In his new book, Same as Ever, Morgan Housel says, “A good summary of investing history is that stocks pay a fortune in the long run but seek punitive damages when you demand to be paid sooner.” “Consider a long stretch of history, from 1871 to 2018. During that period, the odds that the US stock…
Continue reading →Investors often fixate on the returns of their investments. Some prefer higher returns and are willing to take on more risk, while others prioritize a guaranteed return with no threat to their principal investment. However, there are more aspects to consider in investing than just the returns. While it could be argued that real returns…
Continue reading →A subscriber to our YouTube channel asks, “How many equity funds are required for adequate diversification?” At first glance, the answer seems easy, but it is not. Diversification can refer to diversification across asset classes like equity, fixed income, gold, and real estate or diversification within an asset class. We believe the subscriber refers to…
Continue reading →We list the 2023 calendar year returns of 180 indices. (different asset classes, different geographies, predominantly Indian). Total returns have been used where possible. Note: The list is only meant to serve as trivia. It should not used to make investment decisions! Winners here may turn losers after we start investing in them! The year…
Continue reading →We publish a list of stocks with low volatility and momentum each month. We provide data for BSE 500 and BSE 100 stocks. There are now three different screener files available. (1) Stocks with low volatility and momentum from the BSE 100 large cap universe are available as a separate file (2) Stocks with low…
Continue reading →“Is AI necessary in investment advisory? Will it make a difference?” was one of the responses we received for this article: Retirement Planning with AutoGPT: The Informal Future of Investment Advisory. The truth is AI is already well and truly here and here to stay. At the time of writing, in areas relevant to us,…
Continue reading →In Jan 2023, Pretorius shared his investment journey for our reader story section: How I learnt to keep it simple and build a net worth 19 times my annual expenses. This is an update. Thank you, Pretorius! About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of…
Continue reading →The first step in getting rich is to believe without a doubt that we will be. It is just a matter of effort and time (in that order). Allow me to explain. How does one get rich? What is the first step towards financial independence? Crude as it may seem, the first step to being…
Continue reading →We recently conducted a poll on X (formerly Twitter) – “Why are you invested in Sovereign Gold Bonds?”. We asked a similar question on the Facebook group Asan Ideas for Wealth. The results were similar and suggest that most investors buy Sovereign Gold Bonds for the wrong reasons. The X poll had 1154 participants. The…
Continue reading →A reader says, ” First of all, thank you for providing all the answers needed by me & all. A long time ago, I came across one of your articles about the rent vs buy topic wherein you mentioned that we need to save about half of the cost of the house and then get…
Continue reading →A reader says, ” After watching all portfolio management videos. I purchased the robo-advisory tool. I have set goals. Now I am good to go. Goal: Son’s education. 13 years time period. As per the robo advisory tool, for the debt portion, I have two options. One is Gilt funds & 2nd one is PPF…
Continue reading →Recently, I attended a gathering where the discussion turned to personal finance. Someone inquired about the best place to begin. Predictably, responses such as “security analysis” and “intelligent investor” punctuated the conversation. Many also pointed to blogs that repeat phrases Buffett and Munger popularised, with “investor” as a common theme in their titles, paired with…
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 appreciate the context of these investments. I started direct equity investing only after achieving a comfortable level of…
Continue reading →I have tracked the amount invested in my goal portfolio for over 12 years. It has been a life and game changer for my family. Whether you track your spending or not, tracking your investment amount is crucial. Today, I can invest more for retirement than my target investment. That was not the case when…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “I read your posts and blogs a lot. I try and declutter my portfolio and follow the kiss principle. If an actively managed mid-cap fund has a lower expense ratio almost equal to an index fund, provides better downside protection, and beats the benchmark index, should we still consider switching to the…
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