Top 10 personal finance blogs globally and why I love them

So happy to say 3 top personal finance blogs are from India.  Indian blogs Bemoneyaware, Jago Investors and Basu Nivesh in the top the list! not being partial at all!

There are several blogs I follow globally, many of them I like just because they maintain a consistency on the subject they cover. Mostly very niche, within the personal Finance, they chose a topic – example – budgeting, loans, spending, investments or insurance. Based on their content, alexa and Moz ranking I have curated  a list of 10 personal finance blog you must have a look. The blogger in the personal finance list belongs to Asia, Europe, Canada, US even India.

1.       The Penny Hoarder - In 2017, Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. for the second consecutive year, and #25 on the overall list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. With over 12-17 million reader per month and 1.2 million subscriber, they are in top of their game. The Founder and CEO of the blog, Kyle Taylor is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the founder & CEO of The Penny Hoarder. The blog cover huge array of topics from freebies, discount deals. The blog makes money interesting, catchy and funny.

     This blog enjoys an amazing ranking of 3,686 in the United States and global ranking of         14,637

2.       Bemoneyaware Being an Indian, its giving me great pleasure to list this blog on the top. The author, Kirti is a mother of 2 kids and a software professional. Having faced difficulty in the financial processes, in field of investing and other mundane transactions, she decided to start this blog, and this is one of the highest  ranking blog in India as well as globally.

     #The top Indian personal finance blog currently enjoys a Indian Rank of 5275 and a                  global rank of 68,800

3.       Jago Investor – An Indian finance blog, founded by Manish Chauhan and Nandish Desai in 2008) with the aim to educate more and more investors and improve their financial life by imparting financial education among them. They have been writing about personal finance and have been conducting various workshops in different indian cities. They have also authored various personal finance books. They work with clients across India from various cities and have a 10 member team across Pune and Ahmedabad.

The team has written 1000+ articles, 7 books amongst many other achievements.  

      Did you choose your car insurance or just bought it? 

    #The top personal finance blog enjoy an Indian ranking of 12750 and global ranking of             163,000 in Alexa

4.  Get Rich Slowly - J.D. Roth. I founded Get Rich Slowly in 2006, published Your Money: The Missing Manual in 2010, created the year-long “Get Rich Slowly” course in 2014, and for four years contributed the monthly “Your Money” column to Entrepreneur magazine. In 2009, for reasons both personal and financial, I sold Get Rich Slowly — but stuck around as manager, editor, and primary writer until 2012. Then I “retired”. (Sort of.) In October 2017, he bought Get Rich Slowly back. The Canby, Oregon born founder has been featured On Forbes.

       #Listed on the top 10 #personal finance #blog, currently enjoys US Ranking – 21,200               and global ranking of 80,000.

5.  Basu Nivesh – This is Indian Finance blog is authored by Basavaraj Tonagatti. In his blog, he mentioned that the blog originated from the idea of educating people on personal finance. Apart from being a successful blogger with a big follower list, he is one of the few celebrated Fee Only advisers. (SEBI registered advisor). The blog is 8 year old and doing a great job on creating financial awareness amongst Indians. 

Did you choose your car insurance or just bought it? 

     This Indian personal Finance blog enjoys Indian ranking of 5,942 and a global ranking          of 78,500

6.       FrugalWoods - Liz, better known as Mrs. Frugalwoods, writes about a wide range of topics, including her experiences as a young  parent, her adventures as a novice homesteader, and the financial decisions that made our life possible. Her philosophy is that managing money wisely enables one to pursue unusual aspirations and opens up a world of options for how to live one’s life. She covers a wide range of category including biking, home improvement, health and beauty, holiday and special. Her blogs are engaging and makes me click every hyperlink.

      The blog has a US ranking of 44,000 and Global ranking of 1,96,000

7.       Oblivious Investor  - This one essentially is an investment blog. The author Mike Piper is a CPA and the author of several personal finance books. The point of this blog is to show that investing doesn't have to be complicated. He dedicates this blog to spreading the idea that investment success is based upon following a few principles: Diversifying portfolio, minimizing cost and avoiding media noise.

