A reader says, ” I am 35 years old, and I started my “equity” investments quite late (around 2021 when I was 33). Until then, debt instruments and real estate have been my primary investments for my retirement. So debt in my retirement portfolio has a major weightage at about 70%.” “I would like to…
Continue reading →A reader asks, ” What should I consider as the average inflation rate for the next 25 years? RBI indicates an average of 4% but in a band of 2% to 6%.” Assuming this is the inflation estimate before retirement, there are some considerations. 1. The inflation estimate is not set in stone. It is…
Continue reading →If we consider any argument involving money managment, personal finance, investing, insurance, etc., there is something common among the two or more opposing ideas/sides. Each side thinks their choice is the best. Each side is pretty smug about their decisions. Unfortunately, this is rather immature, and we need to do better. Take, for example, the…
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 →A reader wants to know how a term insurance payout should be invested for the family’s welfare upon his demise. As is well known, a term insurance plan only pays out on the insured’s death (usually a breadwinner). First, we (the insured) must ensure that the (bereaved) family typically does not need to dip into…
Continue reading →Many financial experts believe introducing the new tax regime (NTR) has destroyed the habit of saving. But does this make any sense? The NTR has no section 80C benefits like the old tax regime. So they believe that those who were forced to buy tax-saving products and forced to “save tax” (that is lower than…
Continue reading →A reader wishes to retire with an ongoing home loan EMI and asked us how to plan for this using the freefincal robo advisor tool — a discussion. First, some general considerations. Retiring in the middle of a home loan service may seem odd to many readers. However, it is quite common. For example, SBI…
Continue reading →Whether you seek normal or early retirement, here are seven questions to ask once a year while reviewing your retirement portfolios. 1. What is the retirement corpus worth today? If you retire today, how many years can you be financially independent? If this number equals the years you expect to be alive from today, you…
Continue reading →Many young freefincal readers appear to be overconfident about their equity investments. This could spell trouble for their dreams. I hate to break it to you, but there is no proof that long-term equity investing will always give you “good returns”. All those arguments about the economy growing and the equity market reflecting those returns…
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 →In response to our article, Ten mistakes to avoid while planning for early retirement, a reader wants to know how he can plan to be productive after retirement. For completion, point 1 from the above article is reproduced here. 1. Have a clear post-retirement engagement plan. Retirement (early or normal) does not mean a complete cessation of…
Continue reading →A viewer on our YouTube channel wants to know, “What are the “must have” mutual fund categories in a portfolio?” This is personal finance and it is deeply personal (for those who realise it is and act on it). So, there are no “must have” products or product categories (MF or non-MF). As long as…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, Sanjoy shares how he deals with his investment fears and doubts. In a previous article, he discussed the Financial Lessons Learned During and After a PhD. In a sequel, he discusses how he overcame his mistakes in investing. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about…
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 →On November 5, 2024, SEBI issued a circular titled, Disclosure of expenses, half-yearly returns, yield and risk-o-meter of schemes of Mutual Funds, outlining three changes to the half-yearly disclosures made by Asset Management Companies (AMCs) under its jurisdiction. SEBI RIA Abhishek Kumar explains the changes. About the author: Abhishek is part of a freefincal’s curated list of…
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