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…

“How to choose an index fund in India?”, Three people asked me this question in the last two days! My typical response is, “choose a Sensex or Nifty index fund, from the AMC you are comfortable with”.  I thought let me expand my response a bit more. Should I adopt passive investing in India? Aarti…

Use this Mutual Fund SIP Rolling Returns Calculator to determine how consistently an equity mutual fund  has performed wrt to its benchmark. Returns can be broadly categorised into two types: for a lump sum investment (CAGR) and for periodic investment (XIRR) Please consult this post to understand What is XIRR?. You can consider using this Mutual Fund SIP…

Here is a simple illustration that will help you understand how growth and dividend-reinvestment  mutual funds work. You can use it to decide which is better for you, taking into account the investment duration and your tax-slab. This is a re-publish taking into account changes made after budget 2014. When a mutual fund offers regular (typically)  dividends…

XIRR or extended internal rate of return is a measure of return used when multiple investments (at different points in time) are made in a financial instrument. A look at what XIRR represents and how it is different from CAGR. What is CAGR? First, we need to answer a much simpler question. If I invest Rs….

How many stocks does an equity mutual fund hold? It is related to the assets it is managing? It is related to performance relative to peers (aka star rating)? Let use see if we can get some insights into these questions. I started digging around in this direction because I would like to do (yet…

While recommending equity as an asset class or equity mutual funds as an instrument suitable for newbies, illustrations about the power of compounding, past returns and how they have comfortably beat inflation are typically used. This is followed by caveats (besides past performance disclaimers)  that the investor must be ready to stomach the ups and…