What 100 plus New Equity Mutual Fund Investors Learnt Since 2017!

Published: September 28, 2019 at 11:43 am

Last Updated on December 29, 2021 at 1:05 pm

I asked new mutual fund investors of FB group Asan Ideas for Wealth on 12th Sep 2019, “What have you learnt by investing in equity mutual funds over the last couple of years?” New mutual fund investors were defined as those who started investing from Jan 2017 or later. A total of 115 members shared lessons from their short journey so far. Here are the responses.

I am happy to note that most of the responses are well balanced and mature. I would urge all new and old investors to go through them.  I am confident that if they hold their nerve (that holds true for me as well) during a big market crash, they will retire rich.

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Thank you all for participating. Wish you all the best. Thank you for the generous words of appreciation. Now on to the responses. Any text in brown is mine!

1.      Managing risk is more important than chasing return.
2.      My portfolio has been in red for most of the time. I have seen it go till -15%
Before I came across AIFW and freefincal, I was investing in regular funds. I thought I could take more risk and started with small and mid caps which obviously was a blunder. I kept on putting more money in small caps as they kept falling because I thought I am buying dips, but it was a blunder. I have learnt it the hard way. Over last year, I worked with a fee-only advisor and got a better plan. Right now I have bought down the exposure from 70 % to 30% for mid and small caps, there is room for improvement and I am on the right way.
Actually I am glad that this happened early in my journey or I would have not learnt and loss would have been much bigger.
Thanks, freefincal and Swapnil, my fee-only advisor
3.      Properly select the funds and it has good growth potential. Not all are going to give you positive returns. Some you gain and some you lose. Don’t be greedy and expect 15 or 17% yearly returns. Just be happy if it beats FD
4.      Investing as much as possible and as consistently as possible. Not looking at daily NAVs since they barely matter. There’s no best. I’m 27 now, and even 30 years later there is no guarantee that I would get returns more than FD/RD.
5.      Markets are volatile. Volatility is not bad. Patience is needed much. Don’t put your money into equity if you need it next 5 years. Put only the monies which you don’t want to touch for the next at least 10 to 15 years. In addition to Automated SIP, put in additional investment if you see the market is going down. At the same time don’t try too much to time the market. If possible cancel your automated SIPs and put in when the market is slightly low in the first 10 days of the month. Don’t wait beyond that. If market is really going down, pump in more to buy at a low.
6.      when one of my friends suggested starting a SIP in MF during that Stock market were at its peak and I did not understand much about portfolio allocation and risk/reward. thank God I learn this early of my investment journey which will help me in future. Thanks fully I did not stop my SIP into two Muticap AMC and overall portfolio is also not red.
7.      I started the journey with a plan to invest 10000/- per month across 4 equity funds (1 large cap, 1 value fund, 1 midcap and 1 small cap).
Then in the meanwhile, after I started investing in SIP I came across AIFW as well as freefincal. I started in the mid of volatility and I was getting nervous.
There are a few things I started to get a hang of after following freefincal1. Investing 10000/- PM across 4 MFs was not going to take me anywhere, so I increased the amount of investments by about 3.5 X which I was able to do after taking a re-look at my yearly inflow and outflow.

  •  I got to understand the importance of downside protection and moved my SIPs to Balanced Advantage /Hybrid kind of funds.- This too thanks to Pattu Sir’s videos.
  • I learnt about index investing and the volatility of NN50. I started of index investing as N50: NN50 in the ratio of 50:50 but soon course corrected it to 70:30.
  • In the meanwhile, while doing course corrections, I have cluttered my portfolio with several Funds, which I intend to clean up in a years time and hopefully with no loss, else I am willing to wait. But in the long run, I wish to have 4 equity MFs. But the good thing is that I am confident that I am investing in the correct categories as per my true risk-taking abilities.
  • I wish to completely move out of Small Cap investment as again the volatility to return ratio is simply not worth it.
  • I got to know about arbitrage funds and the advantage it provides with regards to LTCG for a 1 year holding period. If someone is in 30% bracket, I wonder for retail investors liquid funds make any sense if someone can get similar returns in Arbitrage funds. These are the points I could think of right now. I would like to thank freefincal and Pattu sir for enlightening me and all of us who are interested on the various nuances. I am a pretty much a beginner and looking forward to learning a lot more.
8.

