Transcript
Hi everyone and welcome to the ET Wealth Wisdom podcast
I am Tania Jaleel and… let’s imagine a drumroll here for…
It’s me, Shambhavi Mehrotra and the drumroll, along with me, comes because….
This is our 100th episode!
That is right.. It has been two years since the two of us started this weekly personal finance podcast and what a two years it has been,
Can I just insert an unnecessary pun and say it has been, two.. good to be true!
It’s been long Shambhavi so I will let you get away with that. Just like we have let this year get away with all that has been…
A lot has happened since we started the podcast in February 2019
Markets have fallen, markets have risen to all time highs, banks got into trouble, debt mutual fund investors lost faith, a new income tax regime was announced, a new interest rate regime was introduced, type of new scams came to light, and then the finale… coronavirus and all that it brought
That is just a snapshot of the past two years
In this podcast, we will be talking about the year 2020 and your personal finances
Remember the first podcast of the year, thumb rule to set your finances right?
Oh ya, we were so blissfully unaware of what 2020 had in store for us
How naïve we were
Now before we get into how covid ruined all of our plans for 2020, let’s look back at other things that happened
The first big personal finance news came from the Budget
Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a new income tax regime
Tax payers now have the option of paying taxes at lower rates if they forego tax exemptions.
You can check out episode 56 to find out more about the new tax regime
In March, we saw the crisis unfold at Yes Bank
RBI had put a cap on deposits
And soon after this limit was announced, net banking as well as debit and credit cards stopped working, with knock-on effects for various digital banking services that depended on Yes Bank.
The Yes Bank crisis had a ripple effect of sorts on other private banks, forcing these lenders to clarify their position and address depositor concerns, which have been ample
RBL Bank, Karnataka Bank, South Indian Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, in separate communications to their customers, have clarified rumours around their financial health
You can check out episode 61 to find out the personal finance takeways from the Yes Bank crisis
Episode 62 is a bittersweet one for us, we did a podcast on how to keep your money safe, the last episode before the lockdown and the last episode we did in our office, together
Damn.. feels like another lifetime doesn’t it
A lot has happened in the 9 months since PM Modi announced the first lockdown on March 24. Here’s a quick rundown:
RBI announced a moratorium on loan EMIs and credit card payments
RBI announced a loan restructuring plan
Covid specific insurance plans were launched, namely Covid Kavach and Covid Rakshak
Deadlines such as tax-saving, ITR filing, submission date of pension life certificates were extended
RBI cut key rates which meant interest rates on FDs and loans dropped
The government slashed interest rates on small savings schemes
The government allowed people to withdraw money from their EPF accounts to meet covid related financial emergencies
The government announced special schemes like the LTC Cash voucher scheme
Multi-cap mutual fund schemes got a makeover and we now have flexi cap funds
Lakshmi Vilas Bank was placed under a moratorium and withdrawals were capped. It was also announced that LVB will be acquired by Singapore-based DBS India
Along with all of this, people’s finances were hit hard. As were tons of jobs
People’s spending, saving, investment habits changed dramatically, many money lessons were learnt
To take us through some of them I spoke to Radhika Gupta of Edelweiss Mutual Fund
Radhika also talks about lessons that one should carry forward into the new year. Let’s listen in..
It is so very true isn’t it.. the greatest tragedy will be to not carry forward the lessons we have learnt from 2020 into 2021 and the future
Right on…
So for the new year, like Radhika said, remember the basics of asset allocation and discipline and take the risk you comfortably can. This is what will take you and your money through the decade safely
On that note, that will be all for this week. Do come back for more wealth wisdom next week
