Getting time on your side…

Let’s say you believe that team A is an excellent team. If you are betting that your team will win in a game then you have to be right on that day, which is not certain as even the best teams can have an off day. But, if you are betting on good win record […]

The only certainties in life are death and taxes

Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime to one’s own advantage, to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. (Tax avoidance is legal, tax evasion is not) Managing taxes well will help us keep more of our money. We should realize that the people […]

How to pay the piper….

If you have a financial advisor or a portfolio manager or if you have assets in a mutual fund you are entrusting your funds to a professional for management. You are expecting the advisor to make “good” returns and the advisor is expecting a fee for the services provided. At the outset, let’s get one […]

The average shall generate the wealth…..

Let’s say you have good friend Ashish, who is an “excellent and ethical” businessman. Ashish wants you to invest some money in his business.  He will have to offer you a better rate of return than the bank rate to get you interested in investing in his business. If the bank paid you more, you may […]

Making a financial plan is like working out….

Although all of us know that working out is good for us and most of us need to work out, very few of us get around to doing it. One of the reasons is, the benefits of work out are realized in the “long term” while the “benefits” of not working out are realized immediately […]

It glitters but also fritters….

Indians have a tradition of buying gold, it is almost a borderline obsession. We import about 1 ton of gold every year!!!, and this is mostly for jewellery or to be stored. It has become a national problem as the wealth is stored away and is not being utilized to create more wealth. For instance […]

What’s real and what’s not…..

Many of us find it comforting to buy and hold assets that are tangible, like house, land, gold etc. These are called “real assets”. The other type of assets are stock certificates, bonds, money in a deposit product, Gold ETF’s, etc. These are called “financial assets”. Real assets Financial assets Tangible Not tangible Available only […]

Good guys don’t always win………………..

Assets under management (AUM) in the India’s mutual fund industry is INR 8,800 billion – 2014 KPMG report on mutual fund industry in India. AUM in the most liquid Index fund (Benchmark’s NIFTY BeES) is INR 6 billion, a paltry 0.07% of the AUM for mutual funds. NIFTY has returned 19% annually since 2001, which […]

Education pays, lets figure out paying for education…

It’s been established that better educated have a better financial future, greater job satisfaction, enjoy better life styles, and tend to be better parents.  “Education pays” is an interesting report you may want to read. Cost of education has been escalating at a steady clip worldwide and in India these have been much higher pace […]

Life is a lemon and I want my money back….

The most popular insurance product in India seems to be Endowment Policy!! Why? Because we like to get our money back!!! When someone is taken for a ride it is easy to blame the victim, but it is often the defrauder who exploits the good nature/vulnerabilities of the victim. Instead of reading a long diatribe about […]