Quotes are thoughts of famous men and women, put together in a unique and catchy sentences.

They are more like our modern tweets, communicating a remarkable thought, idea or experience in few words.

The following are some of my favorite Christmas Quotes;

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ”
― Norman Vincent Peale

 “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.”
― Calvin Coolidge

“Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart…filled it, too, with melody that would last forever.”
― Bess Streeter Aldrich, Song of Years

“Peace on earth will come to stay, When we live Christmas every day.”
― Helen Steiner Rice

“Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.”
― G.K. Chesterton

“I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness and peace to this world.”
― Norman Vincent Peale

“Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall”
― Larry Wilde

“Remember, if Christmas isn’t found in your heart, you won’t find it under a tree.”
― Charlotte Carpenter

“Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year – and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority. ”
― W.J. Cameron

“Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values.”
― Thomas S. Monson

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
― Charles Dickens

What about you, do you have some favorite Christmas Quotes, If yes do share them as comments below, and feel free to share the quotes you like from this post.

The post My Favorite Christmas Quotes… appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

It is always easier said than done, investment like all other human endeavors is driven by emotions. Effective management of emotions is not everybody’s game, hence only a very few individuals end up making money when investing.

The following chart comprehensively sums up the emotions or the sentiments an investor goes through a market cycle;

A prudent investor over a period of time learns to shun these emotions, and stick to the basics of investment, to make his money work for him harder and longer.

A prudent investor does not follow the herd mentality, he does not panic when the markets are going south, nor is he euphoric when the markets peak.

He usually has a set plan, a long term perspective and follows the plan, while making small corrections according to the market conditions.

Investment is very similar to Cricket test; where a batsman not only has to have the right technique, he also has to have the patience and the temperament to handle the pressure.

Likewise, an investor has to learn to keep his calm, stick to his plan, and not be fazed by what is happening around him; just like they say….

What about you?

Have you invested in stocks?

Do you experience similar sentiments while investing?

What is your usual response to a stock market crash?

Do you Panic? or are you unperturbed? I’d like to hear from you…

Leave a comment in the space below and don’t forget to share this article with your network…

The post Financial Quote a Day – Buy and Hold appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

I have lived a few hundred lives, thanks to the books I have read. All I am today in mind, body and soul is a reflection of the books I have read, and people I have met in my life.

While I may not have a certain choice on who, when and how will touch my life, I certainly do have a choice as to which book, I should allow to touch my soul and shape my thoughts…

The following are 4 books, which have inspired me to confidently seek the wealth, peruse financial independence to attain peace(Financial Nirvana)

Book 1 : Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

It is said to be the “Grand Daddy of all success books”. This book was written by Napoleon Hill in 1937, at the request of Andrew Carnegie – A business magnate, steel tycoon, and philanthropist, who if lived today would have been richer than Bill Gates and Carlos Slim put together…

In this book Napoleon Hill talks about the 13 tried and tested principles to riches. I have read this book multiple times and have applied these principles in my life.

I’ am happy to say that application of these principles has contributed immensely to the increase in my personal income and wealth.

A Free copy of the Ebook can be downloaded by clicking this link.

I also use an Iphone application, which helps me apply few important principles suggested in this book. The iphone app is available on itunes. The cost of the iphone app is $4.99

A similar application is also available for Android Phones.  The cost of the Android app is AED 6.54

The audio version of this book is available on Amazon.

This principles suggested in this book are really powerful, if applied with dedication and discipline, they will certainly  lead one to riches he desires.

Book 2 : The Richest Man in Babylon

I  was introduced this book only this year, and I have read this book more than 3 times, because of the simplicity of the ideas discussed in this book.

We currently live in a world which expects complex solutions to simple challenges in life, and more often than not we tend to ignore ideas which seem very simple.

This book was written by  George Samuel Clason, who has managed to express the complex lessons of money via interesting parables of ancient Babylon. This book was compiled from a series of individual parables in 1926.

The ancient stories are interesting, inquisitive and enlightening. The highlights of the book are

1. The Seven Cures for a Lean Purse

2. The Five Laws of Gold

3. The Gold Lender of Babylon

1. The Walls of Babylon

5. The Camel Trader of Babylon

6. The Clay Tablets From Babylon

The Seven Cures for a Lean Purse are my favorite in this book, and I highly recommend everybody read this book as early as possible in their life….

A free PDF version of this book can be downloaded by clinking this link.

The audio version of this book can also be found on Youtube; I have embedded the audiobook for your convenience to this post;

Book 3 – Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

While the above listed books are set on an ancient stage, Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover is sleek and modern approach towards money.

Dave Ramsey is an American author and motivational speaker, famous for his Radio Program The Dave Ramsey Show, featuring on over 500 stations globally.

In this Book Dave Ramsey presents to us the ” The Seven Baby Steps” towards Financial Peace. As the heading suggests the ideas are simple but very effective in managing money, debt, investment and wealth.

Click the following links for respective formats of this book;

• Kindle : 
• Audible :

Book 4 : Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki 

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a book teaching the lessons of money from two different but interesting perspectives; One of a poor dad who believed that  “The love of money is the root of all evil.” and the rich dad who believed  “The lack of money is the root of all evil.”

