When the NPS regulator PFRDA announced on 12th Dec 2025 that the mandatory annuity requirement for non-government subscribers had been reduced from 40% to 20%, I also assumed that the minimum 15-year lock-in period applied to all such subscribers. Since our article – NPS reduces annuity requirement to 20% – should you open an NPS account?…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 30-something tech consultant who often ignored logic and followed his heart, but still landed on his feet. 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…
Continue reading →In the great Indian middle-class living room, a high-stakes poker game is being played. The chips on the table aren’t plastic; they are retirement savings, ancestral homes, and the future happiness of the next generation. The central question is always the same: Who pays for the dream? About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI-registered…
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 portfolio’s bonds and the bond maturity profile can be tracked. Instead of…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 39-year-old who has transformed his life from negative net worth to six times his annual expenses with discipline. 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…
Continue reading →Here is a quick-start list of action items for young earners to start their investment journey in 2026. Older earners can also use it as relevant. The action plan Get life insurance (15-20 times annual income) Get health insurance for parents (if not present). Get a separate health cover for yourself. Build an emergency buffer:…
Continue reading →Parag Parikh Large Cap Fund, an actively managed large cap fund benchmarked to the Nifty 100 TRI, is currently in its NFO period (19th -30th Jan 2026). We discuss whether investors should consider buying this fund. The fund is marketed as a “passive plus” fund with a low expense ratio that tends to track the…
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 →In many affluent families today, a quiet dilemma is emerging — one that has less to do with money and more to do with timing. Parents, after years of discipline and hard work, have built comfortable lives and substantial wealth. Their children, meanwhile, have grown up surrounded by stability and the assurance that “jo kuch…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 30-year-old PSU employee who has learnt to manage money free from stress. 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…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 34-year-old who has achieved financial stability from humble beginnings. 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 also access…
Continue reading →Is it always good to switch from regular to direct plans? The answer is No. Before you move to calculate the switch cost, the first step is to stop existing SIPs in regular plans and start investing in new SIPs in direct plans. The most important factor to consider is the expense ratio difference between…
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 →In this edition of the reader story, Sreekanth, who runs the personal finance blog ReLakhs.com, shares his investment journey. 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 also access…
Continue reading →Readers often ask us, “What return can I expect if I invest via SIP in an equity mutual fund for 10 years?”. The honest answer to “What return can I expect from a 10-year equity MF SIP?”, is “no idea”. We have discussed this at length before Do not expect returns from mutual fund SIPs!…
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