This is the time of the year when you would be gathering your medical bills for supporting medical allowances, petrol bills for transport allowance, boarding passes for claiming LTA, insurance receipts, donation receipts, etc. This is also the time when many of us would be investing in various tax saving products to avail maximum tax exemption.

Equity Linked Saving Schemes have proved their mettle over the years. It is the most preferred option for many investors when in comes to saving taxes because of a number of factors like high returns, highest liquidity among all tax saving instruments under section 80C of the Income Tax Act, easy application and withdrawal, etc. If we look at the performance numbers alone, the average return generated by ELSS schemes over the past three years, five years and fifteen years is 18.34%, 17.36% and 20.27% respectively. (Average of 31 ELSS Mutual Fund Schemes. Data as of 31^st Dec 2016). These numbers are greater than any other tax saving instrument in India.

For many people, investing in saving tax instruments is their only investment in the year. And investors often tend to replay their investments. Replaying investments means redeeming your tax saving investments on maturity and reinvesting the same amount for your current tax saving investment requirement. ELSS schemes as we know are good performers in terms of returns and are the best investment option if we consider liquidity. Investors are often tempted by the small lock in period of three years and they invest with the intention to 'Replay their Investment'.

The idea behind tax saving is investing for your future, investing for fulfilling goals and not just saving immediate taxes. And ELSS schemes are also based on the same notion. The lower lock in of ELSS is intended to give you the flexibility of withdrawal in case of emergencies. Your present survival is more important than your future wealth. So if after five years, you are in dire need of money and your tax savers are of no use, because of long lock ins, the entire purpose of saving gets defeated. But then it doesn't mean that you withdraw your investment after exact 3 years even if it is not an emergency.

Why should you not recycle your ELSS investment?

Consider an example, Karan Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor are brothers and both of them are living and working in Mumbai. The Kapoor brothers invested Rs 1 Lac each in ELSS schemes in the year 2014, Rs 1 lac in 2015 and another lac in 2016. Now they have to invest for 2017. Karan decides to keep his existing investments intact and he makes a fresh investment of Rs 1 lac for this year and for the years to come. While his brother Arjun feels that it is better to redeem his 2014 ELSS, since it will now mature and he can direct the same money into his 2017 tax saving commitment, and the subsequent years will follow.

Who is on the right track?

Let's analyse which brother has the right approach:

1. Karan will be saving and investing fresh 1 Lac or even more each year. Therefore he is accumulating a greater corpus for his future and will be in a much better position than Arjun in meeting his various life goals and emergencies. Arjun on the other hand is eventually not saving anything after three years. His investment is just Rs 3 Lacs, and this a tiny sum for his entire future.

2. ELSS schemes are market linked. They are managed like any other equity scheme and are hence ideal long term investment products. Karan's investment may fall or rise, he has no plans to withdraw. Arjun on the other hand will withdraw every year, the markets may or may not be in his favour. Hence there are greater chances of losing out on returns and even on the principal.

3. Karan will reap the benefits of long term equity growth, while Arjun will end up Replaying his Investment only.

4. Since Karan is committed to investing regularly, he is eventually saving extra, he has a more disciplined approach to investing. Arjun on the other hand is not saving after three years will be spending all his savings and compromising on a safe financial future. This is disrupting his saving discipline and long term financial security and goals.

The above factors clears that Karan Kapoor is following the right approach. It shows us why we should be smart like Karan, and not Recycle our ELSS investment. Rather invest with the objective of holding it for the long term. Do not redeem until you are in an emergency or a financial goal is approaching. You must remember it is not a mere tax saving instrument, but an investment for fulfilling your life goals.

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We’re all busy in this fast paced life. Often we have many things that we need to do on priority and still many things that we wish to do but can't find time.The list of works to do fills up faster than we can actually tick off. What we all want is more time... Well we all can certainly do and achieve a lot more if we can make the most of that extra time we all have-the weekends!
This article explores the things to do on your weekends that would surely enrich your lives and help you be more successful and happy. But, before we actually start firing the 6 ideas, let us first appreciate the reasons that make weekends important in our lives...

Why weekends should be taken seriously?

