



: He feels, “The first thing people need to start doing is be aware and care for their own protection and safety. We need to be attentive and alert in public areas and safeguard ourselves as best as possible. On the financial front, Indians need to wake up and start bothering with wills. There is no will culture present here, people do not have nominees clearly defined in their wills or registered as a nominee and this causes problems for the deceased family, with excessive paper work added to their stress levels.
The nominee should also know what investments have been made, where are the securities, what are they, what are finances available to the family and what investments have been made, which can help them. This is often seen in families where the man has made all of the financial decisions and his spouse has no knowledge of the same, leaving her very vulnerable and ignorant post the death of her husband.” Also, ones family members and nominees should have someone to turn to and a trusted attorney to look towards in times of a death.”
Another aspect to protect oneself from such unforeseen instances is an insurance cover. While insurance is not as alien a concept as wills, the level of insurance in India is still way lesser than it should be. While life insurance is still popular here, general insurance to protect ones house, property, etc is under used
“In terms of insurance too, personal and household insurance are both essential and very important. People need to assess their HLV (human life value) and cover as much of it as they can with their insurance. There are also specific policies being made for terror attacks and one should safeguard themselves with those too. One may be a regular investor in equities and mutual funds, however, investing in health insurance and life insurance are far more important.
Post insuring oneself adequately, one should look to other investments like mutual funds and the like. Safeguard first and invest later should be the motto for today’s financial planners and people going in for such services.”
It is really distressing to see what has been happening in Mumbai, the terror attacks, the uncertainty in life and the complete lack of planning from all fronts. The incident has shaken up everybody and hopefully will bring about change, in peoples...
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