This post describes how one can calculate returns from stock investments including the declared dividends.  There is a lot of confusion about this calculation with regard to how the dividend should be treated. In this post, return refers to XIRR, that is the personal rate of return. See this for more details:  What is XIRR?…

This is a step by step guide to e-file AY 2020-2120 (FY 2019-20)   income tax returns using forms ITR2, ITR3 and ITR5.  This is an updated version of the second part of a guest post by Aparna C K. She describes LTCG, STCG, carry forward and income from other sources sections of ITR-2 and…

Here is a step by step guide to file income tax return (ITR1) for AY 2019-20. Please consider forwarding this to a person who is going to file returns for this first time. This is an updated version of a guest post by Aparna C K. You can also consult Guide to efile Income Tax…

If you type the following in Google: “Sukanya Samriddhi account risk averse”, you will find several articles that suggest that the Sukanya account is ‘suitable’ for risk averse investors. Such statements make me want to throw up. Risk aversion almost always means that the person does not understand the risk involved with a particular investment…

“Invest according to your risk appetite” is a refrain often seen in personal finance articles. This is as useless as it is meaningless. The single most important ailment among investors is their inability to recognise appropriate benchmarks and objectives inflation as the primary benchmark for long-term goals capital preservation as the primary objective for short-term goals tax-efficiency…

Answers to a frequently asked questions on investment returns. 1. What return does the moneycontrol portfolio manager calculate? It calculates the absolute return. That is the percentage difference = (value-investment)/investment. This does not  represent how your money has compounded. Ignore it. Use Value Research portfolio manager to get XIRR returns (a measure of compounding when there…

This is a sequel to the ‘step-by-step guide to long-term goal-based investing’ and is meant for those who have started investing for their long-term goals after, understanding how much to invest understanding how much to expect from each asset class used deciding on an asset allocation (how much in equity, how much in debt etc.) If…

Many invest for their child’s future by opening minor accounts. That is they invest in the child’s name. Here is why I think this practice is unhealthy and offers no great monetary advantage in most cases. This post is inspired by a thread on the subject at Facebook group, Asan Ideas for Wealth. First, let…

Every so often one hears the passionate refrain, ‘I have been conned into buying XYZ policy by my agent/adviser/relationship manger …., what should I do?, … how can we complain against such mis-selling?’ Do such people deserve our sympathy? Have they been mis-sold a policy or a product? Who is to blame? The buyer? The…