How to make post-retirement life happy and fruitful?

  

Why many persons are not happy during their post-retirement life despite having financial freedom and having no liability towards their children. Even after achieving most of the things in life and free from financial problems, persons are not happy. Let us find out the reasons why many persons are not happy during their post-retirement life.   

Let us find out the reasons for happiness: 

Before finding out the reasons for unhappiness let us find out the reasons why the persons should be happier during their post-retirement life. 

(i) The foremost reason for happiness is not having any Boss during post-retirement life. You are your own boss. You have all the 24 hours at your disposal which you can utilise as per your desires and convenience.

(ii) Another reason for happiness is reduction in stress level after retirement as you are free from job related stress during post-retirement life. 

(iii)  You are not answerable to anyone except yourself. During working life, you were answerable to your boss for your performance. You were even answerable to your client.

(iv)  During working life your plan for going to vacation tour was subjected to sanction of leave by your boss. You are now free to plan your vacation tour any time during the year as per your convenience. 

(v) You can choose to do any work as per your interest and liking which was not the case before retirement.

Reasons for Unhappiness During Post Retirement life: 

Despite having strong reasons for happiness why some persons are unhappy during post-retirement life? Generally, most of the unhappiness are mental and not due to external factors. Let us discuss the reasons why many persons are unhappy during their post-retirement life.

(i)  Having regret for non-achievement or under achievement during the past life is one of the main reasons for unhappiness. Many persons are having regret for not getting promotion, not getting reward for their performance, etc. Living in the past and continuously remembering the failures during past life makes a person unhappy in the present.

(ii)  Expectation of recognition and respects from ex-colleagues and other persons is another reason for unhappiness. Many persons expects that they should continue to get respect from their colleagues even after retirement. But that is not the reality. When a person does not get respect as per expectation, they become unhappy. 

(iii)  Many retired persons are in the habit of giving free advices to family members and friends. A person become unhappy when nobody listens to his or her advice. Habit of giving free advices invites unhappiness in one's life. 

(iv)  Spending most of the time in watching television also invites unhappiness. Watching news in television for long duration feeds negativity in our sub-conscious mind which ultimately creates unhappiness.

(v)  Excessive talking also leads to unhappiness. Many persons at this stage talk more about their own achievements during their student and working life which nobody want to listen. This creates frustration and unhappiness.

(vi)  Non utilisation or improper utilisation of free time due to lack of engagement is another reason for unhappiness. Lack of engagement creates negative thoughts in the mind which create unhappiness.

How to make your retirement life happy and fruitful? 

 If you have to make your retirement life happy and fruitful then you have to follow certain dos and don’ts. Let us first discuss about Do's and thereafter we will discuss about Don’ts. 

What you should do to make your retirement life happy and fruitful?

(i) Take Care of Your Health: It's very important to take care of your health. You can enjoy your post-retirement life if your health is in good condition. Health means not only your physical health but also your mental as well as spiritual health. Maintenance of your physical health is very much essential to do your day-to-day activities without any difficulties. It will reduce your dependency on other person and will help you in enjoying your vacation tour. As regards maintenance of good physical health, I have explained in details in my previous blog the link of which is given hereunder. You may click the link the following link to have details on maintaining good physical health during post-retirement life.

https://post-retirementlife.blogspot.com/2022/04/physical-health-during-second-innings.html

It is also very important to take care of your mental as well as spiritual health. Need for taking care of one's mental and spiritual health has been explained in my previous blogs the link of which are given hereunder.

(i) https://post-retirementlife.blogspot.com/2022/04/mental-health-during-second-innings-of.html

(ii) https://post-retirementlife.blogspot.com/2022/03/spiritual-health-during-second-innings.html

(ii) Develop Good Friend circle: It is very important to develop good friend circle near your surroundings. It is better to start developing friend circle well before your retirement so that you can have some friends after retirement for your socialisation. Friend Circle's composition should be diversified, both in terms of professional and cultural backgrounds so that you can enrich yourself with their wide experiences. Have a regular meeting and get together with them.

(iii) Have a vacation tour, picnic and other amusement: Plan for vacation tour at reasonable frequency with your spouse. Have both short tour and long tour at certain interval which is comfortable to you. At least once in a year you should go for picnic with your friends and family members. Have a visit to nearby museum, park and other amusement centres for your recreation. 

(iv) Make daily contribution to your life: Please make an endeavour to make value addition to your life. Please remember one thing that your scope for progress doesn’t stop on retirement date. There is a scope for progress even after retirement. There is always a scope for progress till you are alive. Ensure daily contribution to your life for making it meaningful. Extend your helping hand to your spouse in day-to-day routine household work. If you have a long-term plan for making some value addition to your life, ensure to make daily progress in that direction. For example, if you have decided to author a book which may take one- or two-years’ time to finish, then make a strategy to have a quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily target to ensure consistent efforts in the direction of your goal. 