The author starts the first chapter stating “One of the reasons the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the
middle class struggles in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school.”

He strongly believes that financial education should be provided to all when in school, so that they can master ot when they graduate and are ready to face the realities of life..

For me this is a most read for every person seeking financial independence and peace…

Various formats of this book can be bought on Amazon.com by clicking the following link;

http://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Teach-Middle/dp/1612680011

I have shared my list, and I am quite sure that these books will certainly keep inspiring me to seek wealth and pursue financial independence..

What about you?

Have you read these books? Did you find them inspiring? What are your favorite books on money inspiration?

Let me know what you think be leaving a comment below…

The post 4 books that have inspired me to seek wealth and persue financial independence. appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Zurich Futura Life Insurance is widely used in UAE both by expats and UAE nationals, thanks to the well respected brand name of Zurich International Life Ltd, and the whole of life coverage this plan offers.

While there are many benefits offered by Zurich Futura, I as a Financial Adviser and end user chose Zurich Futura to protect me and my family for the following reasons;

1. International Whole of Life Cover

Zurich Futura Life Insurance offers an International – Whole of Life Cover, which means that I will be covered till age 95, even if I move out UAE back to India or to any other country.

2. Offshore and Isle of Man Advantage

In UAE on death of an individual all his assets including bank accounts and gratuity are frozen until all his liabilities are paid and the balance if any is distributed according to Sharia law of Inheritance in the absence of a will.

If an individual has a Zurich Futura Life Insurance on his death, it  directly pays out the claim proceeds as nominated by the insured to his beneficiaries.

The Isle of Man base of Zurich Futura offers the following benefits;

Financial and political stability – the Isle of Man has one of the longest standing continuous parliaments in the world, and the island has enjoyed the stability of its own government for more than 1,000 years.

Robust insurance and policyholder protection legislation – the island is world renowned thriving financial centre with stringent legislation, which includes:

1. The Isle of Man Insurance Act 2008 ensures that senior management and controlling parties of insurance businesses are fit and proper, and that the companies are financially sound.
2. The Isle of Man’s Life Assurance (Compensation of Policyholders) Regulations 1991 ensure that, in the event of an Isle of Man authorised life assurance company being unable to meet its liabilities to its policy owners, the Policyholders’ Compensation Fund would pay policy owners a sum equal to 90% of the amount of any liability of the insurer under the contract. The Island’s scheme operates globally, providing protection to policy owners no matter where they reside and would be funded by a levy on the funds of the other Isle of Man authorised life assurance companies.

3. Provides Critical Illness cover up to age 95

This was one of the main reasons I chose Zurich Futura and I would have availed it, even if the plan offered only this benefit.

It covers 36 critical illnesses, which means that If I happen to be diagnosed with one of the 36 critical illnesses any time till age 95, I will be paid an agreed cover amount which I could at my discretion.

Critical illness coverage will ensure that I am financially independent, even when I am critically ill, and I do not have to worry about hospital bills, my mortgage in India, the rent cheque and all other bills which I will have to pay.

4. Flexible Premium Payment Terms

Although Futura covers me up to age 95, it provides the flexibility to choose a premium payment term from 7 – 50 years. I chose a 15 years premium payment term to suit my budget.

5. Premium  Holiday Facility

We all go through a difficult financial patch at least once in our lives, in spite of which we would not want to stop our insurance premiums, but what if we are unable to pay our insurance during that difficult patch?

Zurich Futura offers a premium holiday after up to 2 years after 3 years of premium payment, during which the life cover and all other benefits chosen are still available.

In addition to the above mentioned benefits, Zurich Futura Life Insurance offers many other benefits like;

• Partial and Full Cash Surrender
• Access to leading international funds
• 24/7 Online access to policy details
• Family Income Benefit
• Dismemberment Benefit
• Accidental Death Benefit
• Free Aeroplane Cover
• Permanent and Total Disability Benefit

What about you, do you have Life or Earlier Critical Illness Insurance? if not what are you waiting for?

Contact me now to arrange a free consultation and unbiased advice on the best life or earlier critical illness insurance to protect you and your family from loss of income due to Death, Disability and Critical Illness.

If you like this post please share it with your friends or colleagues, who you think will find this information useful and please do not forget to give a 5 star rating below…

The post Top 5 Reasons Why I Use Zurich Futura Life Insurance… appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

A friend of mine shared this video on What’sup yesterday and I thought that it should be shared on my blog as well.

If you are a smoker, I want you to remember this video every time you light up, and bear in mind that Smoking will kill sooner than later.

Dr Shuker Fares, a thoracic surgeon and Pulmonologist at Al Noor Hospital, says that “People who now smoke should know that, in the end, it will end by either chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or chronic lung disease or cancer”.

