If you are an avid non-fiction reader, you may have come across the phrase ‘keystone’ habit. Keystone habits are powerful and transformative habits that have the potential to trigger positive changes in other areas of our lives. Popularized by the book “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, keystone habits are defined as small, positive changes…

We often get emails from readers wanting to know if they are on the right financial path. Here is a simple check to find out. The answer to all questions below is a simple yes or no. The aim here is to maximise the number of yeses. Even if you can’t answer yes to a question…

It is not even May, and already 2023 is the year of AI and as Bill Gates recently proclaimed, the age of AI has begun. We recently discussed how ChatGPT could be a game-changer in personal finance. We also demonstrated Retirement Planning with AutoGPT and pointed out that the future of Investment advisory is informal….

AutoGPT is an open-source Python code using Open AI’s GPT4. Unlike ChatGPT, which requires human intervention at every step, AutoGPT can “self-prompt” and find additional information from its knowledge base or the web (depending on the application). It is supposed to be a step towards artificial general intelligence. They are also referred to as Task-Driven Autonomous…

Over the last few weeks, many readers have asked if they can sell their mutual funds or other investments to partially pre-pay their home loans due to steep loan interest rates after the RBI Repo rate hike. One reader wanted to liquidate his entire MF holdings to part-pre-pay and decrease investments to increase the EMI…

Many of us convert the salary received by Indians going abroad in local currency (USD, Euro etc.) into INR and assume that “they” are doing much better than us. This is, however, incorrect. The exchange rate does not help us compare the cost of living in the two countries. That is, it does not help…

The cost inflation index for the financial year 2023-2024 was recently announced. The index increased from 331 in the previous financial year to 348 – an increase of 5.14%. We compile 42 years of cost inflation index data to understand the devastating consequences of inflation and why our singular focus should be on beating inflation…

In this article, I expound my opinion that a single robo advisor exclusively built for a single advisor or trained with a single advisor (in the case of machine learning) can assist that advisor given enough time, input and practice. A few weeks back, SEBI RIA Swapnil Kende wrote an eloquent piece on Why good quality…

In this edition of the FAQ, we discuss the features of the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, 2023, a new small savings scheme announced in Budget 2023 Who can invest? Women and minor girls via their guardians. Where can we open the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate account? At post offices or notified banks. What is the…

A large number of PPF investors tend to invest Rs. 1.5 Lakh between April 1st and April 5th in an attempt to “maximize” the interest advantages of PPF. Before you follow suit, take into consideration the following factors! This conversation is also relevant if you’re looking to optimize your PPF investments throughout the financial year….

ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is less than four months old, but it has already taken the world by storm. Microsoft’s Bing has, for the first time, got something that Google hasn’t (at the time of writing). AI-based tech startups are popping up like mushroom after rain: There’s an AI for that. It seems someone…

Before the end of 2023, AI will play a huge role in almost all spheres of life. At freefincal, we have been obsessed with creating a CHATGPT-based AI bot to answer reader questions. More about this is below. First, let us discuss why we need to stop criticising AI and accept it! Every time someone…

A reader asks, “I intend to follow a 50:50 portfolio bucket approach post my retirement for the retirement goal. The 50% equity part would be predominantly invested into a Large cap mutual fund. For the 50% debt part, I intend to break it up into a) liquid/money market funds that will cover the next five…

A reader was trying to convince his friend that retirement planning is the number one priority in investing. All others, including our children’s education, come next. He wrote to me looking for “logical support”, as he put it. He was, however, sorely disappointed with me for believing just the opposite.  So this is my attempt…

A reader asks, “I am 32 years old, an IT employee, and recently we had a new baby boy. I wanted to thank you first for your continuous financial lessons, which have changed my thoughts on personal finance. I have one crore term insurance and 10 lakh medical insurance and below MF investments.” “PPFAS Tax…