We recently received an interesting email, which is reproduced below with the author’s permission. “I have come across your work in the field of saving/investing for financial independence very recently. I come from a family of marginal farmers. Both my parents toil in the fields. For more than 30 years, they used to borrow money…
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 →Readers often send us their mutual fund portfolios and ask for help in decluttering them. That is reduced unnecessary funds. Since we do not offer investment advice, we can do the next best thing – offer some generic steps to DIY this decluttering process. The first step is to recognise clutter. I hold 8 funds….
Continue reading →We discuss how to plan for financial goals 5-10 years away. They are neither long-term to include equity nor short-term to avoid equity completely. Financial goal planning is all about setting the right priorities. If my need is within five years, it would be prudent to avoid all equity. Equity returns are volatile regardless of…
Continue reading →Often, readers ask us, “How do we plan for holidays abroad once in 2-3 years? Our robo-advisor tool has a recurring financial goal calculator module, which you can use to plan for all such goals. This can be used to plan big-ticket annual expenses like school fees(!). Suppose we wish to go on a holiday…
Continue reading →This index fund screener is based on tracking error and returns difference wrt benchmarks (aka 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 Sensex or…
Continue reading →Do you remember the interesting rule while setting off losses from previous years? While setting off long-term capital loss brought forward from previous years against capital gains from equity under Section 112A, the loss is first set off against the gains, and only then is the exemption of ₹1 lakh (₹1.25 lakhs from FY 2024–25…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, “If I were to describe my financial journey in one line, I’d say: It’s been a life of ordinary beginnings, supported by extraordinary people, and driven by quiet persistence.” About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of…
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 index monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the more efficient the ETF is in following…
Continue reading →In May 2025, the AUM of Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund crossed 1,00,000 Crores, making it the most popular active fund. Will this large AUM affect its performance? AUM vs. performance is a tricky subject, and it isn’t easy to draw useful conclusions. What we can say for sure is that AUM is likely to…
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 →As tax rules change, AMCS develop innovative ideas to attract customers. The latest move is creating a new type of fund of funds (FOF), an MF that invests in other MFs (from the same or different AMCs). Since debt mutual fund capital gains are always taxed at the slab rate, this new FOF creates a…
Continue reading →This is a National Pension Scheme Fund Screener to shortlist consistently performing NPS schemes. You can also spot NPS schemes with a higher return than a benchmark at a 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 and…
Continue reading →Whenever a mutual fund or an asset management company gets into trouble (bond defaults, front running, etc), some investors say, “They want their money back!” But will they get it? Some even believe SEBI will bail out investors. Is this true? The short answer is, nope! You had purchased units from the mutual fund company. When…
Continue reading →Mint Newspaper, led by Neil Borate, does a fabulous job reporting and educating about personal finance and investing. In March 2024, Mint featured my retirement portfolio: You only need a fund where returns remain consistent: Freefincal’s Pattabiraman. In June 2025, they published an update on the portfolio: Why Freefincal’s Pattabiraman doesn’t believe in beating the…
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