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| Capitalstars Investment Advisor |
To make your life easy financially, ET Online tells you about 10 financial resolutions you can make.
1. Watch how you drive
After the motor vehicles, Act came into force from September 1, 2019. Breaking traffic rules can cost you, dear. However, did you know that these violations can impact the premium on your motor insurance cover? That is right, the insurance regulator has proposed to introduce telematics for motor insurance. Telematics is a method of monitoring your vehicle using a GPS device fitted in your vehicle, which will track data related to your driving habits, to which your personalized motor insurance premium will be linked.
2. Be careful while buying insurance from a bank
Banks generally have tie-ups with insurance companies. These agents try and push products to existing bank customers. Due to this cross-selling, many times, banks sell insurance plans to customers without telling them about the details of the product. This is where most of the mis-selling happened. Most often these products are sold as an investment product promising high returns.
3. Beware of and beat the fraudsters at their own game
When you use credit cards, digital wallets, phone banking, there is always a window for fraudsters to steal your money. Stay ahead of them. Review your bank and other online accounts regularly. Check your phone banking or wallet alerts for transactions and keep an eye out for those you didn't make.
4. Put a little more effort into your passwords
Make it a rule to not set passwords that are easy to crack. Things like 'I love you', 'password123' etc will just not make the cut. In this case, the more complicated, the better.
5. Handle those social media handles carefully
With a lot of us taking the digital route for even the smallest of tasks, it comes as no surprise that social media has become a fishing pool for fraudsters. Many fake handles surfaced in 2019. For instance, a few posed as NPCI-BHIM's official handle. Then there were fake websites, like the counterfeit IRDAI portal www.irdaionline.org and a bunch of fake RBI websites. Get the correct handles by visiting official websites or better yet, by calling the customer care number.
6. Close inactive bank accounts
If there are bank account/s not being used by you and just lying dormant, close these. By not doing so, you might be penalized. Also remember, if the only transaction in an account is the periodic credit of interest on the existing balance, such accounts will be treated as dormant.
7. Safeguard your banking transactions
Do not opt for saving of password option prompted by the browser while accessing Internet banking. Beware of malicious sites and apps while accessing Net banking or downloading Net banking apps.
8. Don't keep all your money in just one bank account
If there's one thing that the unfortunate episode of PMC Bank has taught us, it's that you should not put all your money into one bank account. Urban co-operative banks especially are not well-regulated. Definitely don't fall prey to the higher returns offered. Also, each bank account has its deposits insured up to Rs 1 lakh under the DICGC. So you'll be able to make full use of this option when you spread deposits across banks.
9. Stick to the 50/30/20 rule of financial planning
According to this to this thumb rule, 50 percent of the earnings after tax should be used towards necessities, 30 percent of the money should be spent on luxuries or wants / desires and 20 percent money should be saved and invested towards your financial goals. This thumb rule supplemented with a solid financial plan can take your finances places and make your financial journey smooth.
10. Keep your credit profile clean
It's not just your credit score but your overall credit profile matters too when looking for loans. Don't rely heavily on your credit cards for borrowing, these are in fact the most expensive form of debt. Exhausting your credit limit regularly will hit your profile too. Make sure that your utilization never exceeds 40 percent of total the credit limit available.