Days, Dates, Years - Nostalgia and Number Crunching!

Has it ever happened to you that on a particular date you had wondered that the date had fallen on the same day few years back? Your memory ran down the lane and you were gripped by nostalgia! Well I love numbers and such calculations and obviously I love nostalgia so a way to find out the repeat of a date & day combination led me to a research long time back with the findings diligently noted down with pen on paper. This time it suddenly struck me that a particular date that I remember and which is relevant for me in a sense will be falling on the same day as when it gathered relevance. That was a cue for me to repeat the research work, this time on a digital device (I mean my lappy) and find some more interesting things.

So, just for the sake of fun and nostalgia regarding the birthdays, anniversaries, first meeting, last meeting and all that, here we go:

Following is the list of calendars for the month of February from the year 2015 to the year 1982. The February calendar of each year has been mapped to the next set of calendar horizontally in such a manner that the calendars are same (except the part where 29^th February appears). The leap years have been highlighted with yellow colour.

Now, following is the list of calendars for the month of March from the year 2015 to the year 1982. The arrangement of calendars is same as the previous one.

As we can observe, the series repeats itself after every 28 years. Look closely at the first and last column of both the images to confirm the observation.

Having 365 days per year in a non-leap year with 7 days a week leaves us with 52 weeks and 1 day. This spare 1 day normally shifts the day of a particular date of a particular year to the next day in the next year. For leap years the shift is 2 days as the total number of days increases to 366 however the impact is felt differently by different set of months.

Let me elaborate.

Now the reason that in the above images, we have the same range of years but different months is because of the fact that due to the presence of 29^th February in leap years, the shift in day of a date from the previous year increases by 1 after the 29^th February. For example, 1^st of March, 2012 falls 2 days later i.e. on Thursday than the previous year (1^st of March, 2011 was on Tuesday) instead of 1 day. As evident, the shift for January to February occurs in the year next to the leap year. For example, 1^st of February, 2013 falls 2 days later i.e. on Friday than the previous year (1^st of February, 2012 was on Wednesday) however 1^st of March, 2013 falls 1 day later i.e. Friday.

So, the behavior of dates falling on the same day of some year from 1^st January to 28^th February (not counting 29^th for the leap year gap) can be different from the behavior of dates falling on the same day of some year from 1^st March to 31^st December.

Let’s summarize the behavior for 1^st January to 28^th February from the above images taking the years 2016 to 2000 as the median and 28 years in the future and 28 years in the past. The table in extreme right indicates the difference of any year of any column from its previous column. Hence for the first 5 columns we have 4 differences falling into a pattern which repeats itself in the next 5 columns. Moreover, there exists a pattern vertically as well which repeats itself after every 4 rows.

Now if we summarize the behavior for 1^st March to 31^st December in the same manner, we will get the following:

As we can observe, the pattern for the same set of years is different for the different set of months. However, on a closer look we will be able to find that there are certain sets of year that match for both the set of months. This means the calendar of a particular year would completely match with that of another year and there won’t be any separate calculation for the set of 1^st January – 28^th February and 1^st March – 31^st December.

Let’s see which ones are those with respect to the previous images.

Again there is a pattern to it. The table in extreme right indicates just that. The most interesting observation that can be made from the above image is that leap years seem to repeat the complete calendar after every 28 years which also means that 29^th of February would fall on the same day of a leap year after 28 years. Fascinating!

Now that we have the patterns with us, we can take any of the sets as reference point and start matching the days, dates and years with ease. Let us take few examples before we end this game of numbers!

1^st of January, 2040 would fall on the same day as 1^st of January, 2012 which was Sunday. However, we need not wait that long because 1^st of January, 2017 will also be falling on Sunday.

After 25^th of December, 2015 we will have Christmas falling on a Friday in the year 2020!

If one survives for the next 3 decades then one will be able to see the calendar of 2016 again in the year 2044.

Happy number crunching.

Enjoy. J

P.S. If you can deduce something more from these, do let us know.

Show me the money! Fixed Deposits!

