Brand new to money
Students and anyone starting from zero
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Every product you'll be offered belongs to one of five asset classes, sits under one of a handful of regulators, and fits somewhere in the order your money should flow. See the whole system, then zoom into any part of it.
Select an asset class to see what it's for, how risky it is, how it's taxed and which products belong to it.
Long-term growth that outpaces inflation.
Products in this class
Index funds and ETFs
Own the whole index at very low cost
Active equity funds
Large, mid, small, flexi-cap and more
ELSS
Equity fund with 80C benefit (old regime), 3-year lock-in
Direct stocks
Individual companies through a demat account
NPS equity
Up to 75% equity inside NPS
The order matters. Products come near the end, after the foundations that protect them.
Hand-picked routes through lessons, tools and checks for the moment you're in.
Students and anyone starting from zero
The first two years of working life
You have savings and want them to grow
Choosing a regime and using deductions well
Whether retirement is 10 or 35 years away
Education goals and teaching kids about money
Regulators and market institutions that protect your money, and whom to complain to when something goes wrong.
RBI
Central bank. Sets the repo rate, regulates banks and NBFCs, manages the rupee.
SEBI
Regulates stock markets, mutual funds, brokers and investment advisers.
IRDAI
Regulates insurance companies and products.
PFRDA
Regulates the National Pension System and Atal Pension Yojana.
NSE and BSE
Stock exchanges where shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives trade.
NSDL and CDSL
Depositories that hold your shares and securities electronically.
AMCs
Asset management companies that run mutual funds.
AMFI
Mutual fund industry body; registers distributors (ARN).
Credit bureaus
CIBIL, Experian, Equifax, CRIF: maintain credit histories and scores.
EPFO
Runs the Employees' Provident Fund and pension scheme.
Complaints about brokers, mutual funds or listed companies go to SEBI's SCORES portal; about banks, to the RBI Ombudsman; about insurance, to IRDAI's Bima Bharosa.