This week in personal finance: Money lessons you should teach your children; how to choose a mutual fund category

This week marked Children’s Day, providing a reason for parents to dedicate some extra time to their little ones. Days such as these can also be used to inculcate some good habits among children that would give them good dividends in the long term. One among them is to teach them the basics of money management and financial planning.

Financial literacy at a young age would include learning basics of things like income, expenses and savings, insurance and its purpose and now money works for you. Learn here why it is important to teach good money management practices to your children and how to do it.

Also, if you are a would-be parent, there would be added costs once the bundle of joy arrives. There would hospital bills to pay and other expenses related to the child as days go on. Planning in advance or having an insurance policy with maternity benefit can be of great use during these times. In this story, we look at some budgeting and investing ideas which could help ride out the costs for parents-to-be.

A number of mutual fund companies have exclusive schemes to invest for your child’s future goals such as foreign education, marriage among other things.

Marking Children’s Day, we also review one of the top children’s funds — HDFC Children's Gift Fund. The fund was launched on March 2, 2001. The AUM of the scheme as on October 31, 2018 is Rs 2,326 crore. This is an open-ended fund for investment for children having a lock-in for at least five years or till the child attains the age of majority (whichever is earlier). It has been a consistent performer in child plans compared to peers. Read this story to know whether it fits into your financial portfolio.

Choosing between large-cap, multi-cap, mid-cap and small-cap funds can be confusing, especially with the wide range of funds options available in the market.

Choosing a fund category largely depends on a person’s risk tolerance and investment horizon. For those looking to invest for the long term, i.e. above five years, equity mutual funds would be the most suitable choice compared to debt funds. Here we take a look at 5 factors which help decide on mutual fund categories.

On October 31, 2018, IRDAI released a Working Group report for Standardisation of exclusions in health insurance policies. This included suggestion that policy claims cannot be denied by and insurer after eight years and how exclusions need to treated. The proposed changes can benefit health insurance buyers in many ways. Read this story to understand the major recommendations that will benefit you.

Should you buy a linked or a non-linked insurance plan? While market-linked insurance product have the potential to give you protection with non-guaranteed returns on an investment, on the other hand, non-linked insurance product promises coverage up to the policyholder's death (till the age of hundred). Here we give you a low down on what are linked and non-linked plan and on what basis one should consider them.

Homebuyers often lack the funds required to make a purchase even as property prices remain stable or fall. If you are going for a home loan, lenders would seek a 20 percent down payment which can be a tough ask for many. This is the time when some even consider withdrawing money from their employee provident fund (EPF) accounts.

But is it a wise idea? After all, it is the money kept aside for your retirement years. Read this story to know whether you should withdraw money from EPF to buy your home.