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By:

Kaustubh Kale

10 September 2024 at 6:07:15 pm

Half Year Gone: Are You On Track?

As June draws to a close, it marks an important checkpoint in the financial calendar - the halfway mark of the year. The beginning of the year often brings fresh resolutions and ambitious financial goals. However, with six months already behind us, now is an appropriate time for a mid-year financial review. Are your investments on track? Beating Inflation Is Important Inflation remains a silent but persistent eroder of purchasing power. While market conditions, interest rates, and economic...

Half Year Gone: Are You On Track?

As June draws to a close, it marks an important checkpoint in the financial calendar - the halfway mark of the year. The beginning of the year often brings fresh resolutions and ambitious financial goals. However, with six months already behind us, now is an appropriate time for a mid-year financial review. Are your investments on track? Beating Inflation Is Important Inflation remains a silent but persistent eroder of purchasing power. While market conditions, interest rates, and economic headlines may fluctuate, one fact remains constant: your money needs to grow faster than inflation. Otherwise, your long-term financial goals may fall short, despite your best intentions. Define Financial Goals This is a good opportunity to reflect on key financial goals that require your attention. These may include purchasing a home, buying a new vehicle, planning vacations, funding your children’s education and wedding expenses, and preparing for your own retirement. Have you assessed how much you will need for each of these goals? More importantly, are your current investment plans adequately aligned to meet them? Review Asset Allocation The mid-year mark is also a suitable time to revisit your asset allocation. Are you holding an excessive portion of your portfolio in low returns products? Have you allocated enough to growth-oriented assets such as equity mutual funds, direct equities, and gold? These asset classes have historically outpaced inflation and created long-term wealth for disciplined investors. Necessary Insurances In Place Risk management also deserves attention during this review. Rising healthcare costs make it important that you have a personal, comprehensive, and sufficient health insurance cover, along with adequate term life insurance. Have you covered yourself on this front? Protect your savings and protect your family’s financial goals. Questions To Ask Yourself Financial planning is not a one-time activity. It is an ongoing process that requires regular monitoring and timely adjustments based on changes in income, expenses, market conditions, and life goals. Here are some key questions you may consider as part of this mid-year financial check: • Am I investing enough to beat inflation? Inflation may be gradual, but its impact is continuous. Are my investments growing at a rate that preserves and enhances my purchasing power? • Are equity and gold forming the core of my net worth? Historically, these assets have delivered inflation-beating returns. Am I still holding too much in low-interest fixed deposits or traditional insurance plans? • Am I protecting my savings and financial goals with sufficient health insurance and term life insurance? These questions are not intended to create alarm but to encourage awareness and timely action. Pause and Reflect A well-structured review at this stage of the year can help ensure that you remain on track to meet your financial objectives for 2026 and beyond. Pause. Reflect. Next Sunday, let’s talk action. (The author is a Chartered Accountant and CFA (USA). Financial Advisor. Views personal. He could be reached on 9833133605.)

Power struggle in NCP intensifies

Mumbai: The Zero FIR lodged in Bengaluru by NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar has become the news flashpoint for a larger battle over the party’s future, exposing deep divisions within the Pawar family and the Nationalist Congress Party. Rohit’s accusations against state president Sunil Tatkare and working president Praful Patel, Tatkare’s sharp counterattack, and DCM Sunetra Pawar’s intervention have laid bare a bitter struggle for control in the aftermath of Ajit Pawar’s death.


Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, dismissed the FIR as politically motivated, calling it “an attempt by the Karnataka government to malign Maharashtra’s image.”


The controversy began on Tuesday when Rohit Pawar filed a Zero FIR in Bengaluru, alleging irregularities and conspiracies within the party. Zero FIRs are typically registered when victims cannot reach the jurisdictional police station but want immediate action. Rohit today followed up with a scathing attack on Tatkare and Patel, accusing them of trying to hijack the party after Ajit Pawar’s demise. He claimed the two leaders had written to the Election Commission earlier this year, seeking to vest sweeping powers in Patel as working president, sidelining the Pawar family’s leadership.


Baseless Charges

Tatkare hit back strongly, dismissing Rohit’s charges as baseless and accusing him of attempting to seize control of the party himself. In a veiled warning, Tatkare said, “We have detailed information of what happened after post-mortem in Baramati hospital. Stop the nonsense else we too have many things to speak about.” His remarks suggested that the feud was not only political but also deeply personal, rooted in the Pawar family’s legacy in Baramati.


Amid the escalating war of words, Ajit Pawar’s widow, Sunetra Pawar, stepped in to assert her authority. Recognised as the NCP’s national president, she wrote to the Election Commission asking it to disregard any correspondence from Patel and Tatkare. Her intervention underscored the Pawar family’s determination to retain control of the party and prevent parallel claims of leadership.


The issue quickly spilled into the Maharashtra legislature, where CM Fadnavis addressed the controversy. He explained that Zero FIRs are meant to help victims register complaints when they cannot reach the local police station, but insisted that the FIR in this case was politically motivated. “This is the Karnataka state government’s attempt to malign Maharashtra’s image,” Fadnavis said.

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