Different Types of Investors
Let me start off with a story. So the other day a friend of mine called me up asking me to help him solve a plumbing problem. He probably thought I was good at plumbing because I have been working on rain water harvesting and drip irrigation. Anyway, he tells me that there is a tap that was constantly leaking water. He tightened it fully, but the water still leaks. Asks me if I have a fix for his problem.
...continue readingBuilding a DIY 5.1 Audio Video Receiver – Part 4
As I mentioned in my last post, after measuring the frequency response and testing the TDA 7498, I decided to buy one more. The board I bought earlier did not have the right LC filter for a 6 ohms speaker. It was designed for 8 ohms speaker. So I decided to use that board for my rear surround speakers which were also 6 ohms. However, it is fine to have a slightly poor quality amp for the rarely used rear speakers.
...continue readingInvesting For Multiple Goals And Portfolios Management
One of the readers of my blog asked me how I manage multiple portfolios for various goals. They also wanted to know what platform I use to manage portfolios for family. So I thought I will expand a bit on that topic. To start off, I don't have multiple goals. I just had and still have retirement corpus as the only goal. The portfolios I manage for my parents, wife and kid have only one goal as well. However, mine is a unique case and almost everyone have multiple goals. As I mentioned before, every goal needs to have a different portfolio.
...continue readingBuilding a DIY 5.1 Audio Video Receiver – Part 3
The TDA7498 class D amplifier board that I purchased to power my front speakers was working great. The audio quality is at par with what my Pioneer 5.1 AVR delivered using class AB amplifier. I could not tell the difference in audio quality. None the less, I wanted to make sure the quality is really as good as my ears led me to believe. Enter a function generator and oscilloscope to make sure the frequency response is satisfactory over the range of audible frequencies (20 Hz to 20 kHz).
...continue readingWhat Is Your Net Worth And Is It Good Enough?
Sometimes it is worth knowing if your net worth is good enough or not. But how do you know if it good? And what if you don't even know how to calculate your net worth? These are some of the questions I am trying to address in this post. Simply put net worth is the sum of all your assets minus the sum of all your liabilities.
...continue readingBuilding a DIY 5.1 Audio Video Receiver – Part 2
If you did not read part 1 of building a DIY 5.1 AVR, I suggest you start from there. Here is some important points from my previous post --
...continue readingAre Unschoolers Missing Out On Social Skills Development
When ever some one learns that our kid is being unschooled, this is one of those questions that I invariably get asked. Are unschooled or home schooled kids missing out on social skills. I am certainly not an expert on the subject, but how does one assess whether a kid has developed social skills. Is shyness an indication of under development? Does participating in debates and winning them mean good development? I am really not sure. As far as I am concerned, if a kid can socialize with other kids, they have enough skills. Or may be I am being naive in thinking that way.
...continue readingBuilding a DIY 5.1 Audio Video Receiver - Part 1
Alright, you already know the story of my electronics going puff during a power surge. One of the electronics that got burnt was my unnecessarily expensive Pioneer 5.1.2 AVR. The reason I put emphasis on unnecessary is because I rarely used all the features of the device. Don't even know why I spent all the money :). After it stopped working, I opened and checked everything that I could figure out. But I didn't notice any obvious problems. The AVR just boots up, turns on the amplifier relay and turns off. Since it failed during COVID lock down, I couldn't do much about it.
...continue readingTax Filler Script
The Indian tax filing has become even more tedious now. Going forward, starting from assessment year 2020-21 (financial year 2019-2020) one needs to report each and every equity redemption that results in long term capital gain in Schedule 112A. It used to be optional last year. Instead of reporting every transaction you could just report the aggregate value. But it is not optional anymore. This increases the burden on the tax payer especially if you have made a lot of small transactions.
...continue readingMoney Is Infinite. But Time Is Limited
I used to have a comfy and very well paying job until I decided to retire early in 2018. I can't imagine why anyone would give up such a good job and ridiculously good benefits that I used to enjoy at work. But at some point in life, it is conceivable that one could slip into philosophy. That happened to me. Money has never been a primary motivation for me, but it did enjoy some importance in my life. After my philosophical journey, money seems so insignificant and unimportant. Don't get me wrong. You need a handsome amount of savings to even consider early retirement. But having made enough, even more money did not make sense at all.
...continue reading