Our mind & body are wonder machines that keeps on going with the minimal of fuss. However, just like any modern computing device, both the software & hardware, i.e, mind & body, needs to reboot once in a while. The weekends are an opportunity to unwind & reboot and for that, they must be different from your usual weekdays having the necessary doses of energy, fun, creativity, emotions, rest and peace.
In numerical terms, those having Sunday day off would have 52 weekends in year 2014. For those having two days off a week would have 104 weekends! Just imagine that endless possibilities that one can exploit on one hand and the amount of time that would be wasted wasted the other hand.
Many successful people from different fields strongly believe that the weekends are a secret weapon to their professional /business success. To hit that Monday morning hard with full energy and enthusiasm, you just have to rejuvenate yourself in the weekend. Any lack of this and you will probably drain and exhaust yourself before the week ends.

Be with family, friends

Weekends are a great time to make up relationships stronger and bond with people. Afterall, strong relationships and the emotional comfort is very essential to being happy and successful in life. The recommended activities need to be simple and without any distractions. Most successful people prefer to quitely spend some quality time with their kids and family and to do simple activities like go to parks, play games, long drives, have food together, catch up on children lives, etc. Once in a while though, we can also experiment. For those who wish to try, there are many ideas like having family photo sessions, learning a new skill from a friend/professional like yoga, dancing, medicine, painting, photography, reciting your favourite poems, sharing family stories, listening to music, group singing or a friendly debate, visit to old age homes /orphanage, and so on. The choices can be endless to match everyone's comfort and interests. Irrespective of any activity you choose, you can create rituals & traditions that enrich your lives and which later become priceless memories.

Rejuvenate mind & body

The weekends present a great opportunity to unwind in a healthy way by working the body and the mind. What people should aim at is to have a flow of positive energy through the mind and body. To begin with, one should be careful in not wasting the weekend mornings. Early morning risers can be amazed at the amount of time they have at their disposal. The time should be reserved for some sort of physical activity or sport like extended walks, jogging, biking, yoga, badminton games, and so on. One can also take time to meditate, listen to soft music or later pursue your interests like photography, painting, etc. during the day. A short afternoon nap tucked in between the day will also help you rejuvenate you a lot. Note that late night parties, saturday night bars, sleeping or watching television all day long don't qualify to be on the list. Very often, you will feel drained, dizzy or mentally exhausted at the end of it.

Finish Off Your Chores

Scheduling your chores, works on the weekend can help you stay in control of the things that need to be done. One of the most critical chores that one should do every weekend is revisiting your finances. Among the things that one can do over a weekend are

1. Work on weekly /monthly budgets or at least keeping a check on the week's expenses
2. Planning for the expenses /income for the next week /rest of the month.
3. Recording of your important documents like bills, vouchers, etc.
4. Checking upon your investments /portfolio

Among the other things that can be done includes paying bills, household chores, groceries, medical checkups, fixing & maintenance works, and so on. What is is important is that we allocate a proper time window to do these chores and to be motivated enough on the weekend to do it. Afterall, discipline, is one differentiating attribute between those living organised lives and those living otherwise.

Getting New Ideas

There is no formula to get great ideas apart from keep on trying. Normal working days do not allow us to think creatively and out of box. The weekends, with moments relaxed mind & leisure of time, one can easily get the creative juices flowing and think of innovative ideas and solutions on any subject. The ideation can on business & professional challenges, new ventures, concepts, and so on. You can keep a personal notebook of the ideas with you and write down all the constructive thoughts that cross your mind. You never know... most small Sunday ideas can be realised very easily while some Sunday ideas can even change lives!

Planning

Weekends also present great opportunity to do all sorts of 'planning' and fill those blank pages of your diary. It can be about goals, targets & things that you will do within the next week to the long and even very long term. Among the short term things that you can definitely plan are the household chores, family matters, work issues, finances, travel plans and so on. For professionals, executives, planning for the
next week's agenda is also something that can be done every week so that you are ready with the execution plan when you are in office on Monday morning.

Self Introspection

Self introspection is the most powerful medium to change yourself for good. On weekends, one can easily free the mind, be alone and spend some moments to introspect. Introspection is very crucial in our lives at all times. In Hinduism, Swami Chinmayananda emphasised the role of introspection in five stages, outlined in his book "Self Unfoldment"; and the Jains have the practise of 'pratikraman' to be followed. In this personal thing you would be one with your own conscious thoughts and feelings. The introspection can be on many things like – your decisions, actions, reactions, the situations that you handled and how you would do it again. Things like – building a stronger self personality in mind, looking at the way you are and who you want to be. These thoughts are sure to open new horizons and realisations for you and become a better person more than anything else...

