In this article, we discuss the idea of annuity laddering (also known as income laddering) and how it is helpful in retirement planning. Annuity/Income laddering generally means a series of cash flows that become available at different points in the future. Typically, bonds or fixed deposits are used for income laddering. A series of FDs…
Continue reading →This index fund screener is 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 to understand how tracking a midcap index or the Nifty 100, 500 differs from tracking the Sensex or…
Continue reading →Have you ever pondered over how life insurance companies manage to settle substantial death claims? Let’s begin by delving into the fundamental concept of insurance and then transition to reinsurance. While reinsurance is a vast subject, I’ll provide an overview of its basic principles. About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI registered investment advisor….
Continue reading →A reader says, ” Can you please let me know funds with indexation benefits apart from Parag Parikh Dynamic asset allocation fund and Edelweiss Multi Asset Allocation Fund excluding EquitySavings and Arbitrage?” A discussion. Let us begin with some context. Note: Tax rules change often. The rules mentioned here are valid as of April 2024…
Continue reading →On Tamil New Year’s Day, we (freefincal and OfSpin Media Friends) are happy to launch the Tamil edition of the Let’s Get Rich With Pattu Podcast. Renowned podcaster and narrator Deepika Arun joins us as host. You can explore more of her work here: kadhaiosai.com and KadhaiOsaiTamilAudioBooks (YouTube). Let’s Get Rich with Pattu, produced by…
Continue reading →Many investors assume that the lower the passive fund fee or tracking error, the higher the return. This is not always true. We dispel these notions using material for a talk we are preparing for. 1. ETF tracking errors published are non-representative. All tracking errors are highly non-intuitive and hard for normal investors to appreciate….
Continue reading →Recently, there was some buzz on social media and a few articles about how large cap mutual funds have made a “comeback”. In this article, we discuss the performance consistency of these funds using the freefincal equity mutual fund outperformance screener (published monthly). Disclaimer: Fund performance reports present return and risk analysis of a fund with…
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. 70-plus ETFs are now covered. The tracking error is the ETF’s standard deviation minus index monthly return differences. The lower the tracking error, the…
Continue reading →SEBI registered fee-only advisor Abhishek Kumar explains why we must check our KYC status and when it must be re-validated. About the author: Abhishek is part of a freefincal’s curated list of fee-only financial advisors and a fee-only India member. His journey has been published earlier: Fee-only Advisor Abhishek Kumar’s tap dancing to financial freedom. Most…
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, “Consider a mutual fund that is expected to hold more than 35% equity. If the monthly fact sheet of the fund reports an equity allocation of 35% or lower for one month alone, should I pay tax as per slab if I redeem that financial year?” Background: The govt has amended the…
Continue reading →I recently pointed out in a video that combining active and passive investing represents a lack of conviction and is a scattergun approach. I cited the example of holding the Parag Parikh Flexi Cap fund + Nifty/Sensex Index fund. A reader holding Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund plus UTI Nifty 50 Index fund wrote in…
Continue reading →We compare the rolling returns of Nifty 50, Nifty Next 50, Nifty Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250. We publish this comparison from time to time. This is the April 2024 edition. Returns for a financial instrument that fluctuates can be calculated in two ways: Point-to-point returns: The effective annual compounded growth rate (CAGR) is…
Continue reading →I recently spoke to a group of employees about retirement planning. I was told that the group would mostly comprise young people in the 30-45 age bracket, but as always, there was a good chunk of older people in the audience. They were left shell-shocked to see some sample retirement plans – the corpus required…
Continue reading →Readers often ask, “What debt fund should I add to a long term investment portfolio?” After gains from debt mutual funds became taxable as per slab (applicable to units purchased from 1st April 2023), more readers have sought tax-efficient options. So here is an updated list of debt & hybrid mutual funds suitable for a…
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