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December 2019

Finance

CAR INSURANCE AND ITS IMPORTANCE

Car insurance payments can be stressing to pay, especially when you are new into driving or have never filed any claim. The feeling of paying the hefty amounts without getting anything in return can be frustrating.

Getting car insurance should not feel like a scam. Furthermore, if you feel pressed with the payments, you can get cheap car insurance services with iSelect.

In this article, we are going to alleviate these concerns and discuss the importance of car insurance.

  • Gives you financial protection

There is a possibility that you will never file a claim if you never have an accident. However, it is better to be safe than sorry.

In this digitalized world we are currently in, cars are becoming a basic need. As such, there is a likelihood of suffering an accident at least once in a lifetime, of which, the consequences can be fatal. Statistics state that more than 30,000 people die from car accidents every year and another 2 million people who survive suffer injuries.

If you happen to be involved in an accident without an insurance cover, you will be required to pay for the damages if you are the at-fault party.

There are various insurance covers you can take. Some will cover you, your vehicle and the person you hit while third-party insurance will only cover the person you hit.

  • It caters for physical damage

Depending on the insurance you go for, some ill cater to the damages your car suffers in the event of an accident.

Damaged vehicles can cost a fortune. This is the reason why it is imperative to take care of this possession.

Before you take an insurance coverage for your car, you have to have a comprehensive understanding of what it covered and what is not. When you take a comprehensive cover, it will cover various other things apart from motor accidents. Fire, vandalism, theft, floods, and storm damage are some of the catastrophes comprehensive insurance will cover. It also helps a great deal in getting roadside assistance.

On the other hand, collision coverage will protect your car from accidents. This is not only coverage for motor collisions but also collisions with trees, electricity posts as well as other innate objects. Collision coverage often takes effect when you are the one at fault or do not know who caused the damages to your motor vehicle.

It is also good to note that car insurance will rarely cover mechanical issues; unless they were caused by caused by factors such as fire, vandalism or collision. The day to day tear and wear is not something your insurance company is willing to deal with.

Car insurance is meant only for sudden accidental occurrences and not for auto maintenance. Mechanical repairs are sorted by you or your warranty if you have one.

As stated earlier, it is imperative that a car owner have an insurance coverage. Different states have their own set of rules and regulations to deal with people who drive around without car insurance.

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Trading

Atecs Capital – A Detailed Review

Founded in 2019, Atecs Capital is one of the latest entrants as brokerage firms in the highly competitive cryptocurrency market. There are a number of services that are offered by this broker including CFDs on cryptocurrencies and also are capable of offering a number of other trading assets. Though they have started operations only this year, they have been able to catch the attention of many traders and many of them are experienced traders in cryptocurrencies and other forms of tradable commodities. In this article, we will try and have a closer look at the various services offered by this service provider and get to know whether they are good as far as the traders and customers are concerned. We will at some salient and important points that traders lookout for when it comes to evaluating this cryptocurrency traders so that our readers and other information seekers are able to get some idea about their reputation, track record and the kind of services that they offer.

Are They Legitimate?

This is without any doubt one of the most common questions that any traders ask about an online or physical broker. The company has its registration in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Hence, it is most likely that they will be a registered corporate entity. Further, when one looks at the website, they may have many reasons to believe that they offer policies that are fully customer-oriented. They are seemingly very proactive and organized when it comes to ensuring safety of information as well as funds of the traders or customers. The website comes with a SSL certificate and this is reason enough to believe that they are legitimate and are clean and transparent as far as their dealings are concerned. The company is registered properly as per the Companies Act of the respective country. Ferthermoer they hold various online assets, like a Crunchbase and Twitter Pages.

Services Offered by Them

As mentioned above, Atecs Capital is a broker and as of now they are offering only trade on cryptocurrencies. We are sharing a listing of the main cryptocurrencies that are offering. They include big cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, Monero, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Tether and many more. Hence it would not be out of place to mention that Atecs Capital offers a number of trading options for their traders. They have reasonably good spread ranging from 1:2, 1:5 and 1:20 and this depends on the trading asset. They have a web-based and customized platform that is known for their ease of use. It also has an intuitive and user friendly software solution and this certainly makes it different from many other brokerage houses in the industry today.

