Buying Gold This Tihar? Jewellery Isn't the Same as Investing in Gold

 

In most Nepali families, gold isn't really a financial decision. It's a wedding gift, a mother's security, something you buy on Dhanteras because it's auspicious. I'm not going to tell you to stop doing that.

But I hear the same sentence every year: "Gold is the safest investment." Sometimes it's true and sometimes it isn't, and the difference mostly comes down to one thing. Are you buying gold, or are you buying jewellery?

Insurance Isn't an Investment (And Mixing the Two Often Costs You)

Almost everyone in Nepal has a relative or friend who sells life insurance. And almost every pitch sounds the same: "You get protection AND your money back with bonus! It's like saving and insurance together!"

It's a tempting idea. Who doesn't want both? But it's also where a lot of confusion, and a lot of disappointed families, starts.

This post isn't against insurance. Insurance is one of the most important parts of a money plan. It's against buying the wrong kind for the wrong reason.

Bonds and Debentures: You're the Lender Now

When you buy a debenture, you're lending money to a company. They promise to pay you interest regularly and return your money at the end. Simple enough.

The question is how sure you are that they'll keep that promise. And whether you'll be able to get your money out if you need it before the end.

Fixed Deposits: Look Past the Headline Interest Rate

Banks love to put the FD rate in big bold numbers on a banner outside the branch. Those numbers matter, but they're not the whole story.

Before you lock money away, here's what I'd compare.

Mutual Funds in Nepal: 5 Questions Before You Invest

If you don't have time to research individual companies, read annual reports and follow every NRB directive (which is most of us), mutual funds sound like the perfect answer. A professional picks the shares, you just invest.

Sometimes it really is that simple. Sometimes it isn't. Nepal's mutual fund market has grown a lot in recent years, and the funds vary widely in structure, cost and quality. Here are the questions I'd ask about any fund before putting money in.

Risk Tolerance: How Much Loss Can You Really Stomach?

Everyone is a brave investor when the market is going up. In 2021, when NEPSE crossed 3,000, it felt like nobody could lose. Then it fell, and plenty of "long-term investors" sold everything at the bottom.

Risk tolerance is what you find out about yourself when your portfolio is down 30%. It's better to think it through before that happens.

Diversification: Ten Hydropower Shares Isn't a Diversified Portfolio

I once saw someone's Mero Share portfolio with 14 different companies in it. They were proud of how "diversified" it was. Eleven of them were hydropower companies.

That's not diversification. That's one bet split into eleven pieces.

Compound Growth, Explained With Real Rupees (and Its Limits)

Compounding gets talked about like it's magic. There's even a quote, wrongly credited to Einstein, calling it the "eighth wonder of the world". It isn't magic. It's just maths, but it's maths that rewards patience more than almost anything else in personal finance.

In this post I'll show how it works with real rupee numbers, and then I'll be honest about where the neat examples fall apart in real life.