Simple Equation

Simple Equation has moved

Posted by sadmin at 
Simple Equation, along with all of Livemint's blogs has moved to a new Wordpress platform. Visit http://blog.livemint.com/simple-equation for more personal finance and money management tips or simply click here . Also don't forget to update your RSS feed readers and tell all your friends! Share this post: email it! | del.icio.us! | digg it!...

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Confidence or Expertise?

Posted by Harish Rao at 
When engaging the services of a Financial Advisor / Investment Counselor, what is it that you value most? Confidence or Expertise. (click below to listen to a podcast with Harish Rao on choosing an investment advisor) Most Investment Advisors (IA) I have spoken to seem to be convinced that it is Confidence. Some reason that Confidence stems from Expertise...

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Will you pay a fee for Mutual Funds?

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Winds of change are blowing at hurricane speed in the Mutual Fund industry. From Aug 1, 2009 , investors would not have to pay any entry load in any Mutual Fund Scheme. SEBI has recommended that instead, they - the investor - would have to compensate their financial advisor a suitable amount for advisory services. This means that for every Rs. 1000...

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The Big Bee

Posted by Harish Rao at 
So this was the Big B. Having to do an assignment non-stop till 7.00 pm, I got my first view of the budget at 8.00 pm on B Day. My first impression : The only Big B - Big Government. Anything named after Nehru, his daughter and her son was to get an increase of atleast 50% ! And in the present government, that just about covers everything from Roads...

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What, No Load !!! What, No Load ???

Posted by Harish Rao at 
SEBI has just decreed that Mutual Funds in India will not charge a load. And many Financial Advisors have concluded that the epitaph in their tombstone has just been carved in granite by SEBI. Having keenly observed and been an enthusiastic participant in the Investment Advisory business for more than a decade, there are two truths I firmly believe...

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Children and Investing

Posted by Harish Rao at 
A few days back I had conducted my first workshop for making children more ‘Money Aware'. Targeted at 10-12 year olds, it was the most fun I ever had in any workshop / seminar. And I know it could have been more creative and had more energy. Next time. So what did the children learn about Money? All the basics - Earning, Spending, Investing, Planning...

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Spending and Financial Planning

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Is Spending a valid theme in Financial Planning? Should Investment Managers and Financial Planners talk about it in India. Earnings - Spending = Savings. Savings with a plan = Investments Investments x Fee (or commission) = Revenues for the financial services industry in India Financial Planning Industry = Banks / AMCs / Insurance Companies / Independent...

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Investing in Equities

Posted by Harish Rao at 
This is my third post specifically on investing in equities. And the theme is the same. Should you need to have equity in your portfolio, Invest Now. I had started blogging on this platform with my first post titled ‘Let the Party begin...' on Nov 11, 2008 ( Click Here to read that post). Later, on Jan 22, 2009, I made an even more detailed case...

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The Rahul Gandhi Moment

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Rahul Gandhi's unexpected words of praise for Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu has puzzled many political pundits. What if leading business leaders and financial honchos have similar cathartic seizures. In such moments-of-truth would we hear sound bytes like... Mukesh Ambani : Yes, Anil is indeed doing a fine job. When did I ever say politics...

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New Pension System : Mayday, Mayday, Mayday

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Mayday : The call, if made three times continuously, signals distress and trouble. May Day : May 1, International Workers Day or Labour Day. May Day, May 1 : Launch of the ambitious New Pension System (NPS) by PFRDA. What's the connection? Looks like it is PFRDA that needs to send out a distress call on May 1, 2009. Apart from releasing full page...

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Did you buy Gold this Akshaya Tritiya?

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Today - April 27 - is Akshaya Tritiya and the bank I went to this morning was decked up real nice. The branch staff sported an ethnic look and only gold was on their mind. I believe sales were going on nicely and I was the only sour puss in their scheme of things. Every Akshaya Tritiya, I get the feeling that all the gold mined on earth has just one...

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Mental Accounting

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Ever wondered why is it that when we go on a holiday, we tend to splurge on things we by and large would not have indulged in at home. For instance, spending an equivalent of Rs. 600 on a taxi ride in Singapore or Rs. 2000/- for entry into an amusement park overseas, when normally we would have thought twice about such expenses at home. Or for that...

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Sandwich Generation

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Taking care of your aged parents and having kids of your own to look after? Welcome to the Sandwich Generation. While Indians have always been part of this generational Sandwich, it is grabbing headlines across the US, as an estimated 10 million children of the original Baby Boomers are becoming part of the Sandwich. There is much debate on whether...

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Imaginary Inflation @ 0.31%

Posted by Harish Rao at 
Inflation is taxation without legislation - Milton Friedman Indian Inflation (WPI) resides at a magical 0.31%. This is the most make-believe number floating in the economy today. Tragic, considering that serious decisions - interest rates for instance - emanate from these figures. During the course of financial planning presentations, I often insert...

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Gilt Funds, Guilty Investors

Posted by Harish Rao at 
A section of investors in Gilt Funds are an agitated lot these days. For good reason too : As a category, Gilt Funds have fallen by 7.03% over the past 3 months, as compared to a return of 11.39% over the past year. Just what has irked this section of investors? Excessive Volatility in the bond market translating to negative returns. (Should you want...

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