I encountered an interesting YouTube comment: “3% withdrawal is safe to retire at what age? The withdrawal rate is clear, but I am not sure if it has age attached to it. The longer the post-retirement life, the higher the uncertainty?” What does the term “safe withdrawal rate” mean? The safe withdrawal rate, or SWR,…
Continue reading →This article compares my stock portfolio with an equivalent investment in a Nifty index fund and the Nifty 100 Low Volatility 30 TR index. We post this comparison each month. Before we begin, new readers need to understand the context of these investments. Update: We recently added a new tool to the freefincal investor circle…
Continue reading →Retirement planning is a life-long exercise. Ideally, it lasts from when we draw our first salary/income to when we (or the surviving spouse) draw our last breath. During this journey, there are several stages. Each stage teaches us something new. Retirement planning has two stages – accumulation (pre-retirement) and withdrawal (post-retirement). Here are 12 stages…
Continue reading →In a previous article, we highlighted the common mistake made by many while claiming capital gain exemption under Section 54 and Section 54F – Claiming Capital Gains Exemption? Watch Out for This Common Slip. In this article, we shall deep-dive into how much one should invest to claim capital gain tax exemption under Section 54 of…
Continue reading →“We recently received this question: My father (retired and getting a pension) would like to invest some amount in my son’s name yearly. He expects 1) to invest for his grandson’s future and 2) to get income tax benefits. Could you share some views on where & how we could proceed?” “Based on research, I…
Continue reading →This is an update on my mutual fund investing journey, which began on 19th June 2008. In the last three decades, I have gone from being a spendthrift to being in debt to financial independence. New community members can refer to these articles for an account. The Financial Arrow of Time and My Journey: Driven by the…
Continue reading →Compare MFs, Indices, Stocks, Gold, etc., with this simple plotting tool. It can be used to compare two data sets with dates and values. The tool is now part of our freefincal investor circle. Rolling return (lump sum and SIP) calculators and multiple mutual fund analysis tools are already part of the investor circle (full…
Continue reading →We all know that if we sell a residential property and purchase another one, no capital gain tax is required to be paid, provided certain conditions are fulfilled (Section 54 of the Income Tax Act, 1961). We are also aware that such an exemption is also available on profit from long-term assets other than residential…
Continue reading →A viewer on YouTube asks, “I am 45 years old. After watching many videos regarding MFund, I thought of asking you about my investment plan. 50k is my monthly salary. I am in a rented house only. Can you suggest an investment plan for my retirement in my own home?” At 45, retirement should be…
Continue reading →This is a debt mutual fund screener for portfolio selection, tracking, and learning. It also includes hybrid funds that invest in bonds. It will satisfy investors who wish to invest in money market funds, banking PSU funds, etc. The credit quality of the bonds in the portfolio and the bond maturity profile can be tracked….
Continue reading →In response to our article – How do I combine base and super top-up health insurance policies? – Two readers sent us identical stories on what our base policy and super top-up policy should have the same renewal date. Case 1: Shared by Mr. Srinivasan Sundarajan. The person had a base (10L) and a super…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, “I am Tamil Selvan (name changed), 38 years old, working in the Gulf region for the last 16 years. I come from a simple farming family in Tamil Nadu. My father had taken on significant debt due to farming, and when I started earning in 2009 with a…
Continue reading →This index fund screener is based on tracking error and returns difference wrt benchmarks (also known as tracking difference). It will help users evaluate how efficiently an index fund has tracked its underlying benchmark. It will also help them understand how tracking a midcap index or the Nifty 100 or 500 differs from tracking the…
Continue reading →With each passing day, Indians consume more and more than previous generations. Their aspirations, dreams and wants are often higher than their salaries. Whenever I am invited to speak to a group of employees on the basics of investing, I hear stories of excessive debt. There is a growing mismatch between income and aspirations. People…
Continue reading →We will soon be inundated with offers to invest in Gift City (Gujarat International Financial-Tec City) for affluent Indian residents and NRIs. I have been spending a little time reading up on the feature, and these are my initial impressions. I will share my other learnings over time. Caveat lector: I am not an expert…
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