Re-Create Yourself

The Greek Sea-God Proteus. His power came from his ability to change shape at will, to be whatever the moment required. When Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, tried to sieze him, Proteus transformed himself into a lion, then a serpent, a panther, a boar, running water and finally a leafy tree.

Know how to be all things to all men. Learn to play many roles, to be whatever the moment requires.  A discreet Proteus- a scholar among scholars, a saint among saints. That is the art of winning over everyone, for like attracts like.

Bismark played this game to perfection: To a liberal he was a liberal, to a hawk he was a hawk. He could not be grasped, and what cannot be grasped cannot be consumed.

Destination Work - Book Review

'Destination: Work' is the mantra at ValuFirst, an international airline that makes huge profits. The employees wear 'Thank God It's Monday' (TGIM) badges. And are very happy and finish their jobs quickly.

Biz Trenz is another company in direct customer service, but is running on loss. Nancy is a common friend of both companies. She is curious to know why ValuFirst was experiencing seamless excellence and why Biz Trenz was going down the dumps.

She goes on a field trip to ValuFirst and finds out that managers work along with and help subordinates on the floor, they celebrate small successes to energize them for the next goal. The managers are genuinely interested in their staff, and the senior management speaks with all employees whenever they get a chance.

Compared to this fun style of management at ValuFirst, Biz Trenz is run by fear and follows 'Management by Numbers' program. Profit and bottomline are the sole focus of managers and people are just pawns in achieving targets. How Nancy transforms Biz Trenz using the 'Destination: Work' program of ValuFirst is the story of the book.

Very well written, the book has lot of examples. There is the story of three cats that need to be led to a kitchen. Initially, the focus is on 'your needs' and so you shoo, shoo the cats with a stick. Two cats run in  two different directions and one cat stays put on the cushion. Instead if you focus on 'their needs' and attract them with their favorite food bar, all three come running to the kitchen. But make sure you don't cheat them and give them their due. Else, they wont 'come' the next time ;)

A nice read, the book has 117 pages and costs Rs. 150. 

The Power of Introverts - Susan Cain - Awesome Speech

MMA Women Managers' Convention 2012 on 10th March

Dear Sir/Madam,

Greetings from MMA! 

 

Hurry! 
Rush Your Nomination! 
MMA Women Managers’ Convention 2012

Theme: “PERSPECTIVES" 
 Saturday, 10 March 2012 – Hotel Taj Coromandel, Chennai

MMA’s theme-based Annual Women Managers Convention is a sought after event for all women executives & entrepreneurs and is the only one of its kind being organised in the country. The Women Managers’ Convention of MMA has gained a reputation for high quality and excellence over the years and attracts over 700 women delegates from all over India. We have had the benefit of eminent speakers from leading industrial houses and outstanding personalities from within and outside the country to inaugurate and participate in the Annual Women Managers Conventions.

I am pleased to inform you on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2012, MMA is organising this year’s Women Managers’ Convention on the theme "Perspectives" on Saturday, 10 March 2012from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm at Hotel Taj Coromandel, Chennai-34. 

Soft copy of the Convention brochure and Brief Profile of the Speakers are attached as well as appended below for your perusal and information.  
(Click here to view)  
http://attachment.benchmarkemail.com/c117651/WMC_2012.pdf 

http://attachment.benchmarkemail.com/c117651/Women_Convention_2012_brochure.pdf 

The convention will be addressed by women leaders, who have proven track record of leadership, and out of their collective vision, will emerge, a blue print for the future. A galaxy of distinguished speakers from the corporate and professionals will be addressing the delegates during the Convention. A brief profile of the speakers who will be speaking during the Convention is attached for your perusal and information. I am writing to request you to please block the date – Saturday, 10 March 2012 in your diary and make it convenient to attend the Women Managers Convention as a delegate. 

I am writing to request you to please block the date – Saturday, 10 March 2012 in your diary and make it convenient to attend the Women Managers Convention as a delegate.

The structure of the Convention would have an inaugural, a valedictory, a Theatrical Presentation and Business Sessions on the following sub themes:

1.  Women on a Mission

2.  Thriving, Not Just Surviving

3.  Fears & Failures - A Theatrical Presentation

4.  Panel Discussion - The New Age Women

The convention will be addressed by women leaders, who have proven track record of leadership, and out of their collective vision, will emerge, a blue print for the future.

