tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-283104092026-04-27T13:06:00.635+05:30Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.comBlogger3431125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-68356947593507116162026-04-27T10:25:00.012+05:302026-04-27T10:31:09.555+05:30

When to invest in mutual funds vs direct stocks?Reasons to invest through mutual funds instead of stocks1. International market- You can invest in China, US, Taiwan, Japan, Europe and other markets through Indian mutual funds, because buying stocks directly in these markets is a complicated process. Also we won't have time to track so many markets and make buy/sell decisions. Indian mutual funds

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-73593584927778151082026-04-19T10:21:00.003+05:302026-04-19T16:27:40.401+05:30

Corporate car lease program is projected as a tax saving option. Because lease rental paid is excluded from your taxable income, employees get to save some 30-33% right away if they are in highest tax bracket. But truth is only 2% of cars sold in India are sold on lease. Why aren't salaried folks rushing to take cars on lease instead of buying them with the post tax income?This is because there

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-63881683786280546202026-04-18T09:39:00.006+05:302026-04-18T09:41:44.557+05:30

Relying on salary income alone is very risky- we may lose jobs at any moment. Lots of young professionals get into spending spree once they get a job and fall into endless EMI trap buying expensive phones, bags and things they don't need or can't really afford.A wise individual would start planning for passive income- income that keeps coming in even if you sit idle and do nothing. It is not

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-64753531323074856162026-04-11T11:56:00.004+05:302026-04-16T08:46:22.340+05:30

If you are planning to visit Guruvayur temple in Kerala, below are the essential things you should know. Reaching Guruvayur: You will not find direct bus to Guruvayur from big cities like Bengaluru or Mangaluru. Thrissur is the nearest town (25 kms from Guruvayur) well connected by train and bus network. Get off here and arrange your transport to Guruvayur (Govt buses and local trains

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0Guruvayur, Kerala, India10.594561 76.0368701-17.715672836178847 40.8806201 38.904794836178844 111.1931201tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-20833880120585020692026-04-11T11:39:00.009+05:302026-04-11T11:46:49.510+05:30

If you are visiting Thrissur, Guruvayur and have an extra day or two half days to spare after visiting key temples, below are some places worth visiting, within 20 km radius.#1 Punatthur Kota: About 15-20 Elephants are housed in the campus- we can't go close, no feeding, no rides either. Can take a walk and watch them from distance and come back. 20 INR per person ticket and parking extra.&

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0Guruvayur, Kerala, India10.594561 76.0368701-17.715672836178847 40.8806201 38.904794836178844 111.1931201tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-10807658367292865142026-04-08T21:38:00.008+05:302026-04-09T07:53:45.180+05:30

If you are a working professional in your 30s and 40s, particularly in private job, investment advisors will be after you to buy their pension plans. They present it as a solution to get steady pension income when you retire.Below is how most pension schemes workYou invest a fixed amount every year for a pre-determined duration (ex: 2 Lakh every year for 10 years), total 20 lakhs you've to commit

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-86245805682223606922026-04-07T11:32:00.002+05:302026-04-07T11:32:26.874+05:30

Kairali Tourist Home can be your preferred stay option while visiting Guruvayur. My experience staying here for 2 nights is as below:Good things:About 400 meters from main Guruvayur temple, walking distanceAC & NON AC rooms at reasonable price - around 900 (non AC) to 1500 (AC) per dayDecent roomsUnlimited drinking water Decent restaurants within 500-600 meters Kairali Tourist home

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0West Nada, Guruvayur, Kerala 680101, India10.5972979 76.0370698-17.712935936178845 40.8808198 38.907531736178846 111.1933198tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-6839934945020461722026-04-07T09:50:00.007+05:302026-04-07T11:09:36.966+05:30

We traveled to Guruvayur in Kerala from Udupi on Harmony travels. This post shares our review.While we were planning a visit to Guruvayur, it was too late to book a train ticket, so we had to look for bus option. I explored different operators- KSRTC (Karnataka) didn't have any sleeper service between Udupi and ThrissurKSRTC (Kerala) also didn't have any sleeper service between Udupi &