Conclusion:

In present times, things are very fast paced and our usual weekdays have evolved a lot. There are higher expectations and greater competition for all of us today. Time has come that we define and plan for time to enjoy our lives and also work towards making it better. The weekends can be a gateway to enrich your lives with better relationships, health, skills and an overall rejuvenated yourself. If you are aiming to be successful and / or happy, we need to do most of the 6 things in this piece on weekends. It is time to realise the importance of weekends and capitalise on them rather than allow them to just pass away.

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Men and women have been created as equals and have equal rights. Unfortunately, for most of us, the financial and social status of women in India comes second to men. The women around us - be it daughters, sisters, mothers or our better halves, have a special place in our hearts and our lives. But many of them are likely to "not" be financially sound, literate or independent.

In today's world, where society is undergoing a big change, women continue to be most prone to financial crisis and are financially most vulnerable. We believe that it is very essential for women to be financially literate and independent, for many reasons like...

• The average life of a woman is more than the average life of a man.
• There is a growing number of single women. This may occur anytime due to career choices, divorce or death / disability of husbands.
• In absence of earning male members, females often carry the burden of the family.

The work life of women is less than men because of various reasons like raising a child, family problems, health issues, etc. Generally women also receive less pay than men.

• Women are more likely to come under pressure /influence of others in financial and inheritance matters.
• Financially literate and independent women can be of great support and financial help to their families, especially husbands. Women have been known to be smart savers and money managers at home.

One needs to look at the numerous examples before judging women as not being smart enough to handle financial matters. A financially independent woman can today support herself and her family with income. Such a person would have good control over finances and would attempt to shape the financial future for the betterment of all.

Most women are totally dependent on their husbands and families, not only for their day to day expenses but also for their financial future. Women generally don't have any clue about their family finances and are left totally dumbfounded in case of an emergency. Irrespective of how much money is the father or husband making, you are never fully financially independent without your own money. Being economically independent will boost your confidence, taking decisions for yourself, will increase your risk taking ability. You can satisfy your whims with your own money and might be the bread earner for your family in times of need.

Women generally have a different work life than men. Some are freelancing or working part-time or the hours of work are lesser or are more prone to taking leaves and sabbaticals. All these head to small savings for women. Clary Boothe Luce said "A women's best protection is a little money of her own". However, if not properly managed and directed into the right investment channels, these hard earned small savings will be futile.

What to do?
Proper savings and investments can help you become financially independent over time, even if you are not earning. The following are the steps that one should take...

Learn about money: Never feel shy or hesitant to learn more about money - savings, investments, investment products, mutual funds, etc. In case your family is not supportive, you can always reason with them. It is better to know about the financial holdings /assets /insurance policies and bank/demat accounts in your family to be ready for any emergency.

Be Active: The idea is to get more engaged in financial matters of your family, with the support of your spouse. Open your own bank account or have a joint account with your husband. You can also have your own credit card / debit cards for managing your regular expenses. Also start a demat & trading account with which you can make your investments.

Get Covered: Most often we find that the women, not having financial earnings are neglected when it comes to insurance coverages. This is a wrong perspective to adopt as every girl /woman has to be adequately covered with insurance.

Start Saving: The first step is to start saving and then investing those savings. The easiest way to save for long term wealth creation is by starting an equity mutual fund SIP. You can start with a very small amount, say R500 every month. Invest small savings in mutual funds through SIP and see your savings grow. You can also increase the amount of the SIP with the increase in your savings / income. Plan for your goals: You may have many short-term or long-term financial goals. Try to invest for your goals through mutual funds which offer different types of funds which will easily match your investment objectives and horizon. The investment horizon can range from few days to double digit years.

Old Age: A regular inflow of funds or a huge corpus is necessary for your maintenance in your old age. Just imagine being at the mercy of your son /daughter-in-law in future in absence of your husband. We don't even want to imagine that! No matter how much you love your family and children, you should not leave to fate what you can prepare for your tomorrow by investing smartly.

Emergencies: As the pillar of your family, women are likely to find themselves in emergency situations like accident, ill-health, loss of income, etc. of their husband or other family members. Having some money saved for emergency can prove to be be immensely helpful and you would not be forced to beg for money from others. Keep aside some liquid investments for emergencies only.

Conclusion:
Every person has an equal right to dignity, respect, freedom to pursue own dreams and independence, including financial independence. Financial independence and empowerment of women can not only bring great benefits to a family but also to the entire community and country at large. Let us work towards ensuring this, beginning first at home.