Recurring Deposit Interest Is Taxed Every Year, Not Just at Maturity, Here’s the Surprise Waiting at Tax Time
Priya opened a five year RD three years ago, ₹8,000 a month, specifically because she liked the idea of not touching the money or thinking about it until it matured. That was the whole appeal, set it, forget it, deal with it later. This year, going…
You Agreed to Be a Loan Guarantor for a Friend or Family Member. Here’s What Happens If They Default or Die
Two employees at a post office in Uttar Pradesh signed as guarantors for a colleague’s loan, the kind of favour that probably felt routine at the time, a signature, a formality, a way of helping someone out. Their colleague later defaulted. When…
Claim Settlement Ratio Is the Most Misleading Number in Indian Insurance, Here’s What to Check Instead
Every insurance comparison website, every agent’s pitch deck, every advertisement for a term plan leads with the same number: claim settlement ratio, usually somewhere north of 98 percent, printed in bold like it settles the entire decision. It…
Nominee vs Will: Who Has the Legal Right to Your Money and Property in India?
Nominee or Will — who actually gets your money, investments, insurance and property after your death? This is one of the most common questions in personal finance, and also one of the most misunderstood. Many people believe that if they have named their…
What Happens to Your UPI Apps and Saved Payment Data If You Switch Phones or Lose Your SIM
A man in Delhi lost his phone on a Saturday. Four days later, once he’d finally gotten his SIM replaced, his bank started sending him alerts for transactions he never made. Delhi Police eventually arrested two men over what they called a UPI hijack…
Lost Your Job With EMIs Still Due? Here Is Exactly What Happens Next and What You Can Legally Do
A friend of mine was let go in a mid-year restructuring two years ago, and the first thing he did that week was not update his resume. It was open his loan app and check how many EMIs he had running at once, because the panic of a sudden income stop hits…
Bank Lost Your Property Documents? Here’s the Legal Process to Get Justice
A Bengaluru homeowner spent 20 years paying off a home loan of ₹1.86 crore. When he finally went to collect his original sale deed after full repayment, the bank couldn’t find it. Not delayed — lost. What followed became one of the most closely…
What Happens to Insurance if Both the Insured Person and Nominee Die in the Same Accident?
When the Ahmedabad-bound Air India flight crashed in June 2025, it didn’t just claim over 270 lives — it exposed a question almost no policyholder ever thinks to ask. In several families, the person who had bought the life insurance policy and the…
RBI’s UDGAM Portal: How to Check If You Have Forgotten Money Sitting in an Old Bank Account
Anand had switched jobs four times in his career, and with every switch, a new salary account had opened somewhere, sometimes because his new employer had a tie-up with a specific bank, sometimes just out of convenience. He was cleaning out an old…
Joint Account vs Individual Account for Spouses: Which One Actually Makes Financial Sense
Neha and Vikram had been married for four months when the question came up almost by accident, while they were filling out a form for their new apartment’s maintenance deposit. “Should we just open one account together?” Vikram asked,…