Are you always at a loss while planning your finances? Are you aware of the investment options available in the market? How best can you plan your finances? What are the crieria for evaluating an investment option? Are mutual funds profitable investment options? When and how should one buy mutual funds? Considering the current volatility in the equity market, what does an NRI investor do? For some, the knee jerk reaction would be to panic and start selling in anticipation of the market weakening further due to rocketing oil prices and spiralling inflation. For others, it could be 'Hold on!' The market can go lower and better bargains can be picked up for stocks, including blue chips. It all depends on how much lower will be the market decline and for how long. And as Indian stocks may get sucked in the global spiral of depression, the third option for some NRIs would be to buy right now, as the market seems to be heading to its bottom. Inflation in India is expected to come down after six months, according to the finance minister. So these investors are bullish on the long-term prospects of the Indian economy where the Risk-Reward Ratio is in their favour. Thus they can invest now to add low priced stocks to their portfolios for possible high gains later on. Finally, there are the extra-cautious NRI investors. They do not want to speculate in the market but want to safeguard their hard earned investment funds 100 percent and so go for fixed returns. With real returns from fixed income options turning negative due to spiralling inflation and uncertain equity markets in the medium term, they do not know what to do.