Analyzing the performance of a mutual fund is not rocket science. Anybody can do it, just as anybody can select a mutual fund following a few simple rules. I would like to prove my point with a do it yourself mutual fund analysis using HDFC Top 200 fund – one of the most popular mutual funds in…
Continue reading →Here is a list of all the Excel-based free personal finance calculators available for download in the blog. This list will be available in a separate page in the navigation menu. If you see calculators you have not checked out before, do give them a try this weekend. If you find the calculators useful, please…
Continue reading →XLMFTrackerAG, an Excel based mutual fund portfolio tracker, is another excellent offering by Satish Mistry, financial planner at MoneyCare Financial Planning. Satish recently developed a comprehensive financial planning tool. XLMFTrackerAG is suitable for individual investors, financial planners and independent financial advisors to manage a mutual fund portfolio. Financial planners can easily process the portfolios of clients…
Continue reading →Use this Excel based rolling returns calculator to evaluate the consistency in performance of your mutual funds and stocks by comparing them with their benchmark indices. Returns for a financial instrument that fluctuate can be calculated in two ways: Point-to-point returns: The effective annual compounded growth rate (CAGR) is calculated between any two dates. You…
Continue reading →This is a guest post by Aditya Veera. Aditya has studied and worked in finance, but this is the first article on investment he has written. Hopefully it is not the last. He holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and has an evangelical fervour for low-fee, passive investments! You can find his…
Continue reading →PPFAS Long Term Value Fund is advertised with a tagline: Only for “truly” long term investors! The funds scheme document states, “Investors should note that this scheme is suitable for investors who have an investment horizon of minimum 5 years”. Unfortunately,this can give investors the wrong notion that ‘long term’ implies duration of 5 years…
Continue reading →Here are updated versions of three fixed deposit calculators. FD calculator for investment tenure in months and years (tax to paid each FY and advance tax liability) minor bug fixed FD calculator for investment tenure in days (tax to paid each FY and advance tax liability) macro button added to stop and start calculations for…
Continue reading →In March this year I had a thymectomy – surgery to remove my thymus gland. The procedure was paid via cashless mediclaim. I thought sharing my experience with ‘cashless’ might be useful to other readers. My hospitalization was planned. That is I had plenty of time (5-6 weeks) to plan my hospital stay from the moment…
Continue reading →This calculator returns the CAGR value based on Chit fund cash flows using Excel’s XIRR and IRR functions. Even if you have no interest in chit funds (good for you!), if you are someone who uses Excel to calculate returns (of any financial instrument), I strongly urge you play with this calculator as it highlights…
Continue reading →Frugality or a frugal way of life is often misunderstood as being miserly, devoid of the joy and pleasures of life where one tries to save as much money as possible for the future. Talk about frugality and personal finance and you are often met with criticism, especially by guys in their early 20s :…
Continue reading →This simple Monte Carlo simulator gives you the probability of a debt fund, with variable annual returns, outperforming a fixed deposit. If you are thinking about investing in a debt mutual fund, but are worried about fluctuating returns (volatility) – especially after the recent crash in bonds, this tool could answer a pertinent question: What…
Continue reading →XLFinplan is an extraordinarily comprehensive Excel based financial planning application developed by Satish Mistry of Money Care Financial Planning Services. This commercial software has many interesting applications that will be useful not only for financial planners but also for individual investors. I requested Satish to send me a write up of the main features of…
Continue reading →It is now seven months since direct mutual fund plan were introduced. Using NAV history of HDFC Top 200, I have calculated the actual difference in returns between the regular-plan and direct-plan (growth option) obtained so far (Excel sheet attached). Let use recall that regular funds will have a higher expense ratio than direct funds. …
Continue reading →I am ashamed to say that although I teach and research for a living, I hate giving analogies. Even if I think of a potentially good analogy, one that can drive home the point better, I get uncomfortable and think it is deliberate and artificial and don’t use it. Someone like Ashal Jauhari is so…
Continue reading →This is a guest post by Jitendra Kumar, Sr.Business Analyst- Fiserv. Mr Kumar is a certified financial planner. His additional qualifications include MBA and Certification in Investment & Portfolio Mgmt. (IIMB). He is also a certified associate of the Indian institute of bankers (CAIIB). ~~~~~ Traditional Financial Planning works on certain assumptions on returns, risk, inflation, savings growth…
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