Special Discounted Delegate Fee for Members of MMA:       Rs.1,000/- (net)

Non-Members   Rs.1,600/- + Service Tax @ 10.3%

The Delegate Fee includes, Convention Delegate Kit, Lunch, Tea\Coffee and Gift Hamper sponsored by CavinKare.

In view of the limited seating capacity at the venue, please rush your nomination to avoid disappointment.

Look forward to the pleasure of receiving your nomination at the earliest,

Thanks & Regards 

Vakeeswari M
Madras Management Association 
Ph: 044 - 2496 2766 
Mob : 98413 74518  

Investment Advisor Vs Financial Planner

A few decades ago, there was confusion with what sales and marketing are. People thought they are one and the same. But it is to be understood that sales is just an important ingredient of the functions of marketing. Sales lies in persuading and convincing a person to buy a product that is suitable. Marketing involves all the activities right from the conception of the product, to branding, advertising and retailing. It is an all pervasive function from the product being ready to reach the market and ultimately to being sold to the customer. 

Today here prevails a similar confusion with who is an investment advisor and who is the financial planner.  It is quite common to find these terms used interchangeably, but it is necessary to understand that an investment advisor and a financial planner have the similar and vast differences as between sales and marketing. 

Why is this confusion?

There is a real confusion among the investors regarding who a financial planner is and who is an investment advisor. These terms are used very loosely, so it is necessary that one understands the function of each of these professionals and approach the right people.

The main confusion in these terminologies arises out of a person’s own perception. This arises due to most professionals offering financial services like insurance advisors, mutual fund distributors and stock brokers calling themselves financial planners. This term has been used very loosely by many to suit their own convenience and image.  This is more like a compounder professing to be a doctor, when he/she knows purely only about the medicine that one has to dispense. A compounder will not have the expertise to diagnose the disease that needs to be treated.

 

Who is the Financial Planner?

Financial planner is involved in planning all the finances of a person. His job includes drawing up an appropriate plan that covers all financial needs and goals in the short, medium and long run. Such a planner is like an architect of a building and helps to analyze and draw a complete map of how his or her client’s finances need to be planned. It includes considering the need for liquidity, cash management for various needs, goals planning and feasibility, long term cash flow, estate planning and risk management.

Who is an Investment Advisor?

In contrast an investment advisory/advisor is a person or group that helps his client to decide on the financial products that he or she should invest in. Such an advisor understands what his or her client actually wants after communicating with him or her and understanding the need. An investment advisor makes a thorough analysis of the various securities before doing so.

Hence investment advisory is just one of the ingredients of financial planning.

Goal Achievability:

A financial planner will be able to tell you, is it possible to achieve all your financial dreams with your current and projected earning capacity. If it is not possible, then the financial planner will be able to tell you what could be achieved with your earning capacity and to achieve all your dreams what kind of earning capacity you should have.

Risk Management Plan:

A financial Plan also covers creating a risk management plan. A risk management plan includes creating an emergency reserve, assessing the human life value and suggesting a term insurance; identifying medical insurance cover required and suggesting a health insurance plan; and also suggesting a general insurance policy to cover the natural perils like fire, flood, earthquake … against your properties.

Investment Plan:

A financial plan that suggests investments comes only after all the aspects have been analyzed fully. The best investment advice can only flow out after a deep analysis of a client’s need and after the preparation of a financial plan. Financial Planning should precede the investment planning.

Existing Portfolio Revamp:

It is also necessary to understand that a financial planner also looks at past investments. He then makes necessary changes to make them amicable to achieve a client’s financial goals over a period of time. Also he will assist you in restructuring your existing outstanding loans. If necessary he will create a debt pay-off plan also.

Tax Planning:

A financial planner should assist you in creating a tax plan also. This tax plan will be in sync with your overall financial plan.

Review:

A financial planner will do a periodic review on your financial plan and investment plan. If you are preponing or postponing one of your goal or if you have got a job promotion, then you may need a financial plan review. If direct tax code has got implemented or one of your investment schemes underperforming, then you may need an investment review.

In a nutshell a financial planner will not only give you an investment advice he assists you in managing your personal finance in a complete, comprehensive and a holistic way.

The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the  Director and Chief Financial planner of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.

