Pension Plans with Mutual Fund Investments.

With the rising popularity of Mutual Funds as a long term investment module, the average investor should weigh all pros and cons prior to selecting an option for their investment portfolio. Initially Mutual Fund Investments were considered to yield high capital gains in the longer runs but at the same time they were extremely risky and the output mostly depended on the market conditions. Lately they have earned the reputation of being good tax-saving investment instruments in the longer run, and as of late they have ventured into the most imperative investment option – Pension. With the growing confidence in the private pension system in India, the Indian Ministry of Finance recently announced an increase in investment flexibility, which will be effective from 1 April 2009.

Pension Plan helps the average investor to accumulate wealth over the period in order to meet his/her expenses after retirement. Usually it is the insurance companies that draw customers with the array of pension plans that they provide, but the lesser known fact is that Mutual Fund also manages pension products. Currently only one private sector mutual fund has a pension plan catering to the investor and there is more than one reason for you to look at this plan seriously. The Plan is none other than Templeton India Pension Plan (TPP), the country’s first and only central government approved private sector pension scheme under Section 88. In other words, investing in this pension plan will also provide you with tax saving benefits similar to tax saving Mutual Funds (ELSS) and other investing instruments such as National Saving Certificate (NSC) and Public Provident Fund (PPF). Though both tax saving mutual funds and pension plans are in the same investment genre as they offer tax-deduction benefits, both have varying rates. The investment amount on which tax benefits can be claimed by investing in tax-saving funds is restricted to a maximum permissible limit of Rs 10,000 (approximately). However, the maximum permissible investment limit under TPP is Rs 70,000(approximately).

Coming to the points as to why the average investor should consider this investment as a part of their investment portfolio. The main feature of a good pension plan is to be deterrent for early withdrawals. Templeton Indian Pension Plan (TIPP), generally allows you to withdraw your money after 58 years of age or after 3 years of investment. If you do want to withdraw your money after 3 years of investment, even if you aren’t 58 years old you can do so after paying a 3% exit load (administrative charges you pay when you sell your units or assets). The power of equities will provide you long term capital gains if your investment portfolio has a time period of a minimum of 10 years. Templeton Pension Plan offers better tax-saving options when compared to other investing instruments of the same genre. Returns from NSC or PPF will be hard to match the returns generated by TPP if one is willing to consider a comparison given that PPF and TPP are retirement-oriented investments.

Whenever you opt to invest in a Mutual Fund, two prime factors that needs to given due importance are Asset Allocation and Fund Manager. TIPP has increased its exposure to IT stocks in the latest quarter and reduced exposure to stocks in the metals space such as Hindalco. A well-diversified equity portfolio with limited exposure to mid-caps makes it a less risky portfolio. As far as performance goes the plan has delivered an impressive cumulative annual return of 18 per cent for the last five years. The fund has been able to beat its benchmark returns and has also recorded lower losses than its benchmark in the last quarter, when the market turned weak. So for investors who are looking for a good investment module to invest in other than the regular insurance product TIPP is an excellent option.

Investments through Mutual Fund SIP – Systematic Investment Planning.

SIP or systematic investment planning refers to the strategy that you tend to implement prior to depositing your money into any investment module, be it Mutual Funds, bonds, etc. From Mutual Funds point of view SIP helps you save money on a regular basis. A small amount is to be deposited every month on recurring basis till that particular fund cycle ends. Most people would consider SIP to be a type of a Mutual Fund, which in true sense isn’t correct; SIP is simply a method of investing in a Mutual Fund. If an investor wants to invest on a recurring basis, a systematic investment plan (SIP) is a good option. Its long duration helps to reduce the impact of bull and bear phases.

There are a couple of ways that you can invest in a Mutual fund; one is a one time payment and the other through periodic investments. The later is termed to be Mutual Fund SIP. When you go for one time investments, you just hand over the cheque and you get your fund units depending on the value which is called Mutual NAV (Net Asset Value) of the units on that particular day. When you go in for this kind of investments a couple of factors creep in that determines the number of units you get. A small percentage of your investment is charged as an administrative fee and is termed as entry load. The other charge that is levied is the Mutual Fund NAV, which is the price of the unit of a fund. Say if you are investing Rs 9000/ and if one particular unit costs Rs 30/, then the total number of units that you get to purchase is 300. The other type of investment is done periodically instead of a one time down payment. This kind of investment planning is called Mutual Fund SIP (Systematic Investment Planning). This type of investment is done when you tend to go for high capital gains and you need to invest a bigger amount, but find it difficult to invest it at a single time.

