India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) print for the second quarter of the financial year 2025-26, at 8.2%, points to a full-year GDP growth rate of around 7.5% — making India the fastest-growing large economy in the world. While GDP is hot, Indian stock markets have been cool for a year, with the Nifty50 one-year return...
It is true that a happy economist is hard to find. Take the case of inflation. Grey heads were shaking just last year, stressing that inflation was too high. And now the same people are wrinkling their high foreheads about inflation that is too low. It is not just low, but items such as food...
Last month, I met two Lebanese women at a conference overseas. They were accompanying their businessmen husbands. We got talking and I found that they keep their money mostly abroad or in dollars and euros in cash at home. In 2019, the Lebanese government froze bank accounts, effectively locking over $93 billion of citizens’ money...
Stock markets go up and down. Investors who enjoyed the 20% plus a year returns for four years ending September 2024 are seeing red in their one-year returns on the Sensex but returns of two years are still in the 10% plus range. Held for five years, the returns are an impressive 16% average annual....
Hello! My blog hopes to empower you on your money journey. Each week I will decode, demystify and mark a trend that has to do with your money life. The format is one explainer and three questions answered. Write to me at mailme@monikahalan.com with questions you would like answered or things you want explained. Or...
Audio podcast with Aarati Krishnan of Hindu Business Line Episode 73: Personal Finance | Aarati Krishnan and Monika Halan, author and Chairperson, SEBI Committee for IPEF, talk about mutual funds and why they stand out as an excellent investment option for young investors. More
The Indian stock market rose 16% between March 24 and July 17, powered by a clutch of reforms, and fuelled by retail and foreign institutional investor money Stock markets make headlines when they either throw a tantrum and crash dramatically or reach lifetime highs. Gaining a breathless 16% from March 24 to July 17,...
The author and financial educator on how Indian retail investors can use mutual funds to make their money work for them, why passive funds are likely to see more action in the future, and to what extent you should believe financial influencers on social media Monika Halan’s last book, Let’s Talk Money, was a...
Monika Halan talks mutual funds, financial influencers and how to grow your money Her previous book, ‘Let’s Talk Money’, was a national bestseller. In it, Monika Halan offered a practical approach to financial security and how we can make our wealth work for us. Her latest book, ‘Let’s Talk Mutual Funds’, provides wealth of...
Turned Rs 30 lakh into Rs 2.3 crore. Ignore Sensex levels, and start investing. You believe you are the world’s unluckiest investor. Somehow your taking a step into the markets will make them go down. Apart from giving yourself too much importance, this line of thinking makes you stay on the sidelines and prevents you...