Building an equity mutual fund portfolio is one of the most important aspects of creating a financial plan. After all, it is equity which, in the long term, is most likely to beat inflation and create long-term wealth for the investor. However, creating an equity portfolio for a DIY investor is a very difficult task,…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “What is the corpus required to retire in 2026 at age 55 with monthly expenses of about Rs. 1 lakhs?” We shall use the freefincal robo advisor tool for this exercise. The retirement corpus is assumed to be invested in five buckets. Please note that the numbers provided below represent an example….
Continue reading →In this article, Sneha Rege discusses how defining three simple numbers changed the way I think about survival, comfort, and freedom. About the author: Sneha writes about personal finance and retirement planning from the perspective of a salaried professional navigating real-world trade-offs. She is studying investment advisory frameworks and has cleared the NISM Series XA…
Continue reading →Many people make two mistakes while planning their finances. The first common mistake is presuming that equity mutual funds provide a 12% (or more!) return and utilising that figure to calculate the necessary investment amount. Regrettably, this approach entirely disregards asset allocation and the reality that investing 100% in equity is not feasible. Even those…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we have a debt-to-riches story. 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 the full reader story archive. Opinions expressed…
Continue reading →This is a simple spreadsheet to review and audit your goal-based investment portfolios. Over the years, we recognised the need for a tool beyond financial planning and portfolio value/return tracking. A financial planning calculator tells you the target corpus for a goal and the investment amount required. A portfolio tracker only tells you the current…
Continue reading →Imagine you or a family member gets hospitalised. The disease for which you have been diagnosed is covered under your policy; you should also get this double-checked with the insurer. Your room rent limit is INR 10,000, and you take an INR 8,000 bed. Your overall policy coverage is INR 20 lakhs, and your final…
Continue reading →30X refers to the retirement corpus that is thirty times a person’s current annual expenses (X). 25X, 45X, etc., are all corresponding multiples of X. What does 30X mean in retirement planning? Suppose my current annual expenses are Rs. 12 lakhs. I expect inflation after retirement to be about 6%. I expect the post-tax return…
Continue reading →I lived in the UAE as an NRI for 26 years. Returning to India was not a sudden decision—it took years of planning. However, many NRIs don’t always get that luxury. A job change, visa issues, or family circumstances can force a quick return. That’s why preparation is critical. About the author: K Varghese is…
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 →Fee Only India (FOI) is an informal association of like-minded, client-centric SEBI-registered investment advisors (RIAs) in India who share one common philosophy — the client’s interest always comes first. In this article, Melvin Joseph, one of the oldest SEBI RIAs and a founding member of FOI, explains what sets FOI apart. Over to Melvin. To…
Continue reading →A 28 year old reader wants to retire by 50. Can he do so? Let us do the calculation using the freefincal robo advisory tool with the following assumptions (remaining assumptions stay the same): Monthly expenses Rs. 50,000; Post-tax return expected from equity investments % 10.00 Post-tax return expected from current taxable fixed income %…
Continue reading →It is not pleasant but it has to be said. To get rich, we must stop behaving like the typical retail investor. We must stop calling ourselves the Aam Aadmi or the middle class. Btw no one reading this belongs to the Indian middle class. They may have a middle-class mindset, but that does not…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 41-year-old unmarried woman who freelances to earn a monthly income of Rs 50,000. 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 →A prospective client once told me, “I had a financial plan made three years ago. It showed my net worth growing, my SIPs hitting my goals, and a clear path to retirement. But today, the numbers are completely different. My portfolio is lower, expenses are higher, and my asset allocation is a mess. What’s the…
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