#personal finance

I recently sold my business and have saved around 50-60 lakh rupees, which I’ve invested in a couple of mutual funds. Before starting my next venture, I plan to take a break. My current lifestyle requires about Rs 50,000 per month. What is the best investment product to generate periodic income until I resume earning […]

Remember that story of the chessboard and rice? A wise man presented a chessboard to a king, asking for one grain of rice on the first square, two grains on the second, four on the third, and so on, doubling the grains on each subsequent square. The king, thinking it was a modest request, agreed. […]

The purpose of life insurance is to replace a person’s earning capacity. Life insurance products have gone through a transition over the period. Once considered a savings and investment avenue, it is now considered risk reduction and protection for the family. We should all be happy that this positive change is happening, and people are […]

I am 35 years old and married with 2 kids. I have investments in mutual funds and stocks. I mentioned nominees for both of my investments. Should I write a Will separately? I want my children to get the best education in a good school until they are 18, which cannot be compromised if I […]

The biggest risk to any financial plan is you. This is why the finance industry makes you a ‘risk profile’. But do they really work?

Mutual fund distributors are intermediaries between investors and mutual fund (MF) houses. They earn a commission from the fund house for selling MF schemes to retail investors.  Mutual fund distributors must understand investors’ financial requirements to suggest the most suitable schemes. Investors must also ask the right questions to determine whether the distributor has higher […]

“Investing is a problem that has been solved.” Dave Nadig, a veteran of the US ETF industry, said this on a podcast, and it has been stuck in my head ever since. I remembered this quote because I saw this poll on Twitter (Umm… X. What sort of name is that?). I’ve been thinking and […]

As soon as you get your first credit card or open a bank account, you start hearing people preach about credit scores. And, if you have chosen to be blissfully unaware, here’s a simple explanation.  A credit score is a three-digit number between 300 and 900 that defines your creditworthiness; the lower levels reflect low, […]

You would have likely heard about it from someone or experienced it yourself: a medical emergency strikes, and you rush to the nearest hospital, only to discover your insurer’s network does not cover it. Dealing with upfront payments and waiting for reimbursements can be stressful. To ease the financial burden and speed up the claims […]

Can I stop paying insurance premiums if my savings match the coverage of my life and health policies? The purpose of life insurance is to make good the financial loss that a person would suffer if the earning member of the family passes away. We could bucket this financial loss into three major categories. Any […]

Wills and Nominations, both vital legal instruments, play distinct roles in shaping the allocation of an individual’s assets after their demise. These tools, though aligned in their ultimate goal of asset distribution, comprise unique characteristics within the realm of estate planning and so are often used interchangeably. But, the law identifies their purpose, object, and consequence, and hence, it is important to know the distinction.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch.” You may have heard this famous quote emphasizing the idea that you cannot get something for nothing. This is particularly true when it comes to selling financial products. People could have an agenda and/or an incentive to sell or not to sell a particular financial product to you.

In the year 2020, the government introduced a new tax regime under which taxpayers can choose to pay tax at lower rates. In this article, we compare old and new tax regimes, and help you understand which one could be more beneficial for you by discussing the differences in tax rates, deductions, and exemptions.

While the retirement benefits that we can get from a job or a government have been emphasized for years, retirement planning that we ought to do for ourselves has not received the same level of attention.

Beti ki shadi se bada baap ka kya farz hota hai? A father’s biggest duty is his daughter’s wedding. Two fathers, one spending ₹2.5 Cr and the other spending ₹6 lacs on their respective daughters’ weddings, make this statement in an episode of Made in Heaven on Prime Video. The show is about big fat […]

Keanu Reeves, a Canadian actor and the lead actor in the movie ‘The Matrix,’ was once asked in an interview, “What do you think happens when we die?” His response touched everyone emotionally for a moment – he said, “I know that the ones who love us will miss us.” Now, imagine if that person […]

If you have a home loan or a loan against any property/security, then you have a reason to smile. RBI, on September 13, 2023, came out with a notification stating that banks and NBFCs (non-banking financial company) must release all the movable or immovable property documents given as collateral within 30 days from the day […]

The Nifty 50 Total Returns Index (TRI) delivered a 10.36% CAGR between Mar-08 and Mar-23. ₹1 lakh invested in Mar-08 would have become ₹4.4 lakh in the 15 years through Mar-23. Does that mean, at a 10.36% compounded rate, your investment in Nifty 50 would have grown steadily year after year? Meaning, would your INR […]

  One of my pet peeves with personal finance books is that investing gets all the attention. It’s not that investing isn’t an important part of personal finance, but beyond a point, it’s a giant distraction. There are bigger personal finance priorities than investing. Unless you’re an investing professional, spending more than a couple of […]

The financial media tells me that the US Federal Reserve and the RBI will soon raise interest rates because inflation is out of control. If inflation is hot, interest rates rise, and the Fed stops printing money, liquidity will dry up, and the markets will apparently crash between 50-80%. According to the “experts”, the target […]

If you ignore the brutal bear market over the last one month, we’re still in a raging bull market. A lot of people think that the markets are in a bubble. I don’t know. I guess nobody knows. Talk of bubbles always reminds me of this tongue in cheek quote by Eddy Elfenbein: A bubble […]