Many people make two mistakes while planning their finances. The first common mistake is presuming that equity mutual funds provide a 12% (or more!) return and utilizing that figure to calculate the necessary investment amount. Regrettably, this approach entirely disregards asset allocation and the reality that investing 100% in equity is not feasible. Even those…
Continue reading →This index fund screener is based on tracking error and returns difference wrt benchmarks (aka tracking difference). The screener will help users evaluate how efficiently an index fund has tracked its underlying benchmark. It will also help to understand how tracking a midcap index or the Nifty 100, 500 differs from tracking the Sensex or…
Continue reading →A reader says, “I am 21 and about to start my first job. How do I figure out how much to invest in equity mutual funds and how much to invest in fixed income? My friends tell me to invest 80% to 100% in equity. Is this correct? There is no right or wrong answer…
Continue reading →Recently, a reader asked, “Can the freefincal robo advisor tool handle my situation? I am 40 years old and have Rs. 1 Crore cash in the bank. I have no other investments (don’t ask why; it’s a long story!). I want to retire by age 55. How should I invest this Rs. 1 Crore for…
Continue reading →In Jan 2023, Pretorius shared his investment journey for our reader story section: How I learnt to keep it simple and build a net worth 19 times my annual expenses. He followed it up with an update in Jan 2024: My Investment Journey to a net worth 29 times my annual expenses. This is an update! About this series: I am…
Continue reading →This ETF screener is based on tracking errors and tracking differences (ETF return minus index return). The screener will help users evaluate how efficiently an ETF has tracked its underlying benchmark. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus index monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the more efficient the ETF is…
Continue reading →In this article, we discuss two different questions on asset allocation. Reader (1) says, “I am 25 years old and in a well-paying IT job. After all my expenses, including supporting my family, I can comfortably invest around 100% of my monthly expenses. I am investing it purely in equity to catch up with my…
Continue reading →For decades, a “stable job” has been a cornerstone of financial planning in India. Parents encouraged their children to seek government jobs or corporate careers with gratuity, provident funds, and bonuses. But as times have changed, so have aspirations and economic realities. Today, freelancing—working independently without being tied to a single employer—is no longer just…
Continue reading →The latest freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener is now available. Use it to screen for consistently performing equity mutual funds. You can screen based on fund category & benchmark and spot mutual funds with a higher return than a benchmark at a lower risk. Inside, you get discounted links to our robo advisory tool…
Continue reading →In this article, Sunil shares how he and his friends and family came together to assist a student with this medical college tuition. Sunil believes, “While we always discuss our own personal finance improvement, many of us also want to help society by supporting education or medical support. The support can help a needy family…
Continue reading →We recently did a Let’s Get Rich With Pattu podcast episode on buying cars, and one of the questions was, “What should be the budget for my first car?” A discussion. My answer was: Whether you buy with cash or via EMI, ensure the car cost does not exceed your annual income. Admittedly, I am…
Continue reading →Many readers write, “We like your content, but you have written so much that it is hard for us to determine which article to read first. Can you provide a quick-start guide for us to start our investment journey the right way?” The following is a list of steps for young earners. Older readers can…
Continue reading →This is a National Pension Scheme Fund Screener to shortlist consistently performing NPS schemes. You can also spot NPS schemes with a higher return than a benchmark at a lower risk. This is similar in design to the freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener. Inside, you get discounted links to our robo advisory tool and…
Continue reading →Here is how one can use a safe withdrawal rate (SWR) to gauge the health of our retirement corpus. This discussion also answers broader questions like, ‘When can a retiree take risks after retirement?’ and ‘How much equity exposure can I have after retirement?’ Note: In this day and age, using a proper retirement calculator only…
Continue reading →We have repeatedly emphasised the importance of asset allocation and its periodic rebalancing. A two-asset portfolio comprising equity and fixed income will do the job for all goals with minimal effort. However, what if the equity predominantly comprises a direct equity portfolio (stocks)? How can we rebalance such a portfolio? Those who wish to understand…
Continue reading →