The following post is a sponsored post. Most of the investors in India are risk-averse and prefer choosing safe investment avenues. Even with a large number of structured products being offered to Indian investors, the popularity of fixed deposits (FDs) is high. FDs are offered by the banks and provide slightly better returns than the […]
Stumbled upon this really handy mutual fund taxation reference sheet (2012 — 2013). I also took the liberty of creating this easy-to-print PDF version.
If you had some good entertainment last week, you’re surely in for a treat this week. How about this clipping from an ad for a certain “India Opportunities Fund” to kick start your entertainment this week? Note: Sorry about the slightly bad image quality. I had to click it in a hurry and then had […]
I happened to read somewhere about this Entertainment Opportunities Fund and when you look at the performance of the fund you cannot help but question as to who’s actually having the entertainment! If you’ve invested your hard-earned money in this fund I’m pretty sure that you haven’t been entertained! In general, the more esoteric the […]
In my most recent early retirement update, I’d published the below chart — This chart illustrates potential monthly income earned and actual expenses incurred as a function of time over the past four-quarters. I’d explained these terms further by saying — When I say potential income, I am referring to any passive income plus the […]
A few years back, in the good old bull run, someone advised D to invest in a couple of Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS) in order to avoid having to pay income tax. Taking the advise in good faith, D invested Rs 75,000 in two ELSS mutual funds. Today, after about four plus years, their […]
Mutual funds today provide helpful tools like systematic transfer plans that can help the investors achieve the derisking objective with ease and convenience. Read in the December 14, 2011 issue of Outlook Money. I wonder why they even consider publishing such expert commentary. As an investor, have you ever had a “Derisking objective that you […]
A reader writes-in: Hope you are doing good. Need your ideas on saving for my child’s future. I have made a few investments for my kid’s education. But these are long-term investments which will give returns only after 18-years. In addition to this, I would like to have investments allocated exclusively for my child. These […]
From Value Research (emphasis mine): Unfortunately, a proportion of investors seem to have the expectation that an SIP is a sort of a magical device that can protect them from all losses. It’s not. An SIP means that you keep investing though the ups and downs of the markets, ensuring that at least part of […]
Diversification is the other panacea commonly suggested in leading personal finance publications. Too many “experts” take the concept of diversification too much to heart (in my opinion, it’s all a result of high-fee business education). For example, in a recent issue of Mutual Fund Insight, the “experts” often asked “Why the reader had chosen to […]
My mutual fund investing strategy is anything but systematic. While I do know how much money I want to set aside each month for investing in mutual funds (across various financial goals), I don’t follow the common Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) strategy (I used to do that at one point in time by investing on […]
I had more or less settled upon how I’d go about investing in debt funds (as part of one or more of my goal-oriented portfolios) in 2011 when I happened to read this insightful article on the outlook for debt mutual funds in 2011. Coincidentally, my own research and strategy happens to be a close […]
If you have Rs 20,000 to invest each month towards building a retirement corpus, how does this portfolio sound for a retirement that’s twenty years away? Rs 10,000 in HDFC Top 200 Fund (Growth) Rs 5,000 in HDFC Prudence Fund (Growth) Rs 5,000 in HDFC Monthly Income Plan Long Term Plan (Growth) What changes would […]
When I consolidated my finances and started my investments in mutual funds, I opted for a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) but the SIP-debits came from a lumpsum that I already had in my savings account. I think a better option would have been to park the lumpsum in a Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) and from […]
How would you name a mutual fund that: Will invest in companies that are not in the Top 100 stocks by market capitalization. Will not invest in companies that have a market capitalization of less than Rs 100 crore. Emerging Bluechip Fund??? I’m quite sure many will be misled into investing simply by the usage […]
Anoop asks: What is the difference between an Ordinary Mutual Fund and HDFC’s Top 200 Mutual Fund? I’ll answer a slightly different question — Why I chose the HDFC Top 200 Fund for my portfolio as opposed to another Mutual Fund? My reasons: Had been on my radar for the past year (while I was […]
Look at investments without knowing their price — because if you see the price, it automatically has some influence on you. Source: amzn.to/p8QTZ I did exactly that when I recently constructed my mutual funds portfolio — an SIP in HDFC’s Top 200 Fund to begin with. By the way, if you’re invested in the same […]
N asks: I want to save for my kid’s (an year and a half old at the moment) higher education — about fifteen years away. I can set aside Rs 10,000 each month. Where should I save or invest? Here’s the investment strategy that I recommended: Rs 5,000 each month in a Public Provident Fund […]
ET reports: Hit hard by the mass exodus of investors, amounting to an average of over one lac a month, the mutual fund houses are knocking on the doors of SEBI, which in turn is mulling over possible remedial actions including an expanded distribution model for these investment products. Over four lac investors are estimated […]
Mutual funds are a grossly mis-sold, mis-positioned, and mis-communicated financial product in India — Dipen Seth, Money Today, June 25, 2009. Add misunderstood to that list. Add Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) to that list.