  • Debt component is required in your portfolio
  • A Liquid fund comes in handy for emergencies
  • Funds can change category which is not under your control. Like mid-cap to large and mid-cap as per the new guidelines
  • Past return % and Crisil rank does not matter
  • Negative returns are possible (3 out 4 of my funds are giving -ve returns after 2 years) which had good past returns and they were top-ranked as well
9.   I started very recently that too I invested tactically in UTI NN50 and arbitrage. this was a very little amount and it will be hard to do tactical forever. Recently covered myself with insurance both term and health. I am still working on the emergency corpus and insurance for parents.
I have seen the volatility of NN50 I used to check everyday closing for a couple of months. But I am yet to see red portfolio. I don’t know how I will react to that. Watching your videos from a couple of years so I guess I have made my mind to bear that pain.
10.   Selecting best mutual fund is a futile exercise. Planning to move Index investments fully
11.   As I was totally unaware but with the help of AIFW and Pattu sir video helped me a lot to understand the basic requirements and a lot of knowledge for selecting the right fund.
12.

  • Returns are not guaranteed
  • Historical performance doesn’t guarantee future results
  • When it comes to picking a fund- there are people who work full time in this industry and yet the majority of them are not able to beat the index. So mere mortals like me who have full-time jobs should focus on the index investing and building capital over the long term (This also comes with a lot of terms and conditions. Assumption- there is a long term growth story for this economy. That’s the hope! Cheers
13.   The returns shown in finance sites are misleading. Invested only in mid/small cap looking at the returns.
14.

  • An emergency fund is a must.
  • asset allocation is the most important part of investing
  • reduce risk as the goal closes
15.   In Oct 2018 the MF the entire portfolio went to almost negative and I sold off all the units. The important lesson I learnt was that

  • If you start MF and get profit / never goes in red for the first 2 to 3 yrs  it increases your confidence
  • Start MF with a loss and it is difficult to absorb the same emotionally & confidence level goes down for further investing
  • Knowing in which MF to invest in the sea of MF available and having a knowledgeable mentor to help me start investing boosts confidence level  – Yr videos were very helpful.
16.   Through research is required before selecting a fund… Making sense of past mutual fund returns and selecting the proper benchmarks … Understanding the difference between cagr XIRR rolling returns…
17.   Avoid Sectoral Thematic Funds, 50% N50 + 50% NN50 works for me.
18.   – In Dec 2017 sold my equity portfolio(with good profit) as I got scared by the way the market going crazy.
– And after that I came across freefincal and going thro’ various posts/video decided to move to goal investing based investing(using Robo advisory).
– So far the going has been good and return is positive (sticking to 5 MFs – Parag ParikhEquity, HDFC Hybrid, Franklin Hybrid, Nifty50 and Nifty50 with 10% increment every year)  and using these for kid’s education, kid’s marriage and retirement.
– Debt portion is PF, PPF and Sukanaya Samruddhi
– More than the returns it is how much you are dumping into the funds and investment period that seems to make sense.
19.   I was really excited about the stock market. I didn’t know anything when I bought some stocks. I was getting some profits and I thought it was easy to earn from the market. I invested more without checking anything and lost in some stocks then I stopped investing then and started to check about my mistakes. I started learning about many things like, mutual funds fundamentals, how they work, what FM does, then about stocks, their fundamental analysis, technical analysis and many other things. Now I am working on my own strategy and will see how that works. This was a really great journey just in 8 months. It will continue.
20.   Have scheduled sip investing 15k per month for 3 years, Not tracking any, as my goal is 15 years away, will see after 3 years, if we can continue same funds, rebalance… Etc
21.   Returns are highly unpredictable, swinging wildly
22.

