We recently ran a survey for clients of fee-only advisors who are part of Freefincal’s curated list and fee-only India – 964 clients have participated. A healthy trend has emerged that warrants our attention, and we strongly believe any further response would only strengthen it. We shall discuss answers to two survey questions in this…

Most parents in India are worried about the financial security of their children, especially their daughters. They often ask if there is a specific investment instrument that they should use to save for their children. For instance, I was recently asked, “Shall I use ‘LIC Kanyadaan Policy’ or ‘Sukanya Samruddhi Yojana’ for accumulating a corpus…

Fee-only India (FOI) is a group of SEBI Registered Investment Advisors (RIA) and Financial Planners who only charge a flat fee (independent of the client’s assets, aka fixed fee). The group meets once or twice yearly to help build the advisory service. The last meeting was on June 24th and 25th, 2023. SEBI RIA Swapnil…

Yesterday, fee-only SEBI-registered investment advisor, Ajay Pruthi explained why financial planning is simple but often overwhelming. Today he explains a way out. Ajay can be contacted via his website plnr.in.  For the sake of continuity, let us take a look at the last example discussed by Ajay once again. Suppose you have never invested in…

This is my first article after becoming an independent SEBI Registered Investment Adviser. Before starting this article, I would like to thank Mr. Melvin Joseph (founder of Finvin Financial Planners), who has helped me reach where I am today. I have learned everything from him. I do not have enough words to express my gratitude,…

We recently ran an anonymous survey for clients of fee-only advisors who are part of Freefincal’s curated list and fee-only India – 964 clients have participated. Swapnil Kendhe is one of the most sought-after advisors on our list. One hundred fifteen of his clients participated in the list, and 97% had the most wonderful things…

This article will discuss how SEBI-registered investment advisors (RIAs) earn a fee and which option is best suited for investors.  This article is written with the help of inputs from Ashal Jauhari and other RIAs who are members of my curated list. SEBI only recognises two types of fees: A fee not exceeding Rs. 1.25L…

In this article, SEBI registered fee-only advisor Akshay Nayak – the newest member of fee-only India* – explains why simple portfolios make sense and how to build them. About the author: Akshay holds an MBA in Finance from Great Eastern Management School, Bangalore. His website is akshaynayakria.com. His articles on personal finance and investing can…

As you may know, freefincal has maintained a curated list of fee-only SEBI-registered advisors since 2014. In Sep 2017, many of those advisors formed an informal association – fee-only India (FOI), which has now grown bigger. A fee-only advisor does not get any commission or remuneration from any product manufacturer (insurers, mutual funds etc.). They work…

This article is an opinion piece on how to make affordable financial advice readily available in India. Financial advice here refers to financial advice without any conflict of interest. Or, in other words, fiduciary financial advice. That is advice that only has the best interests of the advice seeker in mind. Having been around this…

In this article, SEBI-registered fee-only financial planner Swapnil Kendhe explains why he believes good financial planning advice does not scale. About the author: Swapnil is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor and part of my fee-only financial planners’ list. You can learn more about him and his service via his website, Vivektaru. In the recently conducted…

In this article, Melvin Joseph, one of India’s first fee-only financial planners and SEBI-registered investment advisors, shares his experiences over a 12-year career. While I was trying to build a list of fee-only financial planners in 2013, it was by sheer chance that I encountered Melvin Joseph’s post on Facebook. Someone had asked him about mutual…

A reader who prefers anonymity asks, “I would like to become a SEBI registered fee-only advisor. However many people in financial services have discouraged me. They either ask me to do something else or become a commission-based advisor or charge a fee based on the AUM of the client. I find these models unappealing. I…