Heads who wins? Tails who wins?

"Heads you win. Tails you win" - said the brochure of SBI's Smart ULIP, handed over by a marketing executive.

I knew that the current status of ULIPs in India is not that good and that one should always apply caution when opting for one. I never came across a decent online illustration of  ULIPs until today. This illustration in SBI's website details the plan for the customary 6% and 10% returns. It saved me the trouble in decoding various charges deducted at different points in time, in different denominations and at different rates.

Working with PDF files

For those who work on PDF documents, here are some useful tips. Creating PDF files or converting files of almost any extension to PDF files can be easily done with freely download-able tools or even using free online tools. Also refer my earlier post on "Extracting text from scanned documents and copy protected pdfs".

Creating a Portfolio Tracker

Here is a simple way to create an automated, simple and real-time stock portfolio tracker on the cloud, using Google Spreadsheet.

Have a look at this spreadsheet. It has two worksheets - Summary sheet gives an overview of the portfolio and Data sheet is used to obtain real time data.

The Student’s Prayer

I had earlier posted a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson - Schools kill creativity!! Now here is an article in The Hindu on the same topic - Need for creativity in classroom.

Former Indian President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam has quoted a young Chilean student's poem in the article. The boy, Umberto Maturana, became unhappy at school because he felt his teachers were making it impossible for him to learn. They wanted to teach him what they knew, rather than drawing out what he needed to learn. This beautiful poem reflects the young mind's thoughts. A must read for all parents.