There are many articles on the web that talk about the difference in the way debt mutual funds and fixed deposits are taxed. Almost all of them (including the ones by self-proclaimed beacons of financial literacy) talk about post-tax returns typically over 3-5 year periods. To my knowledge there is only one article, written by…
Continue reading →Warren Buffet, in a letter to his shareholders said, ‘do not ask a barber if you need a haircut’. This applies to many situations in life. In the present context, ‘never ask someone in the financial advisory business, if mutual fund selection is hard’. Selecting a mutual fund is not rocket science. It can be…
Continue reading →“This is a guest post from Abhinav Gulechha. Abhinav is a Certified Financial Planner and writes at www.sohamfp.com. Views expressed are personal.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In today’s credit-driven economy in which we live, one can buy anything provided you have the income to support it. Owing to an easy availability of home loans and rising salary levels, it…
Continue reading →Does this question sound familiar? Bet it does. This is probably one of the most popular questions asked in any investor meet or television show. The answer is surprisingly simple and the reaction to the answer, in most cases, unsurprisingly indifferent. In academic circles we have a saying. ‘No question is silly. However, some answers…
Continue reading →I love movies. Before I started taking freefincal seriously, I averaged about a movie every two days. I tell my students that I am cursed: If I do not watch some portion of a new movie every day, I will turn into a vampire! Movies make me happy, sad, think, exhilarated and devastated in equal…
Continue reading →When gold prices fell steeply earlier this year, we were flooded with ‘told you so’ articles. No one seemed bothered at that time to emphasise that gold is meant for long term investing only, and that such volatility is natural. Before the crash everyone was saying, ‘buy golf ETFs’, ‘allocate 10% of your portfolio to…
Continue reading →A long term investor should: recognise all the risks associated with the financial goal estimate the monthly investment needed (estimate not determine) understand the need for spreading the investment risk (asset allocation) understand the need for diversification within an asset class, choose investment vehicles wisely initiate investments as quickly as possible without worrying about perfection…
Continue reading →Here is a list of available mutual fund calculators and resources. (Updated Mar. 31st 2014) Flagship Calculator: Track your mutual fund and stock investments with this Google Sheet! Mutual Fund Calculators/Resources How to select mutual fund categories suitable for your financial goals? Step-by-step Guide to Choosing a Mutual Fund Mutual Fund SIP Returns Analyzer Mutual…
Continue reading →Here is the online version of recurring deposit calculator on Microsoft’s Exel Web app. Thanks to reader Srinivas, I was able to correct a minor bug. I tried to convert it to Google Docs, but some cells showed incorrect values. This is quite disturbing because if one does not check each cell carefully then the…
Continue reading →If you own a property and receive rental income from it, use this calculator to determine the return on your investment. If you like idea of using real estate for financial leverage, this is the perfect tool for you. Financial leverage is investing with borrowed capital. In the present context it refers to buying a…
Continue reading →This intriguing question was recently asked by my friend. Intriguing because it can be answered in two ways: In one word! Or by considering all possible ways an emergency fund would see some action! By action, I of course refer to emergencies only! American financial coach Dave Ramsey, often says, “Christmas is not an emergency!”…
Continue reading →Note: The variable RD calculator gives the total post-tax interest. I have assumed that only the variable payments are subject to a penalty. That is if a variable payment is not made before a certain date (reader Srinivas says it is 10th in his case) then interest on the variable payment for that month will…
Continue reading →Worried about fluctuating stock market returns? Worried about sliding gold prices? Not sure how much to invest in equity or in gold? Here is an example of a portfolio based on an ingeniously simple notion that has proved to be remarkably stable irrespective of market conditions – stock/commodity/debt/currency markets! The Permanent Portfolio in an alternative…
Continue reading →This is a guest post by Jaina Shah (Co – Founder and Director – Credexpert). Credexpert is a credit and debt counselling company and has a team of industry experts who handhold individuals through their credit life cycle. Follow these simple 5 steps and you will always have no debt stress or find yourself in…
Continue reading →Since we cannot change the way the stock market operates all we can do is to make sense of its returns and invest wisely.In this post I use Sensex data to understand the nature of its fluctuating returns (including dividends!). The Excel sheet attached which will be of interest and utility to all investors regardless…
Continue reading →