Do you need a health insurance that covers you overseas?

Insurance policies are a necessary thing that every adult invests in. It helps us secure our properties, health and the future of our family members. One of the most important aspects of insurance is health insurance. Investing in health insurance is a primary objective for any responsible adult. It ensures that you and your family is secured in case of any medical emergency or medical situation that may arise at anytime in future. However, most of the health insurances cover you only inside the country, or more accurately, most people choose health insurance policies that cover them only inside the country. But you may want to consider choosing a health insurance that covers you overseas for the following reasons:

• Medical coverage abroad- The benefit of having an overseas health insurance is that it provides you medical coverage while you are travelling abroad. You can go on tours or vacations abroad without any worry about facing any problem if you come across any medical situation. These plans provide coverage for hospitalization, emergency medical evacuation, prescription of medications. It also covers repatriations and provides you with doctor visits while you are travelling or staying for short durations abroad. You can choose your overseas health insurance plan depending on how long you spend abroad. You can either go for a short term insurance plan or a long term insurance plan to suit your needs.

• Chronic medical condition- If you are someone with a chronic medical condition having an overseas health insurance is a good idea. If you suffer from any condition like diabetes, arthritis, migraine, asthma, anemia or any other chronic medical condition or if you are in a high risk category for any such condition then you must invest in this. It will prove to be a good choice in the long run as if ever you need to travel abroad it will have you secured for your medical condition. It will provide you with appropriate medical treatment for your chronic health condition if you ever encounter any problem while you are abroad. You can now travel without any worries about your condition from affecting you.

So having an overseas health insurance provides health coverage to you when you are abroad. It keeps you secured in case of any emergency medical situation that you may face while you are abroad. In case you have a chronic health disorder or anyone in your family has one then it will prove beneficial to invest in overseas health insurance. It would also ensure you a stress free travel and stay abroad.

How to make monthly international money transfers a convenient process?

Staying abroad is a dream that almost every person has had at least once. Today, with the growing opportunities in every field, more people are living this dream. One of the important factors you should look into to have a hassle free stay abroad is money transfer. Whether you are staying abroad for educational purposes or for employment purposes you need to make international money transfers on a regular basis. If you are pursuing higher education you need to receive money from your parents to manage your expenses. On the other hand if you are working abroad you will need to send money to your family periodically. Thus a hassle free international money transfer process will be in your advantage.

In order to ensure that you have a smooth and efficient international money transfer you can follow these simple steps:

• Assign account only for transfer- You can assign a separate account just for money transfer. This will help you in the long run. First of all you can easily keep tabs on the amount that is transferred. Using a separate account will also ensure that no other transactions are made from this account. For instance, you can have a salary account and another separate account for money transfer. This in turn will make it convenient for you to keep track of your finances and manage them easily.

• Set up automatic transfers on fixed date with fixed funds- One of the best ways to make monthly international money transfers easy and convenient is to set up automatic transfers. You can schedule money transfers on a fixed date each month with a fixed amount. It is a very simple procedure which will allow you to easily transfers funds each month without having to go to the bank. You just need to log into your online banking profile, select the amount you want to transfer and the account where you need to transfer to. Then you need to choose the “Schedule Transfer” option from the Transfer Type list and select date of the transfer. The last step includes selecting the frequency of transfer and the end date.

• Set up alerts for transfer status- You can set up alerts for your transfer status. This will help you keep track of your transfers without going to the bank. You can get instant updates and alerts on your mobile through text messages.

So, following the above mentioned steps you can make your monthly international money transfer more convenient that will help you have a peaceful stay abroad.

Why should you let your college children have a credit card

College is such a stage where an individual goes through the transition from a teenager to a responsible adult. They take important decisions about their life, becomes more mature, learn to take care of themselves as most of them start living away from their parents. These experiences make them more responsible and transform them into a grown up ready to take on the world. In order to become a more responsible individual they must also learn to manage their finances. This includes managing funds, expenditure and savings. For this, credit cards is a must. Every person has to use a credit card at some point of time in their life. So it’s better that you let your college children have one which only not only teach them how to manage their expenses but also provide added benefits like:

• Credit cards with limited credit line- Some of the best credit cards in India allow you to choose a credit card for your child that has limited credit line. This will not only allow you to keep a limit on their expenses but will also make them learn to regulate and keep in check their own expenditure.

