At the beginning of each year, we start making a list of resolutions to make the most of the coming year. These are quite helpful as they help us stay focused and more or less on track to bring some positive changes in our lifestyles. Similarly, to keep your finances under control and ensure that your money grows, you must start doing the following nine things at the start of a financial year:
- Plan your taxes
You must start tax-planning right at the beginning of the financial year. Especially when it comes to investing in Equity-Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS), April is the best time to start. When you start planning your taxes early, you get to plan better and that helps you save more. So, next time before pushing tax-planning to the next month, think twice!
Additional Reading: Are You An Honest Taxpayer?
- Check the progress of your goals
To make the most of your money, you need to review your goals regularly. This will help you keep a track of what’s been done and what’s still pending. As a result, you’ll get enough time to invest more and cover the gaps. Being aware of where your financial growth chart helps you stay prepared for the worst, much in advance.
- Get ready to file your taxes
Even if the tax-filing deadline is months away, you need to start putting all the required documents together. Compiling them well in advance gives you enough time to obtain all the tax credit receipts and other documents, which otherwise take some time to get generated. If you have any foreign assets, it becomes all the more essential to get your documents in place.
- Remove the underperforming stocks from your portfolio
The beginning of the financial year is the best time to remove the underperforming stocks from your portfolio. To reduce the risk factor, it’s essential to weed out all the overvalued stocks. Even the stocks that are at a high evaluation need to be taken care of. If any Mutual Fund has considerably fallen behind the benchmark, it’s time to weed them out.
- Steady your portfolio
You must have allocated your portfolio to a mix of various things like equities, debt, gold etc., last year. You need to update and balance them well, according to the current market conditions. For instance, if the debt went up by a certain percentage and gold prices fell, you need to re-balance your portfolio accordingly to get the best returns possible.
- Consider getting Health Insurance
Getting Health Insurance doesn’t only offer you protection from the uncertain loss of income in case of an health issues. It also helps you save on taxes. Under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, you can save a lot of tax if you invest in a Health Insurance plan.
- Increase your investment contributions
Depending upon what you can afford and other expenses, you must try and increase your investment contributions. You don’t have to raise it to a massive amount in one go – take baby steps. Increase your contributions gradually, every year. These small hikes can help you get a better amount later.
- Avoid TDS
By filling Form 15G or 15H, you can avoid paying Tax Deduction at Source (TDS), if your total income is below the taxable limit. You just need to be careful while filling these forms because wrong details can land you in trouble and you can also get penalised for the same.
- Open an account with MF Utility
Investing in direct Mutual Funds is a good option as you get higher returns. The only drawback of doing so is that if you invest in more than one fund house, it becomes hard to keep a track of all the login credentials. That’s when an MF Utility fund can come to your rescue. It gives you a common platform to keep a track of multiple fund houses, simplifying everything.
Make the most of your financial year with these tips and in case you need more, we’re here!