Investing in the wrong financial products can be more costly than paying for professional advice on where to put your money. The people who are wealthy (or in simple words, rich) understand it quite well and hence, do have their own set of advisors (even if they don’t call them that) to help make money decisions. A vast majority in the country hesitate to pay for any kind of investment advice, thinking that it should be free, like the suggestions they get from insurance agents and other product sellers. However, this type of free advice often isn’t thorough or suitable for everyone. Here’s an ..read more

My views on this topic were recently published in a Mint column: You are already aware of the differences between active and passive funds. And if you are active on social media like X (erstwhile Twitter), you would also know how often the fans of both sides collide in futile keyboard battles. It is still early days in India for passive funds, but without doubt, there is a growing interest. But is it really necessary to choose only one type of fund (active or passive) for your portfolio? Can we not have schemes from both passive and active funds in our portfolios? ….. You can read the full ar ..read more

I was recently quoted in Economic Times WEALTH (29 April to 5 May 2024) in the Q&A section where a panel of experts answers readers’ questions related to various aspects of their personal finances. The exact question and the answer – Here is the text version of the query and the reply – Q – My father and mother have recently retired, each receiving a pension of ₹4000 and ₹3000, respectively. They possess a medical cover of ₹15 lakh. Additionally, they own their house and two other residential properties, generating ₹23000 in monthly rent. They have ₹30 lakh each invested in SCSS, along wi ..read more

A vast majority of the people have no understanding of the real spirit and more importantly, the technicalities of why Bitcoin actually came into existence. At least some of you who are technically-inclined may have read Satoshi’s original Bitcoin whitepaper. And to be fair, there is definitely an enigma about Bitcoin. Not just because of its mysterious origin, but because it’s the first successful and now the leading implementation of the whole idea of having a decentralized currency. The cryptocurrency was again in the mainstream news due to its 2024 Halving Event. For the uninitiated, Bitco ..read more

Note – Advisory regarding Investor Awareness Dear Reader I am reaching out to you today, with an important message: It has been brought to my notice that there a few entities using similar sounding names (with the word ‘Stable’) to sell their financial products and services. Please be informed that I am not associated with any of them in any manner. Also, many unscrupulous persons/entities operating through Indian and International mobile numbers, and via social media platforms like WhatsApp Groups, Telegram Channels, etc. may falsely claim to be associated with me (Dev Ashish) or the name ‘St ..read more

I was recently quoted in Economic Times WEALTH (8-14 February 2024) in the Q&A section where a panel of experts answers readers’ questions related to various aspects of their personal finances. The exact question and the answer – Here is the text version of the query and the reply – Q – I am 44 years old. Below are my current corpus numbers: Equity and mutual funds : Rs.3.75 crore NPS: Rs 30 Lakh Flat worth Rs 25 lakh Fixed income instruments (Bank accounts, FDs):  Rs. 40 Lakh Overall current corpus :  Rs. 4.7 crore My monthly expenses are Rs 1.7 lakh. I have my own house for s ..read more

I was recently quoted in Economic Times WEALTH (8-14 February 2024) in the Q&A section where a panel of experts answers readers’ questions related to various aspects of their personal finances. The exact question and the answer – Here is the text version of the query and the reply – Q – I am 44 years old. Below are my current corpus numbers: Equity and mutual funds : Rs.3.75 crore NPS: Rs 30 Lakh Flat worth Rs 25 lakh Fixed income instruments (Bank accounts, FDs):  Rs. 40 Lakh Overall current corpus :  Rs. 4.7 crore My monthly expenses are Rs 1.7 lakh. I have my own house for s ..read more

Unless you are an ultra-conservative person, just keeping the money in cash or bank deposits will never help you beat inflation. You have to invest in assets/instruments that have the potential to generate good returns and beat inflation consistently in the long run. And all such investments are NOT risk-free. All of them carry some degree of risk. So proper investing is not about avoiding risks at all. It is about managing the dose of risk that you take. And if for some reason your approach to investing feels like playing in a casino or gambling, then you need to take a pause and rethink. You ..read more

I was recently quoted in Economic Times WEALTH (11-17 March 2024) in the Q&A section where a panel of experts answers readers’ questions related to various aspects of their personal finances. The exact question is given below – Here is the article page where the query is answered: Here is the text version of the query and the reply – Q – I am 57 years old working in an MNC. I have about Rs 3 cr in MFs, gold bonds & shares. I have accumulated gratuity and PF of Rs 1.5 crore and PPF corpus worth Rs 70 lakh. I have Tata AIA and Max ULIPs worth Rs 30 lakh and a Bajaj Allianz term policy ..read more

Those who understand the concept of Bitcoin would also know about Halving evenings. The next Halving event is expected around 17th April 2024, when the BTC block reward will decrease (half) from the current 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC for the next four years until mid-2028. Note – This article is for informational purposes only and is about the concept of Bitcoin Halving and how it historically influenced price dynamics. It is not a recommendation or investment advice. Photo by Traxer on Unsplash So, what exactly is a Halving Event? The concept of Halving (blow rewards) is a feature built into the ..read more