Become A Member of Association of Indian RupeeManagers

Are you interested in:
1. Getting unbiased, independent financial advice from a panel of experts
2. Pay no commission or get huge savings in distribution costs of the product.
3. Contribute to the financial well being of the underprivileged fellow Indians

Is it possible to have all three? Sounds interesting? Take a moment to read on.

We invite you to be a member of an Association of Indian RupeeManagers (AIR), an investor group where you get the best financial advice and do not pay any commission. The group will negotiate with Financial Services Company for commission free financial products that will entail huge cost savings for you. You also get to invest in financial products chosen by a panel of financial experts.

The Background: WHY
All financial products come with a distribution cost attached. The distribution cost includes financial advice and the logistics. The logistics include document handling, travelling expenses and office expenses of the advisor.

For example, a term insurance of Rs 10 lacs for a 30 year old, the annual premium for a 20 year term policy from LIC costs Rs 3821/-. However a group term insurance will cost approx. Rs 1500 only! This translates into a saving of approx. Rs 2000+

This group insurance cost will depend on the size as well as the age & income profile of the group. The best part is that depending on the profile of the group, the price quote can be negotiated with an Insurance company.

Other than group insurance, there are group schemes available for retirement planning too. For example a Group Superannuation scheme, a unit linked scheme, charges only 0.5% as premium allocation charges compared to 15-40% in other ULIPs.

Further, as the group grows, it can negotiate with a Fund House/AMC for discounts on the trailing commissions or the expense ratio of the fund that the group decides to invest.

Benefits:
Cost Savings: Being a part of the group saves you a lot of money. As we saw that in a group term insurance, the cost savings are to the tune of around 50-67%. For the superannuation fund, the saving is more than 15% on your investment for the first year. If the group can negotiate a lower expense ratio by 2% in a fund, the saving in terms of costs is over Rs 2 lacs over a 20 year period for a monthly investment of Rs 10000/-

Informed Advice: The investor group will be mentored by a panel of informed and independent financial experts. The panel of financial experts will decide on the financial products that the group will put their money on. Therefore, the group will be benefited with independent as well as expert advice.

Workshops: The members will get the benefit of the Financial Health Check & Planning workshops on a discounted price.

It’s Not For Everyone: Eligibility:
Membership to the group is open to earning individuals and those who are in the age group of 25 to 35. All members have to agree to set up an automatic ECS for their investments. This ensures convenience for both the members as well as the administration of the group.
The eligibility criteria can be reviewed from time to time by the trustees of the foundation.

Caution:
It is important that the membership is closely monitored so as to not let in rogue elements. A few rotten apples can make the entire basket rotten. So we have to be cautious not to let in members who may want to make false claims.

How to become a member:
If you want to become a member of the AIR (Association of Indian RupeeManagers) Group under the aegis of Financial Literacy Foundation (FLF), take the following steps:

1. Download the Application Form

2. Send the completed form to FLF along with a deposit of Rs 1000/- only. This deposit will be considered a donation if there is no claim for refunds. This deposit is to indicate your commitment to the group and will help the FLF defray costs of administering the group. The cheque is to be issued favouring “Financial Literacy Foundation” and to be sent to Financial Literacy Foundation, 10-B, Mahagun Mansion, Vaibhav Khand, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad – 201010.

You may also deposit the amount in cash/cheque to the Foundation’s Current Account No. 60046469290, Bank of Maharashtra, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad.

Most Important:
The bigger the group, the bigger will be the benefits. We request you to spread the word and ask your friends to become a part of the group.

TimeLines:
The last date for filling up the membership form is 31st July, 2010.

We are in talks with various financial service providers and the first product that we buy together will be before 30th September, 2010.

So, join in and spread the word!

Coming Soon! RupeeCamp "Financial Planning Workshop". "Join us"

Welcome back! Join me on this journey to improving our financial IQ and sharing what we know. Updates at RSS feed or Email. And spread the word please Thank You!

