There is a lot of interest in “high-interest bonds”. Unless you need a regular income (because you are retired or on a break, etc.), you don’t need bonds. Even if you need a regular income, it is important to exercise extreme caution before buying non-central government/RBI bonds.  A bond typically pays out interest once or…

This is a compilation of frequently asked questions about the freefincal robo advisor tool. It allows you to plan from start to finish for retirement (early, normal, before and after), non-recurring financial goals (child education) and recurring financial goals (holidays, appliances, etc.). The tool would help anyone aged 18 to 80 plan for their retirement,…

Regular readers may be aware that we often discuss a retirement bucket strategy. In this article, we discuss the possibility of building retirement buckets using hybrid funds.  The main advantage of using hybrid funds is less management. We do not have to worry about asset allocation changes. The churn among buckets can be minimised. Also…

In this article, Sneha Rege discusses how defining three simple numbers changed the way I think about survival, comfort, and freedom. About the author: Sneha writes about personal finance and retirement planning from the perspective of a salaried professional navigating real-world trade-offs. She is studying investment advisory frameworks and has cleared the NISM Series XA…

This is a simple spreadsheet to review and audit your goal-based investment portfolios. Over the years, we recognised the need for a tool beyond financial planning and portfolio value/return tracking. A financial planning calculator tells you the target corpus for a goal and the investment amount required.  A portfolio tracker only tells you the current…

A reader sent us this message with a title, Financial situation for 40-45 years: “I wonder why this age group is usually never the focus for financial planners or even bloggers. Understand that this group (like me 1983 born) were pushed into survival first 10 years in IT, and by the time salaries rose and life…

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 be…

A reader asked, “How will you define a comfortable retirement?” A discussion. The answer is subjective and subject to significant change, especially if we are far from retirement. Perhaps only those investing for at least a decade will likely ask this question. ‘Comfort’ implies something well above an essential requirement. So, let us first define…

This new year, let us be the fund managers of our goals and dreams. To do this, we must do better than these common beliefs and questions we ask on money management or the issues we worry about: We naively believe that because the Indian economy is expected to grow, our portfolio returns will always grow,…

Here is a quick-start list of action items for young earners to start their investment journey in 2026. Older earners can also use it as relevant. The action plan Get life insurance (15-20 times annual income) Get health insurance for parents (if not present). Get a separate health cover for yourself. Build an emergency buffer:…

We discuss the most crucial steps in defining and planning for a financial goal. Only after the goal is defined should one consider products for investments. Sadly, most investors have a product-first, plan-later approach. A goal provides direction and a sense of purpose. Only when we know the destination can we plan how to get…

Retirement planning is a life-long exercise. Ideally, it lasts from when we draw our first salary/income to when we (or the surviving spouse) draw our last breath. During this journey, there are several stages. Each stage teaches us something new. Here are some of these stages. This could vary from person to person. This listing…

Here are 16 personal finance resolutions and resources to help you start your wealth creation journey. In his 2013 Ted Talk, former Google search quality chief Matt Cutts discussed the power of trying something new for 30 days.  He says if you try something new for 30 days or stop doing something for 30 days,…

Use this financial health check tool to gauge the strength of your finances. This tool was added to the SEBI investor education portal in Oct 2023. Readers may recall that nine freefincal calculators are already part of the SEBI investor education website. Since then, video tutorials by M. Pattabiraman for a few calculators have also…

I have tracked the amount invested in my goal portfolio for over 14 years. It has been a life and game-changer for my family. Whether you track your spending or not, tracking your investment amount or maintaining an investment diary is crucial. Today, I can invest more for retirement than my target investment. That was…