      The blog enjoys a US ranking of 50,833 and Global ranking of 2,38,800

8.       Afford Anything – The beauty of the blog lies in its name- Afford anything. Accrding to the blogger -  Afford Anything is a movement rooted in one idea: You can afford anything, but not everything — and that’s true not only for your money, but also your time, focus, energy and attention.

The author Paula Pant has an elaborate CV to flaunt. Besides being the founder of  the award winning  website AffordAnything.com and a writer she is a speaker specializing in money, business and real estate investing.She has been featured more than four dozen major publications, including Forbes, Fortune, Money.com, AOL DailyFinance, Marketplace Money and many more.

She’s contributed to dozens of major websites, including U.S. News, AARP Bulletin, MSN Money, Bankrate, Hotpads, Trulia, Huffington Post etc.  She is the Budgeting and Personal Finance Expert for About.com.

     The blog enjoys US ranking (on Alexa) 42,725 and global ranking of 1,61, 600

9.     My Money Blog – The blog is run by Jonathan, based in United State and I've been sharing about money since 2004. He is a self-directed investor, financial freedom enthusiast, and calls himself a perpetual learner.  He is running the blog for 13 years.

      Enjoys a US ranking of 30,674 and a global ranking of 131,485

10.   Budgets Are Sexy – It is a 10 year old blog. Blogger blogs with the name J. Money. The blog covers savings, money management and tips. Budgeting is an important part in the blog.

      The #Top personal finance blog enjoys a US ranking of  27,895 and global alexa ranking        at 129,700

   As you are a special reader who have read the whole blog post, you deserve more. Here you go with one more blogpost which I really like for the money management lessons. 

    
       Squawkfox  - The Author Kerry is a  Financial Journalist and author of of 397 Ways to Save Money. She is a world renouned blogger, and known for her fun approach to personal finance writing reaches an audience of millions around the globe each year and inspires readers to become financially independent. Based out of Torronto, she is a personal finance columnist, TEDx speaker, a money expert on CBC’s On The Money, and a contributor to the Globe and Mail. She has appeared on lifestyle shows The Marilyn Denis Show, Canada AM, and CTV’s Your Morning.

      US Ranking of 89,000 and global ranking of 316,500

Hope you make use of the information from the blogs listed here. I also read many more interesting international blogs which are very interesting, may not have as many followers and views as above blogs. Those personal finance blogs There are many more useful personal finance blogs, let me know if you want to know more about them.

Mutual Fund NFO – Indiabulls Equity Hybrid Fund details and review

New Fund offer by Indiabulls, let us have a look at the details of the offer.

Mutual Fund	Indiabulls Mutual Fund
Scheme Name	Indiabulls Equity Hybrid Fund
Objective of Scheme	The Scheme seeks to generate periodic return and long-term capital appreciation from a judicious mix of equity and debt instruments. However, there can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Scheme will be achieved. The Scheme does not assure or guarantee any returns.
Scheme Type	Open Ended
Scheme Category	Hybrid Scheme - Aggressive Hybrid Fund
New Fund Launch Date	22-Nov-2018
New Fund Earliest Closure Date	06-Dec-2018
New Fund Offer Closure Date	06-Dec-2018
Indicate Load Separately	Entry Load: Not Applicable Exit Load: •
Minimum Subscription Amount	Rs. 500 and in multiples of Re. 1 thereafter

Source - Amfi 

What is a Mutual Fund NFO - A new fund offer occurs when a fund is launched, allowing the firm to raise capital for purchasing securities. Mutual funds are one of the most common new fund offerings marketed by an investment company. The initial purchasing offer for a new fund varies by the fund’s structuring.

Did you choose your car insurance or just bought it? 

