Direct mutual fund plans were introduced from Jan 1st 2013. In this article, we list the return difference between an 8-year SIP in a direct plan and a regular plan mutual fund. Scared that it would disrupt sales, SEBI has still not renamed “regular plans” for what they really are: “commission plans” – nothing “regular”…

Every time the market hits an all-time high, many investors get jittery. Questions like “should I book profits now?” “Should I stop investing now?” start doing the rounds in social media. This article discusses a simple way to handle our emotions when investing in mutual funds or any capital market-linked product. The adage, “show me…

In this article, we study historical Sensex data to determine if investors should stop or pause their mutual fund SIPs when the markets hit an all-time high. We also consider lump sum investments and systematic transfer of a lump sum (STP) during all-time market highs. Every time the market hits an all-time high, new investors…

All of us are aware of the stability brought by a stable side income source in our financial lives. It reduces reliance on our day job and brings in additional income, which makes it easy to work towards our financial goals. In this post, we discuss 20 business ideas that would need no investment or…

As regular readers may be aware, we publish a personal financial audit each December – this is the 2020 edition: How my retirement portfolio has performed in 2020. This time, we asked regular readers to share how they review their investments and track financial goals. Suhas was the first to do this: How Suhas tracks his…

Readers may recall, a year ago (Dec 21 2019), we showed that the return difference of Nifty 50 vs Nifty 50 Equal-weight index at an all-time high. This essentially means that only the top few stocks of Nifty were holding the market up. This was apparent from late 2017 to just before the 2020 crash:…

We study 41 ELSS funds to find out which of them have consistently outperformed the NIfty 200 Total Return Index (dividends included) using the Dec 2020 equity mutual fund screener. Nifty 200 is a representative benchmark of the ELSS category in which funds are typically large cap oriented. since it is market capitalization-weighted, the index…

This is a review of HDFC Infinia Credit card one of the best super-premium cards available in the country. It’s the top of the line among the cards offered by HDFC Bank in terms of the benefits offered. About the author:  Arjun is a financial services professional, keen about all things personal finance and with…

Parag Parikh Long Term Equity Fund has now become Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund, in order to fall in line with the SEBI Multicap MF Rule issued in Sep 2020 forcing multi caps to invest in 25% in midcap and 25% in smallcap stocks and taking advantage of the new scheme category introduced in Nov…

The e-vote to decide on the winding up of six affected Franklin Templeton debt funds will be held during 26-29 Dec 2020. Here is why investors should vote “Yes” to the closure and gradual disbursal of withheld funds instead of “No”. Ideally, SEBI should have played an active role in the matter, told Franklin to…

A few days ago, I rebalanced my son’s future portfolio from 67% equity to about 54%. This means selling a big chunk of equity mutual funds and reinvesting them into fixed income. In this article, I explain why I choose ICICI Gilt fund as one component of the fixed income portfolio. I would like to reiterate…

Kotak International REIT FOF is an open-ended fund of fund scheme investing in units of SMAM ASIA REIT Sub Trust fund and/or other similar overseas REIT funds. The NFO period closes on Dec 21st 2020. In this review, we explain how a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) works and what kind of return one can…

With the Nifty/Sensex zooming to all-time highs within months of the biggest intraday fall when 10-year Nifty SIP Return fell to 2.3%, and 14-year SIP Return to 5%, investors are not happy to see healthy gains and double-digit mutual fund returns. With the natural nervousness associated with a market up move, investors would like to…

If you do not like to do complex financial planning calculations, here are some interesting and easy to use back-of-the-envelope financial planning calculations! About the author: Swapnil is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor and part of my list of fee-only financial planners. You can learn more about him and his service via his website Vivektaru….

Motilal Oswal 5 Year G-Sec ETF is an open-ended scheme replicating/tracking Nifty 5-year Benchmark G-Sec Index. It is being marketed as a “safe” and “a low-cost alternative to FDs”. In this review, we show this is not true and what investors need to know about this ETF. Suppose you buy a five-year G-sec bond vis…