Blog
What the numbers said — fund returns and costs, foreign and domestic flows, index valuations, gold and silver — plus tax, retirement and personal-finance basics, written from the same data the rest of this site shows, with the date on every figure.
₹5 lakh deposit insurance: how to split ₹12 lakh of FDs
05 Nov 2026
Deposit insurance covers ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank, interest included. A worked ₹12 lakh split shows how many banks 1-, 3- and 5-year FDs need.
Personal Finance
Endowment maturity can be taxable if premiums top ₹5 lakh
05 Nov 2026
For life policies issued from 1 April 2023, maturity gains lose their exemption when yearly premiums pass ₹5 lakh. A ₹6 lakh worked case.
TaxPersonal Finance
EPF interest on contributions above ₹2.5 lakh is taxable
05 Nov 2026
Put in more than ₹20,833 a month and the interest on the excess is taxed every year. A worked ₹30,000-a-month case, with the after-tax yield.
RetirementTax
EV vs petrol: running-cost break-even on a ₹4 lakh premium
05 Nov 2026
At ₹100 a litre and ₹8 a unit, an EV saves about ₹5 a km. Against a ₹4 lakh price premium, break-even runs from 4 to 10 years depending on km.
Personal FinanceHow-To Guides
Gold jewellery vs coin: the making charge you pay upfront
05 Nov 2026
On 10 grams at an assumed ₹10,000 a gram, making charges of 8% to 25% mean gold must rise 11% to 29% before you break even. The sums, shown.
Gold & SilverPersonal Finance
Room-rent cap in health insurance: a ₹2 lakh bill, worked
05 Nov 2026
A ₹5,000 room cap and an ₹8,000 room can leave you paying ₹61,500 of a ₹2 lakh bill, not ₹12,000. How proportionate deduction works, step by step.
Personal Finance
Tax on a ₹3 lakh bonus: what you keep at five salaries
05 Nov 2026
A ₹3 lakh bonus is taxed at 0% for one salaried person and 36% for another under the FY 2026-27 new regime. Five worked salaries show why.
TaxPersonal Finance
What return do you need? CAGR required for 2x to 10x
05 Nov 2026
To triple money in 10 years you need 11.6% a year; to turn it 10x in 20 years, 12.2%. A table of the CAGR needed for 2x, 3x, 5x and 10x.
Investing StrategyHow-To Guides
346 of 546 equity funds are down over a year, up from 196
04 Nov 2026
To 3 November 2026, 63% of equity funds were down over one year, against 37% on 30 September. The Nifty 50 barely changed; mid and small caps turned negative.
Fund ReturnsMarket Recap
Bandhan vs DSP vs Franklin Templeton: 19 categories
04 Nov 2026
Bandhan led in 10 of 19 categories over three years, DSP in 5 and Franklin Templeton in 4. One Direct Growth fund per category, NAVs to 3 November 2026.
Fund IndustryFund Returns
CAGR calculator: check a fund's return in three steps
04 Nov 2026
Use the CAGR calculator with two NAVs and a duration. Worked example: a Nifty 50 index fund went from 37.97 to 53.37 in five years, a CAGR of 7.04%.
How-To GuidesInvesting Strategy
Large caps +4.3% in a month, small caps -3.2%
04 Nov 2026
To 3 November 2026 the median large-cap fund rose 4.3% in a month, small caps fell 3.2%. Over three months all 12 categories were down; small caps lead in 2026.
Fund ReturnsMarket Recap
Four biggest focused funds compared on return and risk
04 Nov 2026
SBI, HDFC, ICICI Prudential and Franklin India run 58% of focused-fund assets. Their 3-year returns span 8.12% to 17.11% a year; the category median is 13.09%.
Fund ReturnsPortfolio Holdings
Fund houses held ₹87.2 lakh crore in Jul–Sep 2026, up 13.1%
04 Nov 2026
AMFI's quarterly AUM for 57 fund houses: ₹87.2 lakh crore, up 13.1% in a year. The top five hold 55.4%; WhiteOak and Jio BlackRock grew fastest.
Fund Industry
Nifty 50 up 4.9% since 22 October; silver down 9.7%
04 Nov 2026
From 22 October to 3 November 2026 the Nifty 50 rose 4.95% and Pharma led at 6.34%, while gold fell 2.6% and silver 9.7%. FIIs were net buyers of ₹15,310 crore.
Market Recap
NPS equity fell 5–9% in a year while its bond schemes rose
04 Nov 2026
Tier I scheme E lost 4.8% to 8.6% over a year to 2 November 2026; schemes C and G gained. Pension fund managers compared with mutual fund medians.
RetirementFund ReturnsOctober 2026: Nifty IT +17.7%, small finance banks −17.7%
04 Nov 2026
Nifty 50 rose 1.9% in October 2026 (22,620 to 23,053). Nifty IT gained 17.7%, Nifty Metal fell 7.6%, and the smallcap 250 lost 5.8%. Index by index.
Market RecapSectors
Debt fund Sharpe ratios: low duration 1.53, gilt −0.13
04 Nov 2026
Median 3-year Sharpe ratio for 28 fund categories as of 3 November 2026. Low duration leads at 1.53; gilt (−0.13), dynamic bond and long-term debt sit lowest.
Fund ReturnsDebt & Hybrid Funds11 new fund offers in two weeks: what launched since 19 Oct
03 Nov 2026
Eleven NFOs launched between 19 October and 2 November 2026: three fund-of-funds, two ETFs, two index funds, two debt schemes, one equity and one hybrid fund.
Fund Industry
18 NSE indices by P/E: PSU Bank at 7.2, Pharma at 43.5
03 Nov 2026
On 2 November 2026 the Nifty PSU Bank index traded at a P/E of 7.23 and Nifty Pharma at 43.47. P/E, P/B and dividend yield for 18 benchmark and sector indices.
Market ValuationsSectors