GUIDES
Guides
Cited, plain-English guides to Indian mutual funds, budgeting and tax. Every fact dated and sourced, every claim tied to the document it came from, and never a buy or sell call.
Explainers
CITED EXPLAINERDirect vs Regular Mutual FundsThe gap between the two plans is the distributor trail commission and nothing else. The real numbers by category, dated, plus the honest case for what good advice is worth.CITED EXPLAINERThe Mutual Funds Whose Riskometer Quietly Changed515 schemes now carry a different SEBI risk label than at launch. The 21 that climbed to Very High since 2021, named and dated.CITED EXPLAINERAre NFOs Worth ItMost Indian new fund offers trail their benchmark since launch. The narrow cases where an NFO is actually defensible.DATA STUDYWhat Happens to the ₹10 NAV After ListingFrom an identical ₹10, 21 funds launched 2022 to 2024 now range from ₹8 to ₹30. What the launch price predicts is nothing.CITED EXPLAINERSmall and Mid Cap Stress Tests, DecodedEvery small and mid cap fund must publish each month how many days it would take to sell half its book in a stressed market. Decoded for every fund, with two years of history nobody else shows.CITED EXPLAINERThe Risk Your Safe Debt Fund Is Actually TakingEvery debt fund carries a two letter risk class most platforms hide. Read straight from the scheme documents, which categories really take credit risk and which take a big duration bet.CITED EXPLAINERFOIR, the Ratio Lenders Read and No Rule SetsLoan eligibility pages quote a 40 to 50 percent FOIR cap as though the RBI set it. We read the housing finance circular section by section. The provision is not there.WORKED EXAMPLEFestival and Wedding Sinking FundsThe two most predictable large expenses in an Indian budget, met as though they were emergencies. The arithmetic of funding them monthly, and how the alternative turns a celebration into a fixed obligation.CITED EXPLAINERBudgeting After a LayoffA layoff removes the income a budget was sized against and none of the obligations it was carrying. The first ninety days split into what can be cut and what cannot, and the one decision that does not reverse.CITED EXPLAINERBudgeting on One Income as a Single ParentOne salary stands behind the same set of contracts. Where the school fee actually belongs in a budget split, worked in rupees, and what that does to the floor underneath it.CITED EXPLAINERBudgeting When One Salary Supports ParentsThe split does not bend for a dependent parent, because no Indian survey publishes a per-dependent weighting anyone could cite. What changes is the room inside the needs band, worked in rupees on a 75,000 take-home.CITED EXPLAINEROld and New Tax Regime, FY 2026-27The governing Act changed on 1 April 2026, so the default regime is section 202 and not 115BAC. Both FY 2026-27 slab tables checked against enacted law, and the monthly rupee gap between them.
Collections
Every fact, dated and sourced. No buy or sell call.