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Advice

Bucket Strategy Deployed In Retirement Needs A Refill Rule

A retirement bucket strategy feels reassuring: keep a couple of years’ expenses in debt and leave the rest in equity. But the real challenge begins once that safe bucket starts getting spent. When should it be refilled—and from where? Without a clear replenishment rule, the investor is forced to decide when markets are “good enough” to sell equity, introducing market timing and emotion into what was meant to be a simple strategy. A hybrid fund addresses this through automatic rebalancing—selling some equity after rises and moving money from debt into equity after falls. Truth be told, the bucket is only ...
Advice

The Gambling Problem Hidden Inside F&O

Kiran, a young Gen Z employee, was drawn to option buying by a social media “educator” who made it look like a low-risk way to make quick money. After losing money, he traded more to recover his losses, increased the size of his bets and eventually borrowed to continue. His debt became so large that his parents had to sell family jewellery to bail him out. Kiran’s story is far from unusual. A SEBI study released in August 2026 found that 88% of individual traders lost money, while 97% were primarily or exclusively option buyers. Many continued trading after losses, ...
Banking

Financially Free – What Next?

I spent years helping clients achieve financial freedom, but after selling my startup, I realised I had never asked myself what I wanted to be free for. Over time, I learnt that money is rarely about returns alone. It is about what those returns make possible — the freedom to choose how we live, work, spend our time, and pursue what truly matters. Financial freedom answers one question: “Will I have enough?” But the more important question is: “What will I do when I no longer have to work?” Purpose need not be grand. It could be family, mentoring, learning, ...
Advice

Regular to Direct Plan Switch: Is a Tax Levy Justified?

Ramesh had invested savings through his bank’s relationship manager in several below-par investments, including life insurance policies and mutual fund schemes. After reviewing his portfolio through an online analyser, he was advised to exit several investments but retain amounts in two mutual fund schemes, with one change: switch both from regular plans to direct plans to save the distributor commission paid to the bank. Then came the surprise. One retained scheme had a substantial capital gain. Ramesh was told that switching from regular to direct would be treated as a sale, triggering capital gains tax. He was puzzled. He was ...
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Secret Link

Vigilance Awareness Week 2025 (VAW2025)

Vigilance Awareness Week 2025 is being observed from October 27th to November 2nd, 2025, with the theme:

सतर्कता: हमारी साझा जिम्मेदारी (“Vigilance: Our Shared Responsibility”).

All stakeholders are encouraged to participate in the e-pledge initiative by visiting the CVC portal: https://pledge.cvc.nic.in/.