Here is how the revised pension will be calculated as per the seventh pay commission pay matrix. This is applicable for all civilian pensioners who retire before 01-01-2016. After the seventh pay commission comes into being, as an interim measure, the revised pension will initially be equal to 2.57 times the pension fixed at the time of…

Visu is a Tamil writer, actor, director and producer well known for his “family-oriented” movies and plays. He also became popular on the small screen when he began hosting a debate on social issues. Recently he was felicitated by the ‘Humour club’, a Chennai-based organisation that promotes healthy humour and humorists.  I got to see…

Mutual fund downside protection refers to instances when the weekly or monthly or year return of the fund is better than its benchmark, when the benchmarks corresponding return is negative. For example, suppose  a fund gives a monthly return of -10%, when the benchmark has given a return of -15%. The fund has only captured 67%…

How important is it to select a ‘good’ mutual fund for investment?  Although I have written step-by-step guides to select equity and debt mutual funds, ‘does fund selection matter at all’ is a question that has often bugged me. What if I chose funds randomly for investment?! In this post, let us consider the effects…

ICIC Amc launched a new feature called ‘moneyback’ in its ICICI Balanced Advantage fund. Here is why retirees or young investors should not choose the moneyback feature of ICICI Balanced Advantage fund. The moneyback feature is a terribly misleading term for a Systematic Withdrawal Plan or a SWP (check out a Step-up SWP Calculator). A SWP is the…

A method to analyse mutual fund performance during a particular investment duration in terms of consistency of returns is discussed in this post. Many mutual fund investors are unable to rationally analyse the performance of their equity mutual fund holdings and often ask, When should I exit an equity mutual fund?. I would like to suggest…

It is inevitable that any activity governed by human behaviour has similarities in the core approaches regardless of associated area or discipline. Investing is no exception. During the Pune workshop, when I said, “the returns of an asset class is not the same as the returns of an investor”, Ashish Deshpande in the audience remarked,…

Asset allocation or the percentage allocation to different asset classes in a portfolio is probably the key aspect of investing. Not only does it determine the corpus that we would accumulate, it also determines the volatility associated with the portfolio. Update: The template has been merged with Freefincal Robo Advisory Software Template. Those who start investing…

A discussion on the pros and cons of a manual systematic investment plan (MSIP), instead of setting of automating it with an ECS bank mandate. I have been practising the MSIP for a few years now and when the topic was broached recently at FB group, Asan Ideas for Wealth, I thought I will list…

Investors tend to display extreme behaviour. Most of them want the solace of risk-free returns without understanding the impact of inflation. A few who do understand this impact tend to obsess over ‘how much their portfolio made’. A look at why keeping things simple, with minimal effort and systematic investing,  is all that is required…

Banks are the pillars of any economy.They create credit, accept deposits, ensure liquidity and serve as the veins and arteries of the financial system. The dream of owning property would remain a dream, but for the loans offered by banks. Yet,  to borrow a line from cartoonist Walt Kelly, “We have met the enemy and…

‘How does one define wealth?’ is a question that I often think about, often with a tinge of sadness that there is no universally accepted definition. A compilation of attitudes about wealth based on my insignificant experience. Speaking purely from a financial point of view, wealth is the ability to tackle emergencies. When life chugs along like…

Beware! Corporate fixed deposits that offer 8.25% annual return are being marketed by prominently quoting their ten-year annual yield of 12.09%. A look at how this form of mis-selling based on a technicality. The ad says, Earn assured returns (first line – font size about half an inch) upto 12.09* % p. a.  (second line…

Here is a compilation of selected posts from the young earner category, meant as a ‘getting started’ money-management guide.  I have not made any attempt to connect the posts, but I hope the sequence should make enough sense for the reader to introspect about money management and enumerate the necessary steps to get started. This…