There’s a reason why Mint Money articles are shared widely and discussed thoroughly on social media. People are attached to their money, and they want to grow their wealth. Any article that supports their current investment or savings strategy is heralded; any advice that goes against their personal financial philosophy is cursed.
However, building wealth in India is not about spotting multibaggers. You have to spread your money across stocks and assets and avoid mistakes over the course of your investing life. This can only be done if you have the right knowledge.
This Mint collection puts together our in-depth stories on a range of personal finance topics, including investing ideas, mutual funds, early retirement, how to spot risks, finfluencers and more.
Is a ₹1-crore annual income enough? High earners speak out
What’s your dream salary? For many (including this author), ₹1 crore seems like a nice, round sum. But my dreams are someone else’s reality: Shipra Singh spoke to high earners, almost all of whom said they would like to earn more. You can deduce your own conclusions after reading this piece.
How to structure your salary to minimize tax liability
Whatever your salary might be, nobody likes to pay taxes on it. If you’re negotiating a new contract, Aprajita Sharma’s story is a timely one on how to structure your components in a way that will minimize your tax obligations.
10x in 5 years: How Radhika Gupta built a ₹1 trillion mutual fund company
Everyone wants 10x results. Few have achieved it like Radhika Gupta, CEO of Edelweiss Asset Management. Neil Borate speaks to Gupta on her journey as an executive, and details how she got Edelweiss some stellar results.
Budget ends tax arbitrage on MLDs. Market finds a clever workaround
Investors may not be able to stay ahead of the market, but they definitely are ahead of the authorities. Neil Borate and Satya Sontanam write about an incident where the central government had plugged a tax loophole — only for investors to find another way around it. Both authors do a great job in explaining a complicated financial instrument, and making the reader understand how investors outsmarted their way to better tax savings.
Where are India’s missing investment advisers?
Everyone loves doling out investment advice. Only a few do it as a profession — you need to be registered with the markets regulator. But over the years, stricter rules and guidlines issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has made life difficult for these registered investment advisors. Shipra Singh writes about the troubles of RIAs, and why many are leaving the profession.
Can a performance-based fee improve mutual fund outcomes?
Even when fund houses aren’t performing well, they charge fairly high management fees. Akshat Rohatgi writes about a possibility where these funds can only charge money based on the outcome. Theoretically, with money only certain when both the investor and the fund benefitting, this should lead to better results. An idea to ponder, indeed.
Meet India’s credit card nerds earning free foreign trips worth ₹25 lakh
For many people, credit cards are a hobby. They leverage this hobby to earn some money — or tickets, vouchers, coupons. Shipra Singh spoke to ‘credit card nerds’ who optimise their spends to the maximum permissible limit, and writes about their modus operandi.
HDFC Infinia reclaims top spot as Axis devalues Magnus credit card
A story in three parts:
- Mint Money covers the many benefits of Axis Magnus credit card, and titles it as the “best credit card” available today.
- Shortly after the article, Axis Bank devalues the card — reduces the offers and cashbacks that came with the plastic.
- After the devaluation, Shipra Singh does another evaluation, where HDFC’s Infinia card reigns supreme.
How India’s MF ecosystem has evolved since the 90s
India’s mutual fund houses have performed fairly well over the years. Sashind Ningthoukhongjam spoke to several veterans in the industry to chart out how it had changed over the years — from being distributed in the 90s to being bought over a click in 2023.
Why Porinju Veliyath is betting big on small and micro-caps
The Mint Money team publishes a series called ‘Guru Portfolio’, where they speak to prominent fund managers and heads at financial services firms to ask about their personal investment strategy. One portfolio stood out from the others: by Porinju Veliyath, founder of Equity Intelligence. Staying true to his company’s name, Veliyath allocates 100% of his personal investments towards equity stocks. What’s more interesting is the entire allocation is specifically towards smallcap stocks. Veliyath also doesn’t have a retirement plan, as opposed to other people who have been a part of this series.
How Navi Mutual Fund forces its users to share their contact lists
Even in the personal finance world, there’s a lot of scope for hard-hitting, investigative journalism. This story by Sashind Ningthoukhongjam is a good example why: Navi Mutual Fund forces its users to allow access to its personal details to check on their investments. After the story was published, multiple users came forth — some raised further objections, while others didn’t know this was an invasion of their privacy at all.
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