There are innumerable reasons why people love property. Most are irrational. But then we already know that humans are not rational beings.

The winner of the 1908 marathon of the London Summer Olympics (the first marathon of 42.2km, same as the official distance today) completed the course in 2:55:18.

ELSS is better suited to manage the risk of loss of capital and the erosion of purchasing power due to inflation. PPF provides complete safety and an assured return.

Savers need to be clear about what gold is, and what it is not

This week’s story is about a couple who retired 10 years ago and are today in serious financial trouble. They were not reckless with their money. For most part.

The spread of coronavirus has wreaked havoc across markets. The lockdown has negatively impacted most businesses while some sectors remained immune.

Returns and principal invested in stocks are not guaranteed. Historically, stocks have been more volatile than bonds and cash.

Have you ever tried to stay calm on a roller coaster? It’s just not possible. Your heart rate isn’t going to slow down while you’re hurtling along the track, upside-down, 100 feet above the ground.

We work hard to earn money, but we should also make our money work hard so to make more money. You can make your money to work for you by investing it and the longer it remains invested, the more profits it can generate.

Here are some unknown variables that we must confront when we plan our retirement kitty.

Don’t ever ignore the opportunity to (legally) save on taxes just because it is cumbersome. The less tax you pay, the more disposable income in your hands to either spend or invest. But that is no excuse to goof up.

I recently heard someone say, “Beat inflation, not the market.” That got me thinking about how important it is to choose benchmarks for judging success that really fit the problem you are trying to solve.

Higher education is an expensive affair, especially if you want to send your child to a foreign university. Here is a look at the costs to study in top 6 countries.

Multi cap funds offer the best flexibility to invest across market cap categories as also across sector. Historically, we have seen that no sector or market capitalization has consistently been a top performer

This article is just a wake up call for those who are laid back as far as their retirement planning goes.

Once upon a time, equity mutual funds used to go into a half dead zombie-like state whenever the equity markets would get shaky. Savers would stop investing and fresh inflows would dry up.

Once you train your mind to think about your future, it creates an internal motivation to save for retirement. It also helps you be emotionally prepared to change your mindset.

There is a heated public debate about the economic slowdown in India. Most sensible people are not arguing whether we are facing a slowdown because the signs are clear; the debate about how serious the situation is. Is this just a slowdown or a recession?

We believe that the current slowdown is cyclical and not structural. The current trough level of cycle is in a glide path which has a strong upward growth trajectory.

Like clockwork, every time the equity markets are weak (or are being generally accused of being weak), SIP doubters raise their heads again.

Just about every year for a decade, the world has been seized by bouts of despondency over slumping economic growth. Last week came the latest such episode, amid signs that trade wars are slamming growth in the major economies and threatening a worldwide recession.

A passenger on the observation deck of a cruise ship spots precisely equal numbers of green boats and blue boats over the duration of her trip. However, the green boats pass by more frequently toward the end of the cruise while the passing of blue boats were concentrated toward the beginning.

In this interview, Neelesh Surana, CIO, Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, sheds light on factors contributing to the outperformance of the fund and more

Last week, two young professionals, one aged 26 years and the other 34 years, both working at the same company in the same city, with reasonable similar family backgrounds, came to seek advice on investing.

I started my investment journey in April or May 1998. I had a lot of interest in the stock market going back to my university days, but the beginning of my investment journey was one of the worst times for the stock market because we were right in the middle of the Asian Currency Crisis then.

If you are even remotely interested in behavioural finance, you would have come across studies that invited readers to answer questions along the lines of: Am I better than average in getting along with people? Am I a better-than-average driver?

At our prime, we plan for all kinds of financial goals – children's education, a home, vacations – but retirement is often the last thing on our mind.

If an asset like a house has outlived its utility, unlock its value by selling it in your lifetime

Investors should not second-guess the market based on day-to-day noise, says Chandresh Kumar Nigam, MD and CEO, Axis Mutual Fund

Risk is inherent in any activity and equity markets are no exception.

