What Investment mistakes you made that you want others to avoid?

It did in march april 2020. Did you invest back then?
Excellent time mate
Still better than keeping your money in just a savings account for non-risk takers. At least 5% is a fixed return. Axis bank gives 5.75% for 1yr 25 days FD. Pretty good for short period. There maybe better offers ofc.
The inflation & TDS eats most of it, unless you give 15G/H
Debt based MF will give better returns + no pre-withdrawal penalty
 
check their past performance & make decision accordingly.
Well intentioned, but incorrect advice.

Checking past returns may work for equity (it doesn't, but it's a decent enough metric to look at), but if you look at performance in Debt, you're likely to end up with Credit Risk and/or Long term funds. So you shouldn't check the returns before having checked the risk profile and maturity profile.

Avoid credit risk fund. Just think they don't exist. If you see category as credit risk, just don't look further, don't even look at the returns, just move past that fund.

Then check the average maturity. Buy a fund with average maturity slightly lower than your expected holding period. If you intend to hold your investments for 2 years, buy something with average maturity of 18-20 months. If you intend to hold for 5 years, but something with average maturity of 3-4 years. If you intend to hold for >5 years, then don't look at the returns 1 year from now and start worrying if it's low. MF returns are never linear. Just let it be.

If you don't know your holding period, then sit down and have a good think about why you are investing money. Think till you have reasonable idea about your holding period. Then invest.
 
Navi Nifty index fund has low TER as compared to the competitors. Has anyone shifted to Navi yet or waiting for more data regarding tracking error etc.?
 
Well intentioned, but incorrect advice.

Checking past returns may work for equity (it doesn't, but it's a decent enough metric to look at), but if you look at performance in Debt, you're likely to end up with Credit Risk and/or Long term funds. So you shouldn't check the returns before having checked the risk profile and maturity profile.

Avoid credit risk fund. Just think they don't exist. If you see category as credit risk, just don't look further, don't even look at the returns, just move past that fund.

Then check the average maturity. Buy a fund with average maturity slightly lower than your expected holding period. If you intend to hold your investments for 2 years, buy something with average maturity of 18-20 months. If you intend to hold for 5 years, but something with average maturity of 3-4 years. If you intend to hold for >5 years, then don't look at the returns 1 year from now and start worrying if it's low. MF returns are never linear. Just let it be.

If you don't know your holding period, then sit down and have a good think about why you are investing money. Think till you have reasonable idea about your holding period. Then invest.
Can you also write about government bonds, would like your take on it as an investment option.
 
My 2 cents
Long lock in period
No compounding benefit
Does not beat inflation
Most bonds are taxable
Are they better than mf for short term, less than 5 years?

Also I'm really noob at this and i know there's probably none still just gonna ask it, is there any decent investment option that is low-medium risk and gets close to beating inflation?
 
Are they better than mf for short term, less than 5 years?

Also I'm really noob at this and i know there's probably none still just gonna ask it, is there any decent investment option that is low-medium risk and gets close to beating inflation?
Consider me a fellow noob bro. Low risk-medium term can never beat inflation unfortunately until and unless there is a black swan event. I am also looking for something similar for senior citizens.
 
Debt funds have not been performing in the past couple of years due to low interest rates (but it is rising now). A better option is to invest in Secured bonds at Wintwealth. These are short term bonds usually 1-2yrs and limited quantities are issued from time to time but the returns are around 9.5-11.5% depending upon the bond. Obviously it comes with the risk of the company not able to repay in time and you have to wait for insolvency proceedings to end to get your money back. And as always, do your own research first and don't just blindly follow my advice.
 
Can you also write about government bonds, would like your take on it as an investment option.
Are they better than mf for short term, less than 5 years?

Also I'm really noob at this and i know there's probably none still just gonna ask it, is there any decent investment option that is low-medium risk and gets close to beating inflation?
I don't know much about government bonds since from the very beginning of my career, I focused on online modes of investments. But if you want low risk investment for medium term, invest in short term bond funds.

Government bonds are long term, hence their prices fluctuate a lot due to interest rate movement. They are low risk if you intend to hold them to maturity, not otherwise.

If your holding period is greater than 2 years, short term bonds funds are decent option. They won't beat inflation at the current levels, but in normal times, they can keep pace.
 
Were you investing in any other Nifty index fund earlier? How is the tracking error?
How do you measure tracking error? You need historical daily NAVs and index price for measuring tracking error. This data is available to anyone, regardless of weather you hold the fund or not. So you can check for yourself. Even if you're holding it, you'll have to go through the same process to know the tracking error. He won't know just because he's invested in the fund.

To calculate tracking error, just create a list of daily returns for both assets, take the difference of returns and calculate the standard deviation of this series. That's your tracking error.
 
How do you measure tracking error? You need historical daily NAVs and index price for measuring tracking error. This data is available to anyone, regardless of weather you hold the fund or not. So you can check for yourself. Even if you're holding it, you'll have to go through the same process to know the tracking error. He won't know just because he's invested in the fund.

To calculate tracking error, just create a list of daily returns for both assets, take the difference of returns and calculate the standard deviation of this series. That's your tracking error.
I get that but since he is investing in it, I thought that he might have noted that.
Is there any website which measures the tracking errors of various funds?
 
Seemingly, Crypto was a miss for me even though lot of investment opportunities arrived and i let it stray away.. again, i was driven by lot of socio-uncle gentlemen's who said crypto is just another scam.. should i had invest early in crypto, i would have been living my life now..
 
Seemingly, Crypto was a miss for me even though lot of investment opportunities arrived and i let it stray away.. again, i was driven by lot of socio-uncle gentlemen's who said crypto is just another scam.. should i had invest early in crypto, i would have been living my life now..
I got crypto investment offers back in yr 2k13...way ahead of its popularity but then I was jobless so obviously cant even think risking savings in the unknown...
 
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