Which is the time-tested, low-risk way to invest money for an individual? Fixed Deposits! At some places it’s called as Term Deposit. Choose whichever name catches your fancy but the point is that Fixed Deposits (going forward it will be addressed as FD in this article. Seriously, I’m too lazy to write that long term over and over again even though I choose to write such a long explanation!)..okay lost the rhythm. Let’s rewind!

The point is that FDs are the most popular investment avenues among Indians and the investment portfolio of most of us is skewed towards this option. The reason of the high popularity can be attributed to the fact that we trust the banks/post offices to do their jobs properly, not to run out of business and handover the money on maturity (in many situations prematurely upon request) to us. J

Now! Coming to the purpose of the article.

I was planning to invest some amount of money for certain duration. However, I did not want to wait for the bank to provide me the expected maturity amount. In simple terms, I can directly multiply the interest rate with the principal amount and the number of years. I am happy, calculator is also happy and I am momentarily back to the simple interest sums I had to solve during school days! The bank is something like a Santa Claus and it puts some amount greater than the simple interest calculation one makes.

How do banks reach such apparently absurd figures? I wanted to figure it out!

Algebra and some general knowledge helped me to solve this bit. (Oh, I miss school! L )

Let’s say, I have x amount to invest for n number of years. The interest rate page displayed in the bank or on the bank’s website spells it out that girl you are not going to get more than y% per annum for this many years of investment. (x, y, n, (a+b)² and what not..they are still so charming!)

Now, banks are obliged to calculate the interest quarterly and add it to our original investment and then calculate the interest on the total amount for the next quarter and then keep on repeating it until the FD matures. (Compound interest was interesting on paper but not while solving in school!)

Assuming that one does not want to get the interest at specific intervals of time (for which one needs to choose MIS – monthly installment scheme or likewise) and is looking forward to the lump sum (starry eyes at the thought of it) at the end of definite number of years, here is how we can calculate the maturity amount:

[Note: In case you are not keen to verify the engineer’s stepwise calculations, please check the boxes directly]

Ah, we have finally got the formula! Let’s highlight these findings.

Wait! Did I mention tax? Yes dear! Every single paisa we earn as part of FD interest (including the tax savings schemes) is taxable. Do not get misguided with the fact that the banks (actually individual branch of the banks) are supposed to deduct tax only if the interest amount against FDs created at that branch exceeds `10,000. Whatever tax is not deducted, we will be still liable to pay that while filing I-T returns if our total income is not NIL after the deductions and exemptions. However, I’ve observed that banks do not keep that cap of `10,000 and they deduct tax outright unless we submit some forms.

If I want to save tax (who doesn’t? I wonder!) then I need to ensure that after I create a new FD account, I’ll submit 15G form (15H for senior citizens! Few decades left for me to move into that category!) as soon as possible and keep on ensuring fresh submissions at the beginning of every financial year till the FD matures. However, not all of us are eligible to submit 15G/H. There are certain conditions and I would prefer to be in that category where I’m not eligible to submit 15G than to have a lower income per annum. For the conditions, read this article I found on internet - http://www.dnaindia.com/money/comment-who-is-eligible-for-filing-forms-15g-15h-and-how-to-save-tds-1582203 (Please note, the article is 4 years old so even though the rules are same the tax slab will differ depending on the financial year!)

Fine! So we are in a state where we are not allowed to submit 15G/H, then how much will we get after maturity?

TDS or the tax deducted at source is 10% of the interest in case PAN (Permanent account number) details are mapped against a particular FD account. If PAN details are not mapped then TDS is 20% L (irrespective of the fact that one owns a PAN card and keeps it safely tucked in a plastic bag but fails to get it updated against the FD account or the savings/current account held in that bank as part of KYC – Know Your Customer).

Please note, if my tax slab is not meant for 10% then whatever money I’ve saved with the bank deducting outright 10% TDS, I might have to pay tax on that while filing I-T return. There is no way to escape and in fact one should not try to escape as well. Since the time 26AS has appeared on income tax portal, it has become quite easy to find out that how much was the total income from interests (even though one gets to own the amount on maturity).