(v) Pursue your hobby: Every person is having at least one hobby which one could not pursue during working or professional life. It is better to pursue your hobby during post-retirement life which will make your life happy and meaningful. It will also give you meaningful engagement.

(vi) Pay back to Society: From childhood to adult stage most of the investments were made for our personal development. During our working and professional life, we worked for our livelihood for the development and welfare of our family. This is the time to pay back to society when we don't have any liability towards our children and passive income is sufficient to take care of our expenditure. You may pay back to society by doing some charity or philanthropical work which will give you peace of mind. 

 

(vii) Mix with the persons of all age group: There is a general tendency of a person to mix with the persons of having same age group. It is advisable to mix with the persons of different age groups so that you can enrich yourself with the varieties of experiences of persons of different age groups. Persons of younger age group may also be benefitted by enriching themselves with your experiences. Mixing with young generation will abreast you with the latest development and trends in the society.

 (viii) Develop your listening skill: It has been observed that with the growing age a person is in the habit of talking more and listening less. Please develop the habit of talking less and listening more. Talking more without listening to other person antagonise the other person and you miss some useful information which that person wants to convey. If you talk less and patiently listen to other person then your image gets uplifted in the heart of that person and you get enrich with the information provided by that person. Please remember every person wants that he or she should be listened patiently by others. If you also want the same then you have to develop the habit of listening to others with patience. 

 What you should not do during post-retirement life 

(i)  Never give free advices to anyone even to your family members. If you are in the habit of giving free advices then you will be ignored and avoided by other persons including your family members. Such situation will bring unhappiness in your life. Never give advice to anyone unless someone seeks your advice.  

 (ii) Never permanently stay with your Children's family. Avoid staying with your Children's family because your independence may get compromised to some extent. If they request you to stay with them for some time which may be helpful to them then you may stay with them to extend your helping hand. During your stay with your Child's family maintain arm length distance and never interfere in their family matters. Give them their personal space so that you will also have the personal space for yourself.

 (iii) While talking to your children and grandchildren never say ‘during our time’ because today's time is also yours since you are living today. Live in present instead of living in the past. Never glorify past at the cost of present. There is a general tendency of many old age persons to glorify the things in the past and criticising the things in the present. Please remember that human civilisation progresses with the passage of time. With the passage of time human civilisation rectify the mistakes done in the past. Therefore, in general the present is always better than the pasts.

 (iv) Never visit your previous office for mere socialisation. If you do so you will get frustrated and demoralised. If you have any personal work for which you need to visit your previous office then you should restrict your visit to that purpose only. Please remember that in whatever position you might have been retired but your presence in the office after retirement is not welcomed. 

 (v) Never boast yourself in a friend circle about your position and importance in the office before retirement. Nobody is interested to know your position and importance in the office before retirement as we all know that the brand of a fused bulb is hardly matter to anyone. Please remember you will be judged in your friend circle based on your attitude and behaviour at present. 

 (vi) Never be overenthusiastic in knowing what is happening in the office after your retirement. I have seen some persons who are very enthusiastic to know what is happening in the office after their retirement, who got promotion, who did not get promotion, etc. These are none of your business. Your over enthusiasm to know the present happening in the office may diminish your image amongst your friends who are still working in the office.

 (vii) Never bother about the persons who are ignoring you. Instead of focussing on the persons who are ignoring you it is better to focus on your family members and friends who are taking care of you. Never give undue importance to the persons who are ignoring you. It is better to ignore such persons who are ignoring you.

By following certain dos and don’ts as explained above one can make post-retirement life happy and fruitful. 

   My Tour to Puri 

Puri is an attractive tourist destination of India situated in the State of Odisha and is on the Eastern Coast. Puri is famous for its Pilgrimage and Beach Tourism. It is famous for Shri Jagannath Temple which is one of the four Dhamas i.e., char dham (Holiest of the holy places) i.e., Puri, Badrinath, Dwarika and Rameswaram in India and for the longest Golden Beach. This time we stayed for four days in Puri from April 17, 2023 to April 21, 2023. I would like to share my experiences and the information in brief about the places that I visited with my wife during this tour. 

1. Jagannath Temple

Jagannath Temple is one of the Dhamas out of four Dhamas i.e., Puri, Badrinath, Dwarika and Rameswaram in India. It is an important Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath.   The main temple of Lord Jagannath was built by Somavamsa King Indradyumna of Abanti.  This temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra i.e., Chariot Festival. The idols of Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Mahaprabhu Shri Balabhadra are placed on the Bejeweled Pedestal (Ratna Simhassana). The temple was built on the basis of Oriya architecture. The main temple is having curvilinear shape with a chakra of Lord Vishnu (also called Nila Chakra) on the top. The height of the tower of the temple is 65 metres. The temple is having four gates at the eastern, western, northern and southern sides of the temple premises known as Simhadwara (Lion's Gate), Vyagrhara Dwara (Tiger's Gate), Hasti Dwara (Elephant's Gate) and Ashwa Dwara (Horse's gate). Singha Dwara is the main gate to enter the Jagannath Temple. Shoes, mobile phones, leather goods and cameras are not allowed inside the temple. One has to keep these items in a counter dedicated for depositing shoes and mobiles before entering the temple which can be collected back after darshan. 

