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.
TDS on FD interest: thresholds, and Form 15G, 15H or 121
02 Oct 2026
Banks deduct 10% TDS once FD interest crosses ₹50,000 a year (₹1 lakh for seniors). When a nil-tax declaration works, and why TDS is not the tax.
Tax
Technology funds: 9 of 11 are down over the year
02 Oct 2026
Nine of 11 technology and digital funds lost money in the year to 1 October 2026; the median fell 8.19%. 3 and 5-year returns, falls and innovation funds.
Fund ReturnsSectors
Term insurance vs endowment: why not to mix them
02 Oct 2026
An endowment plan bundles thin life cover with a 4-6% savings return. Separating the two jobs buys more cover and more growth for the same premium.
Personal FinanceInvesting Strategy
The three-bucket retirement strategy for Indian savers
02 Oct 2026
Split a retirement corpus into cash, debt and equity buckets sized to your spending. A worked ₹2 crore example, the refill rule and the tax catches.
Retirement
Time-horizon buckets: matching money to when you need it
02 Oct 2026
Sort every goal by its date. Which instruments suit money needed in 1, 3, 5 or 10+ years, with SIP amounts worked out for two goals.
Investing Strategy
Track your net worth once a quarter: a simple method
02 Oct 2026
A 30-minute quarterly check of assets minus liabilities shows if you are getting richer. A worked example and where each number comes from.
Personal FinanceULIP vs term insurance plus a mutual fund
02 Oct 2026
A ULIP bundles life cover with market investment. Buying the two separately usually gives more cover and more flexibility. Where a ULIP still has an edge.
Personal FinanceTax
Value investing: how to find undervalued stocks
02 Oct 2026
What 'undervalued' means, the ratios that flag it, the traps behind cheap stocks, and how value indices and value funds have done as of 1 October 2026.
Investing StrategyMarket Valuations
Is the Voluntary Provident Fund worth it?
02 Oct 2026
VPF earns the same declared rate as EPF, but the tax-free interest stops at ₹2.5 lakh of your own yearly contribution. How to size it, and who should skip it.
RetirementTax
What to do with a salary hike, with the tax maths
02 Oct 2026
A ₹2 lakh raise leaves about ₹1.58 lakh after tax in the new regime. How to split it between a step-up SIP, safety gaps and lifestyle, with the arithmetic.
Personal FinanceInvesting StrategyEmergency funds: where to keep them for liquidity
02 Oct 2026
Savings account, sweep-in FD, overnight or liquid fund? How fast each pays out, what it earned in the past year, and what can go wrong.
Personal FinanceDebt & Hybrid Funds
Debt funds after the tax change: where to park cash
02 Oct 2026
Liquid and money market funds returned about 6.5% in the year to October 2026. Taxed at slab since 2023, they now compete with arbitrage funds after tax.
Debt & Hybrid FundsTaxPersonal Finance
Why every family needs a will, not just nominees
02 Oct 2026
A nominee receives your mutual funds; a will decides who owns them. What happens without a will in India, how to make one, and mistakes that undo it.
Personal FinanceRetirement
Index funds: why more Indians are skipping active funds
02 Oct 2026
322 of 377 index funds launched in 2022 or later. Equity index funds held about ₹2.09 lakh crore in Apr–Jun 2026. The cost case, and its limits.
Investing StrategyCosts & FeesFund Industry
Why your SIP return differs from the fund's return
02 Oct 2026
The fund shows 5% a year; your SIP shows 27%. Why XIRR and CAGR disagree, with a worked three-year example and the other reasons your number differs.
Investing Strategy
Arbitrage funds vs liquid funds: the 2026 scorecard
01 Oct 2026
The median arbitrage fund returned 6.68% in the year to 30 September 2026, against 6.46% for liquid funds. Where each came out ahead, and what it cost.
Debt & Hybrid FundsFund Returns
Balanced advantage funds in 2026's falling market
01 Oct 2026
The Nifty 50 fell 13.4% from 31 December 2025 to 30 September 2026. The median balanced advantage fund lost 1.7%, and its worst dip was 8.7%.
Debt & Hybrid FundsFund Returns
Bank stocks in mutual funds: 17% of equity money
01 Oct 2026
Equity funds held ₹6.34 lakh crore in Indian banks on 31 August 2026, 17.06% of their shares. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank alone were 48% of it.
Portfolio HoldingsSectorsHow much cash equity funds hold: 3.3% in August 2026
01 Oct 2026
Equity funds held 3.34% of their money in cash on 31 August 2026, ₹1,30,312 crore. Small-cap funds held 6.59%, large caps 1.64%. Who holds the most.
Portfolio HoldingsThe cheapest and dearest NSE indices on their own P/E
01 Oct 2026
Nifty IT trades 35% below its own median P/E since 2021 and Nifty Pharma 21% above. Where 60 NSE indices stood against their history on 1 October 2026.
Market Valuations