  • The fund should perform from my date of investment.
  • ELSS is worst because SIP in it is useless and lumpsum is risky. I purchased ELSS on Dec 30, 2017, for my 80 C.
  • Learnt Mutual funds are not only equity from freefincal.
  • Learnt about direct funds from Asan Ideas.
  • The expectation of return should be minimal and not the best case.
  • Rebalancing is for own good.
23.   It is not as exciting as stock but at times when I look back I feel good at least I have started.
24   To have clear target corpus to balance the risk, whenever nearing the goal. Few funds (preferably low volatile and average return) with good amount should be preferred.
25.   I’m happy with 60% equity and 40% debt
In the case of debt funds, it is better to go with PSU bank debt funds. In the equity section, 70% of the equity in large cap funds and 30% in banking funds(sectoral funds)
26.   There will always be many things which you don’t know and try to learn before investing but learning and investing will go simultaneously and you just have to to take the first step based on whatever limited in the info you have.
27.   Not to invest in sectoral funds, reduce exposure to small cap funds, instead of focusing on return start focusing on the goal
28.

  • Never follow tips on television and newspapers. They just want to create sensational news, Usually making one transact a lot.
  • All data can be manipulated by AMCs. Like they show 10year return starting from 2008 dip so returns are maximized.
  • Debt is an important part of the portfolio.
29.   Never to trust any fund house , they will sell products for which they get more reward , they will bash index funds as useless in Indian market, and promote sip even if market is high they want sip ..consumer interest is of least interest .. Mutual fund needs to educate customers regarding market peaks and downs, otherwise common people with less knowledge will buy at top and sell at bottom and leave equity market for life .. Financial education is very low among people .. I am now an index fund investor who rebalance every time once a year and when market drops will invest heavily and when market rise stops investing ..thanks to freefincal ..
30.

  • Past higher returns don’t mean future high returns.
  • 18% per annum returns for the last 10 years doesn’t mean 18% return every year (or 18% for the next 10!).
  • It’s not ok to invest in small caps only even for 20+ year goals.
  • Asset allocation is as important as investing for achieving goals
    5. For generating huge corpus, we’ll need to focus more on investing more money than getting more return.
    6. Small caps investing doesn’t necessarily mean high returns but definitely mean high risks.
31.   – Should not act based on anyone’s recommendations.
– Intraday will not make u rich instead it will kill your time
– Stay away from Direct Equity and Smallcaps
– Index-based investing and importance of low cast investing, asset allocation and Goal planning. But happy to learn from my mistakes, found Freefincal, Kuvera, Goal-based investing, Financial freedom. Able to come up with a strategy. Now working towards my FF and trying to practice information diet. All my mistakes helped me to learn about many investing methodologies, books, personalities (Warren Buffet, Munger, Graham), business psychology and many in these 2 years. So I am feeling happy with my mistakes.
32.   The target of goal and park safely before goal year in systemically.
33.   plain-vanilla index funds and asset allocation is the key
34.   I will be honest. There have not been a great many lessons yet for me. I started off in mutual funds through sip (one midcap fund and one aggressive hybrid) as advised by my uncle who had actually started investing right from the 2000s. For the first 16 months, I was not even bothered to track my investments. I had given my father’s email id and phone number, hence, was blissfully unaware of my investments, what their CAGR is, what downside protection and all. But the time for renewing my SIPs was coming soon (had 18 months only initially) and hence I got my act together. Start piecing out what the markets were and how it will help me in compounding. The passion for creating wealth started when I got hooked to the Quora Spaces relating to wealth, investments and all. Then I slowly graduated to Twitter and then AIFW group on FB. Today, I have invested in a variety of equity and debt instruments (asset allocation started but still heavily tilted towards debt). I understood that am a slightly conservative investor as the first long term investment I did was my 1.5 lakhs contribution towards PPF. Having started my studies into various investments available and the concepts of goal-setting, asset-allocation, financial planning, I have started applying the same into the portfolio I hold. I have grown in confidence to increase my equity exposure as my age is only 23. Have invested in 5 mutual funds as on date with sip dates on 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, and 25th each month and also into direct equity with an approach to acquire quality companies and holding them for the foreseeable future. It helps that I have acquired only small quantities of good companies and this is basically my test capital (less than 50k). I am ready to lose the entire value in equity I have as on date if it will allow me to learn better. I have a detailed explanation for each stock I bought and recorded it so that I can revisit it and also learn from my past self.
This journey has been self-enriching but I know the future will teach me a better lesson. A 23-year-old bachelor whose parents are working in the govt. sector with secured pensions paid by the government has not yet been tested financially and mentally. But rest assured, this path towards financial freedom keeps me motivated to ensure that I am able to face any financial difficulties I will face in the future.
35.   The market has ups and downs, mutual funds Sahi hai campaign will be loudest at market highs
36   It has been a downward rollercoaster ride so far and this is how it is. I just started off with HDFC Balanced Fund (Hybrid fund now)..then got greedy looking at Smallcaps….added ABSL Mid & Small Cap (Small Cap now)..then added SBI Bluechip…then added ICICI Nifty Next 50 Index Fund..then L&T Midcap..and last December I added Motilal Oswal NASDAQ 100 FOF….so long list of seven funds for my retirement portfolio. I will continue with my SIP’s for 5years and see where I stand. As of now, my portfolio split between equity and fixed income,(PPF, EPF, NPS) is 50:50. Learning to rebalance from your videos and thinking of adding Arbitrage funds for that and optimise the number of funds.
As on date, the overall return on my portfolio is 4.9%
Thanks a lot for giving us an opportunity to share our experience.
37.   Just getting negative returns. My investment horizon is over 20 years. So i want to keep investing despite the dips
38.   Small cap bet proved costly. Having less large cap exposure was a mistake. Buying thematic funds was not right.
39.   Need Patience
40.   Get ready to sink your fortunes. Don’t let go of hope and despair. Cry when your portfolio rises, it’s time to choose what to let go. Smile when it drops, it’s shopping time. Even if you started investing as a ruse to satisfy the guilt of NOT doing enough for the kids, keep at it and push up your SIPs. Listen to yourself rather than so-called advisors! Don’t copy Warren Buffet! And don’t expect to be another.
41.   Importance of fixed income asset class
42.

