Regular readers may know that freefincal curates a list of SEBI-registered financial advisors that charge clients a flat fee. That is, the fee is independent of a client’s net worth and does not increase as the client’s wealth grows. The curated list is more than 10 years old and was created before the SEBI investment…
Continue reading →Nippon India Nifty 500 Equal Weight Index Fund is an open-ended scheme tracking the Nifty 500 Equal Weight Index. The fund is currently in its NFO period. We analyse the performance of the underlying index and discuss if it makes sense to consider this fund for investment. According to the AMC’s scheme presentation, “Large caps…
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 →HDFC Nifty500 Multicap 50:25:25 Index Fund is an open-ended scheme replicating/tracking Nifty500 Multicap 50:25:25 Index. We will discuss whether it makes sense to invest in this new fund. To aid active multi-cap funds in benchmarking themselves after SEBI changed their asset-allocation pattern, NSE launched the Nifty 500 Multicap 50:25:25 Index on Dec 2nd 2020. The…
Continue reading →Since the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) announcement, several readers have asked me if I would opt for UPS. In this article, I explain why I prefer the NPS (National Pension Scheme) to the UPS, I have discussed a simple thumb rule to decide between the Unified Pension Scheme and the National Pension Scheme and also…
Continue reading →A reader asked, “What is your idea of a comfortable retirement?” A discussion. The answer is subjective and subject to significant change especially if we are far from retirement. Perhaps only those investing for at least a decade will likely ask this question. ‘Comfort’ implies something well above a basic requirement. So let us first…
Continue reading →A reader asked, “What is the effective interest rate of the Unified Pension Scheme?” A discussion. As a pension scheme, it can be compared with life insurance policy annuity schemes that offer a pension in exchange for a lump sum. These schemes have an interest rate, also known as an annuity rate. See LIC Pension…
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 →We recently published a calculator to compare the Unified Pension Scheme and the National Pension Scheme. We have updated this tool with an alternative comparison using withdrawal rates. This is based on the thumb rule to decide between the Unified Pension Scheme and the National Pension Scheme. Our first method compares only the products. It…
Continue reading →A reader says, “What is the corpus needed for a 50-year-old to retire immediately if my monthly expenses are Rs. 50,000?” Let us compute this using the freefincal robo advisor tool. This provides an accurate estimate compared to approximate calculations using spreadsheet formulae. The robo tool can also include three post-retirement income streams. It also…
Continue reading →We discuss a simple, holistic guideline or thumb rule to decide between the Unified Pension Scheme and the National Pension Scheme. We have published a calculator to compare NPS and UPS. However, this involves too many unknowns and projections if retirement is far away. Also, the calculator only compares the two products, NPS and UPS….
Continue reading →Since Budget 2024 announced a higher LTCG tax on equity mutual funds and removed indexation benefits for old debt fund units, many readers have asked us if they could use the tier II account of NPS for tax-free rebalancing. Although this response is expected and unsurprising, it is still frustrating and disappointing. Investors are ready…
Continue reading →Use this free calculator to find out if you can stay invested in the National Pension Scheme or must consider a switch to the Unified Pension Scheme (for Central government subscribers only at the time of writing). We have already covered the salient features of the Unified Pension Scheme and other considerations in our coverage:…
Continue reading →Several readers have asked us for a calculator to help them decide if they should switch from the National Pension Scheme (NPS) to the newly announced Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). Such a calculator is now available for free download, but several caveats must be considered. This is not an easy calculation, especially for those new…
Continue reading →With the introduction of the Unified Pension Scheme from 1st April 2025, many NPS government subscribers would ask, Should I switch from National Pension Scheme to the Unified Pension Scheme? Here is a free calculator to find out! At the time of writing, the full terms and conditions of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) are…
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