• Ease of transaction- Having a credit card will lessen the burden of your children having to carry cash everywhere. They can easily make payment related transactions anywhere with their credit cards. For instance, payments for online shopping can be made easily with a credit card.

• Payment of fees- Every college student needs to pay their college fees, which in fact are a huge sum of money. Having a credit card facilitates the payment of the college fees on time without any delay.

• Security in case of emergencies- If your child has a credit card it will act as a backup in case of any emergency payments he may need to make. For instance in case of any medical emergency they can use their credit cards to make payments so that it won’t halt the treatment process.

• Rewards and benefits- Credit cards offer many cash back rewards. These rewards automatically get deposited in the savings account and can be redeemed for gift vouchers at certain retailers.

• Create an early credit history- College children can use credit cards to build an early credit history that will help in the long run. Credit history plays an important role in boosting the credit score and the best credit cards in India value a long and healthy credit history.

So giving your college children a credit card can prove to be a wise decision. It can help you make them responsible as well as provide security in case of any emergencies.

Send money to India: Tips to ensure a smooth and stress free money transfer

The advent of globalization in the 90s reduced the economic barriers between the countries. With the passage of time more and more business companies and other organizations extended their market internationally. This opened up the doorway to more number of individuals working abroad. At present, many people get jobs in foreign lands and many more frequently need to go outside the country for work purposes. This has made money transfer more important than ever. You may need to send money to India from abroad to your family or you may need to do so for business purposes. Whatever the reason maybe, the following tips can help you ensure a smooth money transfer from abroad:

• Plan ahead- Planning ahead is a good way to ensure that you minimize the costs. You can research about the different methods and shops that are used for money transfer and select the one best suited to your needs. You can opt for electronic transfers as it is one of the most efficient and appealing way to transfer money. Another cost effective choice is opening an account in an international bank. This will allow you to make intra-bank transfers and hence reduce your costs.

• Know about the fees- Having the knowledge about the fees charged by the brokers, banks or money transfer shops will help you save your hard earned money from unnecessary expenses. Charges are usually made on percentage basis. So knowing about them beforehand will help you prevent them from eating up the funds you transfer. For instance, money transfer in smaller denominations cost much more on a percentage basis. Proper knowledge about this will help you take decisions wisely and hence, save your funds.

• Know the Exchange rate- You should know about the exchange rates in order to minimize the cost of your money transfers. Keeping an eye on the current exchange rates can help you pick out favorable time of sending money to India.

• Limit use of Instant Transfers- Limit the use of instant transfers to only during emergencies. These are the type of money transfers that costs the most.

So you should try and keep its usage to the minimum, only for times when you need to send money to India quickly on an urgent basis.
These are some of the tips that can help you have a smooth money transfer when you need to send money to India. It will save your funds from unnecessary expenses and ensure that you experience a stress free money transfer.

Why do you need mobile banking apps today

In recent times, with the quick pace of developments in technology, the world experienced a sudden surge in the field of mobile applications. The number of mobile apps available to the public has increased at an enormous rate. It has touched almost all the sectors, from food and lodging to travel and tourism. One of the sectors where this technology has brought a revolution is banking. Today most people are using mobile banking apps in their daily life for various banking activities. If you are still untouched by the phenomenon of mobile banking then you should consider the following things:

• Easy Anytime Access- In the older days, banking was only limited to the office hours when a bank was actually open. You had to go to a bank for performing any kind of banking activities. Apart from this, making transactions or doing any banking activity on public holidays was not possible. The introduction of mobile banking has done away with all these problems. With a mobile banking app you can perform your banking activities at any time, any day even if the bank is not open. It also doesn’t require you to go to the bank and you can make your transactions from any place using your smartphone.

• No Extra Charges- One of the great things about using mobile banking apps is that it is absolutely free. There are no hidden costs or charges that you need to worry about before getting and using a mobile banking app. You just need to download your bank’s app from the play store and then you can use it.

• Security- It is one of the most secure banking options available in today’s date. Using the app is said to be safer than internet banking. These apps have advanced encryption technologies that protect your data from any malware or outside interference. No data is downloaded or stored in either the phone or the SIM card.

