Archive of posts from January 2020


  • Jan 27, 2020

    Year In Review - 2019 Expenses

    This is the continuation of my 2019 year in review series. See my previous post if you missed my returns report. As you probably know, I maintain two set of expenses -- one for monthly expenses and another for annual expenses. The monthly expenses include expenses that occur more frequently than once a year and the rest of the expenses go into annual expenses. Lets dive deeper into the report.

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  • Jan 22, 2020

    Year In Review - 2019 Returns

    It is that time of the year again when I do a review of my investments, expenses, net worth and also plan for the upcoming year. This year is special because I also have to do my 10 year planning as this is the start of a new decade. Anyway, enough banter, on to the good stuff. As usual, this will be a series and this is the first of them which covers my returns in 2019.

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  • Jan 17, 2020

    Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund is Down!

    Normally I do not write any mutual fund specific posts because I do not recommend specific funds. But in this case I will make an exception because many people I know have invested in Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund and are shocked to see it go down by 4.36% in one day! Yes even ultra short term debt funds go down. Most people forget or ignore the credit risk involved in debt funds. If you want absolute safety of investment go for liquid funds or overnight funds.

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  • Jan 15, 2020

    The Doll House Project

    What do you tell your daughter when she asks for a doll house? Well if you are like me, retired and have no work then you will say "I will build one for you" :) . And so it began. We had a few corrugated cardboard boxes which were the packaging material used for some furniture or electronics. We decided to build the doll house using that material so we can reuse the waste and also teach our kid some hands-on building skills. Eventually it turned out to be a skill building session and a test of patience for me :).

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  • Jan 8, 2020

    Should You Invest in Bharat Funds?

    By now everyone must have heard about the PSU based ETFs, namely, Bharat 22 ETF and Bharat Bonds EFT. Should you invest in them because they carry the safety of investing in companies mostly owned by the government? That is the topic of today's post, but I will be brief.

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  • Jan 1, 2020

    Happy New Year 2020!

    I would like to wish all my readers a very happy new year! May this year bring more happiness and cheer. I hope 2019 has been kind to you and you were able to achieve your goals. As for me, 2019 has been the first full calendar year in retirement and it was just fabulous! I am still getting used to the life in retirement although it has already been nearly one and a half years.

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