As the financial year closes, both employers and investors are making calculated adjustments—reshaping salaries, reviewing tax strategies and rebalancing portfolios—to stay aligned with changing rules and market conditions.
For companies, the biggest shift lies in salary restructuring. The revised definition of wages requires basic pay and most allowances to make up at least 50% of total compensation. That, in turn, raises the weight of components such as provident fund and gratuity, which are linked to basic pay.
The likely response: higher basic salaries and slimmer flexible allowances, especially as more employees move to the new tax regime with fewer exemptions. For individuals, though, the choice between tax regimes is far from straightforward. Higher exemption limits on components such as HRA, children’s education allowance and meal vouchers mean the old regime still holds appeal for some. The result is a more careful, case-by-case evaluation.
Even as structures shift, employers will try to keep take-home pay broadly stable, often by trimming residual components such as special allowance. As Shefali Anand , pay packages are becoming more standardized, with fewer but more meaningful elements.
A parallel year-end ritual is —selling investments to manage capital gains tax. Investors can book losses to offset gains or realise profits, given that the first ₹1.25 lakh of long-term capital gains on equities remains tax-exempt.
As the financial year draws to a close, many investors begin reviewing their portfolios to see if they can reduce their tax outgo.
This temptation may be even stronger in the current market environment, shaped by evolving geopolitical tensions. While tax harvesting is an efficient tax planning tool, it can turn into a poor investment strategy if it disrupts your asset allocation. The tax saved may be insignificant compared to potential losses from exiting investments prematurely or entering asset classes at their peak because they look like the winning asset class.
This is a must-read to help you stay disciplined and focused on long-term goals.
Tax enforcement is also tightening elsewhere. After India imposed a steep 30% tax on crypto gains and a 1% TDS in 2022, trading activity shifted offshore, drawn by lower compliance and greater opacity. That window is closing. With India aligning to the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, cross-border data sharing is set to expand, requiring foreign exchanges to report user holdings and transactions. The anonymity that once defined offshore crypto investing is rapidly eroding.
In this story, how these changes will ensure that crypto can no longer function as a means to evade taxes.
Planning for longevity, resisting easy money
Beyond taxes, two broader investment themes stand out.
First, we are living longer and if you believe in the concept of longevity, which is not just about adding more years to life, but adding more active years you would also realise that kind of active years must be matched with adequate wealth. This shift means preparing for a longer, more active retirement phase, backed by a well-defined and disciplined strategy.
Anagh Pal outlines practical approaches, from deploying savings from EPF and PPF to fixed-income instruments to cover non-discretionary expenses to unlocking the benefits of Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP), a tax-efficient way to fund ongoing expenses while allowing your mutual fund corpus to continue growing. The story of healthcare costs in retirement, an aspect you cannot afford to overlook.
The , but about the hopes of getting rich quickly through stock market trading.
Ananya Grover speaks to individuals who left their jobs to pursue trading full-time. Despite multiple studies by Sebi showing that trading is a losing game for most retail participants, rare success stories continue to fuel hope among those who choose this path. Recent regulatory and cost changes such as higher minimum contract sizes for index derivatives, restrictions on weekly expiries and an increase in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) have made this chase even more challenging.
The takeaway is clear: full-time trading requires not only skill and discipline but also substantial capital that is separate from one’s everyday financial needs. For most retail investors, a more prudent strategy is to focus on mutual funds and maintain disciplined asset allocation to build long-term wealth.
Geopolitics, too, is shaping personal finances in less obvious ways. Mint Money also brings you two stories on how the current geopolitical environment is affecting your finances.
The first, by Ann Jacob, have remained relatively steady despite a rise in crude oil prices amid ongoing Iran-Israel-US tensions. In the US, for instance, a gallon of regular petrol that averaged $2.94 in February now costs $3.58. In comparison, petrol in Mumbai has held steady at around ₹103 per litre.
This stability reflects a “shock absorber” approach, where government policy and oil marketing companies (OMCs) prevent the immediate pass-through of higher costs to consumers. OMCs absorb part of the burden, cushioning households from sudden price spikes. Conversely, when crude prices fall, some of the gains are retained, which is why prices don’t ease as quickly. That said, this buffer has limits—India cannot avoid price hikes indefinitely.
The , by Shipra Singh, explains why travel insurance offers little protection during war-related disruptions. Most policies include a standard exclusion clause that does not cover losses arising “directly or indirectly due to war, hostilities or government restrictions.” In practical terms, this means cancelled flights, missed connections or extended hotel stays in such situations are unlikely to be covered.
Finally, within insurance, while super top-up plans are widely seen as a cost-effective way to enhance health cover, making a claim on them can be cumbersome. Insurers typically require proof that the deductible has been paid—usually a settlement letter from the primary insurer detailing how much has been paid to the hospital. This process can take weeks or even months, as insurers and hospitals don’t finalise bills instantly. By then, the promise of “cashless” top-up coverage often falls short.
So what can you do to make a super top-up plan work in your favour? And how do you choose the right one? I spoke to Kapil Mehta, co-founder of SecureNow Insurance Broker and Mint columnist, to break it down. Watch the full to learn more.
That’s all from the Mint Money team.