Principles and Decision-Making for Wealth Creation

Whenever people have surplus money, they want to invest. When they invest, they just want to act or execute. They don’t want to spend time on understanding the product and various investment strategies. They would like to take investment decisions without doing any homework. There is no plan of action. Their attitude is “I have surplus money; just tell me where to invest”.

Misselling:

These kinds of investment decision making will make you fall prey for misselling. As you are not interested in doing the homework and if someone comes with a long chart and calculations for 20 years, then you may find it interesting and end up buying products like ULIPs.  When you realize that you have invested in a mediocre product, you will blame the agent or broker and not yourself and your wrong decision making approach.

Market Moods:

When you just want to act, your investment decisions will swing based on the market moods. If the stock markets are highly volatile and it is comes down day by day then you may think that instead of investing in stock market investing in debt funds are fixed deposits are safe and wise. If the stock market goes up and everyone is investing in the market including your driver, then you may think it is opt to invest in shares or equity funds. So in this case you will never buy low and sell high. In fact you end up buying at peak and avoiding the market when the share prices are low.

Aggressive Trading:

Blindly, some investors believe that by doing aggressive trades in shares and derivatives are the quick way to make money in the stock market. They enjoy their higher degree of involvement with the stock market. They feel very happy about the few successes in the stock market which give them comfort in accepting many losses. They don’t go back and calculate how much they have made or lost in a trade; what is the total profit or loss they have made in a particular year. These investors will learn very old lessons of investment after losing a huge amount of their hard earned money.

Wealth Creation Secret:

The mistake investors do is they don’t understand the basic investment principles. They simply try to make some investment decisions. How can these investment decisions be right? Very difficult. As an investor, you need to understand the investment principles. Then based on the investment principles, you need to take the investment decisions. These investment decisions will be right for sure. Without right investment principles, right investment decisions become impossible. Without right investment decisions, long term wealth creation is just a day dream.

Sound Investment Principles:

Asset Allocation:

Depending upon your financial goals, you need to arrive at the required rate of return from your investments. You need to decide what kind of allocation needs to be given to different kind of investment avenues (like Fd, Debt funds, Equity Funds, Gold ETF..) in order to achieve the required rate of return. Once decided, don’t change this asset allocation ratio depending upon the market movement.

Risk Vs Safety:

Whatever the long term savings you have got you can invest in risky assets like equity funds. You will be adequately rewarded for taking risk in the long run. Whatever the short term savings you have got you can park it in FDs or debt funds.

Investing your long term money in safe avenues will be a destruction to create long term wealth. You will not be able to beat inflation. Similarly investing your short term money in risky investments is also dangerous.

Fundamental Factors:

The returns an investment generates will be based on its fundamental factors. Analysing fundamental factors only will lead to a long term success. There is a lot of difference between taking one right investment decision by fluke and taking right investment decisions regularly by analyzing the fundamental factors.

These investment principles are very simple and straight forward. At the same time these principles are very authentic and profound. The magic formula for creating long term wealth is “Sound Investment Principles + Right Investment Decisions = Long Term Wealth”.

The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Director and Chief Financial Planner of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in  

Financial Lessons to Keep in 2012

As we are coming to an end of 2011, this is the time to reflect on the year gone by and the time to look forward for the New Year. You may use this chance to review your financial scorecard for the last year and need to make necessary changes and create an action plan to improvise the score for 2012.

Here’s the list of financial resolution for 2012. You may pick and choose a few among these and implement to improvise your personal finance management system.

1)      1) Would you like to prepare a workable budget for the year 2012?

You may choose to create a workable budget for 2012 by projecting your income and expenses. Also consider investments committed earlier like insurance premiums, SIPs and other commitments like EMIs. Is there any other financial goal you are going to meet this year like buying a car or buying a property? Have you made the provision for down payments?

2)      2) Would you like to do a portfolio rebalance?

2010 ended with a sensex of 20509. This year it is trading around 16000 levels. So definitely there will be a requirement to balance your portfolio to restore your predetermined debt equity ratio. Probably you may need to increase your equity exposure. You can make this market fall as an opportunity.

3)      3) Would you like to resist the temptation to make quick profits?

Temptation to make quick profits is the biggest enemy of wealth creation. This temptation leads to speculation and gambling which in turn will lead to a huge loss. If you could take a resolution to resist this temptation you will not fall prey for bogus schemes that seem to offer huge returns.

4)   4) Would you like to repay your high cost loans?

