This is a triple update announcement – to two rolling returns calculators and to the Google spreadsheet for tracking financial independence. First two updates: The mutual fund lump sum and SIP rolling returns calculators have been updated with additional benchmarks. Rolling returns calculators provide a simple, easy to understand visual representation of how consistently a…

Mutual fund investing is not like investing in an insurance scheme or buying term life insurance or health insurance. You cannot choose a fund based on past performance and assume that all you need to do is to invest in it from time to time. As mentioned several times before, one should not get married…

The mutual fund industry has done a mighty propaganda job of ‘educating’ investors about ‘systematic investing’. So much so that many investors believe (not just new ones) that SIP is a financial instrument in of itself! 1. SIP is not different from lump sum when you invest Every time you make a mutual fund purchase,…

A simple way to screen mutual funds using downside capture and upside capture ratios is discussed. The capture ratio data obtained for equity-cap funds is used as an example. With such a batach analyzer, it is a simple task to get the data for other fund categories. However, it is also boring – one needs…

Use this sheet to calculate the downside protection offered by a mutual fund for different investment durations (last 1-9 years). It also includes an ulcer index calculator. The present version has been updated with multiple indices from the Mutual Fund SIP XIRR Tracker This tool has been specifically designed to aid investors who would like to…

A simple method to review your mutual fund SIP investments by tracking the month-on-month returns is discussed. In a previous post, the data presented for 10-year SIPs had a huge spread. Analysis: 10-year Lump sum vs 10-year SIP returns That alone should be clear to you that one cannot simply let the SIPs continue hoping for…

This year, direct mutual fund plans have taken off in a big way. This is exciting news not just because there is a single window to invest in direct mutual fund. In order to grow these portals must advertise*. Meaning commission-free investing will be the USP. Meaning more and more people will understand that their current online…

Here is an analysis of a mutual fund SIP investment in which purchases are systematically ‘timed’ using an index PE. I made this analysis following the suggestion of ET Wealth analyst/columnist Dr. Narendra Nathan (@drnarendranET) after (or amidst!) some fierce discussion over the usefulness of the SIP. The SIP is a useful way to invest…

Upside and Downside capture ratios are easy-to-understand mutual fund performance measures. Consistent downside capture ratios can be combined with consistent returns (try the mutual fund screener) to select and review mutual funds. Regular reader may be aware that I am a fan of the downside capture ratio. In this post, I present a video that describes how these…

Here is an illustration of Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana vs. PPF when used for a girl child’s education goal. It also serves to understand why liquidity is more important than higher interest rates. Update:  Current Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana rate is 8.3% and current PPF rate is 7.8% (the same 0.5% difference as assumed in the article).  This does…

Worried about turbulent markets? Thinking about stopping your stopping your SIP instruments? If you believe that our economy is bound to grow and that we should profit from it, I would strongly suggest that you do not stop your SIPs or equity investments now. Instead use the time to accumulate more units. Let us track…

MF Utility is a free “Transaction Aggregating Portal” run about 25 AMCs jointly. It allows users to invest in direct mutual fund plans. Here is a step-by-step user guide prepared by Anish Mohan to buy and sell direct mutual funds using the MF Utility portal. If you are thinking about getting an MF Utility account,…