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0Thrissur, Kerala, India10.5241176 76.2120649-17.786116236178845 41.0558149 38.834351436178849 111.3683149tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-46316767810978425532026-04-01T09:08:00.006+05:302026-04-01T11:27:23.605+05:30

In this post, I will list my findings on which all mutual funds gave me best returns in 2025-26. The list only contains select funds I invested and doesn't cover all options available in the market. I've put small amounts in multiple mutual funds to explore which one gives better returns. This year I plan to consolidate- exit funds which are giving negative returns and less than 5% even after 1

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-17231764319746591322026-03-29T20:47:00.004+05:302026-04-19T17:36:21.467+05:30

Having taken over 6 learning lessons (1 in Prestige Augusta, Prestige Golfshire, Clover Greens Hosur, Zion Hills - Kolar, 2 at The Lalit, Goa), I finally decided to play the full game. (I had booked to play a full game at Prestige Augusta, but they said they don't have anything for rental and I can't play unless I bring everything myself) Expenses involved in playing golf:Green fees: Covered

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com2Raj Baga, Palolem, Canacona, Goa 403702, India14.991011 74.040168999999992-13.319222836178845 38.883918999999992 43.301244836178846 109.19641899999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-2071277957966559952026-03-26T17:36:00.004+05:302026-03-27T08:08:08.512+05:30

Dividend is a key part of investing in stocks- for long term investors, dividend ensures a steady inflow of money while their capital is held up in stocks.However, dividend is not guaranteed income. Many companies do not even give dividends. Dividend also varies year by year depending on a company's profit and what portion of that board of directors decide to give it back to shareholders vs

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-32797793575780379842026-03-26T07:36:00.004+05:302026-03-27T08:08:28.168+05:30

India's banks- both private and PSU banks have a dozen different charges on various services they offer- but there is almost near zero clarity on these charges when you try to login to net banking and try to optimize your account usage to avoid additional charges.These charges are extremely complicated to keep track of and there is no clear visibility as to what applies to your account, what is

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-10256391583855465652026-03-24T08:31:00.006+05:302026-03-24T08:36:40.095+05:30

I have written earlier about St Denis (Reunion island)- a french colony in the African continent [Details here]Air Astral used to operate direct flight between St Denis and Chennai, for a pretty reasonable price. But sometime during COVID the flights stopped. Now the direct flights have stopped, Air Austral still sells tickets but now via Bangkok and a return ticket costs more than 1500 Euros or

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0Saint-Denis, Réunion-20.9202586 55.5136433-49.230492436178849 20.3573933 7.3899752361788451 90.6698933tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-28498429022455454572026-03-24T07:31:00.005+05:302026-03-24T07:34:32.224+05:30

Today income taxpayers do not get any benefit as they are too few in number to have any impact on vote bank politics. About 1.5-2% of Indians pay income tax and they pay more than all corporate pay together as corporate tax. But tax payers get no considerations in day to day life.If I were the finance minister of India, I would roll out following benefits to income tax payers.  Benefit 1:

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-1582714965300893392026-03-23T08:38:00.001+05:302026-03-23T08:38:01.396+05:30

Every article on financial websites insists we should keep investing in SIPs despite market tanking every other day.Let us understand why everyone insists we keep insisting- market will collapse otherwise. FIIs are selling consistently and without SIPs, mutual funds will not have money to buy those shares. This would result in further crashes, which has its own pros and cons...Pros- From one

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-3095963736242297152026-03-19T08:37:00.004+05:302026-03-27T08:50:29.870+05:30

Online platforms make us believe products are cheaper there, because unlike physical stores, online stores do not need to pay huge rent on physical stores, staff etc. People believed this story and have started buying everything online. But online stores have their own cost component physical stores don't have and hence most online stores show inflated price, fake discounts and change a final

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-26480018651403952662026-03-18T15:27:00.002+05:302026-03-26T15:39:09.650+05:30

 If you're wondering where to go in 2026, below map depicts current situation.Middle east is a NO NO due to ongoing war & airport closuresChina is reported moving its military assets near Taiwan- [Details here] not sure when this will escalate into a war.Cuba, central America is tricky as Trumph said USA may target Cuba next. Mexico had a cartel issue, Venezuela already under stress&nbsp

