Aditya Balani

Helping you make better Money Decisions| ex- IB (Nomura)| ex- Consultant (Kearney)| Founder-LDU| MBA-ISB| CFA | B.E.-NSIT

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Matured Rs40 lakh PPF?

Close it, move to an FD at 6.4%: about Rs1.76 lakh a year after 30% tax.
Leave it, do nothing: Rs2.84 lakh a year at 7.1%, tax free.

And you can still withdraw any amount once a year.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Parents in hospital on a cashless claim? IRDAI's rule: the insurer must approve the discharge within 3 hours.

If it takes longer, any extra the hospital charges, like another Rs10,000 day of room, is the insurer's to pay. Not your parents'.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

EMI unchanged after October's 0.25% hike? On a new Rs50 lakh, 30-year loan, that means 44 more EMIs and Rs15.9 lakh more to the bank.

Raise the EMI by Rs875: ends on time.
Or prepay Rs1.16 lakh once: all 44 EMIs undone.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Retired father sells old gold with a Rs4 lakh gain: about Rs52,000 tax. The Rs12 lakh rebate does not cover gold gains.

If the gold is your mother's and she has no income, her unused Rs4 lakh basic limit absorbs the gain. Tax: zero.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Parents' health policy caps the room at Rs5,000 a day. They take a Rs10,000 room.

On a Rs3 lakh bill, the insurer cuts the room AND the doctor, nursing and OT charges by half. They pay Rs1 lakh.

The upgrade itself cost Rs20,000.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Grandparents put Rs10 lakh in an FD in your child's name.

Rs64,000 of interest a year is added to YOUR income. At 30%: about Rs20,000 tax.

The same FD in their own name: senior rate, and zero tax if their income is under Rs12 lakh.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

After 60 months of continuous health cover, an insurer cannot reject a claim for non-disclosure, except fraud (IRDAI, May 2024).

Port your parents' policy: the 5 years move with them.
Buy a fresh one to save on premium: the count restarts at zero.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Parents over 70 can get up to Rs5 lakh of hospital cover a year from the government. Zero premium. No income test. A private policy does not rule them out.

By Dec 2025, about 93 lakh of 6 crore seniors over 70 had the card.

Apply on the Ayushman app with Aadhaar.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Rs50 lakh in the same mutual fund, Nov 2016 to Nov 2026:

Regular plan, bought through a bank: Rs1.33 crore.
Direct plan: Rs1.44 crore.

Nothing paid upfront. About Rs10 lakh lost to commission, taken as a share of the whole balance every year.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Parents sell the family home for Rs1.5 crore (bought for Rs30 lakh in 2005).

No new home: about Rs10.7 lakh in tax.
Buy a Rs1.2 crore flat: zero tax, Rs30 lakh in hand.

Section 54 asks you to reinvest the gain, not the full sale price.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Rs1 crore at 60, Rs50,000 a month rising with prices, 196 retirements since 1990:

SCSS + FDs ran out 1 in 4 times.
Half in a Nifty index fund: 1 in 8.

The safe option failed twice as often. Up to 5% a year, nobody ran out in either.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Retired parents with one joint SCSS account of Rs30 lakh have used only one of their two limits.

A joint account counts against the first holder only. Each spouse can hold Rs30 lakh.

At 8.2%: Rs4.92 lakh a year on Rs60 lakh, not Rs2.46 lakh.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Retired parent: Rs5 lakh pension + Rs5 lakh FD interest in one bank.

Tax owed: zero.
TDS the bank cuts anyway: Rs50,000.

Since April 2026, Form 121 (it replaced 15G and 15H) stops it. Submit it at every bank, every year.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Your company's health cover ends on your last working day. Your spouse and parents on it lose cover too.

Buy a policy at 58 and BP or diabetes may not be covered for up to 3 years.

Start one at 35 for about Rs15,000-17,000 a year, and the wait is over long before you retire.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Retire at 60 with Rs60 lakh in EPF and leave it there: about Rs5 lakh a year in interest until 63. Then zero.

Quit at 45 instead, and it keeps earning until 58.

EPFO's rule: a retiree's account stops earning 3 years after retirement.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

India's life expectancy is about 70. That counts from birth.

A city couple who both reach 60: 3 in 4 chance one is alive at 80, 1 in 2 at 85.

For Rs1 lakh a month, lasting to 80 needs ~Rs2 crore. To 85, Rs2.4 crore.

Plan for the spouse who lives longer.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Retired parent, Rs6 lakh pension.

Rs5 lakh of FD interest on top: zero tax.
Rs5 lakh of equity fund gains instead: Rs48,750.

The Rs12 lakh "zero tax" rebate covers slab income only. Equity gains are taxed at their own rate, outside it.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Retired Jan 2008 with Rs1 crore in a Nifty index fund, taking Rs50,000 a month (+6% a year): money ran out in March 2021.

Same plan, started March 2009: about Rs5 crore left today.

14 months apart. The order of returns decides how long a corpus lasts.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Kept Rs10,000 a month in cash and bought Nifty only after 20% falls?

Since 2006, that beat a regular SIP 93% of the time.

On 150 years of US data, it lost Rs3.77 lakh on average.

It works only if all 3 hold: Nifty only, cash in a liquid fund, the right fall level.

[Aditya Balani @aditya_balani]

Rs10 lakh in an SBI FD earns about Rs44,000 a year after 30% tax.

The same Rs10 lakh against an 8.25% home loan saves Rs82,500.

Same rupee. One rate in, a higher rate out.

The bank keeps the Rs38,500.