A reader says, “My income is quite low. Is there any hope for me? How do I go about creating a retirement corpus?” The rules of personal finance are the same regardless of income and net worth. Those earning less feel like they will never have the experiences or wealth of those who earn more….
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 →In this article, we explain how to track the progress of our financial goals. We use the freefincal robo advisory tool for this purpose as many readers and users are interested in knowing how. The robo tool, as many readers would know, is a financial planning tool. It automates the systematic risk management process and…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “I initially invested 1.5 lakh rupees in a Smallcap mutual fund category two years ago and haven’t added any more funds since. I’m contemplating whether to resume investing in my existing fund or consider a new smallcap fund”. “I’m interested in understanding the advantages and disadvantages of both options. It’s worth noting…
Continue reading →A reader recently asked — in response to the article, Why are you recommending index funds but not investing in them yourself? — “What is the equity exposure of your retirement portfolio?”. I said, “It is currently about 62%.” He said, “is that not too much equity at your age (48, well, almost 49)?” There…
Continue reading →This is a debt mutual fund screener for fund selection, fund portfolio tracking and learning. It also includes hybrid funds that invest in bonds. It will satisfy investors who wish to invest in money market funds, banking and PSU funds etc. The credit quality of the bonds in the portfolio and the bond maturity profile…
Continue reading →A reader says, “I have a question about modern-day challenges associated with mid-age immigration. For Example – An individual at around 37/38 years of age has been working in India for close to 15 years and has a good amount of money already earned with a decent portfolio but is looking for an opportunity in…
Continue reading →This is an update on my mutual fund investing journey, which began on 19th June 2008. In the last three decades, I have gone from being a spend-thrift to being in debt to financial independence. New community members can refer to these articles for an account. The Financial Arrow of Time and My Journey: Driven by the…
Continue reading →This index fund screener is based on tracking error and returns difference wrt benchmarks (aka tracking difference). The screener will help users evaluate how efficiently an index fund has tracked its underlying benchmark. It will also help a understand how tracking a midcap index or the Nifty 100, 500 differs from tracking the Sensex or…
Continue reading →A reader says, “Please make a video/article on how an investor should reach an Equity: Debt asset allocation of 60:40 if most of his/her investments are in debt already (almost 90% in debt), especially for investors between 35 to 40 age group”. “I understand that from your rebalancing articles, you mentioned that in such scenarios,…
Continue reading →My son recently won Rs. 2500 in an olympiad contest. I asked him what he wanted to do, and he replied without hesitation, “Let’s invest it!” Many of you might think that the apple has not fallen far from the tree, but sadly that is not true. I never won any prizes in school, and…
Continue reading →If you are interested in achieving financial independence in retirement, especially if you hope to retire early, you’ve likely encountered the concept of the safe withdrawal rate, with the 4% rule being particularly well-known. However, it’s unfortunate that this rule is often misunderstood and misapplied, so it may not be a useful tool for retirement…
Continue reading →A reader says, “I created a financial plan using your robo-advisory tool. It was quite useful to understand where I stand, but I am now scared because I do not have enough to invest for my long-term goals. What should I do?” This is a fairly common situation; most of us start our investment journey…
Continue reading →A reader says, “I am 32, and my wife is 29. We are employed in the same PSU and can take home loans with a combined loan limit of up to INR 1 Cr at a special staff interest rate. We are also eligible to avail company leased accommodation during the course of employment”. “Is…
Continue reading →This ETF screener is based on tracking errors and tracking differences (ETF return minus index return). The screener will help users evaluate how efficiently an ETF has tracked its underlying benchmark. Update: 76 ETFs are now covered. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus index monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error,…
Continue reading →