Here is a list of steps to consider if your health insurance claim is rejected. For a rea-life experience see: How I used Bima Lokpal to contest my health insurance claim rejection and won 1. Do not let anger and emotions cloud your judgment. Take some time to read and re-read the claim repudiation letter. Find…
Continue reading →There is a considerable amount of debate about active vs passive investing. The truth is, it is a tertiary concern. You need to have a proper investment plan in place. If this is done, you need the conviction to implement it and stay the course. Then it matters little if you choose active or passive…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “Can I use just one mutual fund for all my financial goals like retirement, child’s education, etc.? Or should I buy separate mutual funds for each goal?” We assume the “one mutual fund” refers to an equity fund. The short answer is you can do both. I prefer separate mutual funds for…
Continue reading →It is mid-2025, and I find it astounding that many investors still have a daily SIP or a weekly SIP running! I cannot understand who or what influenced them to do so. However, I can assure you that there are no special benefits to running a daily or weekly SIP compared to a monthly, quarterly,…
Continue reading →These are the freefincal handpicked list of mutual funds. New and old investors can use it according to their specific needs. The list is called “PlumbLine” and has been published since September 2017 for beginners to accompany the freefincal robo advisor tool. Most importantly, Plumbline is a mix of my opinions, skin in the game…
Continue reading →A group of friends discussed whether the rules of investing differ for the rich. Should they do anything differently? As with most things, the answer is not a simple yes or no. The definition of who is rich and who is not is arbitrary. For example, the mutual fund association in India defines a high…
Continue reading →A reader says, “I am attempting to start an experiment within my family. The plan is to create an inheritance pot each generation tries to hand over to the next generation. If they can add to the kitty, then great, but that is not an expectation. It is good enough if they can sustain and…
Continue reading →One of my biggest regrets is being unable to splurge on my parents – buy them expensive gifts, take them on holidays, etc. My dad died when I was in debt (due to his hospital bills), and my mom became ill soon after. So I keep telling young people that there is a small window…
Continue reading →Ever since the announcement of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), I had assumed that it would also apply to the Union Government’s Central Autonomous Bodies (CABs) (which include all the IITs; see a full list in the link below). That is not the case. Contrary to some reports online, none of the official notifications about…
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. Update: We recently added a new tool to the freefincal investor circle…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “Can I use a simple equity + debt portfolio instead of multiple retirement buckets? Won’t this be easier to manage?” When I was younger, I would have agreed with the reader. Age and experience change perspective. See: I thought a pension was unnecessary, but age taught me a lesson on retirement planning!…
Continue reading →We recently received an interesting email, which is reproduced below with the author’s permission. “I have come across your work in the field of saving/investing for financial independence very recently. I come from a family of marginal farmers. Both my parents toil in the fields. For more than 30 years, they used to borrow money…
Continue reading →This is a debt mutual fund screener for portfolio selection, 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 PSU funds, etc. The credit quality of the bonds in the portfolio and the bond maturity profile can be tracked….
Continue reading →Readers often send us their mutual fund portfolios and ask for help in decluttering them. That is reduced unnecessary funds. Since we do not offer investment advice, we can do the next best thing – offer some generic steps to DIY this decluttering process. The first step is to recognise clutter. I hold 8 funds….
Continue reading →We discuss how to plan for financial goals 5-10 years away. They are neither long-term to include equity nor short-term to avoid equity completely. Financial goal planning is all about setting the right priorities. If my need is within five years, it would be prudent to avoid all equity. Equity returns are volatile regardless of…
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