Account Types That They Offer

They offer a wide number of accounts types and this again is something that makes them quite popular and well-known. Traders have the choice of picking up the right trading package taking into account your specific needs and requirements. The minimum deposit is just $500 and they have additional trading accounts keeping in mind the financial strength of the traders and customers.

Deposit, Payment & Withdrawal Methods

Customers and traders who are part of Atecs Capital also offer many different types of payment methods. They offer debit/card payments, multiple eWallets, and bank wire transfer and in fact they have more than 20 other digital payment methods. The minimum deposit account is around $100 or Euro. The brokers are not required to pay any minimum amount as far as withdrawal is concerned. The withdrawal charges are also free, but they do charge for wire transfer and this amount is $30. Processing of withdrawals could take around three to four working days.

Customer Support Services

The broker also offers very good support services and ensures that the traders are able to get the required assistance whenever it is needed. They offer three different options as far as assistance and customer services are concerned. These include email support services, phone based support services and they also have one of the best live chat facilities. Hence, it would not be out of place to mention here that they offer the best possible and widest possible services for their customers. Their turnaround time is also quite good and they believe in being proactive as far as their services are concerned.

The Final Word

When we look at the kind of services that they offer, the feedbacks and reviews from traders and other such things, it is quite obvious that Atecs Capital is a good broker for different types of cryptocurrencies. Within a short period of time, they have been able to make their presence quite strongly in a competitive market. For further information on their services check the full review on their site

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Trading

XTRgate – A Detailed Review

The world of cryptocurrencies might be new but within a short space of a decade and a half, the growth of cryptocurrencies has been very impressive to say the least. Many players have come with their own cryptocurrencies and there also have been growth of enablers, agents or brokers as one would like to call them. In this article, we will try and learn something more about XTRgate.

What Services Do They Offer?

XTRgate is a popular platform that has been developed for trading of various reputed and well-known cryptocurrencies and this includes Bitcoin amongst others. There are many such brokerage houses today that offer high quality services to cryptocurrency traders across the world. The name of XTRgate also comes into this field and there are a few reasons as to why they are different from others. Traders who have made use of the services of this brokerage house have a few good things to say about them. Let us try and have a look at the various services being offered by them.

Trading Platform

Any cryptocurrency brokerage house is evaluated after looking at various factors. The kind of trading platform that they offer is an important attribute when you wish to evaluate them. Those who have used XTRgate have found out that they have a high quality web-based trading platform. The platform is proprietary based. They have been able to equip themselves with some of the best cutting edge tools and they also offer features that again are comparable to the best. Traders and end-users can access this platform on any device as long as it has a web browser. Access to the website is also quite easy and it happens almost instantaneously.

Easy To Navigate

The website is also user-friendly and navigation from one page to another can be done quite easily. It also allows the traders to complete their buying and selling without any trouble. The platform has been designed with quite a bit of thought and keeping the end users’ convenience and comfort in mind. It is a perfect combination of modernism with simplicity and therefore most users believe that it is easy and intuitive to use. It also comes with many inbuilt tools and features. These are useful, both the experienced and new traders and they can trade without too much of hassle.

 

A Wide Range of Cryptocurrencies

As mentioned earlier in the article, XTRgate has earned its reputation for being a successful facilitator and broker for Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies. Hence, you will be able to trade some of the most popular pairs of cryptocurrencies. These include Ethereum, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, IOTA and of course Bitcoin. The list of the cryptocurrencies are being added and updated regularly and it is quite obvious that many more cryptocurrencies will be available to the traders within a reasonably short period of time. This is because the broker is committed to offer the widest possible choices as far as cryptocurrency-pairs are concerned.