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2. Raghurajpur Artist Village

This time we have visited Raghurajpur Artist Village during our stay at Puri. This place is at a distance of about 10 kilometers from Puri. This is the heritage craft village known for its Pattachitra art. Pattachitra means paintings on a piece of cloth. The word 'Pattachitra' has evolved from sanskrit words 'patta' means canvas or cloth and 'chitra' means picture. This is an art which dates back to 5 BC in the region. Pattachitra of this village has been recognised by UNESCO. This village was declared as Heritage Village by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage in the year 2000. More or less 100 families are residing in this village and most of the members of each family are engaged in art work and they have been doing this for generations. We have visited the houses of five to six artists. They have displayed their artistic works with full enthusiasm. We have purchased few Pattachitra Paintings from them for decorating drawing room of our house. 

The above photograph is the inside of house of one artist family displaying various paintings and other artistic works. There is another photograph of chittapatra paintings displayed by the artist in his house. 

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3. Konark Sun Temple

Konark Sun Temple is at a distance of about 35 kilometres from Puri. We went to the temple by car. On the way we found cashew nut plantations. Cashew nuts are grown in this area. Konark Sun Temple was built in 1250 AD during the reign of the Eastern Ganga King Narasimhadeva-I. The Kalinga region was ruled by the rulers of Eastern Ganga Dynasty from 5th century AD to 15th century AD.  This temple is a monumental representation of the Sun God Surya's chariot. Its 24 wheels are decorated with symbolic designs and the chariot is led by a team of six horses. The number 24 represents 24 fortnights in a year and also 24 hours of the day. This temple is the culmination of Kalinga Temple architecture. The name Konark is made of two sanskrit words 'Kona' means corner and 'arka' means sun. The town gets its name 'Konark' from its geographical location which makes it look like the sun rises at an angle. The temple complex consists of the main temple complex, Mayadevi Temple and Vaishnava Temple. It is also having other subsidiary structures like the gateway, well, kitchen, enclosure wall, etc. We have also visited the Archaeological Museum, Konark located near the main temple in the northern direction. This museum started in the year 1968 and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. The purpose of starting this museum was to house the archaeological excavations and the fallen sculptures from the Sun Temple. The museum is having four galleries displaying 260 various antiquities. It is better to visit museum before visiting Konark Temple so that you can have better idea of the temple beforehand. After exit from the Konark Temple we found many stalls displaying varieties of cashew nuts and poppy seeds (khaskhas in Hindi, postdana in Bengali). These items are reasonably cheap in this market.

Cashew nut plants on the way to Konark Temple. 👉

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4. Blue Flag Beach

Earlier it was Golden beach of Puri which has been renamed as a Blue Flag Beach. This beach has been officially ranked as India(s) cleanest beach. Before entering the beach, you have to pay Rs.20 as entry fee for a period of three hours. It has been officially ranked as India's cleanest beach. This beach is one of Asia's first blue flag certified beaches. Blue Flag certification is given by FEE (The Foundation for Environment Education) situated at Denmark. They started certification of Blue Flag beaches since 1987. Thirty-three stringent criteria of FEE, Denmark are required to be fulfilled to obtain and maintain Blue Flag Certification. This beach is having core infrastructure facilities like public toilets, changing and shower room, watch towers, sitting arrangements, solar lighting system and demarcation of safe swimming zone. This beach is very less crowdy as compared to Puri Beach. You will find long easy chairs with sheds in beach located away from sea. You can use those sitting arrangements free of cost. But if you want to sit in chairs nearer to sea for closely observing sea waves then you have to make payment based on number of hours you are using those chairs.  

    This time we could not visit Chilika Lake due to hot summer. It is better to visit Chilika Lake during winter season so that you can enjoy the whole day by doing boating and watching migratory birds. Generally migratory birds come to various places in India during winter season. Dhauli Giri Hills is another tourist destination in Odisha which is at a distance of about 12 Km. from Bhubaneswar and about 50 Km. from Puri. You can also visit Nandankanan Zoological Park near Bhubaneswar. Next time I will visit Puri and Bhubaneswar during winter season for carrying out my remaining site seeing which could not be covered during this visit. 

