A reader wants to know a way to convince his friend to start investing in equity —a discussion. To not invest in equity is a choice. Whether that is an informed choice or not is another matter. Friend or relative, I don’t think we should try and convince anyone too set in their ways to…

A reader asks, “What should I do with my mutual funds if the market crashes? I started my SIPs three years ago. Today, I don’t know if the market will zoom up or come crashing down. Should I redeem and start again or hold the investments even though I may lose all my gains?” When…

A reader says, “I have a generic question about retirement planning. Can you retire if your annual expenses equal 6% of your corpus?  Say my monthly expenses are 1 lac. My corpus is two crores. I do SWP for 1 lac monthly. If the returns exceed 6% pa, it will also cover inflation. Is there…

A viewer on our YouTube channel wants to know,  What are the “must have” mutual fund categories in a portfolio? But do you even need mutual funds in a portfolio? The answer is no. Mutual funds are a good choice, but they are only a choice. There are other ways to invest, even if they…

Every time stocks in the small cap universe move up prominently, interest in small cap mutual funds and confidence in this sector zoom up even more. Notions like “A small cap mutual fund will beat all other categories (and indices) over the long term” start making the rounds among gullible young earners who naively believe…

There is no limit on the number of sectoral or thematic mutual funds an AMC can produce. So, they do just that! These have huge fees and are marketed as the next big theme to profit from. But how consistent are they in beating a large cap index like Nifty 100 TRI? Note: These are…

It is clear from how many readers, particularly young earners, respond to freefincal content these days that they are overconfident about their equity investments. Especially investments in small cap funds, mid cap funds, etc., that have soared in recent months. This could spell trouble for their dreams. I hate to break it to you, but…

A reader sent us a rather strongly worded email after reading the Handpicked List of Mutual Funds Oct-Dec 2023 (PlumbLine). He was unhappy that we are against investing in active mid cap and small cap fuds and wanted to know why. Our decision stems from our monthly equity mutual fund screeners. These use rolling returns…

This article aimed at new mutual fund investors discusses three common myths about mutual funds. Experienced investors may find this information quite basic, but please consider sharing this post with someone who may benefit from it. The three myths are: “I want my money back!” Nope! A mutual fund is not a bank FD to…

A reader asks, “I initially invested 1.5 lakh rupees in a Smallcap mutual fund category two years ago and haven’t added any more funds since. I’m contemplating whether to resume investing in my existing fund or consider a new smallcap fund”. “I’m interested in understanding the advantages and disadvantages of both options. It’s worth noting…

This is an update on my mutual fund investing journey, which began on 19th June 2008. In the last three decades, I have gone from being a spend-thrift to being in debt to financial independence. New community members can refer to these articles for an account. The Financial Arrow of Time and My Journey: Driven by the…

A viewer on our YouTube channel asks, “Sir, How can I identify my risk appetite? Please let me know the points to consider when deciding asset allocation. Thanks.” Many investors believe their risk appetite falls under three categories: low, medium and risk. They also assume risk appetite refers to “how much risk we can handle”….

A mutual fund is a financial instrument that pools money from the investor and invests on their behalf. As mutual funds become more popular, investors face difficulty making choices. Mutual funds are segregated into two main categories: active and passive mutual funds. If you invest through a broker, the most likely changes are that they…

On 12th Aug 2023, Sudheer Tammini announced that he had developed a “simple Free & Open source software that I have developed to export Mutual Funds CAMS statement data onto a nice CSV file”. We asked him to share more details with us. Cams2CSV could be helpful to users of the freefincal MF portfolio tracker…