Investment options

My investment ideas are changing:

1. Till I got married, I never did tax savings properly. I used to give money to "government" in tax while my money lied in savings bank account. Now i attribute my laziness for that behaviour. Hope government utilized my money properly for the well-being of others.

2. I vowed never to take Life insurance.. why give someone else the money after you die (!) . Now since Lachu is there, i am taking one ( not taken yet). Planning for some educational policy.

3. The best change that come to me - is my belief in investing in equity. I am interested in stocks markets, but since no time, i am investing only in MFs. Systematically investing a part of your money in MFs can yield you greater returns. I am not greedy for more, or cant spend less. But i have started liking better investment options for the small chunk i have!

4. Investing in real-estate seems to be good, but i cant compete with my NRI friends. They are making the prices grow like anything!

Best lesson learnt, but not practised yet by me: If you are planning to invest 24,000 in coming year.., invest 2000Rs per month, instead of waiting till the year end. In case if investment option is like PPF.., you will be able to take advantage of the compunded interest.. In case investment option is like MF.., then by investing regularly and systematically you also average out the market fluctuations..!