Do you have credit card debt, personal loan, or car loan? These are all definitely high cost loans. Why don’t you chalk out a plan to repay these debts well in advance? This will reduce your debt burden. You can become debt free earlier. You will have more investible surplus if you are debt free.

5)

5)Would you like to review your insurance?

You may decide to check the life insurance and health insurance already taken is sufficient or any additional coverage is required. If you have taken a term insurance policy through an agent, now compare the premium with an online term insurance plan. By changing to an online term insurance plan you will definitely save up to 60% of your offline premium.

6)      

      6) Would you like to do an early tax plan?

If you have not done your tax saving investments for the current financial year, you may decide to do it now without any further delay. As soon as the budget session is over create a tax plan for the next financial year. Doing tax saving investments in the last minute may force you to think only on saving tax and not on your financial goals and choosing a best scheme in sync with your goals.

7)     7) Would you like to prepare a retirement plan?

Don’t put off today what you can’t afford to do tomorrow. In spite of the world wide pension crisis and a growing acceptance that we must plan and save for our retirement, the harsh reality is we are actually not saving enough. Research reports reveal that only 15% of the individuals are saving sufficiently for their retired life.

Have you started planning for your retirement? You may be saying ‘who me? I am too young to be thinking about retirement”. It is not so! Rethink. You should have started thinking about it yesterday. Because time flies quickly. If you were smart, and planned for retirement when you are young, your retirement years will be really those “Golden years”. If not you need to compromise and you need to work longer and retire later than others.

8)     8)Would you like to avoid resolution pollution?

You need to be very cautious about setting too many financial resolutions and also need to avoid setting unrealistic financial goals. You need to set resolution which is workable. You need to keep realistic expectation on the outcome of the resolution. Over expectation may demotivate you. New Year resolution is not a magic. You will be able to progress it only over a period of time with constant practice.

Now you have all the information needed to create the New Year financial resolution. So go ahead and create one for you and your family.

The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Director and Chief Financial Planner of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.  

Have You Done Your Financial Spring Cleaning?

A Financial Planning Experience with a Client:

It was just another day that a new client came to us for financial planning.  He wanted to know if he had planned well for his family financial goals.  As a general procedure, I suggested that a study would help me come out with a comprehensive financial planning to meet his goals.

Explaining the Financial Planning Concept:

I told him that financial planning lies in addressing 4 important areas namely, risk management, wealth creation, wealth preservation and wealth transfer.  It is an ongoing process throughout life.  Financial spring cleaning done regularly helped to stay focused and keep track of your finances.

It is best to understand that financial spring cleaning involves collecting and assimilating data. This included various investments, present financial situation of the client. Then an appropriate plan was prepared and reviewed regularly considering changes. It is best to get a financial plan prepared by a certified financial planner or advisor that has the expertise, education and ethics and believes the plan would work for you.

Analyzing Life Insurance:

My collection of data told me that my client had more insurance coverage on his wife and dependent children than on him. In addition he had been sold certain unit linked plans by his investment consultant. These ULIP’s were disguised like profitable part of his overall portfolio.

So the first thing that I emphasized to him was to increase the term insurance coverage on him, so that his family was secure in his absence caused by sudden death. This was essential considering that he was the sole earning member of his family and still had various financial commitments before his children settled down.

Online term policies with nominal premium rates would be best for the purpose. I then told him that buying ULIPs are not good investments because of its heavy front loaded charges and under performance. As a part of portfolio revamp, i suggested to the client that he surrender certain policies and take up more of online term coverage on him.

Evaluating Health Insurance Requirements:

Client already had a general health insurance policy for him and his family. I also suggested that he should take additional health insurance coverage in the form of critical insurance. An additional critical insurance coverage would provide for income in case of critical illness eventualities.

Examining other Investments:

Stocks and MFs: A closer review of his investments in stocks, mutual funds and other portfolios convinced me that my client had gone wrong in many of his investments. I was surprised to find that he had been misguided to invest in penny stock and closed ended NFOs of mutual funds. These stocks and mutual funds were not just risky but also lacked adequate liquidity and profitability to cater to long term inflation.

 PMS: His portfolio management that was done by 2 portfolio managers lacked consistency that was vital for growth. They had repeatedly bought and sold stocks of big stocks like Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra and Siemens just to book minimal profit and paid high costs on entry, taxes, brokerage and exit.