Important part of the SID Scheme Information Document

Check SID document in detail

Type of scheme - An open ended hybrid scheme investing predominantly in equity and equity related instruments. Hybrid Fund would have an equity allocation of 65% - 80% & debt allocation of 20% - 35%. The scheme aims at providing dual benefit of Wealth generation through investment in equities and lower volatility through investment in debt.

Investment Objective -  To generate periodic returns and long term capital appreciation from a judicious mix of equity and debt instruments. However, there can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Scheme will be achieved. The Scheme does not assure or guarantee any returns.The scheme will offer both direct and regular opton

Where will the scheme invest?

·         In the equity segment, fund intends to invest in Automobile, Banking, Financial Services, Metals and Energy. In the defensive side, it intends to invest in FMCG, IT and Pharma.

·         In the debt segment it intends to buy AA and above rated debt papers. The portfolio allocation likely to be 20-35%

Who will manage the fund?

The fund management includes the following team members-

Fund Manager	Brief Experience
Sumit Bhatnagar Head Equity (For Equity Segment) Age – 40 years Qualification - MBA (Univ. of Toronto), CFA (USA)	Mr. Sumit has 15 years of experience in Banking & Capital Markets. Prior to joining Indiabulls, he has worked with SEBI for close to 4.5 years in Investment Management Department. He has also worked in Banking Industry in retail and corporate assets. Sumit has been with Indiabulls since February 2009.
Vikesh Gandhi Age – 41 years Qualification – M.Com, University of Mumbai, MBA (Finance & Accounting), University of Hartford, USA	Mr. Veekesh Gandhi has more than 10 years of experience in the field of finance. He was earlier associated with DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd, SSKI Securities and Motilal Oswal Securities, wherein he was responsible for tracking the BFSI sector and research on investment ideas.
Malay Shah Age – 39 years Qualification – B.Com, MMS Finaance	Mr. Malay Shah has 15 years of experience in the field of finance. He has exposure to Debt – Dealing and Fund Management. Prior to joining Indiabulls Mutual Fund, he was working in the capacity of Head – Fixed Income with Peerless Funds Management Co. Ltd, managing all the debt Schemes.

Mymoneystreets Take –

Indiabulls Mutual Funds, is one of the fast-growing young Mutual Fund company with an AUM of about 10 thousand crore. Indiabulls Mutual Fund was launched in the year 2008. Indiabulls Mutual Fund has 4 existing equity funds and 7 debt-oriented funds in the kitty. The fund is suitable for investors with moderate to high-risk appetite with an investment outlook of 5-8 years horizon, highly recommend the SIP mode for the investment.

This category has many funds who are doing well. It is just one more addition. However, Fund managers well equipped to get good value to the investors. The view on investing this fund is neutral.

Read the SID carefully before investing, if you are a new investor, take suggestions from a financial advisor.

NFO – Review – DSP Blackrock Healthcare Fund closing on 26th November

Mutual Fund NFO Details - DSP Blackrock Healthcare Fund 

Mutual Fund	DSP Mutual Fund
Scheme Name	DSP Healthcare Fund
Objective of Scheme	The primary investment objective of the scheme is to seek to generate consistent returns by predominantly investing in equity and equity related securities of pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. However, there can be no assurance that the investment objective of the scheme will be realized.
Scheme Type	Open Ended
Scheme Category	Equity Scheme - Sectoral/ Thematic
New Fund Launch Date	12-Nov-2018
New Fund Earliest Closure Date	26-Nov-2018
New Fund Offer Closure Date	26-Nov-2018
Indicate Load Separately	Entry Load: Not Applicable, Exit Load (as a % of Applicable NAV) Holding period from the date of allotment:<= 12 months – 1%, > 12 months – Nil. Note: No exit load shall be levied in case of switch of investment from Regular Plan to Direct Plan and vice versa.
Minimum Subscription Amount	Rs. 500/– and any amount thereafter.
For Further Details Please Visit Website	www.dspim.com

Source - Amfi 

What is a Mutual Fund NFO - A new fund offer occurs when a fund is launched, allowing the firm to raise capital for purchasing securities. Mutual funds are one of the most common new fund offerings marketed by an investment company. The initial purchasing offer for a new fund varies by the fund’s structuring.