• Varieties of Services- Mobile banking apps provide you with the accessibility to a variety of banking services. It lets you perform transactions, check the transaction history, gives you bill payment alerts, minimum balance alerts, debit or credit alerts and also provides account balance inquiry facility. The number of services you can have access to is also increasing with time as technology advances.

Therefore, having a mobile banking app is really a must in today’s time. You can enjoy lots of benefits and also save time by using these apps. It will provide you with a safe and free alternative to the traditional banking methods and will make your banking experience easier.

Reasons why you need an offshore bank account today

An offshore bank account is an account held by a resident of a country in a foreign land. This means that the account is not in your country of residence but is located in another country, generally having a low tax structure. The concept of having an offshore bank account gained popularity after the 1934 Swiss Banking Act. This act barred the bank employees or the bank authority in general from revealing details of any account holder to any government or agency. This urged the public to look into opening accounts in banks outside their own country to enjoy greater benefits. Following are the reasons why you should consider opening an offshore bank account immediately:

• Political Risk Dilution- One of the biggest threats to your savings can be the policies of your own government. The government may decide to increase bank deposit taxes like in Spain, or introduce capital controls like in Iceland. These measures can be taken up by the government to get more funds if they fail to meet their own financial requirements. Having offshore accounts reduces this risk as you can have savings outside your government jurisdiction.

• Currency Diversification- Offshore accounts can also act as a means to internationalize your savings. This means that you can hold your savings in foreign currencies in this type of accounts. It provides protection to your purchasing power and also diversifies your portfolio risk which is the risk related to each investment.

• High Interest Rates- The interest rates of all the commercial banks in a country are almost the same. There is not much variation among these interest rates. But if you decide to open an offshore bank account then your range of options increases multifold. You can then choose a bank provides you with higher interest rates.

• Secure Medical Care Abroad- Having an offshore account will ensure that you have access to your savings at all times. In case of medical emergencies where you may need to go abroad, it will save you the hassle of having to transfer funds from your home country for payment. You can easily use the savings in your offshore accounts for this purpose.

So, if you have one or more offshore accounts it will certainly prove beneficial for you in the long run. It will provide you benefits like high interest rates, save your savings from high tax rates and would also ensure medical and financial security in any case of emergency.

Do you know these secrets about Mutual Fund Investments?

Mutual funds are investment schemes that are professionally managed by banks or asset management companies. These companies or banks take deposits from the public and invest their money in bonds, shares and other securities. Investment in mutual funds is a great way to earn good returns in the long run. All mutual funds are registered with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) which is the regulatory body for securities market in India. There are many companies and banks that offer lucrative mutual funds investment schemes. However, there are some secrets about mutual fund investments that you must know before you invest your hard earned money in it:

• Truth about top performing funds- A common trend of investing or a common investment strategy followed by mutual funds investors is to invest in best performing funds. They tend to pick out the top bunch of funds looking at the past performance records and invest in those funds only. This is not an efficient strategy as the stock market is ever changing and every company suffers ups and downs. You should not invest in any fund solely on the basis of their previous records.

• Fund management charges- The truth about fund management charges is one fact about mutual fund investments that most investors are not aware of. The very low expense ratio of about one percent is one of the most misleading truths. Investors tend to think of it as one percent of the profit they earn when in reality it is one percent of their profits and their total investment capital. This makes up for a large sum of money that has to be paid as fees for managing mutual funds.

• Disguise of actively managed funds- Aggressive investors prefer to invest in actively managed funds based on their performance. Actively managed funds are costlier than index funds, that is, their fund management fees is a lot more as compared to index funds. However, these funds are nothing but index funds in disguise under fancy names. This leads to investors spending way more in fund management fees in comparison to the returns they get.

• ETFs are better- Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) have more liquidity than mutual funds. They can also be sold at real time rates at the stock exchange, that is, they can be traded at currently existing market prices. On the other hand mutual funds can only be bought or sold at closing NAV prices. This makes ETFs a better investment option than mutual fund investments.

These are some of the major secrets about mutual fund investments that most of the investors are unaware of. If you are well informed regarding the truth of these secrets it will prove to beneficial for you while investing in mutual funds.