Oh my my! I’ve spoken at lengths about this whole procedure without finding out the formula to find post tax how much one would earn! Blame it on the keenness to share knowledge!

Just like the interest, the tax is deducted quarterly as well.

Using the previous method hence we find that,

Now where n is greater than 1, it would be quite difficult to manually keep on adding to find out the TDS.

I won’t be able explain but I’ve found that the above formula is equivalent to the following: 

As one can observe, tax deduction in every quarter affects compounding apart from its natural purpose. As a result, one ends up having much lesser maturity amount than promised.

Just to get rid of mathematical expressions and work with real numbers, let’s have a million to invest for 10 years! Do not roll your eyes! I agree that a million is not a regular sum that we invest, still it sounds cool to work with. Come on; now don’t complain about 10 years. Yes it’s a long time – little kids would turn into adults by that time but the long duration would yield huge returns as well. Now, I think I’ve got you hooked. Why not more than 10 years you ask, now that you are totally looking forward to the huge returns? Banks which are functioning for centuries do not dare to put the maximum duration of investment to more than a decade for various reasons. So, we have to be happy with 10 years! Ok?

So!

1 million (i.e. 10 lacs if you are in doubt!) and 10 years with 8% interest rate let’s assume!

Maturity amount assuming no tax has been deducted

If we round off the amount, it becomes `2208040/- (#Whistlebaja)

In a decade, a million becomes more than 2 millions! Simply, wow!

However…

Yes! The howevers and buts are required because we now need to consider TDS for 10 years as well.

Where does that leave us? Let’s see..

Maturity amount assuming TDS at 10%

If we now round off this amount, it becomes `2041320/-

So we missed out on receiving `(2208040 – 2041320) i.e. `166720/-

Ouch! More than 1.5 lacs gone missing in thin air but the investment got doubled at least.

If we investigate further, this is not the total amount of tax that one would pay in 10 years.

Total tax paid assuming TDS at 10% in 10 years

This can be rounded off to `115702/-

More than 1 lac I see! Not bad, it would be utilized for nation building!

Where is the rest of the money? It never got compounded honey! Remember? TDS affects compounding as well.

So, to summarize:

P.S. Assuming an average inflation of 8% per annum (which means that the value of `100 falls to `92 in one year), the total interest earned at maturity would have a lesser value technically than what was the assumed interest value during investment. This is because of the reason that FD interest rates are around 8% on an average. (#Dilkearmaan aansuomebehgaye)

P.P.S. To overcome the previous situation, one can try investing in mutual funds which are even though subject to market risks, yield good returns over long term of investment, checking inflation as well as adding to wealth creation. Do check this if you are interested in mutual funds – 

http://www.moneycontrol.com/mutualfundindia/learn/

P.P.P.S. It is observed that banks pay a bit higher interest rate for the range of 2-3 years of investment than that for the range of 5-10 years. So, it’s better to invest for the range with highest interest rate and reinvest the whole amount in the same manner until 10 years are completed (in case 10 years are the intended duration of investment). In this manner, the total income would increase.

P.P.P.P.S. Feel free to highlight any corrections to be made. Feel free as well as to share the article with friends and family if you find it helpful.

P.P.P.P.P.S. Happy Investing! J

Have you felt silk lately?

Dairy Milk Silk - name it and a smile will appear on the face of a Silk lover J I believe that we – the Silk lovers do not necessarily prefer the extreme situations shown in the advertisements where people simply don’t care about the place they are at while licking (read savouring) the gooey substance that Silk claims to be. However, well aware of the feasibility of washing hands and a proper place/time, we do indulge in the slo-mo action between the fingers and mouth to spread happiness inside our being. THAT’s the Silk effect.

