-
Are 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 reading -
Building 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 reading -
Tax 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 reading -
Money 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 -
The Minimalist Wardrobe
If you have read the post on my expenses, you would have noticed "wardrobe" expenses conspicuously missing. I quietly shoved them into the miscellaneous expenses. Still, a few people noticed and asked me -- "what about your clothing, shoes etc expenses". Well, I am not much of a shopper and after the brush with minimalism, the desire to buy more clothes has vanished into oblivion.
...continue reading -
SEBI Modifies Multi-cap Fund Classification
What happens when a regulator tries to over regulate? This happens.
...continue reading -
How And Who Should Pay Advance Tax
I just payed my second installment of advanced tax, so I thought I will write down the procedure. It will be like a reference for me in the future and might help some one as well. It is actually a pretty simple process that does not really warrant a post, but here we go anyway.
...continue reading -
How To Make Bio-Enzymes – Part II
This post continues from where I left off on Bio Enzymes. If you have not read that post, please start there. Once you have prepared the bio-enzyme, you can bottle them for different uses. I am including a video (see end of the post) showing the same.
...continue reading -
Real Estate Investment vs Equity Investment
While you know my aversion to real estate investment in India, I don't discourage anyone from investing in it. If you don't mind the corruption related to property deals, you might make more than simply investing in equity and debt mutual funds. But before you decide which way to go, make some informed decisions. In this post I will try to simplify some calculations which can help you guide in the right direction. I will also mention some risks involved in each of those asset classes.
...continue reading -
Risks Of Wrong Financial Planning
It is now more than 2 years since I officially retired. But unofficially I have retired in Jan 2018. I had accumulated the required retirement corpus by Dec 2017 and I could retire at the beginning of 2018. But for reasons best described in one of my earliest posts, I decided to delay my retirement date by 6 months. The way I decided when I was ready to quit was based on the 4% rule. Since it's been only 2.5 years, I can't say for sure if the 4% rule is working or not. We will have to wait and see at least 10 years really. But ideally you will have to wait until I am dead to see if the corpus really lasted that long.
...continue reading
