Behaviouralfinance

Market corrections can be unsettling, especially when recent returns disappoint. However, these phases are normal and often set the stage for future growth. By maintaining discipline and continuing systematic investments, investors can benefit from lower valuations and stronger compounding, turning short-term discomfort into long-term opportunity.

A Review of Index Returns and Valuations with Implications for Investors in 2026 “In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” – Benjamin Graham Here are some reflections on the performance and current valuation of major market indices in 2025 and what it … Indian Equity Indices in 2026: Big is better Read More »

A Comprehensive Guide to Tax Benefits and Financial Growth Investing in mutual funds in a kid’s name is not only a strategic financial decision but also offers significant tax advantages, especially in India. This article delves into the numerous merits of such investments, particularly from a tax perspective, and provides insights on how to maximize … The Merits of Investing in Mutual Funds in your Kid’s Name in India Read More »

Sharma jee was absolutely thrilled when he heard about the new budget. With the significant tax rebate, his income up to ₹12.75 lakhs would be virtually tax-free! He couldn’t wait to share the good news with his friend, Verma jee. Upon hearing this, Verma jee agreed that the new budget indeed reduces the tax burden. … Balancing Act: Spending Freely While Saving Wisely in new tax regime Read More »

Small and mid-cap stocks have performed exceedingly well. We analyse valuation and performance and what it means going forward?

The best time to invest in equity is when the market has fallen and there is pessimism all around. Current environment presents a good opportunity to deploy more capital into equities.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. –Thomas Edison Key takeaways: We are potentially moving into a period of time when investment returns may be lower than the historical average. However, the gap between the return from equity mutual funds and risk-free … Time to give time to equity mutual funds Read More »

Summary: Life expectancy is rising and interest rates are falling. In such an environment, prudent investment is needed for recently retired person. Depending on whether you are depending on pension or investment income for post-retirement expenses, different investment plans should be designed. As interest rates are falling, it is very important to include equity mutual … How to invest after retirement? Read More »

“There is no greater fraud than a promise not kept.” Gaellic Proverb Key takeaways: If you want to do a fixed deposit, go to a bank. Savings or deposit schemes offered by jewellers is not a bank fixed deposit. Normally people compare these schemes with bank fixed deposit returns and conclude these are better due … Beware of the risks of Jeweller’s gold schemes Read More »

Summary: There are 4 ways in which gold can be bought in India. These are sovereign gold bonds, gold exchange traded funds (ETFs), gold mutual funds and finally gold coins/jewelry. Sovereign gold bonds are offered by government of India for resident Indians. They fetch around 2.5% annual interest and track the price of gold. Gold … The best way to buy gold Read More »

Summary: Greed and fear are the two sides of investment journey and both of these get us in trouble. Greed of high return and fear of missing out on a good investment opportunity compels us to make bad financial decisions. The first rule of investment is to avoid permanent loss of capital. This can be … Protect against financial frauds Read More »

“When’s the best time to invest? It’s today, not tomorrow” – Charles Schwab Key takeaways: Focus on asset allocation. Equity should form major part of your financial portfolio. Invest systematically (SIP or STP route) in equity for long-term. Increase equity investments during market panic, don’t sell in panic. Have a long-term orientation. Don’t be disheartened by … What to do to increase your investment return? Read More »

It’s a job that’s never started that takes the longest to finish.” – J. R. R. Tolkien Summary: Beware of the changes taking place. High life expectancy, higher job uncertainty and absence of guaranteed inflation-linked pension puts the onus of secure financial future on you. Your actions today can be the difference between a comfortable financial life … Don’t delay, start investing today! Read More »

“Financial freedom is freedom from fear.” – Robert Kiyosaki Path to financial freedom: Financial freedom should be the ultimate aim of our life as it gives the freedom to choose what to do, when to do and how to do. Financial freedom requires careful planning, unflinching discipline to stick to the plan and enormous patience … How to become financially free? Read More »

