Ask us | Simple equity funds, a better option for first-time investors

Q. I have been saving ₹4,000 per month and started earning in the last few months. I want to plan investments in some mutual fund or via SIPs. I am also open to direct investments. What will be a good

A. You can consider simple equity funds from the Nifty 50, and Nifty 500 indices and use PPF as part of your debt option. PPF can also act as your tax-saving investment in case you fall under a taxable slab. Apart from this, make sure you take a good health insurance policy and cover your family too, if they don’t have one. This has become a necessity now. If you have dependent parents, spouse, or children, please take a term insurance to cover at least 8 years of your income and a personal accident insurance. A. It is good to know that you want to learn and earn. There is plenty of material on the Internet to read up on financial planning. You can also read good books like ‘Let’s talk Money’ and Retire Rich’. If you need to earn money as a student, the best is for you to do a part-time job, likely online in the present scenario, connected with your area of study. Other than this, it is not a wise choice to try to do stock trading to make money until such time you have adequate savings of your own. When you have such savings, start a combination of recurring deposit for shorter periods of 1-2 years and open a PPF account to deposit some savings in it. These early habits will inculcate disciplined savings. You can then slowly venture into other investment products.