Your money and you at the age of 40

Ask yourself whether you have developed skills, knowledge and attitude for a secure income

Uma Shashikant  29.10.2019

A friend called to complain that he was being badgered to buy retirement planning products. He will soon turn 40. How should 40-year olds look at their financial position? What should concern or comfort them?

After the job-hopping spree of the early years of working, the 40s is the time to take stock. To ask whether one has developed a set of skills, knowledge and attitude to secure a stable and rising income.

If you are still complaining about your work or blame the world and everyone for preventing you from achieving your potential, you may be stuck in a less than optimal situation. Not all of us end up with jobs we love. But at some point, we have to evaluate what the job is delivering for us. The 40s is a reasonable point for that.

The primary financial goal for most is adequacy of income. We should get to a point in our lives where we are happy and content with what we earn. If we think there is a problem, we should have done enough to fix it. By the time you are 40, you must have a clear plan for your future income.

Adequacy of income is easily tested by the assets you have accumulated. If you are 40 and the only assets you have are the home you live in and the PF and tax saving investments you have done, you may not be doing enough. The insurance agent’s persistence needs explanation here.

How much insurance you need is a math that is designed to scare you. Insurance is your fall-back option. Should anything happen to you, your family should be able to earn an equivalent income by investing the insurance proceeds. They can do it if you have built assets too. Insurance is an arrangement to fill the gap, while you earn and build assets. As you accumulate wealth, your insurance needs drop.

The 40s is the nice mid-point in your earning years. When you do this midpoint evaluation, you must have enough in the bank at the end of the month; you should be paying off your credit card dues in full and you must not have EMIs that take up most of your income-Which brings us squarely to the adviser who is urging you to plan for retirement. When can you retire? If your wealth can generate enough income that replaces what you are already earning, you are ready to retire. The 40s is the time to ask that question.

If you are in a place where your income is poised to take off, you have to guard against lifestyle and the urge to spend it all on an extravagant lifestyle.

There is still one last piece: your asset allocation. If all your wealth is in the house you are living in, and you are habitually upgrading it to reflect your status, you may risk being asset rich and cash poor in retirement.

But the time you retire, you should have say 30% of your wealth in property, 30% in equity to offer growth and inflation protection, 30% in income assets that generate regular cash for your use, and the balance 10% for anything unexpected. The 40s is the time to set yourself towards building assets to a plan.

There is no perfect time for specific actions in personal finance. It is a journey with wealth, where we make plans but are willing to make mid-course corrections as needed. The 40s in the story is just an indicative point for evaluation. Do what sails your boat, but always ensure that your income, today and tomorrow is stable, secure and adequate.

The author is Chairperson of The Centre for Investment Education and Learning

‘Smartphone users neglecting security’

Sindhu.Hariharan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.10.2019

Indian consumers may be regularly upgrading their smartphones, but hardly 10% of the user base invest in a protective security solution for their phones.

Even as the smartphone market reaches record highs when other consumer-facing sectors are in a crossroads of economic slowdown, less than 6% buyers spend additionally (an amount often just 10% of the mobile cost) on a paid anti-virus solution for the device, a recent techARC study of over 10 million smartphone users shows.

While user attention is focused on security threats on personal computers and laptops, cybersecurity analysts say mobile devices are more vulnerable.

“Given the kind of data a smartphone consists, and widespread use of social media and banking transactions on mobile devices, the risk of cyber threats to mobile devices is 10X that of PCs,” Satyajit Sinha, research analyst, Counterpoint Research, said. According to a recent study by Counterpoint, smartphone vendors too pay relatively little attention to operating system (OS) and security updates, with less than one-third of the sub-$200 smartphones updated to the latest version of Android.

Cybersecurity specialists say phishing campaigns, mobile malwares, credential thefts, ransomwares, SIM swapping, and other new-age attacks are increasing across mobile devices on both Android and iOS. Further, the fragmented nature of the Android market means a lot of vendors do not provide the latest OS versions for older models, further exposing users to vulnerabilities.

Mobile security solution providers say at the heart is lack of awareness of the kind of crippling attacks possible on a mobile, and users’ belief that it won’t happen to them.

For home-grown cybersecurity enterprise K7 Computing, for instance, just about 2% of their total customer base of over 10 million are for mobile anti-virus solutions, as majority consumers are focused on buying solutions for their PCs and laptops. “Most smartphone users don’t think security software is a must, but with lines between personal and professional user of smartphones blurring, they need to be secured,” K Purushothaman, CEO, K7 Computing, said.

