His wife Suzanne delivered a boy yesterday in Mumbai. Here’s wishing the Roshan family all the very best

2. It makes sense to allow flexibility in your long-term investments. You never know the changes life may bring in course of time.

3. Don’t base your judgement on the buying decisions of others. Trust your instincts and you will not have to regret much later.

4. Retirement planning is important. Don’t procrastinate. Account for it now.

5. As a stock investor don’t get carried away by the company’s past performance. It is not necessarily indicative of future performance.

6. Track your fund’s performance once you have invested. And see to it that you compare apples to apples.

7. Don’t invest in a fund if you do not understand its workings.

8. Don’t buy insurance only for tax purposes. Ascertain your future needs and buy accordingly.

9. Term insurance is the cheapest risk cover you can get. Makes sense to buy one especially if you have borrowings.

10. While investing, preferably read the fine print first and the other details later. The risk factors are mentioned there.

“She’s not from Bollywood” he’s known to have said. But while flings and relationships going kaput are a common occurrence in Bollywood, Arbaaz and Malaika were not known to have been linked with anybody in the recent past. And no rumours either – so then what must have gone wrong suddenly was the question on most minds.

Is a new film going to be launched with both in the lead or is it some publicity stunt? You guessed it – apparently both have been roped in for a film. And the tabloid cheated you by breaking a news that didn’t deserve to be called news. Did you feel cheated? Do you feel you won’t trust that tabloid anymore howsoever true the news be? Yes, that’s the spontaneous reaction of most. But then that’s what tabloids are all about. Selling sensationalism – the truth be damned.

The fact is gaining eyeballs is not easy these days. The audience is only getting smarter and competition is getting tough - reason why publications need to come up with newer ways to get more and more ‘creative’ and catch the attention of its readers so what if it is at the cost of the ethics of journalism.

Heard of RDs?For the uninitiated SIP or Systematic Investment Planning is all about investing small amounts of money over a period of time in mutual funds. A SIP is just like the Recurring deposits of banks that were oh-so-common in the past.

More like a piggy bank saving, Recurring deposits meant putting in a certain amount of money every month within a certain period for instance by the 10th or 15th of the month. You could choose your investment period –one, two or three years. And your bank would tell you beforehand how much your maturity amount would be at the end of your chosen term.

Gain market linked returns: A SIP is very similar to a Recurring deposit. You invest small amounts over a period of time but the difference is that you just can’t predict the maturity amount. Wondering why? Because mutual funds are linked to the stock market. Yes- and that’s the beauty – you stand to gain market linked returns unlike a recurring where your interest amount would be fixed.

Can’t stomach the highs and lows of the stock market? SIP is for you: The economy is now on a roll – and experts are optimistic that the economy will grow at around 9% or even more. As of now the market is around 16,000 levels- the right time to invest in a SIP for, you enter when the price is low. That apart, a SIP is just the right thing to do if you’re not comfortable investing directly in stocks. Its like taking a risk with a safety net. So go the SIP way and you can be sure about taking that long desired vacation or buying your dream house.

So now is the time to plan your investments and gain high returns too. Under Sec. 80C of the IT Act you can invest upto Rs 1 lakh in various tax saving avenues. But how do you decide which one to go for? Here’s how you can make a smart move

1) Don’t invest in life insurance only to save tax: Life insurance policies offer tax sops no doubt but if you don’t have dependents, do not have a liability on you (like a home loan, car loan etc) you simply don’t need to buy life insurance. There are better tax saving avenues.

2) MFs - your best bet: Mutual funds are a good vehicle to save tax as also gain handsome returns. Invest in ELSS (Equity Linked Saving Schemes). Mind you, these have a lock in period of three years - but that’ll help your money grow since equities outperform other investment avenues easily.

3) Home loan, PPF, NSC etc: All these offer tax benefits but take into account the lock in period, your investment horizon before you take the plunge. More on this later...