BUSINESS
Should young earners repay loans first before they start investing?
If you have no savings yet but have some surplus income, start by gradually building up an emergency fund.
BUSINESS
In your early 30s and planning to retire by 50? Here are a few things to keep in mind
While you should definitely save and invest to become financially independent soon, don’t go overboard and sacrifice the present for an imaginary future.
BUSINESS
SEBI proposes passive hybrid funds: Will investors benefit?
SEBI’s move is part of its consultation paper on MF Lite regulations. Like other categories, AMCs here too would be allowed to launch only one scheme per category. And the asset allocation has to be maintained/rebalanced on a quarterly basis.
BUSINESS
Personal Loan for Wedding: Should you take loan to fund marriage expenses?
Marriage Loan: There is a growing trend among youngsters nowadays to contribute towards their wedding expenses and not have their parents burdened. While this is an appreciable thought, it works best if the children have saved up money for this. If not, then their only option is to borrow.
BUSINESS
Nifty Top 10 Equal Weight: Yet another index, but is it worth your time?
The Nifty Top 10 Equal Weight index draws the 10 largest stocks from Nifty 50 index. These 10 stocks will lie in equal proportion in the new index.
BUSINESS
Can PPF give you pension income in retirement?
In a word, yes, with the caveat that the PPF account has a substantial balance. And make no mistake, accumulating that kind of corpus takes time for the compounding effect to do its magic.
BUSINESS
Need urgent money? Should you go in for loan against mutual funds?
The loan amount will depend on the type of mutual funds you offer as security. While you can get about 70-80 percent of the value of your debt funds as a loan, in case of equity funds, you'll get about 50 percent.
BUSINESS
Flexicap or multicap funds? How to make the right choice
If one wants to maintain a bare minimum exposure to all market-cap segments via just one fund, then multicap funds are suited due to their minimum 25-25-25 rule. On the other hand, if one wants to bet on a fund manager’s ability to decide allocation to different market-cap segments, then flexicap funds are a better choice.
BUSINESS
Lok Sabha polls 2024 surprised everyone. What should investors do next?
Poll outcomes often gnerated volatility, but this unevenness smooths out in time. Ultimately, what counts are financial discipline, a high savings rate, proper asset allocation and the ability to remain invested for the long term.
BUSINESS
Which NPS annuity option should you choose?
When the subscriber buys the annuity plan, the insurance company promises to pay a certain amount every month (or periodically). This ensures that the subscriber continues to get a regular income (Pension) after retirement.
BUSINESS
Nifty50, Nifty100 or Nifty500: Which index gives you the best diversification?
For large-cap exposure, a passive strategy is the way to go. And in that, the Nifty50 is a sufficiently good option.
BUSINESS
Personal Finance: Four tips to build a high credit score
Aside from paying your credit card bills and loan EMIs on time, make sure that you don’t have too much unsecured loan in your books
BUSINESS
Sovereign Gold Bonds: Primary issues or secondary-market purchase – what works better?
Due to heavy discounts, you can buy older sovereign gold bonds at slightly cheaper rates than the prevailing gold prices. But it’s not always an easy decision.
BUSINESS
Bull-run dilemma: Should you prepay home loan or keep investing in equities?
If you are closing towards retirement and still have a reasonable chunk in outstanding loans, then going for the prepayment would be wiser, at least in the current markets.
BUSINESS
Should you go for a personal loan or an overdraft facility?
In a personal loan, a fixed amount is given to you upfront. In an overdraft, a monetary limit is approved and you can withdraw any amount up to that. There is also a difference in the way interest is calculated in the two cases, among other things.
BUSINESS
Silver seen heading for Rs 1-1.25 lakh per kg, should you invest?
Historically, most of us have exhausted our precious metals’ allocation to gold. But silver ETFs are now in the market, and there is merit in allocating to both.
BUSINESS
Yellow fervour: How much should you invest in gold for a solid, long-term portfolio
With gold prices at an all-time high, investors tend to get swayed by past returns. Many also fear the FOMO (fear of missing out) effect, and pour their savings into an asset class that has already gone up. That would be a mistake. But there is still a way to invest in gold.
BUSINESS
The great small cap fall and the way forward
One should only invest in small-cap funds if the risks are properly understood and one has the patience to stay invested for at least 5-7 years. Regularly rebalancing their portfolios and reassessing exposure to riskier small-caps can help investors manage long term investment wisely.
BUSINESS
Four tricks to make the best use of corporate fixed deposits
When building a portfolio of fixed deposits, laddering helps. This involves buying FDs of varying maturities and interest rates to be able to optimise returns and liquidity.
BUSINESS
Should I invest directly in stocks or take the mutual fund route?
The potential for higher returns from investing directly in stocks comes with additional risks. For most investors, who neither have the time nor the skill to properly analyse stocks, mutual funds should form the core of their equity exposure.
BUSINESS
Should you opt for pre-EMI for a loan on a property under construction?
Pre-EMI option is lighter on the pocket as you only pay interest in the first years before the EMI period starts. But pre-EMI incurs a higher interest cost in the long-term, than the regular full EMI option.
BUSINESS
Sebi should widen definitions to increase number of large and mid-cap stocks
Given the increase of inflows in mutual funds, fund managers would find the limit of 100 stocks for large-caps and 150 stocks for mid-caps restrictive.
BUSINESS
Do Arbitrage funds score over Debt funds post abolition of LTCG and indexation benefits?
Arbitrage funds appeal to those in the higher income-tax bracket, but arbitrage opportunities do not abound in the markets. They come and go depending on market volatility, among a few other factors.
BUSINESS
Which equity fund categories should you invest in?
There are close to 40 mutual fund categories, but you must not invest in all of them. Even the 12 equity categories are too much for any single investor. The variety is there to suit different taste palettes. You must choose your category depending on what you want your money to do.
