though online advice helps go in for better investment patterns, it is vital to check the authenticity of information with a real-life expert, he cautions.
One should remember that such websites play only an advisory role.
"At least 30 per cent of people here are aware of online advisory services and the trend is picking up," Ananthanarayanan adds.
Another interesting find on the Internet is a handy tool, which calculates how long it would take you to become a millionaire.
The answer: "Twenty years if you save Rs 1, 000 every month, at a good annual interest." Seems like a lifetime. Any takers?
K. JESHI
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