Find below some alarming statistics on Smoking in UAE

• 20 per cent of university students are smokers
• 9 per cent of schoolchildren are smokers
• 50 per cent of those who suffer heart attacks are smokers
• Every eight seconds somebody dies from smoking
• Medwakh and shisha are the most popular forms of smoking among Emiratis, and cigarettes and shisha favored by expatriates
• A quarter of all smokers in the UAE had their first cigarette before the age of 10

How to quit Smoking?

Quitting smoking can be a challenge, but is certainly possible.

I know many people who have successfully quit smoking, including myself. Yes I used to be a smoker too.

Another colleague of mine, who used to smoke for more than 15 years, has quit smoking since 1st January 2014 and has not touched a cigarette since then…

All you need is a strong intent to quit and a little encouragement from friends and family..

Here are some tips to help you quit smoking:

• Set a specific target date for quitting, best options would be your mother’s birthday, your spouse’s birthday or your children’s birthday, etc…
• Promise to your loved one that you will quit smoking, share it on Facebook, twitter and on all social networks you have a following.
• There are many smart phone applications for IOS, Android and Windows smartphones, download the one you find most useful to help you remember and motivate you to quit smoking
• Avoid the company of friends with whom you smoke regularly, and also get rid of all smoking related equipment such as lighters and ashtray from your home and office
• Request or demand support from your family and friends by not smoking around you or in your home or office
• Drink a lot of water and other fluids
• Join a Gym or a group of friends who engage in regular exercise or Yoga
• Celebrate the milestones of weeks and months, you cross without smoking
• Share your success and encourage your friends and colleagues to quit smoking

Quit Smoking and Live a Long and Healthy life….

The post Every time you light up… appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

 Hemaya Plus is a Term Plan with unique riders.

Hemaya Plus provides Comprehensive and Affordable Family Takaful Coverage with Unique Riders.

It is offered to residents of UAE on single or Joint Life basis, by Salama – Islamic Arab Insurance company.

Salama is well known as world’s largest Takaful and Re-Takaful company; established in many countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Senegal, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria and Malaysia.

In UAE Salama offers Family Takaful Plans, Investment Plans for Retirement and Education savings and other general protection plans.

What is Hemaya Plus?

Hemaya Plus is a Family Takaful Term Plan. It is much similar to a conventional term insurance, but built on strict Sharia principles and approved by Sharia boards in respective countries it operates.

It is designed to pay out;

• An agreed Family Takaful Benefit in the event of death or diagnosis of a terminal illness of the covered member during the term of the plan.

• Additional benefits chosen by the covered member on the occurrence of the such event for which the benefit was chosen.

How does the Plan work?

Hemaya Plus is a simple and straight forward fixed term Takaful Plan, providing life takaful and other rider benefits, during the term of the plan.

Once the term is complete there is no further cover, and there is no maturity value or cash surrender value.

What are the minimum and maximum terms of cover?

• Minimum age at the start of the plan must be 18 years
• Maximum age at the start of the plan cannot be later than 74 years
• Maximum age at expiry cannot be more than 100

The post Hemaya Plus – Takaful Plan from Salama appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Are you ready as a parent to support your child’s dream?

We teach our children to talk, walk, run, play and everything we can.

We encourage them to dream, aspire pursue and achieve..

As they grow they dream about many things big and small, but quality education of their own choice is one of their biggest and most important dreams.

Having encouraged them to dream big and aim higher, it our duty to provide them the required financial support to help them pursue their higher education aspirations.

The question now is that as parents are we financially ready to support our child’s dreams?

Children dream about many things big and small, but quality education of their own choice is one of their biggest and most important dreams.

Nexus Education Planning Seminar is an endeavour to help parents in Dubai in preparing to support their children’s higher education dreams.

It is an informative session aiming to provide insights on;

• The importance of choosing the right degree and university
• Country wise analysis of opportunities and fees
• Impact of inflation and currency risks
• How to prepare financially to support rising education costs?
• Role of Nexus Insurance Brokers LLC

This seminar will be conducted by Mrs. Shyamala Elango, an accredited Education Counsellor, with more than 25 years of experience in helping parents and students in identifying and securing the best education opportunities across the world.

Parents who attended this seminar in the past found this to be very useful and most have already started preparing preparing to support their children’s higher education dreams.

What about you are you interested to attend this seminar, if yes please register to confirm your attendance.

Also encourage your friends and colleagues to attend this informative seminar, and don’t forget to share this with our online network…

The post Are you ready as a Parent? appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

How to Invest Money in UAE?

In today’s world; the investment atmosphere seems quite daunting; with complex jargon and confusing charts, but the best and the most useful of the investment strategies are always simple to understand and easy to put into practice.

The 3 bucket investment approach is one such strategy which is a very simple and straight forward approach to investing one’s savings.

It takes into account the different investment needs of an individual at different stages of life for diverse financial goals.

The 3 Bucket investment approach is simple but very Effective.

What is a 3 Bucket Investment Approach..

As the name and picture above suggests does it involves 3 buckets?

No not all, it is basically the classification of your savings into 3 different sections, called as buckets for easier understanding.

Bucket 1 : Bucket One is for your Emergency Savings and Short Term Goals, and should be into liquid or near cash investments.

