Many people including family has screamed at my idea of renting instead of buying a house (rather any asset). My idea is quite simple. Whatever you use has a cost. The cost of any product is made up of materials, overheads, interest, depreciation, and manufacturer’s margin. If you use a taxi say for 20 hours […]
I know this may sound sacrilegious, but the housing loan (mortgage) interest deduction is the most over-rated tax strategy in existence. I constantly hear happy “homeowners“ boasting about how much money they “saved“ with their mortgage interest deduction. Asking your boss to reduce your salary would perhaps have the same effect. If you are in […]
I deal with the financial services sector in a major way. This means I deal with employees, trainers, vendors, owners of companies, etc. largely in the financial services sector. This sector over did everything from 2002 to 2007 – like all other sectors in the economy. Having seen salaries go up from Rs. 1.8L for […]
This appeared under my byline in reuters india in their personal finance section I have a difficult time explaining to editors in their 20s why there is a gap between what I say in my columns, what I do and what others do. The origins of this article can be traced to a meet with […]
Costing is a difficult subject. It is difficult not only when you are a student (ask anybody who has passed CA in the ’80s) but also in real life. However it can at least be attempted. However benefits are far more difficult to quantify. When people ask me what is the cost of term life […]
The Housing Market… Why the Price-to-Rent Ratio is Signaling More Pain Ahead Whether you’re investing in real estate, stocks, bonds, or gold coins, you are rewarded primarily for your exposure to one thing – risk. After all, markets are only risk transferring mechanism. In the summer of 2007, I warned friends that if they were […]
Real Estate: Greenspan Is Right? Alan Greenspan said falling home prices in America are “nowhere near the bottom”. Y V Reddy has been talking of an asset bubble for quite some time, but in our euphoria we chose to ignore him. Deepak Parekh has been shouting that real estate prices are far too high for […]