Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the General Budget for the financial year 2024 on 1 February. After the budget, now there is a question in the mind of many people that what should be the strategy in terms of investment. Should invest in equity or investment in debt will be fine. If you are also confused about this, then the advice of Pranjal Kamra, Founder and CEO of Finology Venture, can be very useful for you.

1. Which mutual fund should I invest in?
If you want to invest in low risk funds then you should invest in large cap funds. Means in the big companies of the country. Apart from this, you can invest in flexi cap funds. On the other hand, if you want to take risk, then you can invest in small cap funds and international funds. However, only 5 to 10% of your portfolio should be invested in these.

2. In which sector should I invest?
The government takes care of every sector of the economy, so invest in the sector which makes sense to you. If a doctor invests in IT sector, he will always be defeated. On the other hand, if an engineer invests in the pharma sector, he will get beaten up. A doctor should invest in hospital and medicine etc. Whereas an IT engineer should invest in an IT company.

3. Should money be invested in ELSS funds and FDs?
ELSS Fund is the only tax saving instrument in which your returns are not reduced in the name of saving tax. Apart from this, there is a lock in of 3 years. With this, you will not be able to withdraw money in between and you will be able to save more money. Whereas in FD you can invest the money of emergency fund. Apart from this, if any big expenditure is going to come, then you can put that money in FD.

4. How much should be invested in debt funds?
I recommend investing in FDs instead of debt funds. If you do not need the money for a year, then FD should be done. You can also avail the facility of auto swap on FD.

5. Gold is at all time high, should invest in it?
Gold has been continuously making its high. This is a safe investment option. If you want cheap gold, you can get up to 25% discount on gold by investing in Sovereign Gold Bonds.

6. Should I invest in real estate or not?
You should invest in real estate only where you get land. Investing in a flat cannot be considered as an investment in real estate, as it may depreciate in value. The price of land keeps increasing. Apart from this, loan is easily available for this.

7. How much should be saved?
You should try to save as much as possible but at least 20 to 25% of what you are earning. However, if your home loan or education loan installment is going up and due to this you are not able to save money, then there is no need to worry, because it is also like a savings.

8. What to do if you have got a new job or are about to get one?
First of all you should take life insurance. This will result in a lower premium for you. You will get insurance of 1 crore in 500-600 rupees a month. This premium will remain the same in the years to come. After this, health insurance should be taken for all the people of the house from the first salary. After this, an emergency fund of 6 months should be made.

9. How many numbers do you give to the budget? What was the best and worst thing about the budget?
I give this budget 7 numbers. It is often seen that before elections, the government starts thinking in the short term that something free should be given this year. The government focused on skill development and startups. But the allocation on education was only 3% which is very less.

10. Which tax regime should I choose?
The new tax regime is right for most people. Many people calculate that income up to 10 lakhs can be completely tax free through methods including 80C and NPS, but this is not practical. That is why I would recommend adopting the new tax regime.

11. What is a perfect portfolio?
You should invest in diversified assets. You should invest small amounts in Gold, Real Estate and Shares.

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