Investors are prone to two opposing but equally debilitating fears: the fear of missing out when times are good, and the fear of loss when markets are volatile.

For a long time now, there has been a general belief that bigger funds are better

It is very encouraging to note that debt mutual funds are gaining traction with retail investors. As per CRISIL, the debt mutual fund folios as a percentage of total individual investors’ folios increased to 14% in December 2018 from 7% in September 2009.

The stock market is not your friend. You want to approach it the same way the American president should approach a one-on-one meeting with the Russian president: Be respectful but cautious.

The stock market has surged in the last few days with the Nifty near its 52-week high. Nifty has gained nearly 6% in the last month but it has given negative returns over the last 6 months.

Here are a few common financial mistakes that you should avoid

Inevitably every year, India celebrates the break out achievements of some exceptional women, whether it is Hima Das or PV Sindhu a few years ago, or more recently Gita Gopinath, the first Indian women serving as Chief Economist of the IMF. Is this the complete story?

The never-ending avalanche of economic news, geo-political developments and market predictions are the perfect conditions for some good scaremongering.

Don’t ever ignore the opportunity to (legally) save on taxes just because it is cumbersome. The less tax you pay, the more disposable income in your hands to either spend or invest.

Personal finance cannot be generalised. Broad principles are universal, but actual application requires decisions the individual should make, based on their specific situation. Therefore, a specific situation. Therefore, a specific set of steps will not work for all.

In What is your financial tipping point?, Nick Maggiulli urges the reader to be brutally honest and realistic: Write this number down somewhere where you can refer to it later.

When it is time to retire, we will have to use finer techniques to draw upon the corpus without depleting it. Depositing money in a bank and earning interest is not enough.

Personal finance is personal, because each of us responds differently to the unexpected. There is no single satisfactory answer. From among all the advice about goals, retirement, early saving, investing right, risk preference and disciplined investing, how do we choose our path?

With the start of every New Year, and days before it, starts the list: the best of 2018, the worst of 2018 and of course the famed “New Year Resolutions for 2019”. In every sphere – from the office to home, from food to fitness, there is a resolution, a desire to learn.

Don’t buy the winners of 2018. Instead construct a well-balanced portfolio that can withstand volatility and give you a good average return

Goals-based financial planning is here to stay, and for good reason. Using a goals-based framework in financial planning led to an increase in investor wealth of more than 15%.

Where will the markets go in the next few years? Up, says Gautam Chikermane, Vice President, Observer Research Foundation.

The weak markets today provide an option to investors to improve their returns later

What does the unknown and unexpected do to us? Are we thrown off balance, unable to decide? Are we so unsettled that we do not know what past experience to draw upon to deal with a new situation? Or, do we love the surprise? Do we enjoy the adrenaline rush and the freshness of the new? Personal finance is personal, because each of us responds differently to the unexpected.

A lot of us, in a lot of different fields, feel that emulating the winners is a good way to win. If something works for those who get the best results, then why shouldn't it work for others?

"There is no market over the next 20 years which offers more growth opportunities for Australian business than India," Varghese says, adding Australia risks being left behind if it fails to seize on India's investment potential.

I started my investment journey in April or May 1998. I had a lot of interest in the stock market going back to my university days, but the beginning of my investment journey was one of the worst times for the stock market because we were right in the middle of the Asian Currency Crisis then.

The stock market has been quite volatile this year. In the last 2 months or so, Nifty has declined by around 10%. Such big declines in the past may have triggered off panic selling by retail investors but mutual fund SIP inflows have continued to remain robust, with record inflows in the month of September 2018.

My 92-year old friend Jo would say: “Don’t retire at 60. If ..

Individuals often take sub-optimal investment decisions with their tax-saving investments. But things aren't as difficult as they look. Read to know more

There is a famous Chinese curse that says “May we live in interesting times”, and as we look at the month gone by, this seems to be an understatement! Interestingly, for history watchers, September has frequently been a volatile month for the market.

