My homemaker wife is a Malaysian citizen who lives with me in India. She owns a house in Malaysia for which I pay a monthly instalment. Can I avail benefits on my taxable income by furnishing the details?
Parthasarathy , Hyderabad
The income from the Malaysian property needs to be taxable in India for any tax benefits to be available on repayment of loans taken to acquire and/or construct the property. In this case, if your wife is a resident of India (even though she continues to be a Malaysian citizen), only then can the question of tax benefits on such repayments arise. Even then, the benefits will be available to her only against her worldwide inc-ome and only she will be eligible for such tax benefits since only she is taxable in respect of such income.
I have got a scholarship which will cover one-third of my education expense. Can I get an education loan of Rs 2 lakh to finance the remainder?
Mrinmoy Pramanick, Kolkata
You can apply for an education loan to avail finance for the remaining amount. Since the loan amount is less than Rs 4 lakh, you will not have to furnish any tangible collateral security. However, your parents will have to join you as borrower. Moreover, you will have to provide the normal documents to prove your identity and place of residence. You will also have to furnish proof of you having secured admission to the said institution and the course. Please approach the bank where you have your bank account or the branch in the area where you reside.
I have three insurance policies of which I have stopped paying premium for one — Birla Sunlife Saral Jeevan at Rs 8,963 quarterly. The other two are LIC Child Career with a premium of Rs 18,992 a year and LIC Jeevan Anand that entails a qu-arterly payment of Rs 6,700. Please advise me on the said investments.
Raju Sebastian
Birla Sunlife Saral Jeevan is a unit-linked insurance plan (Ulip) where the investment risks are to be borne by the investor. The premium allocation, policy administration and fund management charges of this plan are very high. So you should surrender this plan after completion of four years since there are no surrender charges that apply thereafter. The other two LIC policies are traditional savings plans. These will not give you returns of more than five per cent per annum and are unlikely to beat inflation. I advise you to surrender these plans also and buy a life cover that has a cover of 10 to 12 times your annual income.
You should go for an online term insurance, since they are least expensive. After paying the premium, the remainder should be invested in a mutual fund via a Systematic Investment Plan in equity diversified scheme/balanced schemes if your investment time horizon is more than five years or the Public Provident Fund if you want to invest in a safe debt instrument.
Does a travel insurance cover pregnancy?
Sumit Kaul, New Delhi
You cannot get travel insurance that covers pregna-ncy expenses overseas. Travel insurance will solely cover your hospitalisation expense related to any disease/illness /accidents during the specified period when you are abroad.
Harsh Roongta is the chief executive of Apnapaisa.com. You can send in your queries to movingmoney@deccanmail.com [1]
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