Spreads & Leverage

There is no doubt that spreads and leverages are critical because they impact the profits and also have a bearing on the ability of the traders to trade. XTRgate has been able to stand out quite effectively in this area. The leverage would depend on the cryptocurrency pairs being used. While some pairs come with a leverage of 1:2, there are others that offer 1:5 and a few more offers up to 1:20. The average spreads range from 0.1 o 0.2 pips and it covers almost all cryptocurrency pairs. This is quite good because it gives the traders to earn big money if they know how to trade well. They have zero commission policy and this also is competitive as far as the traders are concerned

Types of Accounts

The basic account is the most common and popular type of account and it can be opened with an initial pay-in of $250. They also offer Bronze account for $10,000 and Silver Account for $25,000. They also two more premium class of accounts and they are Gold and Platinum accounts with account pay-in amount being $50,000 and $250,000. So the customers can choose the account depending on their ability to deposit and based on the strength of their pockets.

Final Thoughts

XTRgate also offers the best of customer services and other such supports. In addition they have a huge variety of online assets such as a Crunchbase and a Linkedin Page. Hence, when we take into account the various factors and look at them from a holistic point of view, there is no doubt that they are quite good when compared to most cryptocurrency brokers in the market today.

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Finance

ULIPs: A holistic risk management tool

According to Investopedia, risk management in finance is the “process of identification, analysis and acceptance or mitigation of uncertainty in investment decisions.” The average person usually associates risks with death, disability and critical illness. Though these risks have obvious financial repercussions, we seldom give much thought to the financial risks arising out of financial indiscipline and market volatility.

As our investment plans are influenced by our outlook towards life, we don’t give much importance to risk management either. As Warren Buffet says, “risks come from not knowing what you’re doing,” and the risks are pretty high if you have a gambler’s approach towards investing. Not utilizing risk management to mitigate the uncertainty of your investment decisions is akin to gambling, a risky activity.

Financial risk management is gaining more and more importance due to the uncertainty and volatility in financial markets that we are witnessing worldwide. As an investor you have a potent and holistic risk management tool in the form of unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs). The amazing thing about ULIPs is that it covers all the risks – death, disability, critical illness, market volatility and financial indiscipline – quite effectively. Let’s understand how ULIPs can be utilized as a holistic risk management tool.

What are ULIPs?

Before we dig deeper, let us first get a simple understanding of ULIPs. In a unit-linked insurance plan or ULIP, as the name suggests, every unit (called the NAV) held by the investor is linked to an underlying market-linked product such as equity or debt funds.

When an investor pays the premium for a ULIP, a portion of the money goes to providing life insurance cover for the investor and the remaining amount is invested in various debt and equity funds according to the investor’s preference. As the value of the underlying fund grows, it is reflected by an increase in the net asset value (NAV). Therefore, ULIP investment plans provide the dual benefit of life insurance protection and wealth generation to the insured.

Bajaj Allianz Future Gain is a unit-linked endowment insurance plan that assures maximum premium allocation for better returns; comes with choice of 2 investment strategies; and offers unlimited free switching of funds.

How are ULIPs a holistic risk management tool?

Managing life risks

A unit-linked insurance plan, while managing life risks by providing life insurance coverage, can also protect your income in case of critical illnesses or permanent disability. All you have to do is add a rider by paying a little extra. In that way, it gives you comprehensive life cover while helping you build your corpus in the long-term.

Encourages financial discipline

As ULIPs come with a specific lock-in period, it encourages financial discipline by rewarding you with good dividends for not using the funds indiscriminately. It also inculcates a habit of regular saving as you keep aside a certain amount to pay for the ULIP premium.

Freedom to mitigate investment risks

ULIP investment plans give you the freedom to switch funds to mitigate risks during volatile and uncertain market conditions. You can reduce your equity exposure and lean more towards debt and balanced funds to manage risks and tide over market volatility.

Some insurance companies charge you extra for switching of ULIP funds. However, Bajaj Allianz Future Gain available on Finserv MARKETS acts as a cost-effective risk management tool by allowing you Unlimited Free switching of funds.

