It's that time of the year when most companies will be treating their employees with their annual bonus for their year long hard work. Some of you might have already got the big credit in your accounts, while others might be in the “guesswork” stage, trying to figure out the bonus amount and hoping your boss does not count the number of uninformed leaves you took, or the number of times you came in late.

So what are you going to do with this bonus?

Buy a Phone, throw a Party, buy Clothes, go for a Vacation, or are you going to do something prudent?

The worst you can do is squander away your bonus, the reward for a whole year of slogging is ruined. The company has paid to you, now it's your turn to pay to yourself. So, what should you ideally do? How do you bonus put your bonus to good use?

So the following passage will guide you about managing your bonus effectively so that you maintain a balance between gratifying your desires as well as contributing to your future.

Spend Prudently: We at times end up blowing our hard earned bonus on stuff which we might not have otherwise purchased/needed. Buying an I phone X worth Rs 1 Lac, while you bought a new One Plus 5 six months back, just because you got your bonus, doesn't make much sense. The bonus temporarily increases the size of our pocket, but you must remember that it is your hard earned money, buy something that you really need and afford. Spend your bonus wisely.

Reconsider Investing in Gold: Many people buy gold jewelery/coins from their bonus, as an investment for their future. But the fact is, buying a gold chain may not be a very good investment. Firstly, because the return stats of gold over the past few years aren't very promising, and the future prospects are also not clear. High making charges further accelerate the cost of the jewelry. And lastly, you will most likely never sell it in times of need, because of the emotional value attached. Hence, you must be careful about how much gold/gold jewelery you want to buy. If you are looking to invest, look for better options having a greater return potential and are easy to liquidate.

Don't let it be in your Saving Account: Bonus is a big thing, it is ideal that you give a good thought for deciding its outlay. Till the time you decide the outlay, you can park the money in a liquid fund or an arbitrage fund until you find peace with an investment option. The twin benefit of not lying in your saving account is: it won't vanish with your routine expenses, plus you'll get a better rate of return.

Consider Loan Repayment: Because you normally don't have such huge cash at your disposal, it's a good opportunity to lighten your shoulders by offloading your loans. Normally, when you pay your EMI's, a significant portion of the installment goes towards interest repayment and the remaining towards principal. However, if you make an early repayment, it will be a part of Principal repayment, thus reducing your interest burden over the long term.

> Create/Add to an emergency fund: Your Emergency Fund needs to be reviewed and revised from time to time to incorporate your increased income and elevated lifestyle. So, your annual bonus also offers a good chance to upgrade your Emergency Fund.

> Invest for your goals: A great option that you can consider for your bonus disbursement is invest your bonus for your goals and make your bonus work for your future betterment. Fix a meeting with your Financial Advisor and review your financial plan and allocate your bonus to different investment products in accordance with your financial plan.

To conclude, your bonus is the reward bestowed upon you for your year long hard work. Use it in a way that you appreciate your decision later. You can explore any or a blend of the above or any other option that you may deem fit. Also, do not forget to celebrate the arrival of the bonus, go for a dinner with your family or friends, or plan for a weekend getaway, rejuvenate yourself, because another year of challenging your capabilities has made its way.

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What do we do with the surplus of income over expenses i.e our savings. We keep some money for meeting our near term emergencies or commitments like paying our kids' school fee, a weekend getaway, a family function, etc. and we invest the rest. In this article we will focus on the former viz the money we keep with ourselves. Most people keep this money as hard cash in their homes or deposit the money in their savings bank account. In the financial world, it is practically a sin to keep cash at home, because of two reasons. 1. It is risky, can be lost or stolen and 2. It is not giving any return. Those people who are keeping this money in savings account do offer protection to their money but the return that you get is negligible.

Your money should at least cover the rate of inflation, because Rs. 1 Lac today will not be of as much value a year later. So, if you are looking for safety and similar convenience of withdrawal of your cash but with better returns, then Liquid Funds is your best bet.

What is a Liquid Fund?

A Liquid fund is a category of debt mutual funds, which invests in short term debt securities like certificate of deposits, treasury bills, commercial papers, term deposits, etc. having maturity of up to 91 days.

So if you want to park your extra cash and you need the money soon, say in a week or a month or few months , you don't have to adjust with the low returns offered by your savings bank account, you can stash the cash in Liquid Funds. You can invest in a liquid fund even for one day.

Savings account balances are huge in case of salaried people whose money keep on accumulating with every salary in their saving accounts.

Let's take an example of Mr. Ram, who is working in Infosys. Mr Ram gets a salary of Rs 100,000 per month and he is saving Rs 40,000 to Rs. 60,000 a month, which is getting accumulated in his saving account. For simplicity sake, lets assume

1. Mr. Ram is saving Rs 50,000 fixed in each month.
2. Mr. Ram withdraws Rs 50,000 on the first day of each month and his saving remains in his account for the entire month.
3. Semi – Annual Compounding, and we are considering a time period of 6 months, therefore compounding effect is ignored.

