Learn about personal finance and financial planning

begin investing
Tuesday, 20 October 2020 / Published in Growth Pillars, Invest
If you want to understand mutual funds beyond the cute ads, here is all you need to know
Start investing
Friday, 16 October 2020 / Published in Growth Pillars, Invest
So you want to start investing and don’t know where to start? This post will outline key concepts and then provide links to actually start investing…check this post regularly over the next few weeks What is investing? We have provided a high level outline with links to 18 one-minute videos in this post …please watch
Thursday, 15 October 2020 / Published in General
I used ‘educator’ on my LinkedIn heading before being told it sounds like a professor. Not that there is anything wrong with being a professor – I would love to be one, in fact – but it just intimidates my audience of mostly women and young people (for The Money Hans initiatives). I could tell
financial planning
Wednesday, 08 April 2020 / Published in Architect Blueprint, General
How much do you think your net worth has fallen as a direct result of CoVid? It seems a simple enough question. I hear of many people seeing the lower value in the equity mutual fund portfolio statements, comparing it to the highest they have seen it to be in the recent past, and concluding
Monday, 30 September 2019 / Published in Architect Blueprint, General
People don’t talk about money; women even less so. Strangely, money is still one of the taboo topics in Indian society, along with sex even as politics and religious discussions have become a norm in living rooms. I asked my girlfriends about why they think this is – they simply shrugged and said something along
Sunday, 20 January 2019 / Published in Invest
Yes, REITs, InvITs and AIF are all funds. If the product has the word ‘fund’ or ‘trust’ in the name, then it is a fund. Will expand on these here. Frequently asked questions
Sunday, 15 April 2018 / Published in Essentials Foundation, Save and Spend
A budget is basically a plan on how to spend the income you have. One way to do this to first track all your expenses for a few months and then set up a budget to trim your ‘lattes and avocado toasts’. Personally, I’ve never liked the idea to focus on such details. Let me
Tuesday, 03 April 2018 / Published in Architect Blueprint, Save and Spend
Before you start on a journey, you need to know the destination. At least the general direction. Similarly, the first step (ok, maybe after understanding your relationship with money as http://www.themoneyhans.com/plan/ When planning your holiday, you may look at pictures of possible destinations. When planning your home renovation, you may put together a mood or
Tuesday, 20 February 2018 / Published in Earn
“At the age of 23, Hansi wrote to the CEOs of 10 top firms, asking if she could buy them a cup of coffee and let her pick their brains.” This line in the HerStory article in January 2016 seems to have encouraged hundreds of youngsters to write to me over the past two years. I am yet
Tuesday, 20 February 2018 / Published in Growth Pillars, Invest
I got my first taste of sailing a few months after I’d seen the ocean for the first time. It was an amazing experience – the sight of the blue sky and bluer water, the wind in my face, the thrill of the yacht tilting…I was hooked!…though I didn’t get a chance to sail again
Wednesday, 27 September 2017 / Published in Architect Blueprint, Invest
In this teaser for the web-series I made last year, the all-knowing finance professional Mr Sikka says ‘Finance is when savers invest in the real economy…hedge their risks through various financial instruments…and understanding your risk profile by coming up with optimum asset allocation.’ What??!! Sikka is not wrong. But because he, like other finance professionals,
what trekking reminded about investing
Wednesday, 26 July 2017 / Published in Growth Pillars, Invest
“A trail in the Sahyadris doesn’t qualify as a trek! It’s a walk in the park compared to a real trek,” exclaimed a friend when I posted the picture on facebook. I was still proud of having made it to the top in the pouring rain as a novice, and more importantly back down without
Thursday, 09 February 2017 / Published in Architect Blueprint, Invest
I had just finished a graduate diploma in applied finance and investments. With distinctions in a few subjects. I was feeling confident too. I had just got the job as an analyst by writing to the CEOs of leading research houses and investment consulting firms. Ok, perhaps, bordering on over-confident. I was 23. When I
Saturday, 21 January 2017 / Published in Architect Blueprint, Personal Finance
The Guardian has one. The New York Times has one. Sydney Morning Herald has one too. The Times Of India has one too. Most newspapers have a personal finance column. Obviously money is a popular topic. I must have read thousands of personal finance columns. I started writing one here about a year and half
Tuesday, 15 November 2016 / Published in Architect Blueprint, Personal Finance
Good journalists do a great job of synthesizing different points of view into one coherent article, simplifying it for the reader in the process. Good articles quote experts, presenting a balanced view of different opinions. Ideally, the ideas should be more important than the authors. However, when it comes to investment or financial planning advice,
How to get really rich - put all eggs in one basket
Tuesday, 27 September 2016 / Published in Fun Money Roof, Invest
You must have heard the saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” But the richest investor in the world, Warren Buffett, says, “Put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket very carefully.” Wonder why? Look at anyone who’s really rich – Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, etc. How did
Wednesday, 20 January 2016 / Published in Growth Pillars, Invest
When people hear the leader of a country comment on how a credit rating agency should rate its debt, they realise credit ratings are important. When they read about the role of credit ratings in the global financial crisis, they get angry about the finance industry being responsible for their misery, but figure they must
Tuesday, 27 October 2015 / Published in Essentials Foundation, Save and Spend
Just when there are studies that show that money doesn’t lead to happiness, how can I claim that having a stash of emergency money will make you happier? Actually, the studies refer to money above a certain level. Everyone needs some money to cover basic physical needs (like food, home, clothing) and security needs (like
Monday, 03 August 2015 / Published in Growth Pillars, Invest
At the very basic level, investing is either you lending money or taking a stake in a business. As simple as that! Imagine a friend setting up a new business, say a restaurant. He asks you to invest in his venture. He gives you two options – either you can loan him some money, which