  • Number of funds is important, but higher numbers aren’t necessarily bad
  • Personal finance comes first and not the savings or investments
  • Risk appetite and long term are way easier thought than done
  • DIY is fine if we’re fine to play with some of our money and with profit/loss
  • Lot of information available online, but filtration is most important
43.   It’s mostly luck. You need asset allocation and a little sense in reading the mood of market i.e when to go in equity or switch to debt. The best suggestion that I read in AIFW was from a guy who used to just check his portfolio every month and then invest according to his asset allocation. If equity was less he invested in equity else in debt. Have been following that strategy ever since.
44.   Having conviction and sticking to our own plan is most important. The best way to have conviction is DIY. Even with adviser question/ask the right questions and understanding the reasoning behind it that helps to build conviction.
45.   Actually I started investing in 2016 but it mere 1k per month and it’s for 8 months and I redeemed it in 2016. My actual investment started from July 2017.it is for 12k per month in ELSS. I am completely aware of equity risks and the goal is retirement and anyway it is 3yrs locked product. So not faced any anxiety in market downs. In 2018 I started investing in midcaps for goals which are 15-18 yrs away. I am a happy investor till this point. Thinking to shift to index funds in the future.

Goal-based investment planning helped me a lot.

46.   Mutual fund sellers never talk about rebalancing. They only show last 10-year return 15-year return etc. Also learned ranking of funds doesn’t matter.
47   Not easy as I thought (short, but insightful!)
48.   Only multicap. (I guess as against  mid or small cap funds?)
49.   Found market volatility. (this is a rather profound statement!)
50.   I have a strong debt portfolio. Since then I am just increasing my allocation in equity. Only thing I have learnt that I need to disciplined and stick to a plan, nothing more is required.
51.   * I started investing in mutual funds with small amounts in L&T Emerging Businesses Fund in Sep 2017. It held a major portion of my investments(80-90%). By 2019 I had invested rs50,000/- and the return was in the range of -2% to -5% always. I was so mesmerized by the long term returns of small cap funds in 2017 that I was not getting the big picture. Even though I read that small caps were risky, the fact simply did not sink in. A single sentence from Pattu sirs video changed my perspective for the better. He said, ” After giving phenomenal returns in a year the small cap funds would drastically reduce the impact of the returns of that one year in which it gave high returns by simply fluctuating in a range for a few following years. ” I redeemed all the amount from L&T Emerging Businesses Fund in July 2019 and put it in the hybrid funds in my portfolio.