Taking Personal Decision

 

Taking Personal Decision

1. Introduction   

Taking personal decision is not a very big deal but the question is why most of us fail to take our own personal decision. We generally do the mistake of discussing our personal decision with several persons before actually taking it and in the process, we fail to take decision because different persons give different suggestions based on their own perceptions, perspectives and circumstances. But it does not mean that we should not gather information required for taking right decision. But the question is how, when and from whom to gather information. We will discuss it later. Let us first discuss why people find it difficult to take one’s own personal decision.

  2. Why a person finds it difficult to take personal decision?

  During childhood all our decisions including daily routine activities were taken by our parents. Many Children are not even able to choose their dishes in buffet lunch or dinner in the absence of their parents. During school days all our activities were decided and planned by our teachers and for taking personal decisions we were dependent on our parents, teachers or pear groups. During service life our activities in the workplace are decided by our bosses. It means we are not in the habit of taking decisions from childhood to old age and therefore find it difficult to take personal decision.

3. What stops us in taking personal decision?    

Let us discuss the impediments or hurdles in taking decision. What stops us in taking our own personal decisions. It is our mindset which either enables us or prevent us in taking decision. Positive mindset, clarity in thoughts and unbiased point of views are required to take decision. One is not able to take decision with negative mindset. What are those elements which make our mindset negative? Fear, shakiness, lack of confidence make our mindset negative. Fear about uncertainty in getting desired outcome is the biggest impediment in taking decision. Fear comes from lack of confidence and lack of confidence comes from lack of proper knowledge. Shakiness comes from fear and lack of confidence. Lack of clarity in thought creates confusion which stops us in taking proper decision. Unbiased opinion, clear vision, good listening skill, independent thought, foresightedness and open mind are required for bringing clarity in thought. For unbiased opinion, mind should be free from all types of prejudice and biasness.

4. Gathering information for decision making  

Lack of information is another impediment in taking decision. Gathering information or feedback does not mean discussing decision with other before taking it. Four elements i.e., ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘from whom’ and ‘how’ are important while gathering information. One should know the type of information required for taking decision. One should also know when, from whom and how to gather information. For example, a young and energetic Civil Engineer has decided to leave job and to have his own construction company. For taking this decision he should know what are the information required for taking decision i.e., amount of capital, registration of company, legal and statutory requirements, sources of raw materials, labours and expertise, etc. Required information are to be gathered from proper and genuine sources well before taking decision.

  5. Implementing Decision

 Implementation of decision is as important as taking decision. Non-implementation or delayed implementation frustrates the very purpose of taking decision which is mainly due to procrastination. Procrastination makes the decision time barred for its implementation. Let us discuss one interesting example of getting decision time barred. Mr. Santanu got affectionate towards Jasmine during his college days. Jasmine was two years junior to Santanu and both were studying in the same college. Santanu decided to propose Jasmine but he was waiting for opportune moment which never came during his college days. Then he decided to propose her after completing his post-graduation, but he could not. Then he decided to propose her immediately after getting job. But it took another two years in proposing her when already her marriage was fixed. It is the fear of rejection which stopped him to propose Jasmine immediately after taking decision. Anyway, the possible outcome could have been either acceptance or rejection which he could have been known much earlier had he not delayed in proposing her. Acceptance could have removed his anxiety of choosing life partner whereas rejection could have saved his precious time which could have been utilized in finding another person as life partner. I hope you understood the importance of prompt implementation of decision.

6. Developing the habit of taking decision 

Friends, taking timely decision and its prompt implementation is the key to success. Every successful person takes decision and promptly implement it. They never bother about other person’s opinion about their decision. On the other hand, most of us bother about other person’s opinion and therefore fails to take decision.  Friends, develop the habit of taking decision whether small or big and implement it without any delay. If you are parent then inculcate this habit in yourself and in your children. The question is how to inculcate the habit of taking decision in children. Before this question there may be another question that may arise in your mind whether children are able to take decision. Yes, children are also able to take certain decisions. Encourage your child in developing the habit of taking small decision by giving them choice. For example, if you want to give egg to your child in breakfast, ask him whether he want to take boiled egg or omelette. Such little efforts will enable you to develop decision-making capability in your child which will not only enable him to take big decision in life but also make him independent.

 Friends, develop the habit of taking your own personal decisions no matter whether it is small or big and immediately take steps for its implementation. Never depend on any other person for taking your own personal decision. Develop belief and confidence on your ability to take decision and the decision per se. Taking decisions and its prompt implementation will give you confidence and will improve your personality and leadership quality. Taking decisions and ensuring its prompt implementation is one of the most important attributes of leadership quality. I have seen the persons depending on their nearest relatives or friends for taking own personal decision or any other decisions related to family matters. Such persons cannot emerge as leaders in their own family and also lose respect from their family members. Such persons knowingly or unknowingly are allowing other persons to interfere in their own personal and family matters and thereby losing independence by giving command of their life to somebody else. Please remember as such there is no right or wrong decision. It is important to take decision as and when necessity arises. Even if decision taken by you comes out to be incorrect, you are not owing to anybody else except yourself and in the process, you will learn to take correct decision.

