The reason I speak before employees is not to teach them money management (no such lofty ideas please) but to learn common practices from them.  Real people behave very differently from an Excel sheet! During the course of my talk, I say something like, “we do not know what to do our salary minus expenses,…

What is bravery? Instinctively doing the right thing when danger strikes unexpectedly is bravery. When there is no danger, anyone can claim that they are brave. It is only during the actual moment of peril do we know how brave we really are. Well, my point is, asking someone “how brave are you”, is the same…

As we head to the third phase (out of 7) of Lok Sabha Elections 2019, it should be reasonably clear that it would be a lot tighter race than in 2014. No “single coalition”(!) could get an absolute majority of their own and smaller parties can decide who comes to power. If you are worried…

You can now watch the talk I give to corporates – A common sense approach to managing money. The audience is a typical mix of 20+ to 50+ in age. This particular presentation was given to World Bank employees in Feb 2019. If you wish to start organising your money, this seminar may be of…

When people say, “over the long term equity will provide good returns”, they often forget or do not want to consider (if they are sales guy) how monthly or annual return sequences combine to result in the final annualized return (CAGR). Sometimes the sequence of returns can be good, sometimes bad. In this article, via…

A PMS or a portfolio management service is a personalised wealth management service where there is no pooling of assets like a mutual fund. A PMS has a minimum investment of Rs. 25 lakh and unlike mutual funds, each buy and sell transaction by the fund manager is taxable in the hands of the investor….

If you are worried about how much to invest in equity for different financial goals, here is a simple asset allocation template that you use to plan your goals along with several video guides. Investing starts and ends with the right asset allocation or how much should I invest in equity and how much in…

It is every parents’ dream and duty to ensure our children can do what they want to in life. It would also be great if our children do not start their earning lives with an educational loan Therefore it is important that we plan and invest right for our child’s future. Here is a simple…

The interim budget announced on 1st Feb 2019 has proposed a change in the tax rebate under section 87A. Here is how it will work.  Revised Tax Rebate Under Section 87A (FY 2019-2020) If you are resident individual and your total income after all eligible deductions is equal to or less than 5 lakh, then…

A typical NRI with no set return date to India has a unique financial planning dilemma. Should I plan to stay put or for return? Do I invest in NRE FDs paying 7% or global equities expected to deliver between 4-6%? Should I buy a house abroad or rent instead? It’s an endless list. In…

Every December I take stock of my financial goals and evaluate where I stand. I have been publishing this since 2013 and this is the 6th edition and 1st video version. My goal is only to point out the benefits of goal-based investing and have no intentions to brag.My success so far (if it can…

“Should I use the same mutual funds for all my goals, or should I have separate funds?” is a question that investors often ask. The answer you can either go with the same funds for all goals or have separate portfolios. I discuss how to use the same funds for all financial goals. What are…

I discuss how the power of compounding can be explained to children with an example. The video of an experiment with my 8Y old son is also included. For children under ten, the essential point to be conveyed is that if we do not touch the money invested and let it grow and give it…

I occasionally talk to my son about money, inflation and investing. So I decided to test how much he has understood. Here is the video. Also, the video version of Can I start Index investing with 50% Nifty 50 and 50% Nifty Next 50? is now available. Note to Tamil speakers: I am creating Tamil videos of…

Here is why I think this market “correction” is a great opportunity to rebalance our portfolios and increase equity exposure (video version included below). However, this opportunity is available only for this who have a clear target asset allocation. That is how much of the portfolio should be in equity and how much should be…