Buying In Bulk Gets You Bargains

That’s common sense. Every urban or rural housewife knows that buying in bulk saves you money.

But the problem is that it is not very convenient to buy a truck load of biscuits! Buying in bulk always may not save money. Usually our tendency is to dump random items even if we do not require them. That’s what Ashutosh, a Supply Chain Consultant warns.

I connected to Ashutosh Tewari, (Blog)who works as a Supply Chain Consultant in Mumbai, and is into Procurement Consulting. I have his permission to make our interesting discussion public. Here it goes.

me: hey, Ashutosh. a SCM question.
9:52 PM
What’s the distribution cost of a FMCG product
me: And how much a customer can save by bulk buying?
9:53 PM
ashtew: Distribution Cost will involve transportation & logistics

me: from the Big Bazaar, for example. Or from the factory itself.

ashtew: which in FMCG cos. is usually 3 phased.
Most FMCG cos. in india have outsourced the production to 3rd party.

ashtew: so its from manufacturer to company warehouse to distribution centre to retailer
9:55 PM
me: so what if i buy from the manufacturer? how much I save? as a thumb rule.
ashtew: there u need volumes… are u ready to buy a truckload of biscuits :P
9:56 PM
me: let’s say I bring 1000 people who want biscuits! :)
9:57 PM
ashtew: usually the manufacturer to MRP margin will be around 20-25% max
if u can bring a 1000 ppl then u can directly get in touch with the vendor and order from him :D
ashtew: buying in bulk always may not save money… usually our tendency is to dump random items even if we do not require them…
like my mom once purchased a one liter bottle of dettol because it was on 20% discount
10:03 PM
me: my proposition is that you can save 60% in a group insurance scheme!!
10:04 PM
ashtew: thats interesting
which insurance product are u talking of ?
10:05 PM
me: group term insurance
10:07 PM
ashtew: but thats only at an organization level. right?
10:08 PM
me: no, any association can do that. I am thinking of doing it under an association.
10:10 PM
ashtew: thats interesting. never knew something like this can be done.
me: Thanks Ashutosh. Wait for an announcement shortly. :)

You may not be aware if something similar could be done for financial products. However, there will be different set of issues to ponder when it comes to financial products. We are addressing that right now.

Would you be interested in buying financial products in a bulk and save huge distribution costs? Stay tuned for an announcement shortly.

Coming Soon: A Simple Solution To Money Problems!

Question: What do you do when there’s an emergency or a problem?

Answer: I panic. Blame it on others. Get drunk and pray to God that the problem gets over!

I read that sometime ago and the only thing I remember that it was Rahul Bose that gave that answer. My respect for him increases immensely, though I have yet to see any one of his movies. (I don’t have the link and am reproducing it from memory. The exact words may be different, but you get the drift, no?)

Reading that was refreshing. Especially when all the time when we read “How to” articles and books we are told such do’s and don’t like this:

Count from 1 to 100 when you are angry. Or take a deep breath. Any one of you who has taken a deep long breadth when you’re angry wins a free subscription to my blog for life! And I can get you many more such free offers!! :)

But I digress. Well, bear with me for another para till I come to the point.

I can talk endlessly about how our financial behaviour affects our money decisions. I can talk about the products that I like and don’t like. And then you go to an article in a leading daily or another blog which has a different view. And you get confused.

Doing nothing about your money is also a decision. But one that you may rue later. (Example, me!).

Coming to the point of the post, there’s something which is very simple to execute and can solve all you money problems. I wonder why I did not think of it earlier! It’s a solution that makes 1 + 1 = 1111.

But the announcement will have to wait till I tie all the loose ends. This will take a week.

Till then, all of you can continue to panic, blame others and/or pray to God that your problems are over!

Stay tuned for an announcement “Coming Next Week” that will take care of your money problems. (not the other problems, please)