Thumb rules for buying medical cover

Expense Account, Mint

After the “How am I doing financially?” question, the second most often asked money question is about medical insurance. Which company to buy from, how much, floater or individual, rider or not, do I need it if my office and that of my spouse gives medical cover and so on—the breadth of the questions show the depth of the confusion about this insurance cover. The rising cost of corporate hospitals and a similar rise in lifestyle-linked diseases have made many of us realize that the risk of a medical procedure that needs a doctor to cut us open is more likely the risk of losing your life

Read more

RBI’s unanswerable 29 questions and lessons for merchant bankers

Expense Account, Mint

As a rookie reporter I was petrified that I would not be able to provide enough detail in a story under the editing keyboard of my editor. After looking stupid several times, I would set out to interview with a list of questions that included the name of the CEO’s dog, the brand of nail polish his wife favoured, the colour of the wall behind his head and other such trivia that I thought may suddenly be needed at 11.45pm on a Saturday. But along the way, I learnt to filter out the noise from the meat and gather information without asking inane questions. I wish I could say the same for the list of 29 questions that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sent to banks last week in an attempt to gather information on mis-selling by wealth managers. Here’s a prediction: The answer set that RBI gets on these 29 questions will take it no closer to understanding the bank mis-selling equation.

Read more

Rs100 is 10% or 0.1% or 0.0001%

Expense Account, Mint

Sometimes a committee leaks a proposal it is considering to test reaction in stories and comments. Or sometimes it is a dissenter to what is being discussed who will leak a proposal or a decision to get public opinion against what is being proposed. Either of the two must have happened last week when we read that a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) committee examining a new compensation structure for mutual fund distributors is close to recommending a Rs 100 transaction fee on the sale of a mutual fund product. The quick push back from both distributors and consumer activists shows that both are unhappy. The distributors say that a flat fee of Rs 100 does not even cover the cost of transport and is neither here nor there. The consumer voices say that a flat fee is inherently unfair, translating to a 10% cost for a Rs 1,000 investor and a 0.1% cost for a Rs 1 lakh investor. They fear that this fee is an attempt to get entry loads in through the back door. It may begin as Rs 100 today, but what will prevent it from becoming Rs 1,000 tomorrow? Or coming back to a percentage in another year’s time?

Read more

The ant and the grasshopper and my summer reading list

Expense Account, Mint

The ant and the grasshopper story is the ultimate tale of the fight between today and tomorrow. The ant works diligently and saves for a rainy day while the grasshopper fools around. When it rains, the ant is snug as a bug and the grasshopper is wet and hungry. The ant innocently asks: so what were you doing all summer? The unsuspecting grasshopper says: I was singing. “So dance now!” gloats the ant. The retro story goes another way. The ant works hard and the grasshopper fools around. When the rains begin, somebody steps on the ant and the grasshopper is snug as a bug ever after.

Read more