09 Feb

Benefits and Challenges of Using a Credit Card

By Kaleem Mushtaq

Credit card is a very useful financial innovation. It enables you to carry out transactions without having to physically carry money or even without having that money for a limited period. It gives you convenience and safety. The use of credit cards originated in the United States during the 1920s, when individual firms, such as oil companies and hotel chains, began issuing them to customers for purchases made at company outlets. The first universal credit card, which could be used at a variety of establishments, was introduced by the Diners’ Club in 1950.

07 Feb

How Stock Market Works and How to Work in Stock Market?

By Kaleem Mushtaq

Some 400 years ago, the first stock market was created in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Dutch East India Company became the first publicly-traded company in 1611. The New York Stock Exchange was established in the late 1700s. The idea of the stock market has played a pivotal role in the evolution of the business to where it stands today. Especially, conducting big business was not possible without the existence of stock market.

By the way, just have a look at the featured image on top of this post and read on. I will talk about it at the end of this article.

05 Feb

How to Compare Equity and Real Estate as Investment Options?

By Kaleem Mushtaq

When it comes to wealth creation, predominantly, there are two options available: equity (shares or stocks) and real estate (finished and raw).

Although there are many other avenues that people like to consider e.g. precious metals, forex, commodities, art, paintings, and some new ones as well, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). By and large, these are speculative products and you make money only when someone pays you more than what you bought them for, which may or may not happen. In between, you are left to fend for yourself.

03 Feb

Retirement Planning

By Kaleem Mushtaq

Hopefully, you are healthy and working in a job or doing a business. You are earning satisfactorily and generally, have enough for the month. You have some savings for rainy days as well. You are married and have growing kids with growing needs.

You don’t worry much about your routine expenses, although it’s tight. But when it comes to achieving your long-term financial goals e.g. buying a house, if you don’t have one, kid’s education and their marriage, etc, you don’t have a clear vision. You don’t feel as energetic as you used to, in your 30s and 40s. However, your routine expenditures are increasing and your major financial goals are approaching fast.

01 Feb

Debt, Equity, and Real Estate: An Overview

By Kaleem Mushtaq

Whenever you think of committing your surplus capital to a product with the expectation of a regular income or creating wealth, you will have a range of options to choose from. However, these options will fall in one of these three categories: debt, equity, or real estate.

Although there are other options available like gold, cryptocurrencies, commodities, forex, and some other fancy names, those do not fall in the purview of this article.

31 Jan

Anatomy of Financial Risk

By Kaleem Mushtaq

Understanding what constitutes financial risk and what doesn’t, can be extremely empowering. Many people, while being reckless about money, honestly believe they are taking risk which, in their reckoning, is a prerequisite for winning big. On the other end of the spectrum, it is often confused with volatility, some degree of which is inevitable, rather healthy.

Let’s discuss various dimensions of financial risk.

30 Jan

Why I Started a Blog on Personal Finance

By Kaleem Mushtaq

I have recently retired from a government job. About 5 years ago, as the retirement was nearing, I started thinking about my personal finance and how I should go about planning my retirement. I spent hours reading the material available on the subject. My main source of research was the internet. I keenly observed the financial behavior of people around me. I also looked inwards and critically reviewed my relationship with money. I thought about how I had taken the important financial decisions during my working life. Whether my decisions had stood the test of time or not.

29 Jan

A Brief History of Money

By Kaleem Mushtaq

The history of money can be traced back to a time when one of the early humans received a product or service from a fellow human and reciprocated with another product or service. Money continued to change with the evolution of humans up to its present form. It started with a simple barter, passed through various shapes including stones, pieces of metal, stamps, paper, and has now reached fiat and cryptocurrencies.

26 Jan

Investment vs Speculation

By Kaleem Mushtaq

You must have heard the term “investment”, often being used loosely. But when it comes to financial parlance, this has a specific meaning. It is usually confused with another similar term: “speculation”. But why is it even necessary to know the difference? After all, the ultimate purpose is to make money, isn’t it? If you think so, you might be asking for trouble. The purpose of writing this article is to explain the difference and to suggest a way of how to handle these two.

25 Jan

Personal Finance – A Suggested Checklist

By Kaleem Mushtaq

Whenever you are executing a complex operation e.g. surgery, flying an airplane, or constructing a bridge, it is extremely important to follow a system, a process, or an organized way of going about it. This is what Atul Gawande has outlined in his book: “The Checklist Manifesto”.

Personal financial matters are no different. If you want to avoid financial accidents and want to smoothen the ride through your financial journey, a checklist offers a good solution.