In many affluent families today, a quiet dilemma is emerging — one that has less to do with money and more to do with timing. Parents, after years of discipline and hard work, have built comfortable lives and substantial wealth. Their children, meanwhile, have grown up surrounded by stability and the assurance that “jo kuch…

Is it always good to switch from regular to direct plans? The answer is No. Before you move to calculate the switch cost, the first step is to stop existing SIPs in regular plans and start investing in new SIPs in direct plans. The most important factor to consider is the expense ratio difference between…

You planned for everything. You have the PPF corpus, the health insurance, the paid-off home, and the monthly pension. You thought the hardest part of retirement would be managing inflation or medical bills. But six months after your farewell party, you realize you missed a hidden cost. A cost that doesn’t appear in any financial…

You check your bank account. The number is healthy. You have a steady job. You have savings. By all logical metrics, you are safe. So why does spending ₹500 on a dinner feel like a crime? Why does receiving an unexpected bill send your heart racing? Why do you feel an impending sense of doom…

Before you try to teach your spouse about money, pause and ask yourself a critical question: Why do I want them to learn? About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI-registered investment advisor. He can be contacted via his website plnr.in. Ajay is part of the freefincal list of fee-only advisors and fee-only India. Understanding your own motivation is…

In India, buying a traditional life insurance policy is almost a family tradition. It is often the first thing people buy when they start a job. But recently, you might have heard a lot of noise from financial experts or friends. They keep saying, “Why are you keeping that old policy? Surrender (close) it immediately…

It may seem like an odd name for an Excel file, but sometimes you need to create attention. On Saturday, October 4, 2025, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that financial assets worth ₹1.84 lakh crore were lying unclaimed with banks and regulators, and officials need to ensure these reach the rightful owners. About the…

In this article, Dhilip Krishna discusses why he became a fixed-fee-only SEBI-registered investment Advisor. He is a member of Fee-only India*. Dhilip can be contacted via his website: Apta Investment Advisors. * Fee-only India is an informal association of SEBI RIA that charges a fixed fee or a flat fee (independent of AUM). Recently, BSE…

In this article, SEBI-registered Investment Adviser IRIA) Ajay Pruthi provides his take on how a client should select an RIA. Ajay is a member of fee-only India, an informal association of SEBI RIAs who charge a flat fee. He is also on freefincal’s list of SEBI-registered advisors. You can contact Ajay via his website, plnr.in. Please…

Remember buying a phone, bike, or car. How much time did you spend analysing the product—checking features, prices, taking feedback from friends, or reading online reviews? And how much time do you spend reviewing a financial product? You would probably say this is not an apple-to-apple comparison, or it’s an apple-to-orange comparison. No, I am…

Financial Independence, Retire Early has revolutionised the way a generation approaches work and finances. But as more parents achieve financial freedom in their 30s and 40s, a troubling question emerges: What happens to our children when they grow up watching us live without traditional financial stress? This isn’t about leaving kids financially unprepared. It’s about…

Sebi-registered investment advisor Abhishek Kumar offers a balanced, data-driven perspective on a social media post that claimed index funds are “guaranteed” to underperform the market. About the author: Abhishek is part of a freefincal’s curated list of fee-only financial advisors and a fee-only India member. He can be contacted via his website, sahajmoney.com. The “Guaranteed Underperformance” Myth The assertion that…

Understanding risk is essential to effective investing and money management. The way investment risk is perceived and handled has a pervasive impact on investment performance. Hence, it would be beneficial to develop a holistic understanding of how investment risk works. Let us now look at answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about…

In India, not everyone can offer investment advice. They must first be registered as an investment adviser (RIA) with SEBI. Once registered, they must act as a fiduciary – meaning they must always put the client first. In other words, prescribe only commission-free products (those that come under SEBI) if the adviser charges fixed fees…

Let’s take the example of 2 Senior Citizen friends who have the same amount of corpus in their retirement kitty. The retirement corpus is around 1.4 Crores. Let us name them Mr. Ram and Mr. Sham for better understanding. Both friends are 60 years old and have retired from their respective professions. Since Mr. Ram…