A reader wants to know which mutual fund he should use for rebalancing – outperformers or underperformers in a portfolio—a discussion. The primary objective of portfolio rebalancing is risk reduction. We remove some funds from an asset class performing well and shift it to another asset class. Typically this is done from equity to fixed…

Here are a few money managment tips to consider before buying a house. These involve servicing the home loan and investments and are unrelated to the property purchase. Don’t be in a hurry! Buying property is often an emotional decision and even more frequently driven by a fear of missing out. These can result in…

It is the dream and responsibility of every parent to guarantee that our children have the freedom and ability to pursue their desired path in life. Additionally, it would be ideal for our children to begin their professional journey without the burden of an educational loan. So it is vital that we strategically plan and…

We present 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…

Here are eight investment truths hours and hours of number crunching and data analysis have taught me. I have always believed that mathematics is the language of nature and that a truly open-minded analyst has a chance of appreciating the “truth” or even attaining nirvana! 1. There is no evidence that long term investing is…

This article discusses how to track monthly expenses and manage them efficiently. This is one of the steps in our Free ebook: Re-assemble Step-by-step money management basics. If you ask me now, “How should I track expenses?” I would say, “Do not track; invest first and spend later”. See: How ten years of tracking investments…

Let’s get rich with Pattu, produced by Ofspin is a weekly podcast on money management. We have completed 13 episodes so far. You can now listen to the show on nine different channels and watch us discuss money management on YouTube! Each episode will cover one aspect of money management – insurance, emergency funds, planning…

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?…