Did you choose your car insurance or just bought it? 

Important part of the SID Scheme Information Document

Type of scheme - An open ended equity scheme investing in healthcare and pharmaceutical sector

Investment Objective - The primary investment objective of the scheme is to seek to generate consistent returns by predominantly investing in equity and equity related securities of pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. However, there can be no assurance that the investment objective of the scheme will be realized.

Where will the scheme invest?

-          It will invest in Equity and equity related securities, government bonds, NCDs, short term deposits, InvITs, REITs

-          a sector specific Scheme, shall focus on investing in pharmaceutical, healthcare and associated companies as mentioned earlier, keeping ‘S&P BSE Healthcare Index’ comprising of 64 stocks.

Who will manage the fund?

The fund management includes the following team members-

Fund Manager	Brief Experience	Other schemes
Aditya Khemka Age – 37 years Qualification - B.Com, M Sc Finance, MBA from MDI (Gurgaon)	Over 11 Years of experience. October 2015 to present: Assistant Vice President - DSPIM. From February 2014 - October 2015: Pharma Analyst – Ambit Capital Private Limited. From November 2013 to February 2014: Pharma Analyst - Antique Stock Broking From April 2008 to November 2013: Pharma Analyst – Nomura Structured Financial Services	Nil
Vinit Sambre Age – 43 years Qualification – B.Com, FCA	Over 19 Years of experience from January 2010 to present: Vice President - DSPIM. From July 2007 - December 2009: Assistant Vice President - DSPIM. From November 2005 to June 2007: Assistant Vice President - Global Private Client with DSP Merrill Lynch	Co-Fund Manager - DSP Small Cap Fund and DSP Mid Cap Fund
Jay Kothari (Dedicat ed Fund Manager for overseas investments) Age - 37 years Qualification - Bachelor in Management Studies (BMS) Mumbai University MBA (Finance) - Mumbai University	Over 14 years of experience as detailed under: From 2010 to present – Vice President in Equity Investments and a Product Strategist at DSPIM From 2005 to 2010 – Mumbai Banking Sales Head at DSPIM From 2002 to 2003 - Priority Banking division at Standar	Fund Manager for DSP World Agriculture Fund, DSP World Mining Fund, DSP World Energy Fund and DSP World Gold Fund Co-Fund Manager for DSP Focus Fund, DSP US Flexible* Equity Fund, DSP Equity Savings Fund, DSP India T.I.G.E.R. Fund (The Infrastructure Growth and Economic Reforms Fund), DSP Regular Savings Fund, DSP Equity Opportunities Fund, DSP Global Allocation Fund, DSP Natural Resources and New Energy Fund, DSP Midcap Fund, DSP Small Cap Fund, DSP Top 100 Equity Fund.

Mymoneystreets Take –

DSP has a proven track record in India. Their funds DSP Tax Saver, DSP Midcap small cap is known best for the prudent fund management approach. However, Blackrock has sold their stake in DSP this year and we need to keep a watch on the performance. However, they have a decent asset size, moderately aggressive approach in the fund management. Additionally, Pharma sector in last 2 years has seen a bumpy ride and company with quality balance sheet and operational efficiency trading at an attractive PE. The stocks are trading 20-30% lower than their yearly high

Word of caution - This is a thematic fund, sector concentration is very high. Investors who already has existing exposure in diversified equity such as Large-cap/ Mid-cap – small cap funds and balanced funds can look for an extra exposure. Other than market related risks, the sector funds are cyclical in nature and gives a volatile return, ideal for 3- 7 years exposure and in SIP format.  Also, diversification is a key to good healthy portfolio.

Take on Fund manager

The fund is managed by first time fund manager Aditya Khemka, supported by Vinit Sambre with 20 years of experience, also fund-manager for the star fund – DSP Small cap fund.  The third manager has a big portfolio of many funds as well as dedicated fund manager for overseas investments.