7. Conclusion 

Whether it is a matter of choosing your profession, carrier or life partner you have to take your own decision.  Many persons depend on their parents or relatives to choose their life partners. But ultimately nobody else except yourself is going to take the responsibility of your life partner. You are the best judge for your own decision and that’s why believe in yourself, take your personal decision, implement it and own responsibility for your decision.

    

 Investing in Gold

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1. Gold is a precious metal and there is a tendency to hold gold as a store of wealth since ancient time. It is also used to make ornaments and jewelleries. Peoples are buying gold because of the following reasons.

(i) Gold is hold by the people because of its durability and malleability.

(ii) It is used for making ornaments and jewelleries. 

(iii) Gold is hold by the people to hedge against inflation as well as deflation. 

(iv) Gold provides a financial cover during geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. 

(v) Gold is treated as crisis commodity because in times of geopolitical uncertainty it outperforms other investment and people can flee to its relative safer place during the rise of global tension. 

Price of 24 carats gold in India during the year 2001 was approximately Rs. 430.00 per gram which increased to Rs.2640.00 per gram during the year 2011. Its annualised yield comes out to be 19.89 percent. During the year 2021 its price was Rs.4872.00 per gram giving an annualised yield of 12.90 percent over a period of 20 years which not only beat inflation but also beat the maximum interest rate of term deposits in India. Therefore, one can think of including gold in one's portfolio. 

2.  No doubt investment in gold is good. But while purchasing gold ornaments one needed to take the following precautions.

(i)  Please ensure the purity of gold in the ornaments which you are buying. Purity of gold is determined by carats. A 24 carats gold is considered to be 99.9% pure and its purity get reduced with decline in the number of carats i.e., purity of 22 kt gold is less than 24 carats gold.

(ii) Hallmark certify the purity of gold and therefore it is advisable to buy hallmarked jewellery. 

(iii) Please check the actual weight of gold that you are buying and it should be exclusive of used stones in ornaments. 

(iv) Please check and compare the price of gold before buying and buy gold ornaments from a trusted jeweller or branded jewellery shops. 

3. Disadvantages of investing in physical gold.

(i) Price of ornaments and jewelleries include making charge which ranges between Rs.30 and Rs.60 per gram and also GST amount which you are paying at the time of purchase of gold from jewellery shop. But at the time of selling ornaments, you are paid only the price of gold (exclusive of making charge and GST) at the prevailing market rate by the shroff or jewellers. 

(ii) While selling gold to jewellers they reduce the weight of metal alloy and other impurities in the ornament to arrive at the actual weight of gold and you are paid accordingly based on actual weight of gold in the ornament at the prevailing market price of gold at the time of selling.

(iii)  You will not get any value for gold jewelleries if it is lost or stolen. You have to keep it in safe custody. You may have to hire bank's locker for safe keeping of your jewelleries for which you may have to pay annual rent depending on the size of locker.

It is better to limit the holding of physical gold because of the above risks. Is there any other way for investing in gold to minimise the risks associated with holding physical gold?  Yes, instead of holding gold in physical form you can hold it in paper form or electronic form. Government of India launched Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme in November 2015 under Gold Monetisation Scheme. Since then, several tranches of Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme have been issued. Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme has been explained in detail in the following paragraph.  

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4. Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme:  

Under Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme, the issues are made open for subscription in tranches by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in consultation with Government of India (GOI). The Bonds are in denominations of one gram of gold or its multiple thereof. An individual person resident in India can make minimum investment of one gram and maximum of four kilogram of gold per fiscal year in such Bonds. The tenure of the Bond is 8 years with the exit option in 5th, 6th, and 7th year to be exercised on the interest payment dates. The price of the Bond is fixed in Indian Rupees on the basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) for the last 3 business days of the week preceding the subscription period. The redemption price will be based on simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity of previous 3 working days published by IBJA. The interest is paid to the investors at a fixed rate of 2.5% per annum payable semi-annually on the nominal value of the bond. The interest is taxable but the capital gains tax arising on redemption of these bonds to an individual is exempted. The indexation benefit is available for the long-term capital gains arising to any person on transfer of bond.   

5. Gold Exchange-Traded Funds i.e., Gold ETF:  Gold ETFs are kind of mutual funds that are listed and traded on Exchange and can be hold in Demat form.  One unit of Gold ETF is equivalent to one gram of 24 carats gold. Axis Gold ETF, Kotak Gold ETF, HDFC Gold Exchange Traded Fund, ICICI Prudential Gold ETF, etc. are few Gold ETF Funds in India for investment. Most of the Gold ETFs are open ended. Gold ETFs are having the following advantages over physical Gold and Sovereign Gold Bonds.

