thoughts

I wish I knew these rules out of college. Spend less than you earn. And don’t spend money that’s not yours to begin with (credit cards and consumption/lifestyle-oriented loans). The value of an emergency fund. How to set a financial goal. Compounding through debt (Public Provident Fund) and equity (rock solid index funds). The value [...]

Do you want to know what the impact on your income tax payable will be when the new income tax rules come into effect? Do you want to know what the impact on your home loan tenure will be if you decide to prepay a certain amount? Do you want to know what the EMI [...]

Adding two more to the list this January. Last-minute tax-saving investments. Return-guarantee funds — no matter how attractively packaged and/or presented. Unit Linked Insurance — of any kind — Policies (ULIPs). Financial products/services/agents/institutions which/who offer you “exclusive,” “privilege,” “priority,” “premium,” “premier,” or “another-similar-word,” access to some [usually useless] service. Insurance agents who offer “commission kickbacks.” [...]

Since I often ask you guys to run away from a lot of financial products/services/agents/institutions, I thought I’d make a quick list of items that I have so far asked you to run away from. Unit Linked Insurance — of any kind — Policies (ULIPs). Financial products/services/agents/institutions which/who offer you “exclusive,” “privilege,” “priority,” “premium,” “premier,” [...]

Having rethought through Part #1 of this series and the comments which followed, I should point out that the choice of financial instruments also depends upon when you expect to utilize the funds built-up in working towards your goal. For example: the financial instruments applicable for a short-term goal of purchasing a washing machine may [...]

In a bull equity market, human beings conjure magical investment formulae. Here’s the worst equity investing advice I have heard: Your exposure — in percentage terms — to equity investments should be 100 less your current age. So if you are a 27-year old, your exposure to equity instruments should be 100 – 27 = [...]

Today’s dangerous quotes are ample proof that “experts,” especially in all matters monetary, are no better off than the layman. Read every word – they’re diamonds. Source: An expert interview featured on CNBC/MoneyControl – Domestic fundamentals quite strong: Principal O(x)us Investment. All in all, 10% from these levels is certainly very doable, which puts us [...]

Source: Indian markets set to scale greater highs soon: First Global. We think India is headed to P/E multiples of between 25 and 35 times in the next nine months’ time. China trades at 40-45 times earnings and that market does not look like selling off. So there is no reason why India should be [...]