‘I’ll start once things settle down. It sounds like a plan. It even sounds responsible. But I’ve come to believe it might be one of the most expensive things a person can say to themselves. I’ve been investing in equity for about five years now. In the investing world, that’s not very long. I haven’t…
Continue reading →Have you ever tried to sell something on OLX—maybe an old phone or a piece of furniture? You list it for ₹15,000. You think it is a fair price. It has served you well. Then, the messages start coming in: Bhaiya, ₹5,000 cash? or Last price ₹6,000. You get angry. You feel insulted. You think…
Continue reading →In this article, Krishna describes a privacy-first personal portfolio tracker with intelligent insights. Please note: This is a paid tool and Freefincal is not associated with it in any way. This article does not constitute an endorsement. Freefincal and its authors are not responsible for any bugs/errors that the users may encounter. If you are…
Continue reading →Many products and services offer users a choice: pay monthly or once a year at a considerable discount. Does it always make sense to take the deduction? Time is money, so paying a large amount now to avail of a discount (or to protect against a future price rise) can feel like a loss. On…
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 →Each time the stock market falls, a new generation of investors learns how risky it can be, especially in the small and mid cap segments (including the Nifty Next 50). Equity investing is challenging for two reasons. 1) It requires incredible patience, discipline and conviction. See: Now Is the Best Time to Invest: Do not stop…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, “When I wrote to Freefincal in January 2025, my overall corpus was around ₹3.4 Crores, and my thought process was still largely centred around accumulation and reaching a financial independence number over the next several years”. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about…
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 seeking to invest in money market funds, banking PSU funds, and similar instruments. The credit quality of the portfolio’s bonds and the bond maturity profile can be tracked. Instead…
Continue reading →The NPS regulator has introduced additional flexibility for withdrawals from the retirement corpus through the Retirement Income Scheme. This is in addition to all existing withdrawal options – NPS Systematic Lump Sum Withdrawal (SLW) Facility Explained and the mandatory annuity purchase. In essence, the retirement income scheme (RIS) has variable asset allocation plus systematic withdrawals. The…
Continue reading →A few days ago, a young man approached me after a talk and asked, Is it unpatriotic to buy gold and international stocks now? I was not sure I was convincing in my answer, so let me put my thoughts together as an article. Caveat: I am not an economist. So please excuse the crudeness. Thankfully,…
Continue reading →Most retirement planning focuses on the “Magic Number”—the total corpus. But the day you stop working, the game changes. You stop getting credited on the 1st of the month, which helps you meet all your expenses. Instead, you need to plan to get that money into your account from the corpus you have accumulated. To…
Continue reading →This index fund screener is based on tracking error and return differences wrt benchmarks (also known as tracking differences). 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, such as the Nifty 100 or 500, differs from tracking…
Continue reading →A reader says, “I am 36 and have a 4-year-old daughter, trying to save some money for her education, marriage and my retirement. I need your advice on how to invest 1 lakh per month wisely to achieve my goals.” You can treat each goal independently and have separate portfolios, or consider a single portfolio…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, Sahil presents his fourth financial audit. 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 ETF screener tracks 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 index. Unlike returns,…
Continue reading →