I have been making retirement planning tools for more than 11 years now. During this time, thanks to a combination of luck and discipline, I have been able to achieve financial independence. While my risk appetite has increased, I have also become more conservative in planning for retirement. I have come around to see the…
Continue reading →In this edition of the reader story, we meet 31-year old GB. When family responsibilities were suddenly thrust on him, as a 24-year old, he realised his family had a five lakh debt to clear. He cleared it, arranged his sister’s marriage and his own marriage with proper planning and no debt. He is now on…
Continue reading →The Navi US Total Stock Market Fund of Fund will track the CRSP US Total Market Index by investing 95% to 100% of its assets in either the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) or the Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund (SWTSX). Assuming the AMC will choose the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) the…
Continue reading →Asan Ideas for Wealth (AIFW) is a personal finance group on Facebook. It is on the threshold of a major milestone – one lakh members. In this article, we trace the growth of its membership and how it has helped members manage money better. The group is owned by its sole admin – the one…
Continue reading →Here is a list of stocks with low volatility and momentum for Feb 2022 from the Nifty 100. You can also get the historical data from March 2019 to Feb 2022. We filter Nifty 100 for (1) positive 1-year return, (2) positive six-month return, (3) price > 200-day moving average, (4) 50% of daily positive…
Continue reading →Budget 2022 has not increased Equity LTCG Tax from 10% to 15%! The mention of 15% was a reference to the capping of the surcharge on LTCG from other assets. An explanation. How does surcharge work: If your income is Rs. 100 and the tax is Rs. 30 and the surcharge applicable is 10%, then…
Continue reading →The finance minister announced that virtual digital assets including cryptocurrencies will be taxed at a rate of 30% from 1st April 2022. Here are the details. The finance bill 2022 defines a virtual digital asset as follows: Any information or code or number or token (not being Indian currency or foreign currency), generated through cryptographic…
Continue reading →With the suspension of investments in most MFs holding international equity: What next? Can I now invest in Fund of Funds that buy US ETFs as an alternative? Will Fund of Funds investing in overseas ETFs become popular now? A discussion. Note: This is a developing story and the recommendations or opinions expressed may require…
Continue reading →In this article, we cover the essentials of a mutual fund systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) by answering some frequently asked questions. 1: What is a Systematic Withdrawal Plan? The SWP is the opposite of a SIP. In a SIP, you invest a fixed amount each month (the most frequently used interval) and build up a…
Continue reading →This time in the reader story we meet young Vidur who has just started his goal-based investing journey. His attitude towards mutual funds and equity investing has changed from “it is gambling” to “I want to hold 60% equity in my long term asset allocation”. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing…
Continue reading →Many readers have asked me this common question: “Where do I enter the value of my second house in the calculator while planning for retirement?”. The answer to this “depends” on one’s circumstances. Most people who have second property get rental income from it and would like such an income to continue into retirement. We…
Continue reading →Most of us invest in equity (mutual funds or stocks) only for one reason – to beat inflation over the long term. Unfortunately, just because equity beats inflation does not mean we will be able to beat inflation! Let us start from “Is there evidence that equity investments beat inflation over the long term?”. Yes,…
Continue reading →The absence of fund manager risk and lower fees are the two main reasons for choosing passive funds (index funds or ETFs). However, beyond the “normal” Sensex and Nifty passive funds, the remaining choices in this segment are quite expensive and comparable to the costs of active funds. Investors must be wary of this or…
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. Before we begin, investors need to appreciate the context of these investments. I started direct equity investing only after achieving a comfortable level of financial independence and ensuring my son’s future…
Continue reading →We study 39 ELSS funds to find out which of them have consistently outperformed the NIfty 200 Total Return Index (dividends included) using the Jan 2022 equity mutual fund screener. Nifty 200 is a representative benchmark of the ELSS category in which funds are typically large cap oriented. since it is market capitalization-weighted, the index…
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