It usually recommended to have a savings equal to 3 months salary if you are single or a working couple without children.

If you have a family with children, it is recommended to atleast have 4-6 months of salary(s) as rainy day savings or emergency savings.

Bucket 2 consists of most Liquid investment for Emergency Savings and Short term goals

After you have reached your emergency savings limit, you can add more money into this bucket for short term goals like Annual Vacation, Electronics like Mobile, Laptop, TV etc..

It is recommended to allocate about 20 – 25 % of monthly disposable income into this bucket.

The idea of investing in this bucket is not to earn good returns, but to have liquid funds for managing an emergency situation or a job loss, and to meet short term goals..

All or most of the funds in this bucket must be accessible in 24 to 36 hours…

Because your money is invested in very liquid or next to cash assets, the returns from this investment is usually very low..

People who do not have this type of saving, usually end up borrowing on credit cards and spend a lot of money as interest before they repay the borrowed capital, putting an additional stress on their budget and savings.

So what investment options are available in UAE for investing in this bucket

1.National Bonds : Investing in National Bonds is a good idea considering the safety, liquidity and a slightly better return on investment they offer.

It is easy to buy National Bonds and one can buy National Bonds online, from Money exchanges and from banks. The minimum investment is AED 100 and can be bought in multiples of 100.

The holding period is 3 months and they can be easily redeemed across the counter via certain Money exchanges.

Click here to visit National Bonds Website for more information.

2. E Saver Accounts : Many banks in UAE like HSBC, EmiratesNBD, Mashreq, ADCB etc., offer these saver accounts, which offer slightly higher interest rates than your savings account offers.

3. Mashreq Millionaire, and other savings certificates issued by reputable regional banks are also some of the options an individual can consider for investing under this category.

Bucket 2 is for an aggressive investment strategy, helping to achieve short to medium term financial goals…

Bucket 2  is for short to medium term goals or dreams like Down Payment for Property, Fancy car, Expensive Vacation, Investment in Land, Settling a mortgage, Saving for a business etc…

Investments in this bucket are less liquid in the short term, with a maturity between 1 year to 5 years. The investments may be risky like Stocks, Gold, Futures, Hedge Funds etc…

Allocation into this bucket can be between 10 – 20% of monthly disposable income..

The following are some of the investment options available in UAE for asset classes in this Budget..

1. Gold in the form of coins or Bars, Gold Certificates, Gold ETFs and Funds

2. Trading in DFM, Nasdaq and ADX stocks…( Emaar, Arabtec, Air Arabia etc….). This s a good option if you have more than AED 10,000 to invest in a single transaction, as the minimum transaction fees is AED 75. For investments less than AED 10,ooo it is better to use other options.

3. NRI’s can invest in Indian stock markets via Demat account online. If you do nit have a Demat account, you can open a DEMAT account with Indian Banks like Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and HDFC from UAE itself, as they have representative offices here.

One has to bear in mind the currency risk and market risk, while investing in Indian stocks or Mutual Funds. If you are a beginner, it is advised to start investing in Blue Chips stocks, with a time horizon of 2-4 years.

1. Initial Public Offer (IPO’s) in UAE : UAE is maturing as a financial market, and many family businesses are considering going public. While IPO’s are an attractive investment option, it is recommended to stay away from IPO’s in 2015 considering that Dubai Parks Amanat stocks are trading at prices lesser that Initial offer price, due to sharp oil price correction.

2. One can also invest in Sukuks issued by various companies in UAE, and some of them provide good returns as well.

3. Fixed Deposit in India for NRI’s : NRE / NRO fixed deposits are not risky in term of capital, but are susceptible to currency risks.

FD’s are ideal when saving for settling a mortgage in India, or when buying property in India, as the funds will be required in INR only.

It is not a good idea to save in FD’s if the funds are required in UAE or else where, because of currency risk due to falling rupee and the less than 9.00% returns may not be attractive enough, if the money has to be repatriated back to UAE.

Bucket 3 is the most important but unfortunately the most ignored.  This strategy is focusses on long term goals with a time of 5 years and above, like

1. Saving for retirement

1. Saving for Children’s Education

2. Saving to move back to Home country for good

3. Investing in a Life Insurance ( Term Insurance, Whole of Life or Endowment Plans)

4. Saving for Daughter’s Marriage

5. Saving for Legacy etc…

It is not surprising to read many articles on gulf news about people leaving UAE empty handed after spending many years in Debt. This happens because people ignore this bucket and focus more on the short term financial goals and borrowing in case of emergency.

It is best to invest the biggest portion of your disposable income into this bucket, hence 50 – 70% is recommended under this category.

There following are some of the options in UAE, helping you to invest for long term goals like retirement etc

1. Generali Vision – Regular Savings Plan offering a direct funds investment platform, facilitating wealth accumulation and growth. Click here to know more about Generali Vision.

2. Zurich Vista – Regular Savings Plan offers a choice of 9 currencies, and more than 200 funds of leading fund houses across the globe

3. Friends Provident International – Premier Advance offers a distinct choice of funds facilitating wealth accumulation and income drawdown for retirement

4. Idikhar Plus from Salama : Idikhar plus is a Sharia compliant regular savings plan offering a choice of Islamic Investment Funds

5. Educare from Noor Takaful : Is a unique education savings plan, helping you save and protect for your child’s college fees.

