Direct mutual fund plans were introduced from Jan 1st 2013. In this article, we list the return difference between an 8-year SIP in a direct plan and a regular plan mutual fund. Scared that it would disrupt sales, SEBI has still not renamed “regular plans” for what they really are: “commission plans” – nothing “regular”…
Continue reading →In this stock analysis episode, we consider Dr Lal PathLabs Limited, an international diagnostic and healthcare test service provider. Its IPO opened in Dec 2015. In Oct 2020, the company was in the news for the wrong reasons: a data breach About the author: Ashish Tekwani has done his Masters in Finance from NMIMS, Mumbai….
Continue reading →Every time the market hits an all-time high, many investors get jittery. Questions like “should I book profits now?” “Should I stop investing now?” start doing the rounds in social media. This article discusses a simple way to handle our emotions when investing in mutual funds or any capital market-linked product. The adage, “show me…
Continue reading →Many of us start managing money and investing late. In this article, Jayashree Francis explains from experience how you can quickly get your finances on track. About the author: Jayashree is a content manager and learning professional, with over two decades of experience in a career spread over academics and the industry. She is a late…
Continue reading →The public bond sale of Power Finance Corporation (PFC) Non-convertible debentures (NCD) starts today (Jan 15th) and will close on Jan 29th 2021. We look at who consider buying these bonds and who should not! A non-convertible debenture is a bond that cannot be converted to equity at a later date. The interest from these…
Continue reading →In the next edition of personal finance audits by readers, we feature an account of why Mr Tailor had to postpone his financial independence & early retirement plans by four years. As regular readers may be aware, we publish a personal financial audit each December – this is the 2020 edition: How my retirement portfolio performed…
Continue reading →The freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener (January 2021) 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 that have got a higher return than a benchmark at a lower risk. Inside, you get ~ 40% discounted links…
Continue reading →In this article, Sarthak Parikh explains the importance of an emergency fund; how much is necessary; where to park it and how the pandemic has increased the need for a robust emergency fund. COVID-19 has hit us all hard in ways that we had never envisaged. The fear of losing a job if you are…
Continue reading →In this article, Pranav gives an account of his lesson from repaying credit card debt. Regular credit card users who excel in reward point accumulation or those who do not like debt, in general, might ridicule such accounts with a, “isn’t it obvious one must pay all dues in full, before the due date”. We…
Continue reading →In this article, we study historical Sensex data to determine if investors should stop or pause their mutual fund SIPs when the markets hit an all-time high. We also consider lump sum investments and systematic transfer of a lump sum (STP) during all-time market highs. Every time the market hits an all-time high, new investors…
Continue reading →I compare the returns of my stock portfolio as on 8th Jan 2021 with that of the Nifty. The portfolio is relatively young, and therefore the returns numbers you see would mellow down with age. The critical point of this is exercise is to see how my version of lazy investing fares against the Nifty….
Continue reading →I have been tracking the amount invested for my goals in the same Excel sheet for the last ten years (2011 to 2020). These are some lessons from the journey. This sheet is only for tracking the amount invested and not its current market value. Between 2010-11, my retirement planning cash flow projection was in…
Continue reading →In the fourth edition of personal finance audits by readers, Gowtham Subramanian discusses how he has started goal-based investing, focusing on asset allocation and how it has made him feel more in control over his finances. As regular readers may be aware, we publish a personal financial audit each December – this is the 2020…
Continue reading →Every time the RBI lowers interest rates, we see many investors complain. In this article, Harshini explains why a high-interest rate is not healthy for our finances by taking Turkey’s example, where interest rates were recently increased to 17%! Older readers may recall when EPF and PPF rates were as high as 12% in the…
Continue reading →This is a review of American Express Platinum Charge Card. This premium card offers a no “pre-set spending limit” providing greater flexibility as per the user’s need (but not unlimited spending). About the author: Arjun is a financial services professional, keen about personal finance and special enthusiasm about Credit Cards and the points and rewards…
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