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.
EPF vs NPS: which retirement vehicle suits your goals?
02 Oct 2026
EPF pays a declared rate with near-total tax exemption; NPS is market-linked, cheap and ends in an annuity. How they differ on return, tax and access.
RetirementTax
Equity after 60: five myths about senior allocation
02 Oct 2026
All 22 large-cap funds with a 10-year record returned over 10% a year, yet the median fell 4.7% last year. What equity is for after 60, and how much.
RetirementInvesting StrategyFund Returns
Twenty years of equity funds: 98 with a full record
02 Oct 2026
98 equity funds have NAVs back to April 2006. Median returns by category since then run from 10.8% (large-cap) to 14.4% (small-cap), before survivorship.
Fund Returns
FD ladder: how to build one and when it beats one big FD
02 Oct 2026
Split a lump sum across fixed deposits maturing in one to five years. A worked ₹10 lakh example, the tax and DICGC limits, and when a ladder is not worth it.
Debt & Hybrid FundsPersonal Finance
Filing your first ITR as a salaried employee, step by step
02 Oct 2026
Which form to use, what to collect, how to pick a regime and e-verify. A first-time salaried filer's walkthrough, with the deadlines as of October 2026.
Tax
Money plans for marriage, kids and a first home
02 Oct 2026
Three life events, three different time horizons. How to set up money after marriage, invest for a child, and save a home down payment without the wrong fund.
Personal FinanceInvesting Strategy
FIRE in India: what retiring in your 40s really takes
02 Oct 2026
Retiring at 40-45 means a corpus that lasts 45 years. The savings rate, the target multiple and the fund categories that can carry it, with real figures.
RetirementInvesting Strategy
Your first salary: a 10-step money checklist
02 Oct 2026
What to do in your first months of earning in India: UAN and EPF, tax regime, health cover, an emergency fund and a first SIP, with a ₹40,000 sample split.
Personal Finance
Five questions to ask before you buy any mutual fund
02 Oct 2026
Goal, category, cost, risk and tax: a five-question checklist for any mutual fund, with the cost of a 1% fee gap worked out over 20 years.
Investing Strategy
Day trading in India: career or gambling? The F&O data
02 Oct 2026
SEBI found 87.7% of individual F&O traders lost money in FY26, ₹91,685 crore in all. What the numbers, costs and tax rules say about trading for a living.
Investing StrategyPersonal FinanceForm 26AS, AIS and TIS: what each shows and which to trust
02 Oct 2026
Form 26AS lists tax credits; AIS lists nearly everything reported about you; TIS is the summary. How to read them and fix a mismatch before filing.
Tax
Fractional real estate: pros, cons and regulatory risks
02 Oct 2026
Fractional platforms sell slices of office buildings from ₹10 lakh. What SEBI's SM REIT rules changed, what you really own, and the risks to check.
Investing StrategyPersonal Finance
Gift tax in India: when money from family is taxable
02 Oct 2026
Gifts from relatives are tax-free in any amount; from others, over ₹50,000 a year, all of it is taxed. Who counts as a relative, and the clubbing trap.
TaxPersonal Finance
Gold loan vs personal loan vs credit card: real cost
02 Oct 2026
Comparing the rupee cost of borrowing ₹1 lakh for six months through a gold loan, a personal loan and a revolved card balance, plus the RBI's gold loan limits.
Personal Finance
Gold vs Nifty 50: ten years of returns compared
02 Oct 2026
A gold ETF returned 15.7% a year over the ten years to September 2026, against about 11.5% for the Nifty 50 with dividends. Why one year explains most of it.
Gold & SilverInvesting Strategy
Health insurance super top-ups, explained
02 Oct 2026
A super top-up adds large health cover above a deductible at a fraction of a base policy's cost. How the aggregate deductible works, and where it fails.
Personal FinanceTaxHealth insurance waiting periods and exclusions, explained
02 Oct 2026
The four waiting periods in an Indian health policy, what IRDAI caps, the 5-year moratorium, and how room-rent limits can shrink a claim, with an example.
Personal Finance
Home loan: shorter tenure or smaller EMI? Pick a lever
02 Oct 2026
On a ₹50 lakh loan, tenure changes total interest by lakhs. Compare 15, 20, 25 and 30 years, then an extra ₹5,000 a month, with the arithmetic shown.
Personal FinanceHow inflation eats your savings
02 Oct 2026
Retail inflation was 4.82% in August 2026. What that does to cash, FDs and liquid funds after tax, and which assets have kept ahead, as of 1 October 2026.
Personal FinanceInvesting StrategyHow long to build ₹1 crore with a SIP?
02 Oct 2026
Years to reach ₹1 crore at ₹10,000, ₹25,000 and ₹50,000 a month, at 10%, 12% and 14%, with and without a yearly step-up. Plus what a crore buys later.
Investing Strategy