6. Zurich Futura : Is a whole of Life Insurance plan, offering very useful additional benefits like Critical Illness Benefit, Permanent Total disability benefit, Family Income Benefit, Accidental Death Benefit, Hospitalization Benefit, Dismemberment benefit etc…

7. Future Protect from Metlife : is a very unique insurance plan with Annuity benefits i.e., it also enables savings for retirement, while protecting loss of income due to death, disability and critical illness.

It would be wise to hire an independent financial advisor to help you choose the most suitable investment or insurance plan, based on your goals, time horizon, risk appetite and current financial situation.

What about you, Are you investing to achieve you short and long term financial goals?

If not! Why?, What is stopping you? Are you perturbed? Do not worry…

If you need help in setting up a financial plan to achieve your short term and long term financial goals, feel free to call me on +97150 – 2285405 to arrange a free consultation, to understand your goals and explore possible solutions to help you achieve your financial goals..

The post How to invest money in UAE, using 3 Bucket Investment Approach… appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Home and Contents Insurance is easy to understand, easy to avail and is very affordable.

Inspite of which most of us comfortably ignored it, until the recent Fire in Torch Tower in Dubai Marina and in Tamweel towers last year…

Every body was talking about it for 2 to 3 days and slowly it was forgotten, assuming that nothing will happen or that the possessions we have are not significant enough to be insured.

Many people believe that Home and contents insurance is only for the rich, who have big assets and they also believe that it costs a lot to insure their home and contents…

Home and Contents Insurance could cost less than One Dirham a day..

Contrary t0 the popular belief, Home and Contents Insurance is useful for every individual, wether a home owner, tenant or a landlord.

You will be surprised to know that it very affordable, infact contents insurance may cost you less than One Dirham a day… 

What is Home and Contents Insurance?

For most people in UAE, their home is their biggest asset, not to mention all the valuable items inside.

Home and Contents insurance covers a loss or damage to your Home and or all the valuable items within your home including Furniture, Fittings, Electronics, Electricals, Art, Jewellery, wardrobe and other priceless valuables.

What does it Cover?

Building : 

• Accidental Damage to the Building due to Fire, explosion, earthquake, smoke, storm, theft, damage by domestic animals, riot and so on.
• Also including domestic garages, swimming pools, terraces, patios drives, footpaths, wall fences, gates, permanent fixtures and fittings.
• Home owners liability towards third party like tenant, building association etc…
• Alternative accommodation or loss of rent.

Contents : 

• Accidental loss or damage to contents due to fire, water leakage, theft etc.…
• Also covers improvements to the property made by the tenant.
• Tenant Liability towards landlord
• Third Party Liability

Personal Belongings : 

World wide Coverage to personal belongings like Jewellery, Watches, Laptop and other valuable items against following risks;

–      Accidental contents damage

–      Malicious damage

–      Theft or attempted theft

–      Accidental breakage

–      Accidental loss

Before you buy Contents and Personal Belongings Insurance, take an inventory of your belongings.

An easy way to conduct a home inventory is to walk through your house or apartment with a video camera, while giving a brief description of the things that are the most valuable—like your big-screen TV, computer, antique furniture, major appliances and other pricey belongings.

You can also use the Allstate Digital Locker Smart Phone or Web application, to catalog the items you own. Once you have the list, it will be a lot easier for you to figure out how much coverage you need. And, it may help if you ever need to file a claim.

AllState Digital Locker

The next step is to decide, how much you would want each content to be insured for?

You can either calculate the Actual Cash Value of the asset(Current Value) or the replacement cost of the asset.

For eg : If you bought a flat screen TV, 2 years back for AED 5000/- and the current cash value of that TV may be around AED 2,000 or less, while the cost of replacing with a similar TV might still be around AED 5,000..

It is up to you to decide which value you would want to choose for insuring your assets and arrive at a total value of the assets to be insured.

Call me on +97150-2285405 or write to me by clicking here, to help you decide and avail the most suitable solution for you.

With Home and Contents Insurance you can afford to relax, knowing that you are covered in the event of loss or damage to your home, contents and or personal belongings.

What about you? Do you have Home and Contents Insurance? if not have you thought what will happen if your home was destroyed in a fire?

Leading insurance companies life Zurich, AIG, AXA and RSA provide comprehensive home and contents insurance in UAE.

To know more and to avail Home and Contents Insurance, feel free to call me on +97150-2285405 or write to me by clicking here.

The post Home and Contents Insurance appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Good Health, lots of wealth and loads of happiness is what we all seek in life.

To make your quest easy, we at Nexus are conducting a seminar on achieving loads of happiness by focussing on;

• Strategies of wealth creation and protection
• Importance of good habits
• Impact of crtical illness and ways to protect loss of income

The Keynote presentation will be delivered by Jim Cronin.

