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If you have goals, you should be a goals-based investor

Investing anything time, effort, or money sacrifices short-term rewards for a long-term payoff.  Whether you are HNI or not, be it any type of investment, sometimes investors lose sight as to why they’re investing.  Goals-based investing offers a useful structure to map out concrete investment goals, prioritize them, build portfolios to meet them, measure progress against them, and make adjustments (if necessary) to stay on track. The benefits of setting goals extend to investing by improving investor behavior and increase the likelihood of financial success. What is goals-based investing? Goals-based investing is a framework to translate financial goals into  forecast future expenditures and  allocate money to separate portfolios  designed to meet those specific goals. An investment without a goal is like a traveler without a destination. SMART framework help establish clear goals. Prioritize goals based on necessity and time horizon: High-priority goals are th...

Life is Poker (Not Chess)

Reading Time: 10 minutes. Why are we so bad at separating luck and skill? Why are we so uncomfortable knowing that results can be beyond our control? Why do we create such a strong connection between results and the quality of the decisions preceding them? How can we avoid falling into the trap of the Monday morning quarterback, whether it is in analyzing someone else’s decision or in making and reviewing the decisions in our own lives? Poker vs. Chess Chess, for all its strategic complexity, isn’t a great model for decision-making in life, where most of our decisions involve hidden information and a much greater influence of luck. This creates a challenge that doesn’t exist in chess: identifying the relative contributions of the decisions we make versus luck in how things turn out. Poker, in contrast, is a game of incomplete information. It is a game of decision-making under conditions of uncertainty over time. The quality of our lives is the sum of decision quality plus luck. Von Neu...

Building wealth to ignite “FIRE”

“Greed is good” said Gordon Gekko in Hollywood movie “Wall Street”. Wealth and accumulating it is considered as an occupation of capitalists and is often seen in a negative connotation. I have heard stories of how parents forbid their grown-up kids from investing in the stock market, equating it with a den of speculation. Is the pursuit of wealth an endeavor, which is smeared with greed and negative karma. My profession includes investing in the stock markets - the temple of capitalism - gives me an opportunity to interact with different people, who are rationally expected to always keep maximizing their wealth. Everyone wants to get a slice of the wealth creation with greed and fear being an integral part of the ecosystem. So what is wealth building and how is it related to Financial Independence. What is this new cult “FIRE” (an acronym for Financial Independence Retire Early) all about? FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE Wikipedia defines Financial independence (FI) as the status of hav...

Don't sell anything you wouldn't buy yourself - Charlie Munger

I recently read the book 'Poor Charlie's Almanack - The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger ( famously known as Charlie Munger) . Warren Buffet would not have achieved success without Charlie Munger with him. This book is about the life of Charlie Munger, his approach to learning, investing, his speeches, and much more. The real joy of studying Warren and Charlie is not that one can learn a great deal about how to compound money at a high rate for an extended period- though this certainly is a nice side benefit! Rather, by absorbing their teachings, one will gain a far deeper understanding of the human condition, the state of the world, how to think rationally, and most importantly, how to better lead a life of integrity, happiness, and kindness (here's a hint: these characteristics are intertwined). This post is gonna be a little long (8 minutes read), so hang on.  My learnings from this book: Charlie Munger in his own words would tell you: Acquire worldly wisdom and adjus...

6 Behavioural Biases in Investing

You may contact me in case you need to ask or tell me something. I am waiting to hear from you. Stay home! Stay safe! Thank you very much for your time! With respect, Aaditya Chhajed CA, CFA(US) All Levels Cleared, MCom E: chhajedaaditya@gmail.com M: +91-9404055222. Instagram: @chhajedaaditya  Aaditya is the founder of Aaditya Chhajed Financial Advisory Services, a Financial Planning and Wealth Management Firm. He loves helping family, friends, and, clients make better financial decisions.  He believes learning is perpetual.  He loves reading books, traveling around the world. He is a commerce postgraduate and Chartered Accountant. He has also cleared all levels of CFA(US) in the first attempt.    Disclaimer: Investors should seek the advice of their financial advisor prior to making any investment decision based on this report or for any necessary explanation of its contents. Future estimates mentioned herein are personal opinions and views of the author. ...

It's not too late...Save Tax (Create Wealth too!)

Time flies...but it's not too late to save tax. You can create wealth too! Paying tax on hard-earned income is painful. For the financial year ended on 31 March 2020,  if taxable income is INR 5,00,000 then no tax; if taxable income is INR 5,01,000 then tax will be INR 13,208. You still have time until the end of this month,  to reduce your taxable income by up to INR 1.5 lakh under section 80c of the Income Tax Act, in case you have not already done so. Individuals and HUFs can avail of this benefit. Tax-saving investment options include: Fixed deposits PPF - Public Provident Fund NPS- National Pension System NSC - National Savings Certificate ULIP- Unit Linked Insurance Plans ELSS Mutual Funds According to your   age,  risk profile,  and other investment objectives; we can help you to  choose investment(s) which benefit you in terms of: Greater opportunity to create wealth Less lock-in period Low tax on income from Be proactive. For the current financia...

Now's the time to...

These are exciting times. Indian Equity markets benchmark Sensex had come off from 42000 to 26000, now sharply risen to 37000. The buzz is palpable, and making a quick buck seems rather easy. We present a three-point strategy on what investors must do now. Cleanse your portfolio: Remember that sure-fire stock tip your friend told you about. The hidden gem which was supposed to be the next big story, but never quite took off as expected. Instead, it ended up as one of your worst investments. Or that trendy thematic mutual fund which your broker promised would be the ticket to your financial nirvana . But sadly, the fund failed to deliver on the return front and your broker failed to return your calls when quizzed about its performance. Now is the time to cleanse your portfolio of such investments. Rising markets provide the perfect opportunity to make up for incorrect investment decisions, and that too at a profit.  It is important that your investment portfolio is only made of aven...