When it comes to the Public Provident Fund (PPF), investors typically focus on its tax-free, risk-free, and tax-saving benefits. Even those who cannot afford it often scrounge for Rs. 1.5 lakh for PPF investment within the first five days of the financial year. See: Investing Rs. 1.5 lakhs in PPF before April 5th may not…

You probably feel grim and despondent if you have tracked factual climate change articles over the past few years. What was earlier academic debate now seems like a matter of time. Can we financially prepare for this? How? Here are a few articles that remind us of the kind of mess we are in now….

A reader asks, “Sir, What return should I use while planning for retirement? I wish to retire by age 55. I am currently 35 years of age”. Many people make two mistakes while planning their finances. The first common mistake is presuming that equity mutual funds provide a 12%  (or more!) return and utilizing that…

I purchased two endowment policies last year and currently pay an annual premium of 2 Lakhs for these policies. Renewal for these policies is due next month, and I’ve heard that insurance policies are not ideal for investment due to their relatively low returns. So, should I consider surrendering these policies? About the author: Ajay…

We received this interesting question.”First of all, I’d like to thank you for the blogs and videos that you make. I’m fresh out of college(21 years old) and will start my first job soon. Your content has spiked my interest in personal finance and made me examine it analytically”. “My question is rather simple but…

A reader asks,  “I have a question regarding this article, wrt to the kid’s education corpus – After ten years of MF investing, Suhas is on track to achieve his financial goals. The user mentions opening a second ppf account. My question is, Is it possible for me to invest in my kid’s ppf account,…

As reported earlier, SEBI has included nine freefincal calculators created by M. Pattabiraman in its investor education website. Ms Monika Halan, the SEBI Investor Protection Education Fund Advisory Committee chairperson, suggested including these tools, and the committee inaugurated them on 22nd Nov 2022. Tutorials for each tool will be made available in the coming weeks….

A reader says, “Hello, sir- I have made the folly of investing in ULIPs. I have read enough articles from people like you, who I trust to know it was a mistake. What I want to understand is what do I do next? Should I wait till the five-year lock-in and then withdraw my capital?…

An acquaintance recently learned about my investment journey – Fourteen Years of Mutual Fund Investing: My Journey and lessons learned. He then asked me if I had stopped investing and why I was still working. I replied that I would like to keep working and continue investing for as long as possible. He suddenly sounded…

If you have a property to rent out, here are some key considerations to ensure there are no legal issues with your tenant in future. The law provides several safeguards for both landlords and tenants. If the agreement between the two parties is not done right, legal hardships will result in loss of time and…

I was asked this question in a podcast recently. I am a college student. I receive some pocket money each month. How should I invest it? First, seeing 18-somethings think about investing a few years before receiving their first paycheck is wonderful. This is personal finance. So there is one right answer. I can think…

We explain why “guaranteed income plans” with “assured returns” are inefficient investment avenues for our money and are best avoided. Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1748 that Time is Money in a note titled “Advice to a Young Tradesman“. Insurers use this idea to their benefit in all traditional insurance policies, including guaranteed income plans. Consider a typical…

In this article, reader Sampath explains why he had to postpone his plans for early retirement. His story is a lesson that we must be ready to adapt to the ups and downs of life. Dear freefincal readers, my name is Sampath. I will be 47 in Jan 2023. I have always been fascinated by…

In this article, we discuss how to audit a financial freedom or retirement portfolio. All long-term financial goals require periodic review to ensure that they are on track and in line with expectations and assumptions made while planning for the goal. Retirement is a unique financial goal because a corpus does not get spent within a…

A reader says, “I have a query about investment for my child’s future. We have been blessed with a baby boy this month, and I would like to start investing for his future and marriage”. “I plan to open a bank account (for the child) with my wife as the parent until my child becomes…