In the past 10 days 2-3 people have asked me for feedback about 3 financial planners. I do not know the people asking the questions, nor do I know the planners. Obviously I know the names, but I will not name them. I politely said ‘I as a professional will not comment on the work […]

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I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO SAY…THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE – ANY resemblance of this to the real world should not happen.. Viewer: Sir I have a home loan of Rs. 45 lakhs payable over 20 years at a (floating rate) of 11.75%. A new Aggressive Bank is offering me a New Loan of Rs. […]

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Caveat Emptor. I do not understand interest rates. To be more precise, do not understand interest rates at all. Many people in the floating rate model of interest for housing may not know that they are already paying north of 14.5% p.a. interest on their loans. Ouch. It hurts. For new buyers of big houses […]

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Thank God I am not an expert on debt. Or of debt repayments for that matter! The caveat first – I hate debt. I hate debt. I hate leverage. I rarely do an Options trade, nor do I ever buy a share in a Futures trade. All assets have been paid and bought. Now let […]

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This is one of my most popular write ups..which appeared in Money-Control sometime in 2006. It is about how much life insurance does a person need. Of course like the ad says…we all have ‘Kam insurance lene ki bimari’ so read on… “Does my family really need Rs. 4 crore on my death?” When I […]

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Ask any person what is their biggest asset? Well it sets them thinking….and then the facts… Most people do not know what is their biggest asset. They then say – it is ‘ my house’ , ‘my equity portfolio’, my car, etc. However then I lead them to the next question: Have you borrowed for […]

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An asset should bring you money. If this is the definition of an asset – your golf kit, your gold jewellery, your Mercedes, the house in which you live,  – normally what people consider assets suddenly look like ‘expense’ rather than an asset! Every cheque that you sign is either an expenditure or the purchase […]

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