Reduces tax liability

We seldom see tax as a financial risk but as Benjamin Franklin puts it, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Tax can be assumed as a risk because it significantly impacts your savings. A sudden change in taxation rules can have an adverse impact on your corpus.

ULIPs is a very effective tax savings tool as it is an EEE (Exempt, Exempt, Exempt) category investment instrument. You can enjoy ULIP tax benefits in three ways: First, the premium amount that you pay is tax deductible. Secondly, the increase in value of your funds or NAV is tax exempt. And finally, the maturity benefit or withdrawal amount is free from income tax. Thus, ULIPs help lighten your tax burden considerably.

A unit linked insurance plan is a life insurance, investment and risk management tool rolled into one. With a well-planned method of growth, accumulation and withdrawal, ULIPs offer you the opportunity to grow your wealth by leveraging the power of market-linked instruments. At the same time it empowers you to be proactive and mitigate risks by reducing exposure to equities.

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Finance

How ULIPs help you balance asset allocation

Akansha was nothing short of a culinary legend in her neighbourhood. No matter what the cuisine, she always knew how to mix the ingredients in just the perfect amount to get the right taste. “It’s all about understanding that ingredients are as important as the proportion to get the desired result,” Akansha would tell others who would throng her for recipes.

What Akansha had to say about the importance of ingredients and their proportion in a dish to maximise taste, also holds true for many other aspects of life including your investment portfolio.

Most of us are risk-averse and normally put our money where we find ourselves at minimum risk like bank FDs. However, an investment portfolio that’s dominated by a single asset class cannot deliver the same result as that of a well-balanced investment mix. That’s where ULIPs come into the picture.

Unit-Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) is an innovative hybrid product that offers dual benefits of insurance as well as investment. In this case, the premium paid is divided into two parts—one to offer life coverage and the other goes towards investment in money market instruments. Now, to get the best results from your investments, you need to create an assortment of asset classes rather than going for a single one. Like Akansha said, in order to get a perfect recipe made of all sorts of market-linked instruments like equity, debt and gold, you need to make the asset allocation responsibly.

Now, what does asset allocation mean in simple terms? In case of ULIPs, asset allocation refers to the proportion of each asset in your portfolio that is influenced by your risk appetite, long-term financial goals and several other factors.

Therefore, this implies that those investors that have a bigger risk appetite and want to hold on to their equity investment for a long time are likely to get more attractive returns.

For such risk savvy investors, investing in ULIPs can be a great investment idea to maximize their returns. Moreover, like other life insurance policies, you can enjoy ULIP tax benefits of up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs on the premium paid under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.  It is important to note here that right now ULIP plans are the only equity-linked investment plans that are tax-free. ULIPs are an innovative product in the sense that they promptly eliminate the hassles associated with middlemen from the entire trading process. Today, you have the option to choose from seamless and instantaneous online ULIP investment plans such as Bajaj Allianz Future Gain, which are offered with no allocation charges.

If you want to maximize your returns on your investment, but are running short of time or confidence, ULIP helps you balance your asset allocation for the best results with the help of experienced fund managers. ULIPs also offer the added advantage of allowing fund switching which can help manoeuvre through market volatility and mitigate risks during adverse market conditions. ULIPs Plan acts as a cost-effective risk management tool as it allows you unlimited free switching of funds unlike other insurance providers that are likely to charge you for this facility.

With fund switching, you can make your asset allocations based on the market conditions along with your own long-term financial goals and risk appetite.  You can review your portfolio and reallocate your assets as you wish without worrying about additional charges. Keen investors benefit from having a hands-on approach by getting policy statements on a regular basis. With this, you can easily keep track of your investments. With products like Bajaj Allianz ULIP Plans, available on Finserv MARKETS, you have access to assets that offer varying levels of risk and returns, customizable to suit your needs.

ULIPs have gained an impressive popularity among investors who want to monitor their corpus closely and track the growth over time. Now, an increasing number of young professionals are becoming financially literate, thus looking for instruments that can help them maximize their profits. Offering dual benefits to its investors, ULIPs have emerged as one of the most highly preferred avenues for investment.

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