How to make online contributions to NPS Tier I and Tier II accounts

Here is how all NPS subscribers, including state and central govt. subscribers can make online contributions to NPS. This is post is meant for existing individual, corporate and government subscribers and is not a recommendation to invest in NPS. If you have an existing account with valid PRAN no (permanent retirement account number), you can, Go…

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Financial Goal Planner with Flexible Asset Allocation

Asset allocation or the percentage allocation to different asset classes in a portfolio is probably the key aspect of investing. Not only does it determine the corpus that we would accumulate, it also determines the volatility associated with the portfolio. Update: The template has been merged with Freefincal Robo Advisory Software Template. Those who start investing…

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NPS Calculator: How the National Pension Scheme works

Here is a National Pension Scheme NPS Calculator for government, corporate, and individual subscribers in Excel to enable better understanding of how the scheme works. For government subscribers, the asset allocation is fixed: 15% in equity (E) and rest in fixed income (allocation to G – government bonds and C – corporate bonds is not known) The…

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Has arranged marriage become an impossible challenge in India?

Due to increasingly specific demands from the boy and girl, arranged marriage is becoming harder and harder to accomplish, at least in urban setups. Has it become an impossible challenge for some communities? A few decades ago, it was important to have a steady job (assuming other more important metrics like caste, religion, sect, sub-sect,…

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Comparison: Short-term gilt vs. long-term gilt vs. Ultra short-term mutual funds

Here is a comparison between three types of funds (by choosing one in each category): Short-term gilts funds, Long-term gilt funds and ultra short-term gilt funds. In this post, I would like to reiterate a point made earlier about staying away from gilt funds unless we know how to trade in accordance with interest cycle…

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Obsessing over returns is unnecessary for investing!

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…

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What is wealth?

‘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…

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