M. Pattabiraman's Blog

So gold and silver prices are zooming up, and everyone wants a slice of the metals in their portfolio. Here is a checklist before you buy gold and silver for “diversification”. 1. Did you know that the worst time to buy an asset or commodity for the first time is when everyone is talking about...

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A reader says, “I am 30 years old and currently invest in the HDFC Sensex Index Fund for my equity allocation and the Parag Parikh Dynamic Asset Allocation Fund for my debt portion. Articles from freefincal have been very helpful in understanding and making investment decisions for myself. While I must not seek financial advice...

The post Can I use Parag Parikh Dynamic Asset Allocation Fund as a debt fund for a long-term goal? appeared first on freefincal.

The latest freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener is now available. Use it to screen for consistently performing equity mutual funds. You can screen based on fund category & benchmark to identify mutual funds that offer higher returns than the benchmark while maintaining lower risk. Inside, you get discounted links to our robo advisory tool...

The post Equity Mutual Fund Screener Oct 2025: Shortlist consistent performers appeared first on freefincal.

Many international funds/ETFs, such as Motilal Oswal S&P 500 Index Fund or Nippon India Taiwan Equity Fund, are domestic mutual funds that invest solely in foreign equity shares. Some other funds, like Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund, invest a certain portion of their AUM in foreign equity shares. The question now is whether an Indian...

The post Should we report domestic mutual funds holding foreign shares in Schedule FA/FSI? appeared first on freefincal.

Last Updated on October 11, 2025 at 12:44 pm In response to our article, NPS Multiple Scheme Framework – What you need to know, wherein we have written, “we still do not have any clarity on how Tier 2 funds are taxed! Readers point me to various articles discussing tier 2 taxation, but there is no...

The post Gains from NPS Tier 2 accounts are taxable as per the slab rate! appeared first on freefincal.

Last Updated on October 11, 2025 at 12:46 pm The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has recently announced a Multiple Scheme Framework in the National Pension Scheme for all non-government subscribers. In this article, we explain the features of this framework. First things first, there is no change in the current schemes and...

The post NPS Multiple Scheme Framework – What you need to know appeared first on freefincal.

A reader (age: 41, spouse, 36, wants to retire asap) wants to know, “What should be my retirement corpus if my current monthly expenses are Rs 1 lakh?” We shall use the freefincal Robo Advisor tool to consider some scenarios. 1. Current monthly expenses that will persist in retirement: Rs. 1,00,000. We can exclude expenses...

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Home loan borrowers make this common mistake. For a Rs. 50 Lakh home loan payable over 20 years at  8% interest, the EMI is Rs. 41,822. As is well known, much of the EMI initially is interest. It is incorrect to sum the total interest paid (Rs. 50,37,281 in this case) and claim that as...

The post Don’t sum up your home loan interest and rush to prepay it! appeared first on freefincal.

Section 54F gives an exemption from long-term capital gains arising from the transfer of a long-term capital asset that is not a residential house if the proceeds are used to purchase or construct a residential house in India. The key is that the gain must be a long-term capital gain for Section 54F to be...

The post No more 54F exemption for capital gains from Debt Funds appeared first on freefincal.

This is a National Pension Scheme Fund Screener to shortlist consistently performing NPS schemes. You can also identify NPS schemes that offer a higher return than the benchmark while maintaining lower risk. This is similar in design to the freefincal Equity Mutual Fund Performance Screener. Inside, you get discounted links to our robo advisory tool...

The post National Pension Scheme Fund Screener Oct 2025: Shortlist consistent performers appeared first on freefincal.