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-17538218685499270482026-03-15T09:03:00.004+05:302026-03-27T08:50:46.589+05:30

When stock market is crashing, panic clouds our decision making. We are unable to decide and often end up taking wrong decisions. Here are a few things we can and should do when there is too much crash.#1 Book loss and save on capital gain taxThis is applicable if you've already booked some profit during the financial year. All short term capital gain is taxed at 20%. Long term gain beyond

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-54965268085506169822026-03-15T08:22:00.007+05:302026-03-27T08:54:25.350+05:30

ICICI Bank has an RD (Recurring Deposit) scheme called iWish. ICICI Bank iWish lets you set a goal and credit a specific amount monthly for a pre-defined duration, bank ads a bit of interest on top of money you added and at the end you will have total amount to fulfill your planned goals.I tried this iWish feature but there are a few basic issues that bank needs to fix.ICICI Bank iWish issue 1:

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-10346682293599181342026-03-14T16:06:00.006+05:302026-03-27T08:54:37.596+05:30

 Having only 1 bank account for all your transactions is a huge risk. Here is whyHackers may gain access to your account and empty itIf a cyber crime is reported say on some UPI transaction, police may order banks to freeze all accounts to which that UPI account sent money or received money, and your entire account may get frozen, locking your fundsYou will be asked to give your bank account

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-80897438619517842052026-03-14T11:13:00.013+05:302026-03-14T17:10:00.231+05:30

If you have already planned an international trip or planning one for 2026, what to do now considering the current ongoing war in middle east and fuel crisis around the world?The answer depends on multiple factors- explained in this reel below [watch on instagram] or read the detailed analysis in the post below. Checkpoint 1: Have you already booked your flight, stay etc? If Yes, read

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-17613240710907517602026-03-11T10:07:00.003+05:302026-03-14T17:07:42.365+05:30

While there're lots of campaigns promoting Mutual fund, not much is promoted about ETFs of exchange traded funds.This post shares the difference between ETF and Mutual Funds Main advantages of ETFs:- We can buy/sell ETFs at market price or can put a limit order (like SELL if it reaches 105 INR, buy if it reaches 95 INR)- For those who can track the market actively, good at taking calculated

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-19220971026372564932026-03-01T18:12:00.002+05:302026-03-01T18:12:26.853+05:30

Japan return tickets are available for under 40k if you can plan 6 months in advance. While low cost airlines are selling for under 40k for select dates in October, November, even full service airlines are available for under 50k INR return.If Japan is on your mind, start planning.Japan airline and ANA also offer direct flights from Mumbai/Delhi for under 40k during their offer periods.Read my

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com2Tokyo, Japan35.6764225 139.6500277.3661886638211556 104.493777 63.986656336178847 174.806277tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-3174340993459391412026-02-28T16:28:00.005+05:302026-02-28T18:48:10.338+05:30

UNI Gold card is a credit card operated by a startup but the cards are issued either by Yes Bank or BOB (Bank of Baroda). You can manage the card through Uni app and don't necessarily have to open any account with Yes Bank or Bank of Baroda.I applied for it after recommended by a friend, Venugopal, for benefits of zero forex charge and easier reward points. What is unique about UNI Gold card

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28310409.post-74728722812531070192026-02-25T19:37:00.004+05:302026-02-25T19:38:12.083+05:30

Spent 2 nights at Hotel Plaza Avenue in Deralekatte on the outskirts of Mangaluru.Good things about Hotel Plaza Avenue: Budget room: Room under budget, about 900 INR per night. I checked price on Makemytrip, Goibibo, got lower price on Goibibo, hence booked through them.There is one veg restaurant in ground floor and several non-veg restaurants, often flooded by college students. Veg

Shrinidhi Handehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00875443161762278339noreply@blogger.com1beside NITTE University, near yenepoya hospital, Deralakatte, Ullal, Karnataka 575018, India12.8109945 74.882678500000011-15.499239336178846 39.726428500000011 41.121228336178845 110.03892850000001