Jim is a Professional Speaker, Business Consultant and Charity Worker, he has spoken to audiences in Europe, South East Asia, Canada, USA, Brazil, India and Dubai.

He has shared the stage with Sir Clive Woodward and William Hauge MP.

Jim’s passion is helping people to get the results they seek from life.

We have invited a Chief Underwriter with more than 2 decades of experience from one of the leading insurance providers in the middle east region, to share his insights on the impact of Critical Illness on the lives of people in this region and the ways to protect loss of income.

We have also invited Fitness First to provide tips and advice on meal plans for a healthy living, offer free Body assessments by professional fitness trainers and guest passses and goodies.

All in All, this event will be engaging, educational, while highlighing challenges we face in our quest of “Health, Wealth and Happiness”

Nexus – Health, Wealth and Happiness Seminar is conveniently schedueld on a Saturday, 28th March 2015 at 4.30 Pm at Sofitel Hotel, Sheik Zayed Road, Burj Downtown.

People who attended a similar seminar previously, found it very informative and useful, so confirm your attendance now by clicking the link below, and feel free to invite your friends as well

The post Nexus – Health, Wealth and Happiness Seminar appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Just like Wayne Dyer said, Financial planning also will work out if you believe, you will spot and take  advantage of wealth growing opportunities.

If you believe that it will not workout, you will only see obstacles and find excuses to avoid it…

Every thing depends on what you believe…

Be positive, have faith and take the first step, you will be surprised to see things falling in place…

The post If you believe… appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Whole of Life Insurance, as the name suggests, it provides life cover for the whole life of the insured. 

In addition to life cover it also includes investment, which accumulates a cash value over the life of the plan. This cash value is one of the important elements of whole life insurance.

In UAE most whole of life polices are unit linked and they also offer the most important critical illness benefit for the whole of life of the insured.

Such policies were designed to address the short comings of a term insurance. The biggest challenge with term life insurance is that it offers cover for a fixed term, usually upto 70 years.

If the insured dies after the term ends, the beneficiary does not receive the death benefit nor does he get back the premiums paid  because the insured did not die during the term.

All the premiums paid into a term insurance plan are an expense and the money has no chance to comeback.

Term Insurance can be compared to a rented house, where you can live as long as you pay rent, if you stop paying rent, you can no longer can live in the house. When you leave the house you do not get back the rent you have paid.

Whole of life plans can be compared to a own house on a mortgage, where you pay the mortgage for a certain period, once the mortgage is paid the property is yours. When you sell the property you can expect to get more than what you have paid for it, similarly a whole of life plan pays out a cash surrender value, when you feel that you no longer need cover and surrender the plan.

Features of Whole of Life Insurance

Buying a whole of life insurance policy is a good idea if one or more of the following features are important to you;

1. Life Long Critical Illness Cover : Most whole of life insurance plans in UAE, cover critical illness till age 95 – 100. If you are concerned about depleting your retirement savings in the event of critical illness after age 70, then a whole of life plan is ideal for you.

If you are concerned about depleting your retirement savings in the event of critical illness after age 70, then a whole of life plan is ideal for you.

2. Leaving a legacy : A Whole of life Insurance is a ideal tool to build a large legacy at an affordable cost.

3. High Price but Low cost : For people who are young, especially less than 40 years of age, buying a whole of life plan with critical illness benefit is a very good idea.

Let us see the following example, where John is 30 years old, Non Smoking Male.

In this example it is evident that although Whole of Life Insurance seems costly because of higher monthly premiums, it is cheaper than term insurance if a long term view and cash surrender value is taken in to account.

Flexibility : Most Whole of Life Insurance plans in UAE are very flexible, you can increase or decrease the premiums and cover after 2 years, you can also add or remove additional riders like permanent total disability benefit, Accidental death benefit, dismemberment benefit, Family income benefit at any point of time.

You can also avail a premium holiday facility after 3 -4 years of premium payment, for up to 2 years. You can avail this facility if you are unable to pay premiums for a certain period, while continuing cover and other benefits during the premium holiday facility.

Cash Surrender Value : As discussed earlier, the Whole of Life policy has an investment component, and hence a cash surrender value. You can choose to surrender your plan, in lieu of cash if you decide that you no longer want the life and critical illness cover.

If you surrender your plan early, then the surrender value would be low, and if you wait till you are more than 70 or 80 your cash surrender value will be significantly high in comparison to the premiums you would have paid into the plan.

Why Buy Whole of Life Insurance?

1. To provide funds to pay for medical expenses due to critical illness during retirement.
2. To provide income for dependent family members in the event of death of the bread winner until they become self-supporting and to leave a legacy for children and grand children
3. To provide large amounts of cash at death of bread winner; for children’s college expenses, marriage expenses or other capital needs
4. To provide cash for repatriation of expat family and for paying inheritance taxes in their home country if applicable.
5. For protecting business liabilities of owners and partners
6. To ensure business continuity in the event of death or critical illness to one of the partners.
7. To indemnify a business for the loss of a key employee
8. To provide for charity on death of the insured

Summary

Whole of Insurance is ideal for long term protection needs, although the monthly premiums are usually higher than term insurance, it costs less in the longer term.