Advantages of making investment in Gold ETF:

(i) Pricing of Gold ETF is closer to the actual market price of Gold compared to physical gold as it is devoid of any premium resulting from the making charges, GST, alloys and impurities contained in physical form of Gold i.e., gold jewelleries. 

(ii) Sovereign Gold Bonds are available to investors for investment when the issues are made open for subscriptions. But Gold ETFs are always available for investments. 

(iii) Gold ETFs are having more liquidity as compared to Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) as it can be traded in open market at the free will of the investors and it does not have any lock-in period. But there is a lock-in period of five years for SGBs. 

(iv) Unlike SGBs, investors can remain invested in Gold ETFs as long as they feel like. 

(v) Unlike SGBs there is no upper limit for investment in Gold ETFs. 

(vi) Unlike Physical Gold, there is no scope for loss of value due to theft as Gold ETFs are hold in Demat form.

Disadvantages of making investment in Gold ETF: Gold ETFs are having the following disadvantages over physical Gold and Sovereign Gold Bonds.

(i) Capital Gains on selling of Gold ETFs are taxable. Long term capital Gains are taxed with indexation benefit while short term capital gains are taxed based on the tax slab of the investors. While Capital Gains arising on selling of Sovereign Gold Bonds are exempted from the payment of income tax. 

(ii) Unlike SGBs, there is no interest payment to investors. Return on redemption of Gold ETFs are subject to market risks.

(iii) Unlike SGBs, investment in Gold ETFs include Fund Management Charge, brokerage at the time of both purchase and sell of ETFs and administrative charges.

6. Conclusion: No doubt that the returns on investment in Gold is comparatively higher than that of debt instruments if hold for longer period i.e., at least 10 years. But our investment portfolio should not contain substantial investment in Gold. Investment in Gold should be limited to 10 percent of our total investment portfolio. Our investment in Gold should consist of physical gold, SGBs and Gold ETFs of which investment in physical Gold should be bare minimum. One can make investment in Gold ETFs through systematic investment plan (SIP). 

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  Safety and Security of Senior Citizens

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  I highlighted on spending quality time during second innings of life in various posts in my blog. Today I am writing this article to emphasis on safety and security which is equally important to enable us to spend quality time during second innings. The safety and security aspects will be discussed in this article in two parts.

1.  Safety and Security at Home 

2.  Safety and Security outside the Home

1. Safety and Security at Home: 

 All the senior citizens are required to take care of their safety and security at home from external threats as well as from internal threats. 

1. (i) Safety and Security from external threats: 

    External threats are the threats that comes to us from the sources outside our home. Strangers visiting your home may be an external threat. If you are staying in an apartment then your apartment is under common security provided by the Society or Apartment Owners' Association whatsoever may be. The security guards monitor the entry and exit of visitors inside the Housing Complex at the entrance of Housing Complex. Many Housing Complexes monitor the entry and exit of visitors not only through visitors register but also through CCTV cameras installed at the entrance of the Housing Complex and at the entrance of individual block or building. In addition, there is a mobile app called 'MyGate' which allow the visitor to enter if it is approved by the individual apartment owner. MyGate app is having multiple functions like visitor management, Community Management, Payment of Society Dues, etc. The link of MyGate app is MyGate. In addition there is an another app i.e. Gatekeeper App whose link is ApnaComplex. 

     Even after having common security arrangement in residential complexes, one need to be vigilant when a visitor is entering inside the apartment. One should have peephole as well as safety chain on the entrance door of flat or apartment. Peephole or magic eye is a small round opening lens through a door from which a person staying inside the house or apartment can see directly outside the door. Viewing is possible only in one direction through these lenses. Various types of peepholes or door viewers are available which one can buy online from amazon, flipkart, IndiaMART and many other sites. The link for amazon, flipkart and IndiaMART are 

(i) Amazon 

(ii) Flipkart and

(iii) India Mart. 

       In addition to peephole, safety door chain on the entrance door of house or apartment is required for additional security for preventing threat from unknown visitors knocking the door. Safety chain allows a person to open the door partially for safe viewing and speaking to visitors before deciding whether to open the door fully. Various types of safety chains are available which one can buy online from amazon whose link is Amazon. 

    Before permitting security guard at the main entrance of your housing complex for allowing entry of any visitor please ensure the identity of the visitor. Once the visitor knocks your door please see through peephole or magic eye to ensure the identity of the person knocking your door. If the person is unknown then open the door partially by putting safety chain on door. 

    Security cameras should be installed at home so that you can have eyes on your home even when you are outside the home. Have some emergency contact numbers and share it with your trusted neighbours. 

