In this edition of the reader story … “This is a chronological account of my investing journey since I started earning in 2017. I am not an expert investor. I have made mistakes, learned along the way, and slowly built discipline. I am sharing this in the hope that it helps early earners who are…
Continue reading →PPFAS AMC has begun onboarding clients to its Gift City retail funds: Parag Parikh IFSC S&P 500 FOF and Parag Parikh IFSC Nasdaq 100 FOF. We discuss what investors should consider before investing. From the investor’s perspective: As usual, investors should first consider their needs and avoid focusing on product features or succumbing to FOMO….
Continue reading →Imagine you have persistent chest pain. You have two options: Option A: You visit a cardiologist. You pay a consultation fee of ₹1,500. He runs tests, asks uncomfortable questions about your diet and exercise, and gives you a boring, difficult lifestyle plan to follow for the next 20 years. Option B: Your friendly neighbourhood Uncle…
Continue reading →This ETF screener is based on tracking errors and differences (ETF return minus index return). It will help users evaluate how efficiently an ETF has tracked its underlying benchmark. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus the index’s monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the more efficiently the ETF tracks the…
Continue reading →Several investors often ask if they should stop their investments and wait for the market to cool down or pick up after a sideways market. Or they are waiting for the right time to invest a lump sum or start a sip. Our short answer is: If you want equity to change your life, don’t…
Continue reading →The world of debt mutual funds is complex filled with nasty surprises. Here are some facts you need to know about debt funds before investing. 1. Debt mutual funds are not an alternative to fixed deposits! A fixed deposit from a “too big to fail bank” like SBI, ICICI, or HDFC (as mentioned by RBI!) is…
Continue reading →In this article, SEBI-registered fee-only advisor Akshay Nayak – the newest member of fee-only India* – explains why simple portfolios make sense and how to build them. About the author: Akshay holds an MBA in Finance from Great Eastern Management School, Bangalore. His website is akshaynayakria.com. His articles on personal finance and investing can be…
Continue reading →My friend thought I had just told him to commit financial suicide. “You want me to… cancel it?” he asked, clutching his premium receipt like a holy relic. I nodded. For the last 15 years, this guy has been dutifully paying for a massive life insurance policy, convinced that stopping would be a betrayal of…
Continue reading →The latest freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener is now available. Use it to screen for equity mutual funds that consistently perform. You can screen based on fund category & benchmark to identify mutual funds that offer higher returns than the benchmark while maintaining lower risk. Inside, you get discounted links to our robo advisory…
Continue reading →We discuss thumb rules to judge retirement corpus health using safe withdrawal rates (SWR). 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 takes a few minutes. So,…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet a tax professional who started investing late but has admirably caught up. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits us all. Some of the previous editions are linked at the bottom of this article. You can…
Continue reading →Many friends have expressed interest in becoming SEBI-registered investment advisors (RIAs), offering unbiased advice to clients and earning a decent income. Several DIY investors are keen on helping others manage their finances. For them, it can be a second career. About the author: Melvin Joseph is one of the first RIAs in the country. He…
Continue reading →This is a National Pension Scheme Fund Screener to shortlist consistently performing NPS schemes. You can also identify NPS schemes that offer a higher return than the benchmark while maintaining 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…
Continue reading →A reader asked, “How will you define a comfortable retirement?” A discussion. The answer is subjective and subject to significant change, especially if we are far from retirement. Perhaps only those investing for at least a decade will likely ask this question. ‘Comfort’ implies something well above an essential requirement. So, let us first define…
Continue reading →If you open YouTube or Instagram today, the financial verdict is unanimous: Don’t buy a house. Rent it. The logic is seductive. Why pay an EMI of ₹60,000 for an apartment that rents for ₹25,000? The math says you should rent, invest the difference (the ₹35,000 surplus) in a mutual fund, and retire rich. Mathematically,…
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