All about money matters!

We all started listening to the budget speech with a long wish list and zero expectations! However, the middle class was in for a surprise. Of the long speech by FM Nirmala Sitharaman, our attention was caught by the last line,”Up to 12 lakhs no tax.” Let's delve deeper into the devil called details of the statement ‘up to 12 lakhs no tax’. (If you know the details skip to the next segment) This is applicable to the new tax regime only. The slab is not starting from 12 lakhs. Simply put, not everyone gets zero tax till 12 lakhs!  For less than 12 lakhs. Congratulations! While filling the return you'll get a full tax rebate (rebate is like a discount coupon that you can apply when you file your taxes). So zero tax. 12 to 12.75 lakhs: To ensure fairness for those whose income is just above 12 lakhs (up to 12.75 lakhs), a marginal relief is provided. (Marginal relief is like grace marks that is given to students who fail the test with a mere 1 or 2 marks) Rebate is not applicable ...

Kudos to Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman for her record making budget speech! Yesterday, she replaced the record of Mr. Morarji Desai(total 6 budget speeches) as she presented her 7th consecutive budget speech! As an Indian and as a woman, I rejoice when such steep records are broken by an Indian woman! Modi government and FM Nirmala Sitharaman are both known for their 'no-nonsense' approach and it is yet another occasion where they have shown that their allies can be supported without losing political control. The government stuck to its policies of continuous capital expenditure (poised to spend 3.4% of GDP in 2024 on capex, Rs. 11.1 lakh crores) along with fiscal prudence and inflation control. Kudos to the government for their ability to control inflation (under 5%) despite the global inflation scenario while keeping the fiscal deficit at 4.9% of GDP. Yes, all are looking at the 'special capex plans and acts' laid out for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, but given the current p...

Nirmala Sitharaman’s multi-year approach to the Indian budget is like a kid’s approach to solving a 2000-piece puzzle. For the kid, the final goal is clear in his head: the picture when the puzzle is complete. At first, the puzzle looks scattered with its pieces everywhere but with continuous effort in joining piece after piece, the picture becomes clearer and clearer. Likewise, for the past three years, Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget has had a single-pointed focus on inclusive growth. What stands out for me more than the budget is the consistency in approach and the overall theme of the budget year-on-year. This approach is possible only with an ultra-long-term vision for the country and I laud the govt for such clear thinking. Coming to the budget 2023, I enjoyed reading how this govt included a little for everyone including the always neglected middle class! Some of the points that stand out for me in this budget are: For MSMEs, a 1% reduction in the cost of borrowing under the cre...

Every time someone hears that I work in the stock market, their first few questions are invariably the same. If I have to categorize the questions then they either assume I know exactly why the market is going up or down and where it is headed in the future or they assume I am just gambling and wasting my time and trying my luck in a zero-sum game. Although I do not know much about gambling, I can surely tell you what trading is and what trading isn’t based on my 3-year full-time experience in trading. Let’s start with understanding why trading in the stock market is often confused with gambling. Possibility of quick money There are so many stories of genuinely successful traders who have made wealth by trading. And who doesn’t want quick and easy money? But, is trading really like Las Vegas casinos which can make you a millionaire or a pauper in a single day? Probably not, it takes much more time and effort than that; both to make and to lose money. And then there are these cr...

In the year when 5 states go for election, the government announces a very uncommon budget in India. Unlike the usual practice, the country has moved from pleasing the “common man” to creating and implementing a vision for prolonged growth of the economy for the next 25 years. Consider the relationship of a mother and a child. For how many years can a mother spoon-feed her child? For how many years can she keep the child dependent on her? Wouldn’t it be better if she educates the child on how to eat, cook, and finally earn money to sustain himself/herself? Similarly, giving freebies, concessions, subsidies, etc. is like spoon-feeding the economy and its population. They solve important issues but are short term solutions. Whereas putting money in capital expenditure, making structural reforms, promoting ease of doing business, etc. is equivalent to making the economy self-sustaining. The very fact that the government is bold enough to prefer giving a pro-growth budget and not a populis...

Every time an Indian finance minister presents the budget, you will hear murmurs of "mujhe kya mila?" and "humare liye kya hai?" across the sections of the society. Even those getting the biggest pie that year would often feel the allocation is inadequate. Such is the need of a growing economy like ours. At the end of the budget speech, several "gurus" of economics and finance will put on their thinking caps and give their verdict: whether the budget was socialist or capitalistic? i.e. whether it benefits the poor and middle class more or the business class. Today's splendid rally in the market (5% for Nifty) gave its own verdict that in true sense the market makers believe the budget is for the greater good for the revival of Indian Economy and specifically for the Equity markets.  So, what happened in the budget? The words, the tone and most importantly the numbers showed that the government is keen on getting the economy back on track and through th...