1.(ii) Safety and Security from internal threats:

   There are certain threats which a person may have to face while staying in home and these threats are not from external sources but exists within the close door of home. Unawareness about these internal threats may lead to accident. Security threat may come from kitchen, washroom, floor, etc. Wet floor is very dangerous and one may slip leg which may cause injury and bone fracture. Whenever you find water droplets on your floor, please get it wiped as soon as possible. Floor should be dry and clutter free. There are instances of slipping in washroom because of wet floor. After taking bath, please wipe out water on bathroom's floor to outlet with the help of wiper. This will help in keeping bathroom floor dry and clean. 

    There is another threat that may arise from your kitchen. Many times, kitchen floor become wet while cooking or washing vegetables. This may also lead to accident due to leg slip. Please keep your kitchen floor dry. Kitchen burner or gas oven should be handled carefully otherwise it may lead to fire hazard. After finishing your cooking turn of the knobs of gas oven as well as regulator of gas cylinder / gas pipeline to prevent gas leakage.  Don't forget to switch of electrical appliances in the kitchen after use. Keep fire extinguisher inside your home and also know how to use it in case of any fire hazard. 

      Have an emergency medical kit with thermometer, gloves, cotton, gauze, sterile cleaning solutions, BP / Blood Sugar monitor. Dim light in your bedroom and bathroom should be always on at night. Keep a loud alarm bell in addition to mobile phone beside the bed to enable you to call for help in case of emergency.  

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2. Safety and Security outside the Home:

One has to be more aware of one's safety and security while staying outside the home. While using staircase one should mind the steps while going downstairs as well as upstairs. It is better to hold staircase railing while using staircase as it protects us from injury in case of slipping of steps especially while going downstairs. If you are moving out of your home for going to vacation or tour then you have to take certain precautions as listed hereunder.

(i) Before leaving your home please ensure that all the water taps are closed, knob of domestic gas supply is put off, all your electrical appliances inside the home are totally switched off, all your windows as well as doors are closed and entrance door is properly locked. 

(ii) At this age never try to lift your luggage otherwise it may lead to orthopaedic problems. Instead use trolley bag to carry your luggage. You may find various types of trolley bags on Wildcraft, Meesho, Nashermiles and also on various online shopping sites. 

(iii) If you are travelling abroad then please have travel and medical insurance.

(iv) Please carry your regular medicines and doctor's prescription whenever you move out of your home for tour or vacation. In addition, please also carry some other common medicines and ointments to be used in case of any injury or other health issues as first aid. Please also have the information and contact number of Doctors in the locality where you are visiting so that you can have consultation in case of serious health issues. 

(v)  Carry your mobile phone whenever you move out from your home. Please keep your near and dear informed about the places where you are going and have their contact numbers to be used in case of emergency. 

(vi)  Please avoid posting your photograph taken at airport or Railway station in social media especially when you are on tour. 

(vii) Note down the vehicle registration number of your hired cab and informed that number to your friend in that locality in the presence of cab driver. It will be better to share the contact number of cab driver to your friend so that in case your friend is not able to contact you then he or she can contact your cab driver. 

      Let us have secured second innings to have quality life with full of joy and pleasures. Share this with your friends and relatives having elders in their home.

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Enjoyment During Durga Puja Festival (Sharad Utsav)

Enjoyment During Durga Puja Festival (Sharad Utsav) 

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     Every year we enjoy Sharad Utsav with family and friends. Sharad Utsav i.e. Durga Puja Festival is celebrated in a big way in the state of West Bengal, India. However, it is also celebrated in other states in India. During previous two years we enjoyed this festival in a very restrictive manner because of pandemic situation due to spread of COVID-19. Sharad Utsav during this year is important for me because I could freely enjoy this festival with my family for the first time after retirement. UNESCO in December 2021 declared Durga Puja in Kolkata as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is a religious festival that has become a cultural and secular event. This festival has also become a space for social, artistic and cultural activities. Cultural programmes i.e., singing, dance, drama, etc., are organised during this festival. Many amateur artists get opportunity during this festival to portray their talents by performing in cultural events. 

     

        Like every year this year also Durga Puja was celebrated in our residential complex. Since my wife was Cultural Secretary of Durga Puja Committee in our residential complex, we focussed all our attention to the events in our residential complex and therefore up to Dashami i.e. upto 5th October, 2022 we could not venture outside to see other Durga Puja Pandals. There was an arrangement of paid community lunch and breakfast in our residential complex for four days from Maha Saptami (on October 02, 2022) to Dashami (on October 05, 2022). We enjoyed breakfast and community lunch during day time and cultural programme during night. My wife was involved in conducting cultural programmes and she herself participated in some cultural events. 

