You hold two asset classes in your portfolio (say equity and fixed income). Now, you are tempted to hold another asset class (say gold, at the right or wrong time; it does not matter). Every choice comes with its consequences and responsibility. Once you have a 3rd asset class, the risk in the portfolio can…
Continue reading →We have been publishing a monthly equity mutual fund screener since Sep 2022. This uses rolling returns to determine how consistently active mutual funds outperform representative category benchmarks. This can also be used to appreciate how hard it is for active funds to outperform and why passive funds make sense – especially if you are…
Continue reading →Consider this. My friend’s daughter wanted to study B. Tech Electrical Engineering (EE) in a specific college (say, college A). However, the college informed them that they could only offer another course for now, but she will be waitlisted to EE if there are vacancies. Meanwhile, she got a B. Tech EE in another college…
Continue reading →I hate to say this, but it has to be said. To get rich, we must stop behaving like the typical retail investor. We must stop calling ourselves the Aam Aadmi or the middle class. Btw no one reading this belongs to the Indian middle class. They may have a middle-class mindset, but that does…
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 →This is a debt mutual fund screener for portfolio selection, tracking, and learning. It also includes hybrid funds that invest in bonds. It will satisfy investors who wish to invest in money market funds, banking PSU funds, etc. The credit quality of the bonds in the portfolio and the bond maturity profile can be tracked….
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, Abhineeth shared his 3rd financial audit with us. In April 2023, then 31, he shared his plans for achieving financial independence and buying/constructing a decent house for his family. In his second audit, he shared how he rebuilt his finances after a personal tragedy. About this series: I am grateful…
Continue reading →When it comes to human relationships, I am fairly naive. It took me several years to understand that many people around us (friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbours, etc) respect us depending on our net worth. This accounts for how my relative’s behaviour towards me changed over the years. This guy was neither a close nor distant…
Continue reading →We have encountered these questions countless times over the past decade. “I have some surplus cash. Where should I park it?”; “Can I park my surplus cash in my SBI Max Gain account?”; “Is this market dip a good time to deploy my surplus cash?”. Almost always, digging deeper reveals it to be a case…
Continue reading →Often, readers email us saying, “I do not have enough to invest for my long-term goals. What should I do?” This is a fairly common situation; most of us start our investment journey this way. There is nothing to despair about. Here are some options to consider. 1. Consider clubbing all long-term goals together (greater…
Continue reading →A reader says, ” This is concerning the article titled: Is 87A rebate applicable for capital gains after budget 2025. It mentions that the rebate is available for LTCG – Debt funds – special rates for FY 2024-25. However, the calculator on the income tax department website does not provide the rebate. This is for…
Continue reading →Since Sep 2024, my retirement portfolio has lost an amount equivalent to 1 to 1.5 years of my annual expenses (X). That is if it was 10 times X in Sep 2024*. It is now 8.5 to 9 times annual expenses. * Not my real portfolio value. It will take a huge fall to erase…
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 →A reader asks, “I will turn 55 this year and would like to retire in 2025. How do I find the corpus required if my monthly expenses are close to Rs. 1 lakh?” We shall use the freefincal robo advisor tool for this exercise. The retirement corpus is assumed to be invested in five buckets….
Continue reading →In this article, Ganesh, a central government employee, decodes the unified pension scheme and discusses when it makes sense to opt for it. Per the UPS Gazette notification, an individual corpus will be built for each employee, consisting of 20% of Basic + DA (10% by employee and 10% by government/employer). A separate contribution of…
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