It was also seen that my client had an unwieldy portfolio that consisted of certain stocks that were bought on momentary emotions. In addition both his portfolio managers were buying similar stocks and mutual funds that made for laying all eggs in a basket. In addition to lack of diversity in stocks, they had sold off more profitable funds to invest in least known. I suggested that he invest more in diversified large cap and mid cap funds.

Fixed Income Investments: 

We suggested moving of fixed deposits that earned just 6.5% post tax to fixed maturity plans that yielded 8.75% post tax. We also suggested that he increase his contribution to Public Provident Fund and in the senior citizen account of his parents.

Client Reaction: 

My client understood very well that his broker had not suggested investments taking into consideration his financial goals, risk tolerance and return expectations. We also rendered the service was to help our client create a cash flow management strategy. This would help him ensure surplus funds were appropriately invested in a diversified way.  

To conclude once the first step was taken to embark on his new journey to a strong financial backing, we advised him to keep himself well informed about financial planning with knowledge from various sources. Finally he understood that it was worth taking help in financial spring cleaning due to the rich long term gains that would accrue to him.

The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Director and Chief Financial Planner at Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.

  

A Step by Step Guide for Buying Resale Property

A resale property:

Who does not wish to live in a house of their own? Buying a new flat will take a long time, so some of us may wish to settle for buying a resale property.  However buying a resale property could involve many legal and other procedural requirements. It is prudent to first understand the various procedures and safety measures for buying resale property to avoid hassles in future. 

Buying Resale Property –A Guide

Consult Experts:

It may be ideal to engage a good real estate agent to locate a resale property. He would be in a position to locate sellers as well as guide you regarding the price of such properties in different localities. They would also be in a position to tell you about the seller of the property. Most real estate agents charge a fee and also help with registration, payment of stamp duty and other paper work involved in the purchase of resale property. In addition, taking the help of a good lawyer would also help to make sure that things are clear legally also.

Title of the property:

It will help engaging experts like real estate agents and lawyers to help you, but it is always better to be well-informed yourself when entering into deals for buying resale property. The first step in this regard would be to establish the title of the seller; whether he is the real owner of the property or has been given the power of attorney to transact the deal. All the documents with regard to the property need to be clear. In addition you need to make sure that all the original documents with regard to the property that were given by the builder or original developer are in order.

Documents:

Buying resale property seems great, but it could become a big problem if the documents regarding the original purchase and subsequent transfer of title are not properly stamped. Firstly it could pose great problems especially if you want to apply for a loan for purchase of the resale property. Subsequently it could prove to be unacceptable in case you wish to transact further on the property.

Existing Loan:

It is also necessary to make sure that the property documents are not lying mortgaged in the bank’s custody against a loan taken by the seller. The bank will consider a loan only once the loan taken by the seller is repaid and the documents released.  

Loan Eligibility:

Buying a resale property would definitely provide you with a bigger space in case of older properties. However it is best to note that some banks may not lend money on buildings older than 10 years. This may be due to the reason that they may not want to take the risk of the price of the property going down. Banks also make sure to ensure that the bank’s outstanding loan should always be lower than the value of the property in the market.

Property Valuation:

Next it is imperative to note that the loan amount is highly dependent on the cost of the property. Technical experts would evaluate the property. However it would be useful to yourself avail the services of a property valuator at a small fee before approaching the banks. The bank’s property valuator may valuate the property at a much lower rate. They would also like to safeguard their interests against the fall in the price of the property in future.

More Down Payment:

Most banks wish to make sure that you be responsible for the maintenance and good upkeep of the resale property. So banks would expect you as the purchaser of the resale property to pay a certain percentage of the price as down payment. You may have to pay about 20% of the price as down payment; property of 50 lakhs requires 10 lakh as down payment.

Age of the property:

This down payment could be more in case of older properties. In addition, banks usually lend only on properties that are unto 50 years old. The tenure of the loan also decreases with the age of the property.

Flat Society:

The bank may grant the loan and you may make the down payment, but there could be another problem. It arises out of the need for some Flat societies that require the payment of a heavy price for change of ownership. It is best to consider this cost also when coming to a conclusion while purchasing resale property in cooperative and other societies.

