There has been a lot of hype around getting loans using equity or debt mutual fund units as collateral. Many readers have asked if this is a good idea. In this article, we discuss whether loans against MF units are necessary. The basic idea is quite simple. You pledge your MF units (to the extent…
Continue reading →We are happy to announce the launch of a simple plotting tool to compare any two-time series – mutual funds, indices, stocks, gold, oil – any data set with dates and values. The tool is now part of our freefincal investor circle. Rolling return (lump sum and SIP) calculators along with multiple mutual fund analysis…
Continue reading →Asking us, “How much equity should I hold after retirement?” is a common concern for many nearing retirement. However, it is challenging to provide a definitive answer as it varies from person to person. Nevertheless, it is crucial to address this question well before retirement, considering the potential risks and planning accordingly, rather than waiting…
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 →A reader wants to know a way to convince his friend to start investing in equity —a discussion. To not invest in equity is a choice. Whether that is an informed choice or not is another matter. Friend or relative, I don’t think we should try and convince anyone too set in their ways to…
Continue reading →A reader says, “You have repeatedly demonstrated how to deploy a retirement corpus into different buckets using the freefincal robo advisory tool. In all these examples, you assume the retiree will have or should have enough money in a safe income bucket to handle inflation-indexed expenses for the first 15 years of retirement. I find…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “What should I do with my mutual funds if the market crashes? I started my SIPs three years ago. Today, I don’t know if the market will zoom up or come crashing down. Should I redeem and start again or hold the investments even though I may lose all my gains?” When…
Continue reading →A reader says, “I have a generic question about retirement planning. Can you retire if your annual expenses equal 6% of your corpus? Say my monthly expenses are 1 lac. My corpus is two crores. I do SWP for 1 lac monthly. If the returns exceed 6% pa, it will also cover inflation. Is there…
Continue reading →Regular readers may be aware that we occasionally publish articles on rolling SIP returns and point out there is no point in expecting a certain return from an equity or debt mutual fund. Instead, we should focus on our target corpus and manage our portfolio accordingly. Many readers get perturbed by this reality and ask,…
Continue reading →A viewer on our YouTube channel wants to know, What are the “must have” mutual fund categories in a portfolio? But do you even need mutual funds in a portfolio? The answer is no. Mutual funds are a good choice, but they are only a choice. There are other ways to invest, even if they…
Continue reading →The latest freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener is now available. Use it to screen for consistently performing equity mutual funds. You can screen based on fund category & benchmark and spot mutual funds with a higher return than a benchmark at a lower risk. Inside, you get discounted links to our robo advisory tool…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “I’m looking to retire at 45 and currently, at 28 years old, my monthly expenses amount to around Rs. 40,000. Since I have just begun working, my net worth is currently negligible. I would like to know the approximate investment amount required to achieve my goal. It’s worth mentioning that I don’t…
Continue reading →A reader sent us the following question. “I’m an aspiring DIY investor and frequently read your posts on freefincal. I have also attended the goal-based learning tutorials on freefincal and found them very useful”. “Most of the analysis and approach I have read is on systematic investment planning. My question is, “How to plan, monitor…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, a reader who prefers anonymity explains why, despite making most mistakes in the book, his mutual fund portfolio is worth about six crores today. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of readers. Some of the previous…
Continue reading →A few years ago, when the NSE introduced factor indices, aka smart-beta investing, I was among the first to get excited and wrote a slew of articles such as these: (1) Are Nifty Smart Beta (strategic) Indices better than the Nifty Next 50? (2) Picking Stocks With Low Volatility: A simple but effective strategy? (3)…
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