Random Ramblings

Credit card can be a wonderful thing. It can help you manage your cashflows, get some attractive deals and reward you with their loyalty program. Yet, credit cards don't come without its share of problems. And most of these problems are not about credit cards, but human behaviour. If not managed properly, they can soon lead you into a downward financial spiral which entails a never ending series of interest payments, balance transfers, bad credit rating, mental stress and more. So, it is important to handle credit cards with care and avoid credit card debt like plague.

Whether one admits it or not - most of our lifestyle needs are inflationary in nature. This is in addition to the inflation that affects our day to day lives. As life progresses one may feel the need to get better house, better cars, better facilities for kids, better vacations, more healthcare needs and so on. On few of the things where you were spending Rs. 100, you may be spending Rs. 200 two years later. And during this time the inflation may be like 5 percent. So, how does this translate into your financial plan?

What will you do if you get a windfall gain, of say USD 1 Million? Will you continue working or will you retire? Will keep working but be choosy? Will you switch to something more "meaningful"? Will you think of the next 9 million? Will nothing change in your life?

Link to original post A lot of buyers, especially first-timers, worry about whether or not they’re going about their home search the right way. On the one hand, buyers fret that if they find their "dream home" too early, they might be missing out on something better. But, on the other, if the process takes a while, they worry that they’ll never find a home that works for them. The FOMO is real. Keep reading to find out if you’re on track with your home search and what you should do if you find that you need to go back to the drawing board. How many homes should you see? Honestly, that depends. While we understand the impulse to try and rely on hard-and-fast statistics, homebuying is a truly personal experience rather than a science. Trust your intuition. You know your needs, likes, and dislikes better than anyone else. You’ll know when you’ve landed on the property that makes the most sense for you to call home. That said, though, there are a few

Read somewhere - "It is paradoxical that as our incomes rise, we find it more and more difficult to live within our means.  " ( Source ) We live in the age of abundance, where, more often than not, we have lot of options, many of which hadn't even existed few decades back. Yes we are often unhappy and keep longing for more. Got a car? Probably you'll want' a bigger one. And then even bigger, probably an SUV. And then probably a Audi or Mercedes or BMW ...  Wear a watch? You may want upgrade to a swanker one. And then probably something with a charismatic logo. With every increase in means, our goals also increase, usually disproportionately and our lifestyle upgrades. But at what cost? Does chasing all these lifestyle goals matter? Or, to what extent does it matter? Rather what really matters? Do we often ignore the trade-offs? Things or moments? Lifestyle trap or freedom that arises from financial independence? Showoff that five you adrenaline ru

Chasing returns is a good goal, but ... Are you underestimating the inherent risks while chasing lofty goals like - 18 percent annualized returns via equities? Or doubling your property worth in 5 years via real estate? Or hoping to double your money via cryptocurreny? Are you someone who looks at fixed returns instruments like FD/ PPF etc as something that is for losers? Well, I am no one so say which asset class will give what returns (except fixed returns instruments) but when you are "sold" something with a "grantee" of "assured" x% returns, do you see the risks? Or is seeing risks is for the boring or losers or unexciting people? When you are chasing 15  percent returns via equities, do you understand that there may be times when the returns may be higher but there may be times when returns may be lower, or even negatives. Historically it has always been good and will hopefully continue to be, but are you so over-enthusiastic that you e

Some time back, I happened to read an amazing book called The Power OF Habit by Charles Duhigg . Among many things he talks about in it, one is about different small cues/ triggers and mini-habits which can help shape up larger habits, hopefully for good. Since last couple of years, I have made a constant endeavor to be healthier than before and have cultivated some mini habits that have helped me achieve some of these goals. And I believe that these mini-habits have been quite helpful.  Here are some of the mini habits I tried to adopt while trying to make my lifestyle healthier. Restricting this to 3 for the sake of brevity.  1. Since some time (guess 2-3 years) I have a kind of "permanent alarm"set for 6 AM in the morning (which I disable only if there is some really important). This, on most of the days ensures that I am in a position to get up early, and hence, do some kind of workout. At least, lack of time is not a stopping factor most of the days. So far, it

"I want to save money and then travel the world" "I want to live life in the hills, without any worries" "I want to follow my passion, but my finances worry me" "I want to join an NGO and work pro bono, but I need to secure my family's financial life" What is the underlying thread connecting the above?  One of the possible answers is - the need for financial independence. One hears the term - "financial independence" not too infrequently these days, and this is often used very loosely. There are lot of people aspiring for it - some with all seriousness, some with half baked approach, many others with academic disinterest. And it is often uttered in the same breath as talking about home loans, car loans, personal loans etc. How do you define financial independence? It can have different meanings for different people. But the underlying theme in all of these is reaching the level of wealth where investments will be suffi

Over last 3 years or so, I have made conscious efforts to be in a better health and have taken some steps toward slowly reaching some milestones. There have been several small triggers for the same and several omens which pushed me towards pursuing a healthier lifestyle. While there is still a long road ahead, I believe that some habits which I have adopted are for good! So, While my weight was  in early-mid 90s back then (I stopped checking at around 93kg), it is now a shade under 80kg, and my BMI just under 25. From my peak to lowest in last few years, I must have shed 15 kg or so.  Just sharing few thoughts on this journey & the steps I took: Overhauling the diet - I believe that there are several good tasting things available and I can't have them all. So one can prioritize such that healthier things get more space in diet! I didn't reduce eating as such, but I have, to an extent, changed what I eat. Some of them are elaborated below. Reduced intake of sugar.

In one of the recent discussions I had, I heard an offhand remark, something like - "Even if stock markets give just 15-20% returns per annum, I am OK with it." How many of us, especially the ones who haven's seen too many downs in the stock markets think so? How many of us think that it is OK to take a debt/ loan (real/ virtual) put money in equity markets because we have been promised "assured" returns, which is like 15-20% according to conservative estimates. And how many of us think that this recent bull run will continue till eternity? Optimism is a good thing. But does it mean that we ignore the possible caveats? It may happen that the person who quoited the above will able to get more than "OK" returns, as he defines it. It may be possible that the returns will not be much "OK" or even not at all "OK". Most of us can't predict the future. Sure, there are many people who claim (some of them probably rightly!) to b