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What are the most recommended investment options for those in their 20s and 30s?

You don’t need to have an enormous corpus of funds to start investing. What is important is a disciplined approach towards financial planning. Since you would very likely have just started your career, you still have good time to plan your financial journey. Start with a small investment but be committed to invest regularly. In your 20s, a good way to start is by saving towards an emergency fund equal to three to six months of your total expenses. Plan your financial goals based on your earning. Consider selecting the 50/30/20 budget rule, which means 50 per cent of your monthly income you can use for expenses, 30 per cent for needs and 20 per cent for savings. Have a savings or money multiplier bank account for ease of access to your money. This is important as you might face some emergency where you need instant funds, or you could need to meet the expense of a bigger financial requirement like buying a car or renting a bigger home space. Plan a life insurance policy. Starting the policy at an early age saves on insurance premiums, which would be quite expensive later in life.

I would like to know about studying Microbiology and what are the career options after that. Please advise.

Microbiology is the study of micro-organisms too small to be seen by the naked eye and would include organisms such as algae, fungi, bacteria and protists. The study tries to understand how these microbes live, grow and interact with the environment. It is an interdisciplinary field embracing other life sciences such as genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology and even engineering. Sub disciplines of microbiology include food microbiology which studies reasons behind food spoilage and other microbes used to cure food such as cheese; industrial biology which involves the study of industrial fermentation and waste water treatment; clinical biology and microbial genetics. Companies like Nestle and McDonald are investing millions of dollars for research in this field. Microbiology majors take courses like microbial physiology, virology, chemistry, biochemistry, and physics. There is fair amount of clinical and laboratory experience included in the course curriculum. Other than jobs in the laboratory and research, career prospects for a Microbiologist are available in pharmaceutical, health, food, wellness, agriculture, dairy, environment industries, forensic science and nanotechnology.

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