AI can already do many things remarkably well when it comes to money. It can explain concepts, calculate scenarios, compare alternatives, and help us understand investments much faster than before. That is enormously useful. But a money decision is not simply a question-answer exercise. We may be deciding what to do with money built over…

This composite case is built from patterns I see repeatedly in practice. Names and numbers are fictional. I show every calculation so you can check it and reuse the method. This is Part 2 of a four-part case study. Read Part 1 here: Retirement Planning Case Study Part 1. About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a…

It usually starts innocently enough: a stock tip from a colleague, a trending news headline, or a weekend spent skimming stock screeners. Fast forward a few years, and you are staring at a chaotic, 50-to-100-stock portfolio sitting deep in the dumps, impossible to track, and thoroughly failing to generate alpha. About the author: Jay Sheth is…

I think we often misunderstand what we should expect from a financial adviser. Ask someone why they hired an adviser, and quite often the answer is: “Tell me which mutual fund I should invest in.” Or: “Which stocks are going to do well?” Or perhaps: “Do you know of any investment that can give me…

This composite case is built from patterns I see repeatedly in practice. Names and numbers are fictional. I show every calculation so you can check it and reuse the method. This is Part 1 of a four-part case study. About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI-registered investment advisor. He can be contacted via his…

When we talk about financial freedom, we usually think about income, savings, investments, debt, and returns. But there is another factor that can quietly influence our financial decisions: Trust. Yes, Trust. We trust our bank relationship manager. We trust the insurance agent who has been visiting our family for years. We trust the neighbour who…

When I speak to clients during financial planning, a few questions come up again and again. I thought it might be useful to share how we can approach these questions, because many investors may be wondering the same thing. “I am investing ₹50,000 every month. Is that enough?” Another common question I hear is: “I…

When I review investment portfolios, I often see two very different kinds of investors. Some have most of their money in fixed deposits, savings accounts and other very safe investments. Others have gone almost entirely the other way, with most of their wealth in equity mutual funds, stocks or other growth-oriented investments. These approaches look…

If you go to any Indian wedding or office party when the stock market is high, you will hear the same story. Someone will say, India is the next superpower! The market will only go up! Buy this small company share; it will double by Diwali. It feels good to think positive. But in the…

When investors discover the impact of distributor commissions embedded in Regular mutual fund plans, the urge to switch to Direct plans is immediate. The math seems obvious: saving 0.75% to 1.00% every year in expense ratios compounds into a massive difference over decades. Yet when long-term investors consult an advisor or open an Excel sheet…

In Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, the protagonist Arjun had a number. We wanted to hit the target corpus by 40, retire, and finally start living. It’s one of the most seductive ideas Bollywood ever put on screen, and it has quietly become the blueprint for an entire generation of Indian professionals. I meet Arjuns every…

“Can you suggest a good international fund—or include one in my portfolio?” I hear some version of this question regularly in my work as a SEBI-registered investment adviser. Usually, I respond with another question: “If I hid the last three years of returns from you, would you still want to invest internationally?” Take a moment…

Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, was once at a party, and his friend told him that their host had probably made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his famous novel in its entire lifetime. Heller didn’t flinch. “Yes,” he said, “but I have something he will never have. I have…

In a previous article, I discussed building a portfolio and backtesting against the Nifty 100 or Nifty 500.  Investors don’t own just one fund—they own a portfolio. The real question isn’t whether Fund A beat Fund B, but whether your portfolio is actually delivering better outcomes than a simple benchmark like the Nifty 500. The…

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that whenever I talk about managing money, someone eventually labels me a miser. Apparently, if you speak about budgeting, investing, avoiding unnecessary debt, or controlling expenses, you must be someone who doesn’t know how to enjoy life. I disagree. There is a huge difference between being miserly…