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NPS vs PPF vs EPF: Choosing the Right Retirement Vehicle for Indian Investors
Three letters, or rather three sets of letters, dominate almost every conversation Indian salaried professionals have about retirement savings: EPF, PPF, and NPS. All three offer tax benefits, all three are backed in some form by the government, and all three get recommended almost reflexively by financial advisors and well-meaning relatives alike. But they work…
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Indian Economic Data for August 2026
Continuing our monthly series on the Indian economy, here is a look at how the key metrics moved through August 2026. As always, a few indicators that are reported with a lag (mutual fund flows, wholesale prices, and labour force data) reflect the most recently released month rather than August itself, and this year that…
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Asset allocation strategy for middle class investors
Asset allocation plays a vital role in the overall returns generated by a portfolio of investments. It is my opinion that middle class investors should opt for mutual funds and ETFs over stocks and derivative instruments. Mutual Funds offer diversification of the portfolio and professional management of the portfolio which cannot be achieved otherwise without…
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Indian Economic Data for July 2026
Starting today we will be publishing economic data about various metrics related to the Indian Economy on a monthly basis. The purpose of this exercise is to collate economic information from various sources and make it available in a single page. The various metrics we will be referring to include the Indian stock market indices,…
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Taxes of the Government of India
The Indian Government’s annual budget was presented in the parliament by the Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman on the 1st of February 2026. After several years the taxes on Tobacco products were increased significantly. It is clear that the government does not want you to have a happy life, because even if you want to…
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Why Small Investors should prefer mutual funds over shares:
Ever since the pandemic there has been a multifold increase in the number of demat accounts held by depositories. Also, there has been a similar increase in the number of folios ( mutual fund accounts) held by the mutual fund companies. During the same period the BSE Sensex rebounded from a bottom of 29000 points…
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Pre-Approved Loans: What They Really Mean
A pre-approved loan means a lender is willing to lend to you, not that the deal is good. What pre-approval means, why it can still be rejected, and what to check before you accept.
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What Is a Financial Advisor? Advisers, Distributors and How to Choose
What a financial advisor does, the difference between a SEBI-registered investment adviser and a mutual fund distributor, how each is paid, and how to check credentials before you hire one.
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Why Are Credit Cards Bad for Your Financial Health?
Credit cards make spending effortless and borrowing expensive. How the debt trap works, what it really costs, your rights if you fall behind, and how to use a card without getting hurt.
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Investment Options for the common Indian
India is a flourishing country with a large middle-class population. The total population of India as of February 2022 is 1.4 billion people. About 600 million or 40 per cent of India’s population lies in the middle-class bracket. Although these numbers vary depending upon the source of study. In this article, we are going to…