What you can still buy at 20,000 ::Business Line

If you are an investor who likes to play it safe, chances are you didn’t make big stock market purchases in December 2011. When the Sensex languished at 15,000-16,000, there was little reason to be optimistic about either the Indian economy or corporate profits.

The story changed, however, after foreign institutional investors (FIIs) decided to make a comeback. A 30 per cent rally in stock prices since then has taken the Sensex back to 20,000 levels. So should you buy stocks at all at these levels? And if so, what should you buy?

Index outlook - Stocks G(AAR)ner momentum ::Business Line

HSBC - A very special relationship - HK-China

HSBC - A very special relationship

Jan 20- Technicals -Reliance Industries, SBI, Tata Steel, Infosys :: Business Line

Why electric cars are not that hot ::Business Line

IRFC tax free bond: Opportunity to lock into high rates

Reap the benefits of systematic investments ::Business Line

When was the last time you wanted to go on a diet? When it comes to implementing a diet or any other plan, many of us often fail. That is why systematic investments make behavioural sense, be it for direct equity, fixed deposits or mutual funds. How?

Systematic investments typically operate on an auto-debit principle. You instruct your brokerage firm, bank or mutual fund company to debit your bank account on a periodic basis, say, monthly. The auto-debit principle is useful because you are unlikely to find time to manage your investments every month. Besides, work pressure from modern-day corporate life is likely to leave you stressed more often than not. When you are stressed, your logical brain is overpowered by your intuitive brain. And intuition may not always be right. Systematic investments eliminate the need to take action when you are stressed.

Retirement homes:Check out before you check in ::Business Line

Increasingly, many senior citizens in India are opting for or aspire to live in retirement homes. A combination of factors is driving this — the joint family system is giving way at a fast rate, life expectancies have improved, and senior citizens’ finances today are better compared with earlier generations. Also, the stigma earlier associated with staying in retirement homes (rather than with family) is gradually reducing.

Many elderly people want to spend their silver years comfortably with less physical and mental stress — with chores such as housekeeping and cooking taken care of. What are the retirement living options available and what factors should you consider before committing to one? We spoke to a few solution providers to get the details.