* After investing small amounts (5k to 8k) in almost 14 funds( some were even thematic, even though I did not even know the a, b c s of the sectors), I have redeemed from all of them and concentrated the total investment in only 4 funds now.

* Don’t go for regular options if investing by oneself. Which I was doing even till a couple of months back. Shifted all to direct options.

The above I think is usual standard things, below were some things which i learnt about the methods and other things about the mutual funds.

* I was under the illusion that the index benchmark and the fund portfolio were completely or mostly different sets of stocks altogether. But it seems that the fund’s portfolio would mimic the index portfolio by 40% or so. and the remaining portion is where the fund manager would select stocks that should beat the index. So either way, the returns of the fund would eventually be driven by the index movement only, to a certain point.

* There is a new top-performing mutual fund scheme every week. There is no need to go behind it once we have finalized the few funds in which we have planned to concentrate on.

Thank you so much for all the knowledge and information you bring to all mutual fund investors Pattabiraman sir. You give a very unique and valuable perspective among all the others who discuss mutual funds in the Net.

Regards,
SatheeshS

52.   Freefincal has helped me a lot in making my financial planning. Earlier in Sep 2017 to march 2017 I had randomly purchased stocks on friends,  TV expert advice and had to face huge loss of about 80 %. Also in the same period, I had started SIP in 5 mutual funds. But after listening to freefincal videos I change my strategy and first of all I join online course on Mutual Fund by Finology and take some knowledge regarding working of Mutual funds. Also at the same time, I daily listen to the videos and read the articles on freefincal websites which totally changed my views regarding investing. Now, first of all, I built emergency funds for about 12 months. At the same time, I curtail my Mutual fund’s portfolio from 5 funds to just one single fund i.e PPFAS and started doing investment manually. Reading and watching your videos has built my knowledge and confidence.My portfolio is having only one mutual fund that too with negative returns but still I am investing a lot in it as I have to increase my equity allocation because up till 2017 all my investments from last 11 years were in EPF and PPF i. e debt instruments. At present, my equity allocations is only about 15% of my total investment and as per my calculations I will need 3 years to make my equity allocation to 30% and I am working in that direction. All the financial planning that I am doing from the last 2 years was possible because of you PATTU SIR and I will be always thankful for that. Following the most important lessons, I have learnt from you and I have also realised it today are:-
1) Low volatility and low-risk matters while investing in equity.
2) Completely remove the thing which doesn’t work.
3) Have patience and don’t read each and everything available regarding investment.
4) Make a portfolio as simple as possible.
5) And most importantly invest as if your ass is on fire. Don’t look at returns only as you always say.
53.