It is then that the concept of Systematic Investment Planning creeps in. If you intend to invest a sum of Rs 10,000/ into a particular Mutual Fund, but your current financial obligations prevents you from doing so, then with the concept of SIP, you breakdown your investment principle into equal installments month wise. If a monthly investment of Rs 1000 is done at the end of the year you end up investing a sum of 12000/. Unlike general investment where you pay an entry load, SIP usually doesn’t charge any fee, though as of late some companies have started to in the form of exit loads, which is a fee charged when you sell your units. The minimum amount that has to be invested during a one time investment is Rs 5000/, where as incase of a SIP it could be Rs 500/ or more (depending on the company). In most cases payments through SIP is done month wise, but companies also gives their customers the option of making the payments half-yearly or quarterly. Payments are basically made Electronic Clearance Service from your bank; this means the mutual fund will, as per your instructions, debit a certain amount from your account every month. If you don’t have the required money in your account, then for that month, no units will be allocated to you. But, if this continues periodically, the mutual fund will discontinue the SIP.

It is a compulsion that you state to the company as to how long you long you would want the SIP. After that during the course of the period if you realize that you can’t continue with the SIP, all you have to do is inform the fund 15 days prior to the payout. The SIP will be discontinued. You can continue to keep your money with the fund and withdraw it when you want. The amount invested till then will be considered as the total investment made. Investing in Mutual Fund through SIP makes your budget more disciplined. Every month you are forced to keep aside a fixed amount. It helps you make money over the long term. Since you get more units when the NAV (charge/unit) drops and fewer when it rises, the cost averages out over time. So you tide over all the ups and downs of the market without any drastic losses. In case of SIP basically no fees are charged, but if you sell your units in a year time you pay and exit load. Hence it pays to invest in a longer run. The best way to enter a mutual fund is via an SIP. But to get the benefit of an SIP, think of at least a three-year time frame when you won’t touch your money.

ELSS – Secret of Tax Saving with Mutual Fund Investments.

ELSS is abbreviation for Equity-Linked Saving Scheme. This is one of several schemes offered by mutual funds and is popular among high net worth tax payers because of their unique features. For the high-income individuals (people whose annual income is above the tax-free slab), equity-linked saving schemes are a good way to save tax. Generally Mutual Fund Investments are considered to be risky without proper guidance / knowledge, but investing with ELSS, along with tax-deduction benefits you do get monetary profits in the longer run. For instance, someone who is risk-averse can opt for life insurance or five-year deposit with a bank. For someone keen on saving tax, even on income (interest) arising out of the investment would prefer Provident Funds (Employee Provident Fund or Public Provident Fund). Then, for the young and high net worth, with a good risk appetite can go for ELSS.

As the name suggests ELSS (equity linked savings scheme), invests primarily in equity shares of companies. As per financial regulations, the scheme Fund manager has to invest 80% of the total amount in the equity shares and the remaining 20% per cent can be invested in other instruments like bonds, debentures, government securities and others. When you invest in ELSS your money is locked for a period of three years (minimum). Once you invest in tax saver funds you cannot withdraw the amount for three years, this acts as a blessing in disguise as tax saving funds generally yield high returns during a 3year period. The common man is basically afraid of investing his money in equity shares as he is afraid of loosing money. But a look at the recent past shows that investors who have invested in tax saver funds have never lost out on their money, rather tax saver funds have been the front runners in terms of returns to investors. A small illustration will clarify comprehensions.

If you make an investment of Rs 1,00,000/ ( 1 lac), then under section 80c this complete amount is deducted from your gross income for that particular year. If your annual income puts you in the highest tax paying zone, i.e -34%, then the investment of Rs 1,00,000/ will ensure that you get an annual tax deduction of Rs, 34,000/. So logically speaking you invest Rs 66,000/ considering the deduction. Assuming that the Mutual Fund declares an annual dividend of 10% then your total return on Rs 66,000 is [(10,000/66000)* 100] = 15.15%. This particular dividend earned is also tax-free, hence more profit. Another profitable venture out of this investment is that after a period of 3 years the capital gain that you obtain out of the investment is also tax-free. This is what makes ELSS the most attractive investment for those who have the appetite for moderate risk. However, prior to making an investment selecting a good fund house based on its reputation and track record is important. Elss are considered to be the best tax saving mutual funds in India.

ELSS is a good option to save tax and generate long term capital gains. These gains are obtained from the equity market only if you are investing in a long time horizon. Adding money in a disciplined manner creates a good corpus. The basic confusion that the average investor could have is that they consider Equity Mutual Funds and ELSS to be the same, which in true sense isn’t correct. Normal equity funds could be purchased today and disposed off tomorrow. Incase of ELSS there is a compulsory 3 year lock in period. As per the rules related to long-term capital gains, profit from equity MFs after one year becomes tax-free. As per latest sources the top 5 ELSS schemes are 1) Principal Personal Tax-saver, 2) DSP ML Tax Saver Fund, 3) Taurus Libra Taxshield, 4) Lotus India Tax Plan, 5) Franklin India Tax Shield ( FIT). Going by the current volatile market trends and with the current fiscal year approaching an end, investing in a good ELSS fund is a clever option to save taxes.