Getting a guaranteed pension after retirement and beating inflation after retirement has traditionally been two extreme solutions in retirement planning. In this article, we explain how these solutions can be combined to build a robust and nearly fool-proof retirement plan. In the former, we talk about buying an annuity from life insurers for a guaranteed…
Continue reading →In the last edition of the reader story, we met Arka and Rupali, a young couple, trying to balance travelling and investing. In this article, they share more details on how to manage our travelling dreams within our income. So, you want to travel?? Are you thrilled by that picture-perfect sunset by the Maldives sea, the…
Continue reading →In this report, we look at how dynamic bond funds have altered their portfolio over the last few months in anticipation of an interest rate hike. Bond market sentiment is monitored via the bond yield which is inversely proportional to bond price. If yield fall, it implies existing bonds have become more valuable (higher price)….
Continue reading →A reader posed an interesting question: Suppose I wish to hold my entire retirement corpus as cash without investing it or saving it or buying pension or monthly income products, what will be the corpus required? At a first glance, this may seem like a silly question. Yes, it is certainly impractical, but working this out…
Continue reading →In this article, we discuss one of the most common questions in various member forums: how can I use blogging (or vlogging) as an income source?. This reminds us of parents who ask, “what is the scope for X degree?” What they mean is, “will my child get a nice fat salary if she pursues…
Continue reading →This is an index fund screener based on tracking error and return difference wrt benchmarks. The screener will help a user 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 the Sensex…
Continue reading →In an update to our earlier reports, we compare the performance of actively managed small cap mutual funds with four benchmarks and discuss why it does not make sense to invest in small cap mutual funds. We shall compare every possible 3-year, 4-year and 5-year return of small cap funds between 1st Jan 2013 and…
Continue reading →In this edition of the fund profile, we take a look at the Kotak Short Term Bond Fund. We evaluate its portfolio history and discuss when it can be used. According to SEBI, a Short Duration Fund is a fund that invests in debt & money market instruments with Macaulay duration of the portfolio between…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader audit, Arka and Rupali share how they are trying to balance their personal aspirations like travelling and exploring new opportunities with their quest for financial independence. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of readers. Some of the…
Continue reading →A reader writes, “I have now been reading your articles on the importance of asset allocation for a few months now. The impact of inflation is scary! I have no equity holdings in my portfolio and have never planned for retirement in a systematic way. Is there any hope for me or is it too…
Continue reading →In this edition of the “fund performance report”, we look at Canara Robeco Flexi Cap Fund. Launched in Sep 2003, the fund has an AUM of about Rs. 7,256 Crores. We shall compare the reward and risk performance consistency of the fund with respect to Nifty 500 TRI and Nifty LargeMidcap 250 TRI. The fund…
Continue reading →In an update to our previous reports, we find out how actively managed mid cap funds fared against Nifty Midcap 150 Total Returns Index (TRI) and factor-based index Nifty Midcap 150 Quality 50 TRI. From April 2022, our monthly equity mutual fund screener will include benchmarking against the Quality 50 mid cap index and NIfty…
Continue reading →The freefincal journey has taught us several lessons about human behaviour. Formoremost among them is what most investors want without stopping to recognise that it is impossible! We can restrict ourselves to investors and not savers. That is, we only discuss those invested in the capital markets directly (stocks, bonds) or indirectly (mutual funds). So…
Continue reading →In this article, Anand Vaidya shares his experience of using the RBI Retail Direct portal to buy govt. bonds (gilts) and create an income source. About the author: Anand studied E&C Engg, worked at Wipro and then left for a job in Singapore. He started his own IT consultancy in Singapore. After 15 years, he…
Continue reading →The freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener (April 2022) 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 two courses:…
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