Chanakya Quotes

Person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC 75 BC)

"Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. ! It will destroy you."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when
you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"Whores don't live in company of poor men, citizens never support a weak company and birds don't build nests on a tree that doesn't bear fruits."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"A man is great by deeds, not by birth."

Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

"Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

How best to take care of your parents

Deepa Venkatraghvan, Moneycontrol.com June 13, 2006

No matter how nuclear our families get, children are expected to look after their parents in a large number of families in India. It makes sense to be prepared if your parents are going to fall back on you.

Last year, the Bacchan starrer Baghbaan won accolades at the box office. The story wasn't a new one - the usual tale of children quarrelling over who should take care of their old parents. But still it struck hearts. No matter how nuclear our families get, children are expected to and do look after their parents in a large number of families in India.

Building a corpus

A recent AC Nielsen-ORG Marg survey revealed that 65 per cent of Indians are not even thinking about how to survive in their old age. Only 10 per cent of all Indians save for old age.

Another 10 per cent are covered through mandatory pension and provident fund schemes. Eighty per cent do not have adequate savings for their old age. So chances are that most families would have dependent elders. In such a scenario, it makes sense to be prepared even before the dependency starts.

Twenty-nine-year-old Sanjay Khodse is doing just that. Sanjay lives in Pune with his wife, child and parents. He has started to take over the reins of the family business from his father, who plans to retire in the next 5-6 years.

"My parents will continue living with me and I will take care of a large part of their needs and expenses."

Certified financial planner Kartik Jhaveri suggests, "The strategy here would be to apportion a good part of your parents' and your income, pool them in together and build a corpus using aggressive investment strategies."

The question is - how much does 'good part of income' mean? Another certified financial planner Gaurav Mashruwala recommends, "A good indicator would be to invest the amount that your parents spend every month on their own expenses."

Here it is important to exclude certain expenses, which your parents would not incur on a regular basis once they have retired. One example would be conveyance expenses while traveling to work.

Once you have arrived at that investment amount, Mashruwala suggests an allocation of 30 per cent in equities and the rest in debt. But of course, the allocation would depend on your risk taking ability. If you are an aggressive investor you could push up the equity component.

Certified financial planner Zankhana Shah gives a yardstick, "At least have debt exposure to an extent that it can provide you for 5 years of retirement period. This reduces your overall risk due to unpredictable equity markets", she says.

An important part of this is to arm yourself with adequate insurance. Remember that not only are your wife and kids dependent on you but your parents as well. This warrants a quantum increase in the amount of insurance cover you would need.

While keeping in mind your child's future you would also need to think about your parents medical needs.

Investing the corpus Jhaveri says, "Once the corpus is built totally or is built to a certain extent, income support can be initiated for parents and the shortfall could then be filled in from your income. That way they have income support plus the stress on your own personal goals gets reduced significantly as well."

What that means is that you must invest the corpus to generate income to meet their daily needs. If there is a shortfall, you ought to pitch in the difference.

Here's how you can invest the corpus:

Instrument	Interest rate	Tax impact	Lock-in
To meet liquidity
Savings Account	3.5%	Interest is taxable	No lock-in
Routine expenses
Senior Citizens Saving Scheme	9%	Interest is taxable	5 years
Post office MIS	8%	Interest is taxable	6 years
Mutual Fund MIP	Varies	-Dividend is tax-free -Short term capital at marginal rate - Long term capital gains tax @ 10%/20%	No lock-in
Annuity from LIC	6.5% onwards	Annuity is taxable	Minimum 5 years
For medical needs
Mediclaim insurance	NA	Claims not taxable	NA
Floating rate funds	4-5%	Same as Mutual Fund MIP	No lock-in
For long-term needs
Bank Fixed Deposits	5-6%	Interest is taxable	7 days onwards
Infrastructure Bonds	5-6%	Interest is taxable	3 year onwards
National Saving Certificate	8%	Interest is taxable	6 years
Equity mutual funds	Over long term 15-18%	-Dividend is tax-free -Short term capital gains tax @ 10% - No long term capital gains tax	No lock-in

Moreover it is important for you to ensure that all their needs are met while at the same time saving them the embarrassment of asking for money. These small steps can help:

• Add their share of expenses to your household budget
• Buy common groceries together and pay the bill yourself
• Open a bank account exclusively for your parents and transfer regular sums to the account every month
• Give them an ATM card they can access

For more on financial planning click here

Todays thought

You are not exactly what you think you are.....

think.
This is definitely true