In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 39-year-old who has transformed his life from negative net worth to six times his annual expenses with discipline. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits us all. Some of the previous editions are linked at…
Continue reading →Here is a quick-start list of action items for young earners to start their investment journey in 2026. Older earners can also use it as relevant. The action plan Get life insurance (15-20 times annual income) Get health insurance for parents (if not present). Get a separate health cover for yourself. Build an emergency buffer:…
Continue reading →Parag Parikh Large Cap Fund, an actively managed large cap fund benchmarked to the Nifty 100 TRI, is currently in its NFO period (19th -30th Jan 2026). We discuss whether investors should consider buying this fund. The fund is marketed as a “passive plus” fund with a low expense ratio that tends to track the…
Continue reading →In many affluent families today, a quiet dilemma is emerging — one that has less to do with money and more to do with timing. Parents, after years of discipline and hard work, have built comfortable lives and substantial wealth. Their children, meanwhile, have grown up surrounded by stability and the assurance that “jo kuch…
Continue reading →This index fund screener is based on tracking error and returns difference wrt benchmarks (also known as tracking difference). It will help users evaluate how efficiently an index fund has tracked its underlying benchmark. It will also help them understand how tracking a midcap index or the Nifty 100 or 500 differs from tracking the…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 30-year-old PSU employee who has learnt to manage money free from stress. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits us all. Some of the previous editions are linked at the bottom of this article. You…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 34-year-old who has achieved financial stability from humble beginnings. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits us all. Some of the previous editions are linked at the bottom of this article. You can also access…
Continue reading →Is it always good to switch from regular to direct plans? The answer is No. Before you move to calculate the switch cost, the first step is to stop existing SIPs in regular plans and start investing in new SIPs in direct plans. The most important factor to consider is the expense ratio difference between…
Continue reading →This ETF screener is based on tracking errors and differences (ETF return minus index return). It will help users evaluate how efficiently an ETF has tracked its underlying benchmark. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus the index’s monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the more efficiently the ETF tracks the…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, Sreekanth, who runs the personal finance blog ReLakhs.com, shares his investment journey. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits us all. Some of the previous editions are linked at the bottom of this article. You can also access…
Continue reading →Readers often ask us, “What return can I expect if I invest via SIP in an equity mutual fund for 10 years?”. The honest answer to “What return can I expect from a 10-year equity MF SIP?”, is “no idea”. We have discussed this at length before Do not expect returns from mutual fund SIPs!…
Continue reading →With the SIP campaign a grand success, the mutual fund industry has started promoting SWPs. The sales pitch is this: Invest a lump sum in a hybrid fund like balanced advantage, dynamic asset allocation, aggressive hybrid and the like. As you keep systematically withdrawing, the remaining corpus will grow. Don’t worry about intermittent volatility; the…
Continue reading →The latest freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener is now available. Use it to screen for equity mutual funds that consistently perform. You can screen based on fund category & benchmark to identify mutual funds that offer higher returns than the benchmark while maintaining lower risk. Inside, you get discounted links to our robo advisory…
Continue reading →We discuss some minimalist equity MF portfolios. This is intended for beginners new to the capital markets. Existing investors with multiple funds need not act on this. However, they should tell themselves not to buy more anymore and try to de-clutter as and when possible in the future. New investors should also recognise that a…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, a 42-year-old doctor shares his journey to financial freedom. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits us all. Some of the previous editions are linked at the bottom of this article. You can also access the full reader…
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