In last few days, we heard about a new incident in which many people were duped by fraudsters. The victims include eminent personalities like Rahul Dravid (Top sportsmen duped by Vikram Investments). While investigations are still on, 260 complaints have been received and the total amount could be in the range of 400 crore (Rahul … Beware of the ponzi schemes Read More »

Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it – George Santayana Key takaways: Continue SIPs/STPs as timing the market is quite difficult. If you have high equity allocation (80% plus), equity allocation should be reduced by booking some long-term capital gains from equity mutual fund. If the market were to correct, this can … NIFTY @ 11000 – Focus on asset allocation Read More »

“I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men” – Sir Isaac Newton In my conversations, bitcoin comes quite frequently in my discussion these days. Whether I am talking to my friends or family, everyone asks me if I invested in bitcoin and what exactly is bitcoin. It is also … Beware of Bitcoin – Learn from Newton Read More »

“Spend less than you make; always be saving something. Put it into a tax-deferred account. Over time, it will begin to amount to something. This is such a no-brainer.” — Charlie Munger Having 1 crore rupee (10 million for those outside India) is a nice sum of money. It embeds a sense of security in our … How much to invest to create 1 crore corpus? Read More »

Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains – Jean-Jacques Rousseau  Confucious advised to choose a job you love and then you will never have to work a day in life. Quite true! Sadly, reality is always a bit different. Most people I meet feel stuck in a job. Ideally they would like … Financial freedom – Are you ready? Read More »

“Only liars manage always to be out of the market during bad times and in during good times.” -Burton Malkiel This simply means that timing the market is almost impossible to do on consistent basis. So, here we are not talking about timing the market but on asset allocation. Any one who was panicking last … How expensive is the Indian equity market? Read More »

Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for a ten-dollar haircut that you used to get for five dollars – Sam Ewing The seeds of second world war were sown during the hyper-inflationary period in Germany (after the first world war). Inflation is indeed a big tax on savers. Well, in my family, I was … INFLATION – Ignore at your own peril! Read More »

Mutual funds are great way to create wealth. However, there is a big difference in what return mutual funds generate and what return investors get. This is an attempt to bridge the gap between mutual fund returns and your return by avoiding some common mistakes. Some mistakes commonly made are: Trying to time the market … Do’s and don’ts of mutual fund investing Read More »

Most of the time people looking to invest get bogged down with what return should be expected. Instead of looking at the big picture, we waste time about timing the market (elusive dream of buying at the market bottom and selling at the peak) and high growth. The equation of effective investing is quite simple, … Four key elements of effective investing Read More »

There is a saying in Hindi: धीरे धीरे रे मना धीरे सब कुछ होय | माली सींचै सौ घड़ा ऋतू आये फल होय || This means that everything happens gradually and not before its time. A gardener waters the plants daily but the plants bear fruits only in the right season. In the last few … NIFTY at 10000, so what? Read More »

In last few months, we have seen continues flow of domestic money into equity markets. The monthly systematic investment flow into mutual funds has now grown to almost 4500 crore (MFs get record monthly SIP inflows). This has made Indian stock market far more resilient and less vulnerable to foreign institutional flows. However, increasingly there … How expensive is the Indian equity market? Read More »

Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections or trying to anticipate corrections than has been lost in corrections themselves- Peter Lynch During my initial days of investing, I felt that systematic investment plans are not very smart. However, over the years, I have realized that it is one of the most … Systematic investment plans – How to make money? Read More »

I’ve never known anybody who can time the market. I’ve never known anybody who knows anybody who can consistently time the market- Burton Malkiel Aiming to time the market is futile.Purpose of this article is to focus more on asset allocation. We all know that right asset allocation is the main driver of portfolio returns. In … Using valuation as a guide for asset allocation Read More »

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” – Albert Einstein It is quite common to refer to the wonders of compounding However, this is often forgotten in financial planning. The pace of compounding is quite low in the beginning as … Beauty of compounding and staying the course Read More »