Zurich Futura, Metlife Future Protect and Hyat Plus from Salama are some of good whole of life plans available in UAE.

To know more about Whole of life plans or to help you choose the most suitable plan with complementing riders call me on +97150-2285405 or click here to write to me.

The post What is Whole of Life Insurance? appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Simple and Jargon free Infographic describing the difference between Whole of Life Insurance and Term Insurance.

The post Whole of Life vs Term Life Insurance – Infographic appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

This Article was originally written by Melissa on http://www.biblemoneymatters.com. I found this article very inspiring, hence I wanted to share it on my blog…

My husband and I bought 20 year term life insurance 10.5 years ago, when our first child was six months old.

My dad died of colon cancer at 38 and had very little life insurance. My mom struggled financially to provide for me and my brother and to set aside money for retirement after my father’s death.  I knew I’d buy life insurance as soon as I had a child.

My husband and I also planned to ladder our life insurance.  We now have two other children besides our oldest who are 5 and 6.  The life insurance we currently have will expire when our youngest two children are 14.5 and 16 respectively.

Why You Need Life Insurance, Especially If Your Budget Is Tight?

There’s No More Important Time to Get Life Insurance Than When Your Budget Is Tight

The plan was to buy another 20 year term life insurance policy for both my husband and I when our first policy was 10 years old.  Then, for the 10 years when both policies overlapped, we’d have ample coverage for the teenage and college years.

The problem?  Our budget is tight.  T.I.G.H.T.!

We’re digging our way out of debt, and Murphy has moved in.  During the first 3.5 months of 2015, we’ve had over $5,000 in dental bills and car repairs.  Ouch.

When my mom visited recently and I casually mentioned that my husband and I were planning on getting another 20 year term life insurance policy, she replied incredulously, “If your money is so tight, I can’t believe you’d even think of getting another policy right now!”

My husband, echoing my sentiment, responded, “Because money is so tight, we can’t afford NOT to get another life insurance policy right now.”

Life Changes.  Is Your Life Insurance Policy Keeping Up?

A lot has changed in the 10 years since we bought our life insurance policy.  We now have three kids instead of one.  We own a home now and have a mortgage.  Our oldest is almost in the teen years, and we’ll need to think about college for him.

Simply put, the policy we have now is not adequate enough for all of our increased financial obligations.

When my mom was married, she and my dad struggled financially.  That’s largely why they didn’t buy life insurance.  Yet, even living through the nightmare of a spouse dying young with grossly inadequate life insurance, she’s still arguing that we shouldn’t spend the money on it.

A Wake-Up Call Motivated Me To Action

Even though I know we need additional life insurance, I kept putting it off, until recently.

I belong to a number of homeschool groups on Facebook, and several recently shared the plight of the Rogan family from Wisconsin.

Niki Rogan was in the car with her husband and her seven children heading to the hospital to give birth to her eighth child.  A car hit a deer, and the deer then hit the Rogan’s car and killed the father, Mike Rogan, who was only 42.

Given the dramatic circumstances of Mike’s death, the Rogan family’s story has been shared worldwide.  A family friend set up a Go Fund me page for the Rogans, where she shared,

“Niki is a stay-at-home mom and homeschools her children who range in age from newborn to 15 years, and is left with providing for her family aided by only a minimal life insurance policy.” 

Because of the worldwide attention, the Rogans’ Go Fund Me page has generated $470,688 at the time of publishing, 17 days after the page was established.  It is the 10th largest fundraiser in Go Fund Me’s five year history.

I’m happy that the Rogan family will have the money, if invested well, to allow Niki to continue to stay home and care for her children.  However, most people who lose a spouse do not have the media attention and a fast growing Go Fund Me page.

The Rogans likely had a tight budget.  Raising such a large family is not cheap.  Still, like us, they should have had more life insurance, even if it is tight to fit in the budget.  The alternative, for most people, can be devastating financially.

Do you have adequate life insurance, or do you put off applying for or increasing your life insurance because money is tight?

To know more about life insurance in UAE, to apply or to arrange a complementary Financial review meeting, please call 050-2285405 or write to me by clicking here.

The post Why You Need Life Insurance, Especially If Your Budget Is Tight? appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

While we all associate Ramadan as a time to give and spend.

I was thinking how Ramadan can be fulfilling with more to give and spend while being able to save for the future as well.

How can we have enough to give without qualms, spend without guilt and save for the future with enthusiasm?

How about a challenge?

How about a challenge, which helps us save money from this Ramadan to the next Ramadan. 50 weeks between 18th June 2015 to 6th June 2016.

My goal is to save AED 25,000 between 18th June 2015 to 6th June 2016. AED 500 per week, 2000 per month.

Is it possible?

I am up for the challenge, Are you?

If yes, then how much would you want to save till next Ramadan?

You can choose as little as you want, but make sure your goal is challenging enough, and worthwhile to go for…

Also remember, the more money you save, the more you get to give, spend and keep for your future…

Now that the goal is set, lets set the rules of the game!!