At the end of 6 months:

Value of Mr Ram's money in Savings Account @ 4% interest p.a. = Rs. 303,456

If Mr. Ram moves his savings in a Liquid Fund on the first day of each month

Value of Mr Ram's money in Liquid Fund @ 8% interest p.a. = Rs. 306,829

Just by moving his money from his saving account to a liquid fund, Mr Ram earns Rs 3,372 extra on the same investment.

Why should you invest in a liquid fund?

1. You can easily park your money for short intervals.
2. Money kept at home or in savings account is not growing, the returns are lower than the inflation rate in our country. Liquid funds offer higher returns, so that your money is able to catch up with and outperform inflation.
3. You can withdraw your investment anytime, without accruing any penalty.
4. Since Liquid Funds invest in fixed income securities with short maturities, hence they bear a lower risk.
5. No entry and exit loads, hence Liquid Funds are cost efficient for the investor.
6. If you do not withdraw your money from Liquid fund for over 3 years, you get the benefit of paying tax @ 20% with indexation. Short term returns are taxed as your saving bank returns.

Now you can earn extra income by moving your money from your cupboards, savings or current accounts into liquid funds. You get better returns and you can withdraw whenever you need.

India is in a state of Euphoria, celebrations are in the air with one festival lined up after the other, and we just wrapped up the biggest of all, Diwali. For many of you, your bosses/companies have made the festival of lights even more brighter, with the Diwali bonus. We have been looking forward to the festivities as well as the big money coming in, and the topic for today is the latter, the Bonus.

Generally, we are conservative in spending our monthly salaries, but when it comes to sudden inflow of money, we become liberal. We plan things around this jackpot, we treat our friends and family with a grand bonus party, followed by owning our desires, the new DSLR, the latest I-phone, diamond ring, Goa vacation, etc. So, soon after the bonus money lands into our accounts, it's blown in the air, most times serving no constructive purpose. So, it's this general approach towards bonuses, that prompts us to write this piece.

One central characteristic of money is its fungibility, the value of Rs 1 lac remains the same, irrespective of the source. So, whether Rs 2,000 is from your salary, or whether you found the note on the road, both carry same value, and can get you stuff of equal value. Taking the fungible nature of money at the core and also the fact that bonus is a big amount which you don't get routinely, we are sharing some tips which can help you make the most of your bonus.

1. Repay your Debt: The heaviest burden you can carry on your shoulders is the debt burden. Since you do not get a bounty in addition to your monthly salary every month, you should put this to good use, you can use it to significantly cut your debts. Begin with credit card bills and personal loans, since these carry massive interest rates, so a lot of your money is wiped away every month in interest payments. You can even consider offloading some of your other commitments, like home loan, car loan, etc. So, use the bonus wisely, throw the debt off, so that you can walk free.

2. Create or Contribute to your Emergency Fund: We need at least 6-8 months of our income handy at all times, to protect our shell during financial distress. There can be periods of less income or even no income, like in case of job loss, job switch, emergencies not covered under insurance, etc. You need money to survive, provide for the basic necessities in such situations, which calls for the need to have an adequate emergency fund. In case you don't have an emergency fund or it is inadequate, you must use the bonus in this direction.

3. Invest for your goals: According to Hindu mythology, Diwali time is a good mahurat, people try their luck in cards, lotteries, casinos, hoping to make big gains. But you must remember that luck is two-faced, sometimes it's on your side, sometimes not, hence you should stick to fundamentals and focus on long term wealth creation. Invest your Diwali bonus in your future, since the bonus is a big amount, it will be a big leap towards your goals.

4. Pursue your Passions: The football club you always wanted to join, the horticulture course you want to do, the music class you have been postponing, or a professional course you want to do which is going to accentuate your profile and help you grow in your career. This bonus is an opportunity to invest in yourself, which is otherwise difficult to manage from the routine income.

5. Don't let the bonus sit in your Saving Account: Some of us might have planned about how we are going to spend the bonus, while others are yet to decide the outlay. So, for those of you who have the bonus lying in their saving account with no intended immediate use, it is advisable that you shift it into a Liquid Fund. It will serve the dual purpose of yielding better returns for you than the saving account, plus it will protect the money from you, for you might end up ravaging a part of your bonus by casually swiping your debit card.

To conclude, The Diwali bonus is no lottery, it's the reward for the hard work that you have put for an entire year. Don't splurge it, rather employ it in a way so that it is able to make a difference. The above were few avenues which you can allocate your Diwali bonus to, as your contribution towards a brighter future.

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