Ritesh Chopra, director, Norton LifeLock India, says that though the company offers mobile protection tools at scale, and has made large inroads through tie-ups with Jio and Airtel, there is still a lag in adoption of the free service by consumers through the telco apps. “Users often wait for incidents to happen to them to realise the significance of privacy and data security,” Chopra said.

Even flashlight apps today seek irrelevant permissions to SMS inbox, and it is hence important for users to thoroughly scan through developer details to weed out malicious apps, says Rahul Tyagi, co-founder of cybersecurity startup Lucideus.

Some countries are also more vulnerable than others, Petter Nordwall, director - mobile product management, Sophos, says. A recent survey by the cybersecurity company showed that globally, while nearly one in ten (10%) threats were discovered on a mobile device, in the Indian market, this number almost doubles to 19%.

LESS THAN 6% PROTECTED

FIR no reason for rejection at college: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai:29.10.2019

Observing that mere pendency of FIRs cannot come in the way of a student pursuing education, the Madras high court has directed Karur government arts college to admit a student who was denied admission to a PG course on that ground.

Petitioner K Surandhran, whose parents are agricultural labourers, had enrolled for BA History at the college from 2016-2019. After completing the course, he applied for pursing MA History at the college. He said that though he had a good score in the undergraduation course, his name did not figure in the list of eligible candidates published on July 12. When he inquired about it, the college informed him that he has not been selected owing to a communication from the police that FIRs were pending against him.

Though he submitted two representations to the authorities concerned, there was no response. Hence he moved the Madurai bench of the high court seeking to direct the principal of Karur government arts college to grant him admission to MA History course.

DVAC to probe cop for taking ₹2L bribe to solve theft case

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.10.2019

An assistant commissioner of police (ACP) who worked with the central crime branch (CCB) of Coimbatore police is in a soup for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹2 lakh from a businessman. The bribe was to speed up investigation in a theft case of gold worth ₹75 lakh reported in October 2017. The ACP had returned ₹1 lakh of the bribe amount.

These details formed parts of an FIR registered by the state’s corruption wing, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) this month against the cop, T Somasekar, and his advocate friend P Vivekanandan. The investigation was headed by DSP C Rajesh of the agency’s Coimbatore wing.

According to a confidential inquiry conductedby DVAC,on October 12, 2017, L Thiyagarajan, founder and managing director of Swarnakalash Jewels in Coimbatore, reported to the Saibaba ColonyPolice Station the theft of 2kg of 22 carat gold jewellery and 200gm of 24 carat gold when he was travelling on a bus. The police station was under Somasekar’s administrative control then.

The DVAC said over a period of five or six meetings, Somasekar assured Thiyagarajan to expedite investigation of the case. The ACP had allegedly demanded a bribe for the same, saying the suspects were from differentstates. Thebribe amountfirstdemanded was ₹1 lakh, which was paid with a promise to solve the case within 100 days. The stolen property was tobe returnedthroughthecourt. The DVAC says on December 5 that year, Thiyagarajan gave ₹1 lakh to Vivekanandan based on instructions from Somasekar, who had come to the spot in his official jeep.

After a few days, Thiyagarajan contacted Somasekar astherewas no progress in the case, when another ₹1 lakh was demanded. The DVAC says Thiyagarajan agreed to pay it, once again unwillingly. The second paymentwas madeon December 23,2017, in a textile shop, where the bribe amount was used to settle a bill for 15 pants bought by Somasekar, the DVAC says.

The agency said the businessman travelled to states like Karnataka, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with investigating officials to assist them in recovering the stolen gold. Several accused were arrested but the loot was not recovered.

Frustrated, Thiyagarajan demanded that Somasekar return the bribe, the DVAC says. The latter returned ₹1 lakh in October 2018. The rest of the amount has not been returned yet, the DVAC said. Based on an inquiry, the DVAC has registered a case.

DVAC is probing an assistant commissioner of police who worked with the central crime branch, Coimbatore, for taking the money to expedite inquiry into a gold theft case

‘Bigil’ moment: HC lets students play in football tourney
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:29.10.2019

Vijay-starrer ‘Bigil’ is about an all-woman football team making it to top tournaments and winning medals braving all odds.

Two students of Annamalai University earned their own ‘Bigil’ moment by approaching the Madras high court and winning a favourable order, which would help them take part in the south zone and All India University Women’s Football tournament 2019-2020. The tournament is to be held in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Justice G Jayachandran set aside the university’s decision denying permission to P Juki and M Nandhini to participate in the tournament, and directed the authorities to grant permission to the duo if they are otherwise eligible to participate. The judge passed the order while disposing a plea moved by the two, pursuing M P Ed course in the department of physical education, challenging a communication issued by the university on October 21.