                                 (Durga Puja in our residential complex)👉

     This year New Town's first Centrally organised Durga Puja was celebrated in New Town, Kolkata. This is Centrally organised Durga Puja because this is the first community Durga Puja which is not exclusive to any block or housing complex. It was celebrated in the ground behind the Clock Tower in Action Area1 of New Town. This was organised by the New Town Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samiti which is an association of residents of New Town, Kolkata and backed by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO) and New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA). New Town is a satellite city of Kolkata. Apart from this, Durga Puja is celebrated in various blocks and residential complex of New Town, Kolkata. Our Housing Complex is in New Town, Kolkata and Durga Puja is celebrated every year in our Housing Complex.   

 I along with my wife and youngest son visited the pandal of New Town's first Centrally organised Durga Puja on October 06, 2022 i.e. the next day of Bijoya Dashami. You may see the picture of Durga Puja Pandal of New Town's first centrally organised Durga Puja on left hand side. Traditional arts and sculptures were exhibited inside the pandal which enhanced its beauty which you may observe from this picture. An overarching message that the Organiser of this Durga Puja wanted to send out is 'Women's Empowerment' and therefore all the four priests, twelve dhakis (drummers) and about a dozen of dhunuchi dancers were women in this Durga Puja. This is the speciality of this Durga Puja. Dhunuchi dance is a devotional dance performed to thank Goddess Durga by holding a dhunuchi i.e., earthen pot containing the burning coconut husk with dhuno (frankincense) sprinkled on it. 

    This year we enjoyed the festival by active participations in various events organised by the Durga Puja Committee of our Housing Complex. This festival gives us the opportunity to meet with other residence of our Housing Complex. I take this opportunity to develop understanding with other residence in our Housing Complex and to create new contacts. This is the occasion when there are maximum interactions amongst the people. With every passing day this festival is becoming more social and cultural event than the religious one. Almost all the people in the State of West Bengal, India eagerly wait for this festive season but some sections of people like tailors, decorators, idol makers, artisans, dhakis, singers, caterers, traders, etc. wait for this festival not only for mere enjoyment but also for livelihoods. For me this is a festival of joy as various cultural events during this programme give me full of joy and pleasures. I whole heartedly enjoyed this festival and will enjoy other upcoming festivals. 

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Enjoying the evening and morning on riverside

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I enjoy riverside and seabeach. On September 22, 2022 I started my travel with my wife to her parental house in Falta, West Bengal, India. I myself drove my electric vehicle from my residence at New Town, Kolkata to Falta which is about 60 kilometres away from my residence. I always enjoy long driving. 

    

 First two days we took rest and did shopping. We enjoyed greeneries around my parent-in-laws house. On 24th September, I along with my brother-in-law who is in teaching profession, went to a village named Burul on the bank of river Hooghly by his scooty. We both enjoyed the sunset on riverside. Burul is at a distance of 7.9 kilometres from Falta. Burul is a small riverside village located in 24 Parganas South district of West Bengal, India and is approximately 35 km distance from Alipur, Kolkata. It's a perfect weekend destination near Kolkata. This place is ideal for one night stay or day outing. One may prefer to stay in resort near riverside. After enjoying the sunset on riverside at Burul we came back to Falta. 

     On 25th Morning at 5.15 am I myself and my wife together started walking towards riverside of Hooghly River in Falta. There was total traffic jam due to increased number of vehicles moving towards riverside and there was huge crowd on the road. Therefore, instead of taking our vehicle we preferred to walk. The rush was due to Mahalaya. Mahalaya is an auspicious day which marks the beginning of Durga Puja Celebrations. This day marks the beginning of Devi Paksha and the end of Pitri Paksha. On this day many people offer prayers to the departed soul of their ancestors on the bank of river. Therefore, there was huge crowd towards river Hooghly in the early morning. 

I had taken selfie covering the crowd of devotees who came to the bank of river Hooghly to offer prayers to the departed soul of their ancestors. The devotees remain on fast till the completion of their prayer to the departed soul of their ancestors. Offering prayer to the departed soul of ancestors during Mahalaya is called 'Tarpan'. Devotees break their fast after performing Tarpan and therefore there was an arrangement for breakfast on the bank of river Hooghly. In addition, there were many food stalls on road side parallel to the river. We also purchased local sweet called Jilepi and got it packed so that we can enjoy breakfast together with all at home. We started walking toward home and we reached there after half an hour due to crowd and movement of vehicles.

        We enjoyed our evening as well as morning on the bank of river Hooghly. On 25th of September 2022, we came back to our residence at New Town, Kolkata. After coming back to our residence, we started preparing ourselves to enjoy the festival of Durga Puja to be started within a week. This festival is celebrated in a big way in the State of West Bengal, India. This festival is also celebrated in other states in India. I will come back to you very soon in another post on our enjoyment in Durga Puja festival.

     

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👈 Devotees assembled on the bank of River Hooghly to perform Tarpan

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