Conclusion:

Buying resale property would give you a chance to settle in your own house fast and save you of high rents paid and the need to frequently shift your place of living. Taking a loan from the bank could give you tax deductions on the interest paid soon. You would not have to wait till the possession as in the case of new flats. It is always prudent to be well   informed about the various details of the resale property.

The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Director and Chief Financial planner of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.

A Layman’s Guide To Reverse Mortgage

What is Reverse Mortgage?  

Increased life expectancy has lead to the increase in the costs of living and medical expenses. This makes it difficult for many senior citizens that lack a regular income to live a life of dignity. Reverse mortgage is the solution introduced by the Union Government of India in 2007 helps senior citizens.  

Understanding the concept of reverse mortgage better:

 Reverse mortgage is the opposite of a   conventional housing loan that needs to be paid back with interest over a period of time. Reverse mortgage helps senior citizens having a residential property to receive a regular income against its mortgage. The borrower and his/her spouse are allowed to stay in the place of residence until both die, aiding the living of a dignified life by senior citizens.  

Workings of reverse mortgage:

A senior citizen couple should necessarily own a flat or house.  Then they can pledge the property for a monetary value agreed upon by the bank. The value is generally fixed considering the present property values, demand and also the condition of the property. The bank starts periodic payment as a loan that is decided after consideration of margin of interest costs and price fluctuations in the property. It is an ideal solution for senior citizens that have residential property, but no finances for regular day to day expenses and medical aid. The borrower’s interest in the property decreases once the reverse mortgage EMI begin. 

Guidelines for reverse mortgage:

The guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India state:  

Ø  The maximum amount of the loan given generally as EMIs cannot exceed 60% of the property value. In addition the minimum period of the mortgage is 10 years, and maximum 15 years. However some banks have been recently offering tenure of about 20 years.

Ø  The borrower can avail of the loan in parts every month, every quarter, every year or in a lump sum.  

Ø  The lender/bank would revaluate the property once in 5 years. If the value of the property has increased, the borrower has the option to ask for an increase in the amount of loan. He can also ask for the additional amount to be given in a lump sum.

Ø  The installments or lump sum received in a reverse mortgage is a loan and not an income. Hence no tax is payable on it. However he has to pay capital gains tax when the property is taken for the borrower for the repayment of the loan on the mortgage.

Ø   The interest paid on the reverse mortgage could be floating (fluctuating) or fixed, with this rate depending largely on the interest rates prevailing in the market. 

Eligibility for reverse mortgage:

A senior citizen can avail of reverse mortgage on his/her house or property when:

Ø  He/she is above the age of 60 and his spouse that is a co-applicant is above 58 years of age.

Ø  The property is the permanent residence of the individuals and is self-occupied. The property should be self-acquired and located in India. The title should be clear of the borrower’s ownership.

Ø  It is mandatory for the property to be free of encumbrances and it should have a minimum life of about 20 years.

Settlement of reverse mortgage:

Ø  The reverse mortgage loan is payable on the death of the last surviving life partner. It could also become payable when the borrower sells off his/her property. In such cases the bank gives the choice to the heirs to settle the loan with accumulated interest.  Otherwise the bank arranges to recover the same with the sale of the residential property.

Ø  Any extra amount that remains after the loan with interest and expenses has been settled is passed on to the legal heirs. If the sales proceeds are much less than the loan, the bank. In case of losses that could occur due to wrong estimation by the bank is borne by them.

Ø  The loan could be foreclosed when the borrower has not continuously stayed in the house for a year or has failed to pay property taxes or insure the house. The loan is also foreclosed when the borrower turning bankrupt, donates or abandons his property. In addition renting a part of the house, adding an extra name to the ownership could all affect the lender’s interests and lead to foreclosure of the mortgage. Government statutory provisions could also require it.

Some other highlights of reverse mortgage include the borrower’s option to prepay the loan with interest. Also one or both spouses could outlive the period of the tenure. Then the bank will stop payment of monthly installment. They will however wait for the both the borrowers to die before settlement. Reverse mortgage involve long, tedious, difficult and complicated procedures. In addition they have no provisions for increase in monthly payouts.

Lastly reverse mortgage has failed to gain much popularity in India, with marketing strategies being inadequate. The reason is also that many banks are fixing the maximum limit of loan. The resentment among the heirs and family sentiments are also some of the other reasons. It is true however that reverse mortgage is the solution for financial sufficiency in lives of most senior citizens.

The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the r and Director and Chief Financial Planner of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.