  • Where to invest
  • how rebalancing your portfolio
  • myths & fact of Mutual funds
  • importance of insurance
  • Index funds
  • I learned a lot from you
54.   So I understood markets slightly, yet for my risk profile(can be fired any time, married woman with a small child )hence i had been in purely debt. Now I understood that i was investing in an alll time high market, hence i had chosen sip to lower the risk and have some mental satisfaction. Because of my risk profile, i had chosen a multicap, a balanced, a mid cap and a value fund. Then because of my deep inclination i had chosen debt funds. Now one has lot info about equity but you don’t have that for debt. My mistake and had chosen guilt fund assuming interest rates will fall. So i exited in a year with my principle intact and some returns because I had done sip I was not in loss. Then I had chosen low duration funds and since then my overall return is in line with my risk capability(don’t lose capital at all times). Its 50-50 equity n debt. I have my basics in place yet I’m worried about the inflation in my child’s education n my job (as well aa husband’s job). I see people digging so much in AIFW. Honestly, they offered a lot of mental comfort to me to read blogs and stories.
55.   1) Don’t invest in Equity Savings MF. 2) Don’t invest in mid and small cap funds. 3) Don’t invest in sector-specific funds. 4) Invest with a goal in mind.
5) Hybrid funds are better than pure equity. 6) Always have a good mix of Equity and debt based on your time to goal.
56.   Never put money which you need in the next 3-4 years.. Thinking it will compound annually (8th wonder!)
57.   Not taking risk is a risk itself. Why it is utmost imp to take care of fortitudes before investing. How imp is to have a process before starting the financial journey. Strategy, goal-based planning is more imp than returns and selecting a mutual fund. The last I learned is to be patient and leave investments to grow.
58.   1.) Significance of Asset Allocation (Debt: Equity) according to “my” goals.
2.) Importance of timing especially in case of small cap funds.
3.) Investing according to my specific goals and not based on the general rule of thumb.
4.) Understand the significance of real returns over nominal returns according to the prevailing inflation and thus base my equity portfolio return expectations.
5) To focus more on the controllable (Risk) rather than the uncontrollable (Returns)
6) To constantly study my behaviour on the basis of how I react to the market and make a suitable strategy accordingly.
59.   Having insurances and an emergency fund is more imo than investing. Have a strategy and stick to it and hope for the best. Choosing asset class and category is more imp than the product. Have a proper asset allocation and de-risk and exit plan before starting the investment journey
60.   This is actually a question from myself if I buy units of that fund which NAV has suffer more among its peers in bad market.
Can I generate extra return using this method? (NO!)
61.   Keep investing in good or bad times. Keep it simple. Keep emergency liquid cash.
62.   Should have the temperament to hold equity, few people who started with me had withdrawn completely due to market volatility
63.   That one cant know the bottom
64.   Just look at the corpus. Don’t bother about returns- they may or may not come
65.   Balanced/diversified portfolio <equity + debt + gold>
Patience
MF is less risky than direct equity investment
Diy or self-study rather than news/articles like we do in direct equity
66.   I went ahead and bought a lot of different mutual funds(at the peak had 26). Bought quite a few sectoral funds, without actually having much knowledge in those sectors. Pharma and auto was rising, so primarily bought into them. Eventually learned my lesson. Auto(-20%), pharma(around 1% in 2 years). Since then have consolidated my portfolio. Moved from haphazard, mindless behaviour, to a better investing strategy(low risk, goal based). Reading freefincal/subramoney/eightytwentyinvestor helped a lot. Thanks to pattu and others have a sane portfolio now.
67.  Debt is riskier than equity. Saw it multiple time is long term debt funds and credit risk funds. For equity, best strategy learnt is do monthly sip in your favourite companies, most of the companies i owned were negative in 1-2 years, but eventually, earnings caught up and i got decent CAGR. Overall portfolio level is still at par with saving account return.
68. Risk in equity is real , sip s don’t reduce it, always manage and think about risk first and not returns.
69. I realised the following:

  • The emergency fund is the cornerstone for all equity investments. If you invest in equities, maintaining a sensible amount in an emergency fund is an extreme must.
  • Asset allocation is what differentiates the going-to-be-crorepatis and others left on the way.
  • If it’s not having a goal- then it’s not an investment. It’s some sort of hobby you are playing using your money.
  • Advice on the internet is a big distraction.
  • Finding suitable medical insurance is very hard.
  • When you advise people (with your own half baked knowledge), whatever you say, always refer the person to a fee-only advisor.
  • Delay any purchases which you can, sleeping over it gives you more clarity.
70.  It’s volatile, stick to your goal, don’t buy too many funds, past performance not guarantees feature returns
71.  Expect Volatility, get used to it.