1. The game starts on 18th June 2015
2. People can join till 18th August 2015
3. I have also created a Meetup group, and if you want, you can be a member of the meetup group to share your success story with fellow group members if you want to. You can also get inspired with the success stories of follow group members
4. I will also post a weekly update on my progress on this blog, and also of readers who want to share their progress…

5.I recommend the following percentages for using the savings for Giving to needy, Spending for ourselves and our family and Saving for our future.

You can have your own ratios, as long as you have minimum 10% in each.

RAMADAN SAVINGS CHALLENGE

1. Share your savings goal with you partner, friend, colleague or your Boss. This way you will be more committed to your goal.
2. I am creating a Twitter Hash Tag #RamadaSavingsChallenge, where I will be posting interesting ideas to increase your savings throughout the year.
3. Encourage your friends, colleagues or family members to join the challenge and to compete with you..
4. Have Fun..

I have already shared my savings goal with my family and also with you all, what about you?

Are you ready to setup a Ramadan to Ramadan savings goal?

Are you bold enough to share it with the world? If yes leave a comment below or share it on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/finplandubai or tweet with the Hashtag #RamadanSavingsChallenge

Are you determined to complete the challenge, let find out…

Let us begin this wonderful challenge, All the best to all participants….

Watch out for this space, I promise to post more on this topic at regular intervals…

The post Ramadan to Ramadan – 50 Weeks Savings Challenge appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

People prefer to stay away from investing, either due to their past unhappy experience or due to the horror stories they have heard from their friends and family.

The most important question to be asked and answered here is that, why do people have an unhappy experience investing money?

This dilemma can be answered as follows;

Greed:  Almost all individuals, who have had a bad or unhappy experience investing, were looking for un realistic returns on their investments, hence ended up choosing a riskier investment strategy, resulting in huge losses due to market fluctuation.

A return higher than 6 – 9% cannot be consistently achieved by regular saving / investment plans towards retirement, college education or for any other goal, and if a banker or a financial adviser promises more than 9 % return on your savings plans, stay away from him.

Instant Gratification: Almost all regular saving plans are for 5 years and above, for a purpose. Your investment needs time take advantage of the market growth and provide a consistent return.

Your savings plan is not like fast food, that you can invest and seek returns immediately. It is more like a fine dining meal; it does take some amount of patience before you savor the wonderful meal.

An ideal saving plan should be between 5 – 15 years, not more not less.

Wrong Advice: Be very careful in choosing your financial adviser, by obtaining the necessary information like his experience, about the company he represents, and his testimonials from his satisfied clients.

After obtaining the relevant information from the prospective financial adviser, do your own due diligences by referring to LinkedIn to cross verify the information provided.

Most of us choose to sign up for an investment / savings plan from a bank, which may not be the right approach. A retail banker is not an expert in investments and has many other products and responsibilities to focus on. He may not have the time to track your investments regularly and suggest suitable changes if necessary.

When looking to setup a savings plan, talk to an Independent Financial Advisor, who is not biased to one particular Insurance or an Investment company and then choose the most suitable plan.

Lack of knowledge and or involvement: While your work and family takes away most of your time, it is also essential to set aside time to fully understand the investment plan, before signing up. Demand for the terms and conditions of the plan, read, clarify and fully understand the implications of the various clauses stated on the terms and conditions.

Once you are satisfied with the answers and you are confident that the plan recommended will help you achieve your financial goals, then only sign on the dotted line.

Lack of review: Once you have setup the investment plan, the due diligence should not stop there; review your investment performance at least once in 3 months to ascertain if it is progressing as desired. While setting up your investment plan, agree to a review schedule, with your financial advisor and if you are unable to meet personally, have your financial advisor email you the statements and at least, have a telephonic review of your account.

If you can’t take time to track your investment, then you are encouraging your advisor to ignore your account.

The above discussed are the factors differentiating an investment from gambling, and

As an Independent Financial Advisor, I make sure that my client’s setup and maintain robust investment plans, for achieving their financial goals like, retirement, children’s education, property investment, starting a business, etc., and I can help you achieve your financial goals with the desired ease, minus the unhappy experience and the horror stories.

Call me on +97150 -2285405 or write to me by Clicking Here to arrange a Free and Confidential Review of your financial situation, and ascertain means of achieving your financial goals.

The post Why are people afraid of investing? appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

We teach our children to talk, walk, run, play and everything we can. 

We encourage them to dream, aspire, pursue and achieve…

As they grow, they dream about many things and quality higher education of their choice is one of their dreams.

They expect adequate financial support from us to be able to pursue their dream.

The question is that as parents are we financially prepared to support our child’s dream?

The post Children’s Higher Education Planning Seminar for Parents appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

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Welcome to the first podcast episode of www.financialplanningindubai.com.

In this episode, I will introduce the need and importance of Personal Financial Planning.

I intend to regularly share useful ideas on Budgeting, Savings, Investing, Property investment, and various other money related aspects.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or via feed burner.

Have a great weekend

The post Financial Planning in Dubai Podcast. appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.