Posts tagged with "asset-allocation" - page 2


  • A Reader's Dilemma

    From time to time I get emails from readers of my blog asking me for some advice or suggestions regarding their situation. Most of them are not unusual and a general advice does suffice. So usually they are not worthy of a blog post. But every once in a while you get some really interesting questions and that’s exactly what happened a few days ago. A reader wrote to me asking for some advice and I responded. Then I felt like it may be useful advice if there are others in a similar situation. Also I wrote a lot about my own thoughts about why I am unschooling my daughter and what the repercussions could be. So I thought I should copy-paste my response here in my blog. With the reader’s permission I am reproducing our conversation with some information redacted.

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  • Tactical Asset Allocation vs Fixed Allocation

    If you have been reading my blog for some time you probably already know that my asset allocation changes based on market conditions. I have my own set of rules using which I decide whether to be equity heavy or debt heavy. Of course there is no secret sauce involved you can do the same with data available on the internet. My question however is whether it is worth doing tactical allocation or is it just better to follow a fixed asset allocation plan. That is what I set out to find and here are my findings.

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  • Sensex Touched 60,000. What Should I Do Now?

    I never imagined that BSE Sensex (Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index) would touch 60,000 so soon! Especially given the uncertainty due to COVID-19 pandemic. It took just 8 months to go from 50,000 to 60,000. Which is a 20% gain in that short duration. We have all heard of stock markets giving great returns, but this one is special because it is happening at a time when economic situation isn’t that great and we are still fighting a virus without cure. Oh well. Markets will do what they do best – surprise everyone. So what should an investor do in such a situation? My response may not give the answers you are looking for, but that doesn’t stop me from writing now will it?

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  • Follow-up to Virtual Meetup #6

    Thank you to everyone who joined virtual meetup #6. As usual, we had some lively discussions. This post is a follow-up to that meeting to answer any questions that I could not answer at the time. So here goes –

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  • Asset Allocation After Retirement

    What asset allocation should you go for after retirement? That is not a common question I hear from readers of my blog because most of them are still in the accumulation phase and don’t have to worry too much about retirement yet. But it is something that I struggle with myself from time to time since I am already retired. If you are close to retirement or are already retired, maybe this post will help. In case you don’t already know what an asset allocation means, please read my post on it.

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  • How and When I Decided To Retire

    A friend and reader of my blog asked me this question -- I don't know if you covered this in the blog, but could you write about how you arrived at a number for net worth where you felt comfortable retiring. I have written about my retirement journey which is scattered across many posts. So I thought I should consolidate and revisit the topic for the benefit of new readers.

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  • Learnings From 2020

    The year 2020 has been special in many ways. We have seen something that was unprecedented not only in my life, but even during my parents life. Who would have ever imagined a lock-down of the whole nation for example? Many things were a first in 2020. While the year was not too bad, I did have a few learnings. In this last post (hopefully) in the year review series, I want to go over my learnings. Pretty much all my issues and the resulting lessons were related to Franklin :).

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  • Year In Review – 2020 Net Worth

    Continuing on with the year in review series, next up is net worth. This year I wanted to make a small change to my net worth calculations. For the last 2 years I have included my US stocks (employee stocks) as part of my net worth. That has caused a lot of confusion to my readers. While my company stocks in the US are worth something, I am planning to keep it out of the reviews. That corpus is supposed to be used for my international (mostly US) vacation. So no point dragging it into net worth calculations.

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  • Year In Review – 2020 Returns

    At the start of every new year I review my portfolio and take stock of my expenses, returns and net-worth. So just like last year I am reviewing my returns for 2020. This is the first of the year in review series. I will also post my expenses and net-worth reviews in upcoming posts. Without wasting too much time, lets get right to it.

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  • 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.

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