A neuroscientist explains the trick you must play to manage your money well

Some investors may be wondering how long with this volatility continue or for how long will the market fall. It is not possible to predict what the stock market will do in the near term, but historical data shows that, corrections or even bear markets do not last for very long.

As we look towards 2025, India on its journey to becoming a $5 trillion economy, will now make an economic tryst with destiny – momentum, scale, sophistication. And one of the most important parts of this economic trysts will a multi-fold increase in financial assets from domestic investors, a journey towards financial freedom.

Middle class Indian fathers used to be distant, authoritarian and usually dictatorial. They ran the extended household with an iron fist keeping a tight hold on expenses.

ELSS Mutual Funds or Equity Linked Saving Schemes offer you a simple way to get tax benefits under Section 80C of The Income Tax Act 1961, while aiming to make the most of the potential of the equity market investing. Therefore, if the question how to save tax is bothering you, you can have a look at investing in ELSS tax saving mutual funds!

By investing your tax-saving money in mutual funds through SIPs, you not only save the tax outgo but also build wealth.

Many of us are guilty of obsessing about our children. Parents beam in that halo of martyrdom that places children first, and make it their life’s mission to “leave behind” something worthwhile for the child. Time to wave the bright red flag.

Last week a friend called in panic. Their child had secured admission in a prestigious university, but they were unable to raise the funds needed to complete the admission process.

Imagine you have got an annual bonus of Rs 8 Lakhs and decided to invest the entire sum into equity mutual funds. However, looking at the current market level which is almost at an all-time high, you may feel unsure to invest the entire bonus amount in one go.

It appears that fund managers don’t pass up the chance to wax eloquent about the virtues of closed-end funds.

Planning for your child's future starts with first listing the various goals, like higher education and wedding. Once you have established the goals, you have to estimate the goal amounts.

For most Indians, the biggest financial decision of their life tends to be that of buying a house. Nothing else has as much potential to affect your financial well being, for better or for worse.

Capital appreciation and income are two primary investment goals. Mutual funds provide multitude of investment solutions for both these objectives for different risk profiles.

What compound interest gives, inflation takes away. Put it another way- inflation is effectively the reverse of compound interest, it's like decompound interest.

A few months ago, I had written an article on replacing bank fixed deposits (FDs) with fund investments.

Getting the right amount for retirement is a tough nut to crack. Targeting too much compromises on lifestyle today, and having too little is not something we want to think about.

The move to demonetise old Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes, among other things, will certainly ensure that idle cash gets into bank accounts. Now that it is in a bank account why leave it idle?

Debt Funds are becoming an increasingly widespread rival to the hallowed FD. Here are their pros and cons vis-à-vis bank deposits.

Compared to other allowable investments, ELSS funds are uniquely advantageous. There are two reasons for this.

Compounding produces such unintuitive results that perhaps only a few mathematical geniuses can be expected to have a real feel for it.

The young, educated, healthy well-off and non-smokers get better term covers than older, less educated, low-earning and smokers.

Most people are fairly unanimous on the fact that from all investment opportunities, stocks offer the most potential for growth.

Because of the many distractions around us, we think we can catch up with our health and wealth goals in the future.

If there is one myth that fund distributors love to propagate, it is that a fund with a low net asset value (NAV) is cheaper.

For mutual fund investors, dividends have always been a source of great confusion, misconceptions and suboptimal investment decisions.

Compounding investment earnings can turn your small investments into a whopping sum after a period of time.

Since debt component and arbitrage portions contain equity risk, first-time or retired investors can feel safe.

In the last five years, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has taken a number of steps to curb the menace of mis-selling.

Funds' star ratings can be misleading. Here are five don’ts to consider when checking out the 5-star rated funds.

It takes less effort, less time, less experience and less specialised knowledge to get good returns from equity mutual funds than it does from directly trading in equities

In a country where event managers are paid for organising weddings and nutritionists are paid for making diet plans, financial advisors struggle to make a case for earning a fee