Non-marketable Financial Assets -
A good portion of financial assets is represented by non-marketable financial assets.
These can be classified into the following broad categories:
• Bank deposits
• Post office deposits
• Company deposits
• Provident fund deposits
Equity Shares - Equity shares represent ownership capital. As an equity shareholder, you have an ownership stake in the company. This essentially means that you have a residual interest in income and wealth. Perhaps, the most romantic among various investment avenues, equity shares are classified into the following broad categories by stock market analysts:
• Blue chip shares
• Growth shares
• Income shares
• Cyclical shares
• Speculative shares
Bonds - Bonds or debentures represent long-term debt instruments. The issuer of a bond promises to pay a stipulated steam of cash flow.
Bonds may be classified into the following categories:
• Government securities
• Government of India relief bonds
• Government agency securities
• PSU bonds
• Debentures of private sector companies
• Preference shares
Money Market Instruments - Debt instruments which have a maturity of less than one year at the time of issue are called money market instruments. The important money market instruments are:
• Treasury bills
• Commercial paper
• Certificates of deposits
Mutual Funds - Instead of directly buying equity shares and/or fixed income instruments, you can participate in various schemes floated by mutual funds which, in turn, invest in equity shares and fixed income securities.
There are three broad types of mutual fund schemes:
• Equity schemes
• Debt schemes
• Balanced schemes
Life Insurance - In a broad sense, life insurance may be viewed as an investment. Insurance premiums represent the sacrifice and the assured sum the benefit.
The important types of insurance policies in India are:
• Endowment assurance policy
• Money back policy
• Whole life policy
• Term assurance policy
Real Estate - For the bulk of the investors the most important asset in their portfolio is a residential house. In addition to a residential house, the more affluent investors are likely to be interested in the following types of real estate:
• Agricultural land
• Semi-urban land
• Time share in a holiday resort
Precious Objects - Precious objects are items that are generally small in size but highly valuable in monetary terms. Some important precious objects are:
• Gold and silver
• Precious stones
• Art objects
Financial Derivatives - A financial derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from the value of an underlying asset. It may be viewed as a side bet on the asset. The most important financial derivatives from the point of view of investors are:
• Options
• Futures
Since every individual would like to earn return on their investment but where to invest has always been a problem. There has always been a confusion as to which instrument to invest, which instrument will give me higher returns, etc. Even now nuclear families are in and so are longer life spans. Even inflation is increasing and so do the standard of life, medical costs, and other things.
In such a scenario, one need to think as to how he will take care of all his future needs and build up a corpus that will not only take care of routine expenses but also provide for extra costs, especially of health care. One need to have a corpus of funds, post-retirement, which will give him close to 100% of the salary to preserve the lifestyle he has grown to enjoy.
A good portion of financial assets is represented by non-marketable financial assets.
These can be classified into the following broad categories:
• Bank deposits
• Post office deposits
• Company deposits
• Provident fund deposits
Equity Shares - Equity shares represent ownership capital. As an equity shareholder, you have an ownership stake in the company. This essentially means that you have a residual interest in income and wealth. Perhaps, the most romantic among various investment avenues, equity shares are classified into the following broad categories by stock market analysts:
• Blue chip shares
• Growth shares
• Income shares
• Cyclical shares
• Speculative shares
Bonds - Bonds or debentures represent long-term debt instruments. The issuer of a bond promises to pay a stipulated steam of cash flow.
Bonds may be classified into the following categories:
• Government securities
• Government of India relief bonds
• Government agency securities
• PSU bonds
• Debentures of private sector companies
• Preference shares
Money Market Instruments - Debt instruments which have a maturity of less than one year at the time of issue are called money market instruments. The important money market instruments are:
• Treasury bills
• Commercial paper
• Certificates of deposits
Mutual Funds - Instead of directly buying equity shares and/or fixed income instruments, you can participate in various schemes floated by mutual funds which, in turn, invest in equity shares and fixed income securities.
There are three broad types of mutual fund schemes:
• Equity schemes
• Debt schemes
• Balanced schemes
Life Insurance - In a broad sense, life insurance may be viewed as an investment. Insurance premiums represent the sacrifice and the assured sum the benefit.
The important types of insurance policies in India are:
• Endowment assurance policy
• Money back policy
• Whole life policy
• Term assurance policy
Real Estate - For the bulk of the investors the most important asset in their portfolio is a residential house. In addition to a residential house, the more affluent investors are likely to be interested in the following types of real estate:
• Agricultural land
• Semi-urban land
• Time share in a holiday resort
Precious Objects - Precious objects are items that are generally small in size but highly valuable in monetary terms. Some important precious objects are:
• Gold and silver
• Precious stones
• Art objects
Financial Derivatives - A financial derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from the value of an underlying asset. It may be viewed as a side bet on the asset. The most important financial derivatives from the point of view of investors are:
• Options
• Futures
Since every individual would like to earn return on their investment but where to invest has always been a problem. There has always been a confusion as to which instrument to invest, which instrument will give me higher returns, etc. Even now nuclear families are in and so are longer life spans. Even inflation is increasing and so do the standard of life, medical costs, and other things.
In such a scenario, one need to think as to how he will take care of all his future needs and build up a corpus that will not only take care of routine expenses but also provide for extra costs, especially of health care. One need to have a corpus of funds, post-retirement, which will give him close to 100% of the salary to preserve the lifestyle he has grown to enjoy.