Read the SID carefully before investing.

7 business ideas with low or no investments India

Buy your insurance carefully

India has evolved, and come far way from a mindest to secure a govt job or atleast at a service of Tata , Birla or State Bank of India. Oh I absolutely love the baby boomer generation, because of their steady income and savings habit, they are today financially secure, they are encouraging and supportive of the next generation to starting up their own ruther than pestering them to look for a suitable job.

The millennial are more and more liking the idea of starting their own business. The idea of starting up a new business is awesome. It is not easy to think of  breaking away from traditional family business or giving up a day job, especially starting a new business involve research, investment, human capital and lot of courage. However, in this post I would like to list down some no or low cost business ideas, which can ofcourse be scaled-up with investment and deploying resources. Mind you, still need to have courage to start up, research for your positioning and consistent efforts to scale-up

1. Content creation, blogging and vlogging - This is a huge and evolving industry, thanks to the ever growing internet usage and media consumption. Even twitter and Instagram can earn you money. If you like writing - short stories to economics, you can get freelance assignments of content writing. There are many agencies in the market. You can start your own once you are little comfortable with the idea. You can even have a blog of your own. To begin with you can have a blogger or wordpress account for free. You may even start writing before opting for a hosting service and a domain name.  If you are you-tuber, bingo, the world is your oyster. A good video which can fetch thousands of view, can fetch a good advertisement money as well as paid/ sponsored content. Being a Youtuber and blogger are serious career. You can also use it as extension of your profile if you dont even want to monetise it.

                                        

                                                      photo - steemit.com

2. Private tutorial - You dont need to teach in a school for this. This will essentially be driven by your interest in a particular subject or a overall training skills. You can have a day job of an engineer, Accountant or a sales manager for that matter. You can use with word of mouth, leaflet distribution and few youtube video classes for initial promotion

3. Translation and transcription services - 

The growing marketing and information distribution needs are opening up this arena. The marketers and communication professionals wants to go hyper local, in local as well as international market. Talking to the target audience in their language keeping their ethinicity and culture has become a priority. In this scenario, the translators have a huge potential for business, and If you are a multi lingual, especially with foreign languages like Japanese, Mandarin, you are in for a kill. Just spreading the word in the right places.

4. Financial adviser/ planner  - you dont need to be finance MBA or a chartered accountant. But, you need to clear a few tests to become SEBI approved financial planner. Additionally, you need to have inclination to have the passion for profession. It is not just selling the product or making instant money, if you like the idea of money management, you can give it a try. It entails lot of deliberation and counselling. It is a business of trust, it has a huge potential in India, if you have the intent.

5. Public relation consultancy - true. Yet it is a mainstream profession. Before jumping into any conclusion, it is a very specialised service and you need to have some exposure to the sector with education/ internship and job in corp comm/ PR Consultancies for experience as well as the networking ability. 

bollywoodshaadis.com

6. Mehendi or Tattoo artist - you can simply begin this by basic networking with friends and family. It doesnt require significant investments to start. You may consider high end tattoo machine, listing your services in premium websites, having a portfolio once you have started off and comfortable in your zone. 

7. Art and craft classes - Are you a painter? And have never took the step to make it your profession? Are you passionate about DIY crafts? Most of your free time spent in checking youtube for suggestion. Here you have a idea. You can have a class for yourself. You can begin with a summer camp for kids, a video channel and even a at-home sale for your family and friends. It doesnt have any significant expenses. You can use your existing resources to begin with.

This list can extend to photography, career consultancy, life coach, beauty salon, online bakery, baby sitting etc which will be little expensive yet not an exorbitant money.

Choosing these careers are not sheer happenstance. These businesses can begin with low investments. Each of the above business idea has great potential.but however each needs research, extensive study, understanding market and indomitable entrepreneurial zeal to make it bigger. Starting up is difficult but it is easier than maintaining the momentum, keeping the spirit high through the ups and down.