Risk to a great extent is counter-intutive! When the index was 3000 (circa 2002) I would meet bank Relationship Managers and IFAs (Independent Financial Analysts) who would tell me “Sir, I only sell debt funds. They are so secure, and you know last year gilt funds yielded 19% p.a!”. I would gently probe and say […]
Many people have asked me what is the starting point of the “sub-prime” problem. This is really very difficult to answer. Relaxing of credit standards in US, over-leveraging by the Investment banks, spending far, far beyond one’s ability to repay..all of them can be taken to be the starting point. However, 2-3 events are remarkable […]
I do not know whether what I am about to say is in the Upanishads or the vedas! I am placing this caveat because these days the source of all wisdom seems to be the vedas. However, in his column Robin Sharma (yes, yes the same Monk …guy) has said that there are seven forms […]
It is funny how politicians react to a difficult situation. And the similarity and predictability of their reaction. When commodity prices go up, our great Chidambaram bans price discovery! A study can clearly show that the prices of goods are influenced by demand and supply. When demand for a product increases, price increases and when […]
Delayed gratification is so boring! Particularly when it comes to finances, constantly pinching pennies and saving all your extra cash is pretty darn boring. Which is why so few people do it well. There are too many fun things to spend money on.Yet, unrestrained spending (especially the kind that lands us in debt) is the […]
I would have called this a million dollar question. However, thanks to this great meltdown, let me call it the Trillion dollar question. The Optimistic view: the world loves a bull market. The world loves a winner. The world loves to see the “good” man win – that is why we pay millions of rupees […]
Doctors normally start their practice and the money starts coming in – first in trickles and then as a flood. Over enthusiastic accountants and ignorant doctors are a dangerous combination – they keep the doctor’s income low so that lesser tax can be paid. Suddenly if the doctor wants to set up a bigger […]