“How would you explain ULIP compared to a direct mutual fund to a layman?” Tax expert Manmohan Sethumadhavan answers. About the author: Manmohan Sethumadhavan is a freelancer, investor, and personal finance enthusiast “in search of the absolute truth.” You can follow Manu on Twitter @ManuTsr. Also, read his articles: Capital Gains Taxation Rules Ready Reckoner for FY... The post ULIP vs MFs: What you need to know before buying appeared first on freefincal ..read more

Each time the stock market falls, a new generation of investors learns how risky it can be, especially small cap and mid cap segments (which includes the Nifty Next 50). Equity investing is challenging for two reasons. 1) It requires incredible patience, discipline and conviction. See: Now Is the Best Time to Invest: Do not stop... The post Why investing in equity is hard and how to be good at it appeared first on freefincal ..read more

The equity market has been falling since September 2024. If you are losing patience and thinking about stopping or redeeming your equity investments, don’t! Now is the best time to invest – as long as your goals are far away! Even if we buy into the (incorrect*) belief that “over the long term, the stock... The post Now Is the Best Time to Invest: Do not stop or redeem your equity investments! appeared first on freefincal ..read more

We have been publishing a monthly equity mutual fund screener since Sep 2022. This uses rolling returns to determine how consistently active mutual funds outperform representative category benchmarks. This can also be used to appreciate how hard it is for active funds to outperform and why passive funds make sense – especially if you are... The post Use this monthly screener to evaluate the performance of active equity mutual funds appeared first on freefincal ..read more

Since Sep 2024, my retirement portfolio has lost an amount equivalent to 1 to 1.5 years of my annual expenses (X). That is if it was 10 times X in Sep 2024*. It is now 8.5 to 9 times annual expenses. * Not my real portfolio value. It will take a huge fall to erase... The post Do you respect your money enough to have a risk management plan? appeared first on freefincal ..read more

In early 2024, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandated that all mutual fund houses disclose the results of stress tests for their small-cap and mid-cap schemes. Following this directive, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) required fund houses to publish these stress test results by the 15th of each month... The post A better way to stress test small and mid cap MFs appeared first on freefincal ..read more

A reader says, “I was listening to the Let’s Get Rich With Pattu podcast last Sunday, and there was a discussion about what happens when your son inherits your portfolio. Can you help me understand the difference between adding a nominee to a mutual fund and keeping your family as a second unit holder?” “In... The post MF second holder vs nominee: which is better? appeared first on freefincal ..read more

A reader says, ” I am a 41-year-old self-employed person. I have been following your blog for 2 years. I wish to retire by age 55. I am following a rebalancing and derisking strategy in my retirement portfolio. My debt portfolio is 10% in constant duration gilt fund, 15% in dynamic gilt fund, rest in... The post How to manage gilt mutual funds as I approach retirement? appeared first on freefincal ..read more

Ever wonder why index investing or passive investing should work? In this article, SEBI registered fee-only advisor Swapnil Kendhe explains the basics of indexing and why it is effective. About the author: Swapnil is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor and part of my fee-only financial planners’ list. You can learn more about him and his service... The post Why does index investing work? appeared first on freefincal ..read more

Rolling return charts have become prominent over the last few years, especially for mutual fund analysis. However, few investors understand how rolling return charts are computed and their benefits and limitations. A discussion. Rolling lump sum, rolling SIP, and many other mutual fund and time series analysis and financial planning tools are available in the... The post How to interpret rolling return charts? appeared first on freefincal ..read more