Be realistic with Expectations while planning

asset allocation is more important than which funds you choose

Debt funds are more dangerous if invested without understanding

Prefer simple over fad and fashion of the quarter by AMC/media

72.   proper asset allocation can help rebalance the portfolio during such downtrend.
73   Don’t be Greedy and have Patience. Stay on the course and be disciplined
74.  Everybody says that with mutual fund investment, 15% return is easily accessible, but I learnt that in this investment journey, everything is possible i.e.erosion of money due to negative return, despite my considerable time and attention on various online investment videos. The midcap and small cap funds are problematic presently, in near future sone other type funds would be judged ‘villain’ everywhere. A retail investor would be subjected to the same fate again and again.  Sir, give me some way out.
75.  Nobody knows the future; Equity might not outperform inflation in the long run; Cannot go for early retirement
76.  Balanced/diversified portfolio <equity + debt + gold>
Patience
MF are less risky than direct equity investment
Diy or self-study rather than news/articles like we do in direct equity
77.   I have started in dec-2016. with an aim to retire in the next 15 years  I am 37 now. Started with SIP in 3 MF 5000/- each with an increase of more than 10% every year. One ELSS, One SmallCap and one Midcap (high-risk appetite in other words greedy). My PF down by 9.68% as of now. Overall I am OK as I do not want to touch these things till my goal is achieved. Initially, PF was green, become Red in 2018. Though I was a bit worried, I got motivated after reading many posts and watching many videos on personal finance. All other basics are intact like term & health insurance, emergency fund to cover 12 months expenses. Let me see how it goes.
78.   Have patience and keep working towards CRATON
79.   Sudden up and down of market within this period.
80.   It’s very difficult to convince yourself and family members to keep investing when rates are going down. We were planning to invest 2x times what we invest per month. But since the last 6 months going against it. Patience is the key.
81.   Volatility is there, but if invest for long term no risk. Diversification is key. I invested in Arbitrage Funds and in profit today in it of 5.7% CAGR, when this tine all are giving -ve returns.
82.   Have to be patient to get return as market is still down
83.   Was not stable in buying MFs in early time & had hard time to see negative returns as initial investor, Now I have 5 funds for my five goals, still portfolio is still negative, as i have time for long-time goals with equity is less than 10% against debt & RE,  so no worries for now
84.   Returns can be negative, SIP should be continued even during a market downturn, review periodically, investing should be based on goals, need debt as part of the portfolio to manage risk
85.   Need patience for mutual fund invest
It’s not easy
86.   Keep Asset Allocation n Risk Reducing Strategy And
Get Benefit Of Volatility..
Focus On Target And Goals And Not On Mere Returns.
Add Lumpsum When Market Crash To Reduce Average NAV Cost.
87.   Sell when you see that the returns are more than what you expected. And move it to FDs
88   I am just following Asset allocation based on identified goals and building my portfolio month wise. Even though I have seen ups and downs, never stopped investing. Today my portfolio is -1.87 due to some small cap fund which will be riding out in short while. Apart from this, not interested in chasing return and now reached 60% of my target.
89.   Even though the market has tanked, my heart is still working. Have invested for long term goals.
90   Made two lump-sum investments but a SIP started simultaneously has me more at ease. Ups and downs are bound to happen. Though it seems like a long down now.
91.   Keep investing and increase sip when the market is down
92.   Don’t wait for the stock market to go down. Invest every month irrespective of the movement of the market.
93.   Choosing too many else find is not necessary. Even E:SS itself not needed. More than return look for consistent return and downside protection.
94.   Patience
95.   Have definite goals and stay disciplined with your investment.
96.   One need not be a “pandit”, but one must know the basics in mutual fund investing.
97.

  • Fluctuations are inevitable
  • One should have the courage to look at their negative xirr
  • One has complete peace of mind if one knows for what they are investing. In other words, as long as the investment is goal-based chances of getting agitated are less
  • The rise in income should be contributed in the purchase of units or increasing SIP amount
98.  Risk-taking is not my Cup of tea. Started with value fund and Mf fund based on past returns now I have sold both at loss and started funds with downside protection.
99.   Investments in equity market is a long journey. Don’t fall prey to star ratings of mutual funds. Need to have both debt and equity funds in a well-defined ratio
101.