When they sought permission to participate in the competition, the university refused permission stating that the eligibility criteria of Association of Indian Universities restricted candidates who have not crossed 25 years of age, or not exceeding eight years from the date of qualifying in the first admission to the university or college affiliated to the university, from participation.

“Further, the candidates should not have crossed three years after passing the graduate course or equivalent while pursuing postgraduate course,” the communication said. Justifying the denial of permission, the university contended that since it has been more than three years the petitioners graduated, they were not eligible to participate in the tournament.

Opposing the same, the students argued that they have not crossed 25 years of age and hence were eligible to join graduation only in the year 2013, so the eight years embargo will not apply to them. They also relied on a judgment of the Kerala high court dated October 1, 2018, on the same issue, permitting students to participate in the competition.

Concurring with the submissions, Justice Jayachandran cited the Kerala high court judgment and allowed the girls to participate in the tournament.

The court set aside a decision by Annamalai University denying permission to two women for participating in a national football tournament

University ignores DCE warning, charges ₹5,000 a yr to issue experience certificates
Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.10.2019

Despite a warning by the directorate of collegiate education (DCE) to not collect money, a deemed university in the city which demanded up to one year’s salary to issue experience certificates to faculty members, now has revised its ‘service fee’ to ₹5,000 per year.

However, aspirants for assistant professors’ posts said even that adds up to more than ₹40,000 if a candidate needs experience certificate for more than 8 years. The amount is more than a month’s salary for a majority of faculty working in private institutions.

The directorate of collegiate education warned colleges and deemed universities not to collect any fee for issuing experience certificates to present and former employees after a report that appeared in TOI on October 21. The report highlighted that a deemed university in Chennai demanded up to one year’s salary to award experience certificates.

“The university is now demanding ₹5,000 a year from those seeking experience certificates. Former faculty members have to pay ₹10,000 per year as ‘service fee’,” a candidate told TOI.

Though many colleges issue experience certificates to working faculty members, some deemed universities and city colleges demand resignation letters from those seeking experience certificates.

“Despite clear direction from the directorate of collegiate education, some still demand resignation letters to discourage candidates from applying for assistant professors’ posts,” another candidate said.

The Teachers Recruitment Board notified 2,331 vacancies in government arts and science colleges for which candidates will be shortlisted for interview based on experience and educational qualification. To prevent malpractices, the board asks candidates to produce experience certificates from current and previous employers, with pay acquaintance and attendance details. “Since the colleges are paying low wages, they are afraid to furnish details of pay acquaintance,” a professor said.

“The directorate of collegiate education or higher education department should maintain a database of all faculty members working in colleges in Tamil Nadu. Colleges should only be asked to bonafide their work experience. Since there are no details available on candidates, they have to depend on individual colleges,” said A R Nagarajan, adviser to NET SLET Association.

Officials clarified that there are clear directions to all colleges and deemed universities not to collect any fees from the candidates for issuing experience certificates. “If we receive any specific complaint against a college or deemed university, we will initiate stringent action,” an official said.

A report about the warning published in TOI on October 22

Neighbour’s objection is no ground to deny power supply, rules HC
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:29.10.2019

The Madras high court has made it clear that the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) cannot deny electricity connection to a consumer even if their premises has no frontage on the street. In such cases, the supply line has to go upon, over or under the adjoining premises of the neighbours and the same cannot be objected to, it said.

Justice G Jayachandran passed the order on a plea moved by a Tirupporur resident, challenging a Tangedco communication dated August 27, denying electricity connection to her residential building citing that neighbouring land owners objected to it. Opposing the plea, Tangedco submitted that provisions of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Distribution Code, 2004, mandates that service connection cannot be granted if there is any objection. It said petitioner’s neighbours claimed there was a civil dispute pending regarding the title and that their right would be prejudiced if service connection was provided to the petitioner.

Pointing out the provisions of the code, Justice Jayachandran said, it provides for supply of energy to the consumers on certain conditions and if the consumer’s premises has no frontage on the street and the supply line has to go upon, over or under the adjoining premises of any other person, the intending consumer should arrange it on his own expense, leave licence or sanction before the supply is effected.

In this case, it was not the inability of the consumer to provide way leave but the objection of neighbours who have filed the suit in respect of the small portion of the land, to an extent of 889sqft, the judge said. The said suit cannot give any right or authority to the neighbours to object to provision of electricity connection to the petitioner, who is holding a larger extent of land, nearly 12,000sqft, the judge said. The court then directed the electricity corporation to provide power connection to the petitioner.

The court directed Tangedco to provide power connection to the petitioner