Goals should be Realistic too!

I know one lady whose husband is a graduate working in the Gulf. Typically like every Gulf employee he too is paid better than say an India job, but you really cannot get RICH on a job as a clerk. So her get rich quick schemes have included collecting money for shady chit funds, shady [...]

BSF: this is how India’s borders are protected….

Please remember the Indian Army has not been tested since 1971. We have no clue how well prepared it is to take on a war even by Bangladesh…. And our army cannot get its General’s date of birth right… In Kashmir they ‘need’ to be there to keep it normal – does it sound like [...]

Some advice best ignored…..

1. Franklin India Bluechip fund has performed badly. Look at the last quarter. Remember this advice sometime in 2007….and as usual I smiled it away. In fact the EDITOR of a financial mag told me ‘Hey this fund is doing well in my portfolio…why is such a story being carried (somewhere else, thankfully!!). I said, [...]

Old age home expenses in India

Many of us are likely to live long enough on this planet to need some kind of assisted living. How much exactly does staying in an old age home cost? Frankly I have not done enough research to do such a post, but here is some rudimentary info. You will need to do more research [...]

The worst year for the markets?

If you were not around to see the -46% of 1993, but were around to see 2008, then 2011 would have looked quite bad. Seeing your portfolio shrink by 25% (worse if you did not have Bharti, but had more of Reliance!!)…and if you were a $ investor, it was worse. Including the 19% fall [...]

Greece’s problem: Result of poor fisc

Greece is in financial trouble – and by now all of us know it. The trouble is a result of years of mismanaging the economy. All you have to do is read Michael Lewis’s article about this in Vanity Fair – and it had appeared long back. How different are other countries? Well not very [...]