Once you have felt Silk, it’s difficult to go back to grand old daddy – Dairy Milk with the word Silk not mentioned near it. Thankfully Silk and salary arrived in my life almost at the same time so I do not mind responding to my cravings and the frequent splurging (it’s costly yaar!! At times one counts how much one piece is worth). The problem of ‘No one can eat just one’ is more with Silk than with Lays I believe. One has to have at least two pieces to calm down the chocolate hungry soul!

Now the most important part : the reason why I’m writing the blog on this subject. It’s specifically not to write an open love letter to Silk but to share an information. There are some people who exclaim what’s so amazing about Silk? It’s just an old chocolate with a longer name. Believe it or not, I was in that category after I had Silk for the first time. I could not understand why my friends – Sangita Di and Teenu were going gaga over Silk. After much deliberation and a looong gap I dared to buy Silk one more time..and my opinion changed as well as my list of favourites.

When I had Silk for the first time, it was brought out of refrigerator and consumed. That was the mistake!! What do we get to see in the Silk ads? Gooey substance but refrigerating the chocolate will make it harder – no chance of remaining the gooey little sweet thing. So, applying this logic next time I did not keep it in refrigerator (that’s a hard task given that ants do come and go of their own will everywhere in the house). Tore the packet and got a softer version to feel. Time for action! Placed in mouth and Silk came out with its full potential, out of the shell to mesmerize. Bingo!!!

So if you had committed the mistake same as mine, just try not to refrigerate or keep it outside the refrigerator for a long time before you plan to eat it (not a good suggestion for impatient people).

Enjoy Silk with this cute song ripped from the ad!

Embed Music Files - Audio Hosting - Cadbury Dairy Milk Kiss Me M...

P.S. I like the fruit and nut version of Silk the most. Ironically I liked Dairy Milk fruit and Nut the most. I’ve just moved to the sassy version ;)

Handling random Majnu callers

Yes the title is a bit awkward but then one is helpless. There has to be an adjective to describe this irritating breed of callers.

 

It will be surprising to know if none of the matured girls had to deal with an unknown caller : who is a male (irrespective of age), who doesn’t reveal his identity properly, who wants to know your name, who wants to know the place where the call has landed, who wants to be your friend, who has fallen in love with you the moment he finds that the person answering the call is a female (irrespective of age) and many more silly and/or dirty things on the same lines.

 

With the huge population of such irritating breed lurking here and there who either dial a random number hoping a female to answer the call or through some means get hold of a number that belongs to a female (may be the outcome of the first option), one has to deal with many such creepy people. Service providers with their luring plans of discounted tariff, free calls, etc. make things worse where the caller has to spend few paisa to gain some creepy comfort to their ever loving souls.

 

The obvious reaction is to shout at them, not to receive the calls, get irritated and receive the call and again shout at them, threaten to inform police, so on and on..

 

Have we ever thought that in the middle of all this shouting, we spoil our mood and negatively impact our health? Some random person just manages to ruin our peaceful state of mind with his irritating behavior.

 

Armed with experience, now I have devised a plan that hits the bull’s eye (that one needs to work on with patience) and it doesn’t ruin my mood or health. J

 

So my tactic is :

Receive the call from an unknown number for the first time > Speak cautiously without revealing name, location, etc. > Ask the caller for his name and the one he wants to speak to > Guess the intention of the caller with his weird or creepy reply > Stop speaking > Disconnect the call > Receive the call whenever it appears again ensuring that no surrounding sound would reveal any of your details – like mother calling you from somewhere in the house (this can be achieved by turning off the microphone or covering it with something) > Do not disconnect the call > Let the speaker blabber > Not to listen to what the caller is saying (otherwise one would feel compelled to answer and shout) > Not st speak at all as well > Repeat this as many times possible > At times disconnect the call (but not repeatedly which will make the guy adamant to disturb you more)

 

Finally this act of ignorance where they feel useless – no abusive words, no arguments, drive them crazy and they lose the interest to bother you at least.

 

This has worked like wonder and gives me so much pleasure (in a creepy way like when the caller gets pleasure by irritating a female and realizing that he could make her helpless and angry)!

That’s my revenge! Ha ha ha..