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 appreciate the context of these investments. I started direct equity investing only after achieving a comfortable level of…
Continue reading →In this article, we list the different options available for withdrawing from NPS after retirement and discuss which is suitable for whom. Note: The NPS is a mutual fund. Therefore, like any mutual fund, only the NAV on the exit date will apply to existing units to calculate the corpus. So, in the case of…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “Our daughter is one month old. How should we start investing for her future?” Starting on a clean slate is always the best way to start. Let’s dive straight into the goal-planning steps. The goal-planning steps We need a target corpus after 17/18 years, depending on when she was born. That is…
Continue reading →Recently, some media reports have claimed that the age limit on health insurance purchases has been removed. Is this true? If yes, will this benefit a large segment of the population? The IRDAI circular dated 20th March 2024, F. No. IRDAI/Reg/8/202/2024 (thanks to Kamlesh Rao for sharing it on the Facebook group Asan Ideas for…
Continue reading →A 30-year-old reader asks, “What MFs should I choose if I can invest Rs 1 Lakh a month?” Here are some model mutual fund portfolios for long-term goals (> 10 years away) independent of the amount to be invested. They are arranged in descending order of preference. We shall also mention relevant fixed-income options. Asset…
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 →A reader sent us the following message: “This article – Can I Achieve Financial Independence and Retire Early by 45? – it was, as always, a good read, like most of your articles. I have been a reader of freefincal for quite some time. My rant/question may be long, so please bear with me. I would…
Continue reading →In this article, we discuss the idea of annuity laddering (also known as income laddering) and how it is helpful in retirement planning. Annuity/Income laddering generally means a series of cash flows that become available at different points in the future. Typically, bonds or fixed deposits are used for income laddering. A series of FDs…
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 →Have you ever pondered over how life insurance companies manage to settle substantial death claims? Let’s begin by delving into the fundamental concept of insurance and then transition to reinsurance. While reinsurance is a vast subject, I’ll provide an overview of its basic principles. About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI registered investment advisor….
Continue reading →A reader says, ” Can you please let me know funds with indexation benefits apart from Parag Parikh Dynamic asset allocation fund and Edelweiss Multi Asset Allocation Fund excluding EquitySavings and Arbitrage?” A discussion. Let us begin with some context. Note: Tax rules change often. The rules mentioned here are valid as of April 2024…
Continue reading →On Tamil New Year’s Day, we (freefincal and OfSpin Media Friends) are happy to launch the Tamil edition of the Let’s Get Rich With Pattu Podcast. Renowned podcaster and narrator Deepika Arun joins us as host. You can explore more of her work here: kadhaiosai.com and KadhaiOsaiTamilAudioBooks (YouTube). Let’s Get Rich with Pattu, produced by…
Continue reading →Many investors assume that the lower the passive fund fee or tracking error, the higher the return. This is not always true. We dispel these notions using material for a talk we are preparing for. 1. ETF tracking errors published are non-representative. All tracking errors are highly non-intuitive and hard for normal investors to appreciate….
Continue reading →Recently, there was some buzz on social media and a few articles about how large cap mutual funds have made a “comeback”. In this article, we discuss the performance consistency of these funds using the freefincal equity mutual fund outperformance screener (published monthly). Disclaimer: Fund performance reports present return and risk analysis of a fund with…
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. 70-plus ETFs are now covered. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus index monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the…
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