Should disciplined long-term goal based investors use mutual fund systematic investment plans (SIPs) or rupee cost averaging? This question has been bugging me for long and personally, I hate a SIP I think it is a product tailor made for mutual fund distributors and sold to lazy people. Should intelligent investors buy SIPs? Here is…
Continue reading →Here is why I think one should not invest in the National Pension Scheme even if you get tax benefits. This is the updated version of an earlier post. Earlier I had recommended subscribing to the NPS if you get tax benefits via the employer contributions. Tax benefits have actually increased since the govt. announced…
Continue reading →Whether you are contemplating early retirement or are close to your natural retirement, here are four simple calculators than can answer four important questions: What is the corpus required for financial independence in retirement? How long will my retirement corpus last? How much can I withdraw from my corpus each year? What is the rate of…
Continue reading →Since the time my step-by-step guide to selecting (Equity) mutual funds become popular, I have been receiving requests to publish a similar guide for debt mutual funds. Well begun is half-done. If an investor can confidently select categories suitable for their financial goals, short-listing a set of funds from that category is that much easier….
Continue reading →Here is a list of ‘qualifications’ necessary to do your own financial planning. This is not a ‘find a financial planner, if you cannot find the time to do it yourself, post! I am writing this for two reasons: out of irritation and fear. I am irritated that time and again financial planners and mutual…
Continue reading →In this post, let us consider how to calculate returns from ‘dividend’ and ‘dividend reinvestment’ mutual funds. This post represents an understanding of an issue which has always troubled me since the (first) manual version of mutual fund tracker (notice the frequent revisions). I thought I finally had it right in the automated version, until …
Continue reading →Are we at the start of a bull run? Will the markets tank after elections? Should we book profits now, while the going is good? Should I invest now or wait after the election results are announced? Such questions are on everyone’s mind. While dealing with volatile instruments like equity, some amount of tactical nous…
Continue reading →Here is a list of ‘action items’ for someone who has taken a term insurance policy. 1. Maintain a health record! Some take a term insurance policy with chronic illnesses. Some find out that they have a chronic illness (or is predisposed to one) when they take medical tests as part of the term policy…
Continue reading →Use this tool to analyse the performance of equity mutual funds with 31 indices from BSE and NSE. Monthly SIP and lump sum investments for periods ranging from one to seven years can be compared. This is the third version of the Mutual Fund SIP Returns Analyzer. The present version is an offshoot of the S&P BSE Indices…
Continue reading →What is your best money saving tip? What practice has significantly reduced expenses for you? Here is a compilation of responses from members of the facebook group, Asan Ideas for Wealth. Please do add your money-saving tip in the comments section. Ashal Jauhari (read his interview here) There are only 2 kinds of people in…
Continue reading →Since the post on, ‘What you need to know before hiring a financial advisor’, I have been bombarded by two kinds of emails/comments. Requests for sharing the list of fee-only financial planners, which is a pleasant and welcome surprise and About how mutual fund distribution is not necessarily a bad thing and how I just…
Continue reading →What is that I hear? Do you wish to engage a financial advisor/planner? Congratulations! A wonderfully positive step that has the potential to change your financial life. Do look before you leap though! Are you aware of what you are getting into? Whether you are planning to engage a planner or are already using their…
Continue reading →A chronic illness is a condition that cannot be cured, but can be ‘managed’ with periodic monitoring and medicines. “What is the cost of managing such an illness for life?” Subra suggested that I make a calculator to answer this question. It is well known that chronic illnesses are on the increase. Every third or…
Continue reading →As a student of market volatility, my eyes popped out in interest to learn that we have index that gives an idea about market volatility – the India Vix. India VIX is a measure of how volatile the market is expected to be over the next 30 days. Its calculation is described here in extraordinary…
Continue reading →Ever since I revealed that I invest for my son’s marriage in the year-end personal financial audit, several friends, and readers have chided me about this: ‘Why do you want to invest for your kids marriage?’ ‘Our kids should fund their own marriage’ ‘Weddings should be simple affairs devoid of all lavishness’ Journalist Sunderajan Padmanabhan…
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