EPF Interest on employee contributions above 2.5 lakh now taxable!

From 1st April 2021 onwards, the interest on any contribution above Rs. 2.5 lakh by an employee to a recognised provident fund is taxable as per the provisions of the Finance bill 2021 announced today. Update: Find out taxable EPF Interest with this calculator That is, if the total employee PF contribution (mandatory + voluntary) contribution is…

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Financial independence lessons in a “Xerox shop”!

In this article, Venkat describes how an incident in a “Xerox shop” changed his outlook on financial independence and financial literacy.  Venkat, 32, changed his perspective towards personal finance when he came across the idea of FIRE – financial independence and early retirement. He then invested more than ten hours as a hobby and went on…

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Six Index Funds “Outperform” their benchmarks in the last year!

There are currently 32 index funds with at least one-year history as on Jan 28th 2021. If we compare their one-year trailing returns with the respective benchmark (total return indices), six index funds are outperforming! That is, their one-year return is higher than than the one-year index return! Why does this happen? Although the stocks…

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