  • Asset allocation and Rebalancing is the key
  • Simplicity- 2 index fund for equity and 2 debt products( PPF and Liquid fund) are enough
  • financial independence is difficult but worth achieving
  • No book can teach you things that market practically teaches you
  • You have to learn to live in uncertainty, Equity for financial independence and to accept whatever it may come in a way to gain nirvana ( Although another thing, not related to the post)
  • Nothing is free in the world and at the same time, free doesn’t carry any value.
    Exception- A Professor and A Monk
  • You need at least one full market cycle to understand your risk capability
  • Truth is boring and repetitive
  • No need to reply to everybody in a group
  • If your wife is earning and does not believe in equity then put her money in debt and put your money on equity so that she can avoid the emotional stress of a notional loss
  • Keep your eyes and ears open, smell the change and act accordingly
  • A good  Health insurance agent can help in claim settlement which is worth to pay while you can avoid agent in term insurance
  • PSU health insurance companies are more lenient in claim settlement. PS – I’m a doctor so I know many claim rejections
  • You can solve most of your queries by searching old posts
  • Name disclosure is not needed but I will disclose because all this personal finance knowledge is because of you and Ashal sir, I owe a lot to both of you
    Dr Sachin Sachdev
    Last but not least:
    First scientists declare that Pluto is not a planet
    Then they declare that Pluto is a planet (dwarf)
    But Pluto does not care!
102.  The market is not for me.
103.   Equity is unpredictable. Volatility, especially over a few months period can drive you crazy. I reluctantly invested 40% in nifty and that was the saving grace. Nifty Next 50 was the star performer till the time I started investing but seems the wind blows in a different direction now. I will never make extraordinary money from investing in equity. Unless a fixed target and timeframe are set and I adhere to the same, there will always be trouble.
104.  Asset Allocation is must, What goes up comes down too, Asset Balancing in a timely manner is a must.
105.   If one does not know the basics of investment, better start with Fee-Only Advisory rather than wasting time and money. Learn during the course. Stick to basics. Have your fundamentals strong.
106.  Maybe hold off on pumping your money into small caps when they’re going crazy upwards. Wait for the dip in small caps. Most of my journey has seen negative to no returns, which has made me understand volatility better. I continue to invest as much as I can every month.
107.  Financial discipline
108. Don’t follow the hot and most discussed funds. You’ll lose money in them. Understand markets and the ups and downs. Accept that risks are part of the journey. Know more about yourself and your goals. Control what can be controlled. Find an investment philosophy and follow it religiously as a process. But be flexible in your approach.
109.  Asset allocation and goal-based investment
110

  • Realized I was late to the investment journey.
  • The moment the number came out of the retirement calculators were mind-boggling. Luckily I felt I still had time to catch up.
  • Initially, I was feeling the notional loss in equity as real but slowly overcame to a certain level of notional loss
  • I am not having a sip as such but putting in money monthly
  • Returns per have been unpredictable and sometimes one feels FD is much better.
  • Got more disciplined with money like not buying a car on EMI or for that matter any gadgets etc
111.                   Too many funds spoil returns, selecting fund based on the return made my portfolio cluttered, finally understood the real meaning of investment risk
112.

  • Emergency Fund, Health Insurance and Term insurance, in that order, has a higher priority than equity investment.
  • Don’t be too greedy of the market, don’t be too afraid either.
  • Periodic Rebalancing and Asset allocation is a must.
  • Must book profits from small and mid caps on a periodic basis. Use them tactically only if you are confident.
  • Keep the portfolio as simple as possible. For most investors 1 multicap, 1 aggressive hybrid and a mix of N50 and NN50 shall serve the purpose.
  • Invest only that portion of the corpus in stock/ equity MF which you don’t need for next 10 years. Do never underestimate short term goals.
113.  The small capish direct equity folio is down 35% which has taught enough about my stock-picking skills. Don’t have much to say on the MF folio as the allocation was too little to make a dent in the networth. Now slowly adding money to my mid cap fund and PPFAS and next 50, learned a lot about FIRE and I think my fire number of 45 can be achieved if I follow my plan, I’m 38 now and save 55% off savings at onshore and your calculator are a god sent for me. Thanks a lot for helping us.
114. Understood volatility. Understood what risk means with smallcap vs largecap funds. Sip date doesn’t matter. Second decimal in returns doesn’t matter (when comparing different funds). It’s good if you can avoid seeing the portfolio every day!
115. Knew nothing about share market. Came to know so much only after started investing in a mutual fund

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About The Author

Pattabiraman editor freefincalDr M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over ten years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter(X), Linkedin, or YouTube. Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. (2) Gamechanger for young earners. (3) Chinchu Gets a Superpower! for kids. He has also written seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free investment advice.
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Most investor problems can be traced to a lack of informed decision-making. We made bad decisions and money mistakes when we started earning and spent years undoing these mistakes. Why should our children go through the same pain? What is this book about? As parents, what would it be if we had to groom one ability in our children that is key not only to money management and investing but to any aspect of life? My answer: Sound Decision Making. So, in this book, we meet Chinchu, who is about to turn 10. What he wants for his birthday and how his parents plan for it, as well as teaching him several key ideas of decision-making and money management, is the narrative. What readers say!
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