~~~Market Updates~~~

[vithagan]

Vithagan, u r from US?

Yes.


And Thanks a lot for the Gold ETF Information. I hope there must be something here on the Gold ETFs side, need to research more to pick the right one.

[rajraj]

You wont have a crash in Gold markets at anytime.

GP: In the US gold price goes up and comes down ! About 25 years back it was $700 an ounce and came down to $275 an ounce! When it was $800 some Indians were selling their ornaments!

http://goldprice.org/30-year-gold-price-history.html

Only in India it keeps going up !

[app_engine]

great: Do companies in India offer retirement savings plans with matching contribution?

There used to be "EPF" (employees provident fund) where upto a % of basic salary gets contributed to a gov controlled fund, with employer matching (and it's pre-tax). Even withdrawls from this fund for specific reasons (house construction, house loan closure, job loss etc) are not taxable. Employee can contribute more than that % but employer need not match. Also, above that percentage, income tax has some conditions (means not totally tax free).

The fund gets gov rate of interest (similar to other schemes like NSC / NSS / Public PF etc).

This is somewhat similar to 401(K) in US but the funds are managed by gov.

[great]

EPF is still there; employer would contribute 12% towards EPF. However employee can go beyond this limit upto 20%, I beleive.

Compared to Fixed deposit NSS /NSC has a decent return and the capital would be intact. Major drawback would be on the withdrawl

Retirement saving plan,isnt it on Pension Plan?

[app_engine]

EPF is still there; employer would contribute 12% towards EPF.

With some conditions - like "trainees" won't get this etc. (I was naive to sign up for a 2 year "training" period with bond etc during campus interview those days).

[dev]

GP/Great, any idea how to get ur money out of PF?. Procedure therinja sollunga.

[GP]

GP/Great, any idea how to get ur money out of PF?. Procedure therinja sollunga.

procedure simplethaan.
they will give you 2-3 forms in PF office. adha fill panni, employer kitta company seal vaangittu, PF office la kuduthA, the amount will be credited to your bank account (that you mentioned in form) in 1-3 months.

but am trying to get my PF amount for almost an year. but still could not get it.

[rajraj]

Retirement saving plan,isnt it on Pension Plan?

There was what was known as traditional pension plan where the company made the contribution and the employees did not. That plan, considered to be expensive for the corporations, is gone. Now, the employees have to save for retirement plan called 401K. Employees make a contribution with a maximum limit and the employer matches part of it. You can withdraw only when you retire or defer it till you are 70 and a half. The problem is that most Americans don't have good saving habits!

[great]

oh, this has feature of PF except that you cant withdraw

[app_engine]

oh, this has feature of PF except that you cant withdraw

Actually, one can withdraw from 401K (apart from taking loans). The only catch is, they'll withhold at least 20% for tax and another 10% as penalty for withdrawl if the person is less than 60 yrs old (considered "too early").

These penal provisions are exempt in certain cases, like "hardship" (no job, no unemployment pay, no other assistance etc that has to be proved).