As regular readers may know, we publish an annual personal finance audit every December – our 2022 audit was posted a few weeks ago. Since 2020 regular readers have been sharing their investment journey and portfolio reviews. Suhas was among the first to do this. He has graciously agreed to share the 3rd update on…
Continue reading →A reader asks, ” At 45, notional gains from debt mutual funds (Liquid, ST, Gilt, Arbitrage) + divided (Usual suspects HDFC, ITC, HUL etc.) per year is about 18 lakhs. With a planned retirement expense of 9 lakhs pa, that is twice the pa requirement. Corpus for other goals is set side separately”. “I know…
Continue reading →A reader asks, “I am aged 60 and have just retired. My total corpus is close to Rs. One Crore, but my monthly expenses are slightly over Rs. 40,000. This means my initial withdrawal rate = annual expenses divided by corpus is about 5%.” “This is higher than the “old” safe withdrawal rate estimate of…
Continue reading →This article is an opinion piece on how to make affordable financial advice readily available in India. Financial advice here refers to financial advice without any conflict of interest. Or, in other words, fiduciary financial advice. That is advice that only has the best interests of the advice seeker in mind. Having been around this…
Continue reading →Prakash is 35 and wishes to retire by 55. In this case study, we shall find out how he can plan for financial freedom in retirement. That is, we shall find out how Prakash can derive an inflation-protected income and be financially free after retirement. What is inflation-protected income? This is a retirement income that…
Continue reading →This is an index fund screener 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 is quite different from tracking…
Continue reading →HDFC Long Duration Debt Fund is an open-ended debt scheme investing in instruments such that the Macaulay Duration of the portfolio is greater than seven years. In other words, it is a fund that invests in fairly long-term bonds. Therefore only investors who can stay invested long-term should consider the fund. One reader asked if…
Continue reading →The AUM (asset under management) of mutual funds reported in most online portals is the AUM of the regular plan (commissions removed before NAV declaration) plus the AUM of the direct plan (no commissions). This article lists the most popular direct plan mutual funds. That is the ones with the largest AUM. Each quarter, the…
Continue reading →In May 2022, SEBI allowed mutual funds to launch either an actively managed open-ended ELSS fund or a passively managed open-ended ELSS fund. In an amendment issued on Jan 10th 2023, SEBI has now allowed those fund houses with an existing active ELSS fund to launch passive ELSS funds. However, the existing active ELSS funds…
Continue reading →This is an ETF screener 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. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus index monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the more efficient the ETF…
Continue reading →A reader says, “Sir, I am 26 years old. After reviewing various materials and videos about funds, I have arrived at a four-fund portfolio with all hybrid funds. Kindly suggest changes or give your thoughts on this. The funds are (1) Hdfc balanced advantage fund – (20%), (2) Icici prudential equity and debt fund –…
Continue reading →In this article, SEBI-registered fee-only financial planner Swapnil Kendhe explains why he believes good financial planning advice does not scale. About the author: Swapnil is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor and part of my fee-only financial planners’ list. You can learn more about him and his service via his website, Vivektaru. In the recently conducted…
Continue reading →This edition of the fund performance report looks at the HDFC Children’s Gift Fund. Launched in Mar 2001, the fund has an AUM of over 6,000 Crores. In Oct 2017, HDFC MF merged HDFC Children’s Gift Fund Savings Plan into HDFC Children’s Gift Fund Investment Plan and then renamed the resulting fund as HDFC Children’s…
Continue reading →This is a list of the worst-performing equity mutual funds over every possible five, four, and three periods between 1st Jan 2013 (introduction date of direct plans) to Jan 5th 2023. Some caveats before we begin: (1) The definition of a “worst mutual fund” is as arbitrary as the definition of a “best mutual fund”….
Continue reading →A reader asks, “Can you please write an article on how to decide the inflation rate while planning for retirement?”. This question has troubled me long and hard over the years, and I think I have finally arrived at an answer: “Use the rate that will work for you”! This response may seem arbitrary to…
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