Look around you and you will find this true. However, women seem to abhor managing money in a structured fashion. They are excellent at managing the household budget, and even manage to regularly save for a rainy day. At the other end of the spectrum, their tales at how well they can spend money are legendary.

Read on women, as I coax you to get involved in the family finances. Men, don’t feel left out, there’s a message for you too in this.

A Few Harsh Questions

First, a reality check: a few “what if?” questions. What if your husband has not planned your finances well enough?

What if there was an eventuality in your family? Will I be financially secure in his absence? What if your children’s career plans cost you a hefty packet? (After all, it’s the children who decide on their future, not the parents.) What if you were completely alone one day?

Listing of all Assets

Start with making a list of all assets as they exist today. For bank accounts, list the account numbers, account holders, bank and branch details, login IDs and passwords; and most importantly, check if nominations are in place for each of them. Know where the cheque books are stored. Go on to listing your other investments such as bonds, deposits and others such as PPF accounts and post office schemes.

In these, make sure you know the frequency of interest payment, the account where this will be credited, whether by direct credit or by cheque, as well as the date of maturity. Questions as to where the pass books and statements are stored/filed need to be answered here as well.

Market Investments

Do you own equity shares? Are you aware that they can be traded in dematerialised form only? Make sure that the process to convert the physical shares to demat form is started right away. That will lead to the demat account — it is ideal to hold it jointly. You will also need to know whom the equity trading account is dealt through (it will be a registered broker approved by Sebi).

A list of all mutual funds and their holding pattern (again, ensure that nominations are in place, especially for the single holdings) with the linked bank account needs to be documented to ensure that dividend and redemption proceeds will indeed be received by you. If the contact address is an email, kindly ensure that you have access to the email ID and password as well.

Property Documents

Next, let’s move on to the property that we own. List all assets under this category, taking care to document the ownership pattern and registered agreement copies (the original could be in a safe deposit vault — but do you have access to the key?). This asset may not be in a position to be transferred by just a nomination and require a specific mention in the will. Take due care to ensure that you are fully aware of the pending procedures to transfer the property to your name in case that is work in progress.

Some of you may question the morbidity of this article approaching Women’s Day; but this was meant to be read by all men and actions implemented too: What better gift could you give to the woman in your life?

Impact for resident individuals | Resident women below 65 | Senior citizens

is possible when the direct taxes code comes into effect, likely from 2011-12.

“A further widening (of tax slabs) is possible. But this will happen when revised (draft direct taxes code) paper comes,” revenue secretary Sunil Mitra told reporters on the sidelines of a CII seminar here today.

The Finance Ministry has already come out with the draft direct taxes code, but since there are a number of grievances on it, it will come out with a revised draft in the first quarter of next fiscal so that a bill to this effect can be tabled in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

“The period is going to be between April and June. That is when we have time for this process, if we were to get the legislative process commencing from around July during the Monsoon session. The Finance Minister has said he would like to take the legislative process. The only time we have is between April and June,” Mitra said.

In fact ‘Koobface worm’ , ‘Clampi’ , ‘URLzone’and the ‘Zeus’Trojans were the four most dreaded criminals on the internet till December last year. They continue to fox network security experts around the world. Cisco annual security report for 2009 has warned internet users around the globe about these rising threats.

Their targets are social networking website and online banking users. Sitting stealthily in computers around the world, Trojans were transferring login ids and passwords to cyber criminals. ‘Koobface’ , between August 2008 and December last year, has infected 3.1 million computers and continues to remain undetected by normal users. This Trojan initiates the process by mimicking email alerts from a Facebook friend.

2009 was a wild year for the economy. The stock market soared, but the U.S. economy was hampered by rising unemployment and tight credit markets.

What will 2010 bring? Find out the four major trends to watch for in 2010… and where to look for real gains.

The S&P 500 has rocketed over 60% from its March 2009 lows, and economists are more confident than ever that the U.S. will dodge the dreaded “double dip” recession.

But don’t uncork the champagne yet.

The U.S. economy will grow in 2010, but we won’t see anything close to the incredible growth that was the hallmark of the pre-recession “bubble” economy. The problems of the last year – high unemployment, tight credit markets, inflationary fears – haven’t been fixed… and some could get worse before they get better.

We pulled together our expert staff of former investment bankers, international financiers and veteran financial journalists to find out where they think the U.S. economy is headed in 2010. Read on for their predictions… and to find out exactly where to find profits in the year ahead.

More on Financial crisis

traders on both sides of the Atlantic weighed the risks – and potential rewards – posed by the groaning debts of other European governments.

While investors welcomed news that Athens would raise taxes and cut spending by $6.5 billion this year, analysts warned the moves might not be enough to avert a bailout for Greece or to contain the crisis shaking Europe and its common currency, the euro.

Indeed, some banks and hedge funds have already begun to turn their attention to other indebted nations, particularly Portugal, Spain, Italy and, to a lesser degree, Ireland.

The role of such traders has become increasingly controversial in Europe and the United States. The Justice Department’s antitrust division is now examining whether at least four hedge funds colluded on a bet against the euro last month.

“If the problems of Greece aren’t addressed now, there is a risk the market will focus on the next weakest link in the chain,” said Jim Caron, global head of interest rate strategy at Morgan Stanley.

Whatever the outcome in Athens, the debt crisis in Europe threatens to tip the financial, as well as political, balance of power across the Continent. With Germany and France emerging as the most likely rescuers, leaders in Berlin and Paris could end up dictating fiscal policy in Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain.