SIP
Systematic Investment Plan. You put in a fixed amount every month, so you buy more units when prices are low and fewer when they are high.
Example: ₹5,000 a month into an index fund on the 5th.
Money School
Shares, mutual funds and insurance explained without the jargon. Take the daily quiz, flip the cards and try the SIP calculator. No account needed. Your streak stays on this phone.
Hi, I am Sai. Pick something below and I will show you around.
Daily quizOne question, keep your streak
FlashcardsFlip to learn the jargon
SIP calculatorSee compounding at work
Paper portfolioInvest pretend money
Guess the moveHigher or lower, tomorrow
Shares and funds pathGuided lessons, step by step
Indicator labRSI, Ichimoku and more, drawn
Glossary49 terms in plain English
Daily quiz
One question a day. Come back tomorrow to keep your streak.
Flashcards
Tap a card to flip it.
SIP calculator
An illustration of compounding at a rate you choose. It is not a forecast: real returns vary and can be negative.
Total value at the end
- You put in
- Growth at that rate
Paper portfolio
You get ₹1,00,000 of pretend money. Split it across five things, then play twelve made-up months. The events are invented to show how different holdings behave. They are not predictions, and no real money is involved.
Guess the market move
Pick whether the Nifty 50 will be higher or lower on a later trading day than it is right now. For fun only: nobody can reliably predict the market, and this is not a forecast or a tip. Levels are delayed.
Loading the Nifty level.
Shares and funds path
Short lessons in plain English, each with a quick check. Education only: nothing here tells you what to buy.
Fund cost calculator
See what a higher expense ratio does to the same SIP. It assumes the fund earns the same return before costs. It is an illustration, not a forecast.
Indicator lab
Indicators are maths on past prices. They describe what already happened and often disagree with each other. This chart uses made-up prices, so nothing here is a signal, a tip or advice. Press New chart for a different random market.
Read the indicator
A new chart appears with one indicator switched on. Say what it reads for the last candle. This is about reading the tool, not about predicting the price.
Call the next move
The chart is cut off at a random point. Use the indicators if you like, then guess whether the price will be higher or lower fifteen days later. Notice how often a clean-looking setup does not work.
Or practise on a textbook setup. Each gives you a chart where the signal has just appeared:
Glossary
49 terms. Filter by topic or search.
NAV
Net Asset Value. The price of one unit of a fund: the value of everything the fund holds, minus its costs, divided by the number of units.
Example: A fund with ₹100 crore of assets and 5 crore units has an NAV of ₹20.
Expense ratio
The yearly fee a fund charges, as a percentage of your money in it. It is taken out of the fund's value, so you never see a bill. Direct plans charge less than regular plans.
Example: 1% on ₹1 lakh is ₹1,000 a year.
Direct plan vs regular plan
Both invest in the same portfolio. A regular plan pays a commission to the distributor from the fund's fee, so its expense ratio is higher. A direct plan has no commission.
Example: The same fund, two NAVs: the direct one is higher over time.
Index fund
A fund that simply copies an index such as the Nifty 50, with no manager picking stocks. Costs are usually low.
Example: An index fund holds the same 50 companies as the Nifty 50, in the same weights.
ELSS
Equity Linked Savings Scheme. An equity fund with a three year lock-in. Under the old tax regime, money put in can be claimed under Section 80C up to the limit. The new regime does not allow this deduction.
Example: Check which tax regime you are in before counting on the saving.
Exit load
A fee charged if you sell units before a set period. Many equity funds charge about 1% if you sell within a year.
Example: Selling after 6 months from a fund with a 1 year exit load costs 1%.
AUM
Assets Under Management. The total money a fund or fund house looks after.
Example: A fund with ₹10,000 crore AUM.
Large cap, mid cap, small cap
SEBI ranks listed companies by market value. The top 100 are large caps, the next 150 are mid caps and the rest are small caps. Smaller companies can grow faster and fall harder.
Example: Large caps are household names; small caps are often less known.
CAGR
Compound Annual Growth Rate. The steady yearly rate that would take you from the starting amount to the ending amount over the period.
Example: ₹1 lakh becoming ₹2 lakh in 6 years is about 12.2% a year.
XIRR
A yearly return figure that allows for money going in on different dates, which makes it the right number for SIPs.
Example: Use it, not CAGR, to judge a SIP.
Lump sum
Putting in the whole amount at once rather than in instalments.
Example: Investing a bonus of ₹2 lakh in one go.
Liquid fund
A fund that holds very short term debt. It is used to park money for days or months, not for growth. Returns are not guaranteed.
Example: A place to keep money you may need in a few weeks.
Compounding
Earning returns on your earlier returns. The longer you stay invested, the faster the total grows.
Example: ₹10,000 at 10% a year becomes about ₹26,000 in 10 years.
Rule of 72
A quick estimate of how long money takes to double: divide 72 by the yearly rate.
Example: At 8% a year, about 9 years.
Inflation
The rise in prices over time. It makes the same money buy less each year, so savings that grow slower than inflation lose value.
Example: A ₹100 item costing ₹106 next year means 6% inflation.
Emergency fund
Money kept aside, usually three to six months of expenses, for job loss or medical bills. It is kept somewhere safe and easy to reach.
Example: Keep it away from stocks.
Asset allocation
How your money is split between types of investment such as shares, bonds, gold and cash. It is a main driver of how bumpy your returns feel.
Example: 60% equity, 30% debt, 10% gold.
Diversification
Spreading money across different investments so one failure does not sink you.
Example: Many companies in many sectors rather than one stock.
Sensex
The index of 30 large companies listed on the BSE. It is used as a quick read on how the market is doing.
Example: Sensex up 1% means those 30 companies rose about 1% in weighted terms.
Nifty 50
The index of 50 large companies on the NSE.
Example: Nifty falling 2% in a day is a sharp move.
Bull and bear market
A bull market is a long period of rising prices. A bear market is a long fall, often counted as 20% down from a peak.
Example: Bulls push up, bears swipe down.
Market capitalisation
The total value of a company's shares: share price times the number of shares.
Example: ₹500 a share with 10 crore shares is ₹5,000 crore.
P/E ratio
Price to earnings. The share price divided by the company's profit per share. It shows how much investors pay for each rupee of profit. A high number is not automatically bad or good.
Example: A price of ₹200 and profit of ₹10 a share gives a P/E of 20.
Dividend
A share of profit a company pays to its shareholders. Not every company pays one, and it can be cut.
Example: ₹5 per share on 100 shares is ₹500.
IPO
Initial Public Offering. The first time a company sells its shares to the public. Listing gains are not guaranteed.
Example: Read the offer document before applying.
Demat account
An account that holds your shares and bonds in electronic form, like a bank account for securities.
Example: You need one to buy shares on the exchange.
T+1 settlement
In India, a share trade is settled one working day after the trade: the money and the shares change hands then.
Example: Buy on Monday, shares in your demat on Tuesday.
Circuit breaker
A pause in trading when an index falls or rises by a set percentage in a day (10%, 15% and 20% stages), to let the market calm down. Individual shares also have daily price bands.
Example: It is a cooling-off pause, not a guarantee.
Stop-loss
An instruction to sell if the price falls to a level you set, to limit a loss. In fast markets the sale can happen below that price.
Example: Not a promise of the exact price.
F&O (futures and options)
Contracts whose value depends on an underlying share or index. They use borrowed leverage, so losses can be bigger than the money you put in. SEBI studies have found that most individual traders in them lose money.
Example: This is trading, not saving.
SEBI
The Securities and Exchange Board of India, the regulator for shares and mutual funds.
Example: Funds and advisers must be registered with it.
Premium
The amount you pay the insurer for the cover, monthly or yearly.
Example: ₹12,000 a year for a health policy.
Sum insured
The most the insurer will pay in a year for health cover, or the amount paid to your family on death for term cover.
Example: ₹10 lakh sum insured.
Waiting period
The time after buying a policy during which certain claims are not paid. Health policies have an initial wait, longer waits for named illnesses and a wait for existing conditions, which IRDAI now caps at 3 years.
Example: Read the list of waits in the policy wording.
Pre-existing disease
A condition you already had, or were told of, before buying the policy. Hide it and a claim can be refused. Tell the insurer everything the form asks.
Example: Honest disclosure protects your claim.
Co-payment
A share of every claim you pay yourself. A 20% co-pay on a ₹1 lakh bill means you pay ₹20,000.
Example: Lower premium, more cost at claim time.
Deductible
A fixed amount you pay before the insurer starts paying.
Example: With a ₹50,000 deductible, a ₹2 lakh claim pays ₹1.5 lakh.
Sub-limit and room rent cap
Caps inside the policy: a daily limit on room rent or a limit on one treatment. If your room costs more than the cap, the insurer may cut the whole bill in proportion, not just the room part.
Example: Check the room rent cap before you buy.
Cashless and reimbursement
Cashless means the insurer pays the network hospital directly. In reimbursement you pay first and claim the money back with the bills.
Example: Cashless works only at network hospitals.
Claim settlement ratio
The share of claims an insurer paid out of the claims it received. It does not tell you why the other claims were refused or how long payment took.
Example: A high ratio is useful but is not the full picture.
Free look period
A window after you get the policy, 15 days in most cases, in which you can return it and get your premium back with small deductions.
Example: Read the policy fully within this time.
Term insurance
Pure life cover. If you die during the term, your family is paid. If you outlive the term, nothing is paid back. It gives the largest cover for the smallest premium.
Example: ₹1 crore of cover for a modest yearly premium.
Endowment and ULIP
Plans that mix life cover with saving or investing. The cover is usually much smaller than a term plan costing the same, and charges can be high. Compare the total cost, not only the promised payout.
Example: Ask what the cover is per rupee of premium.
Surrender value
The money you get if you stop a savings policy early. In the first years it is often much less than you paid in.
Example: Do not buy one you may stop.
Rider
An optional add-on cover bought with a policy for an extra charge, such as critical illness or accidental death.
Example: Add only the riders you will use.
Nominee
The person you name to receive the money if you die. Keep it updated after marriage or a child.
Example: A missing nominee slows the claim.
Moratorium period
After 60 continuous months on a health policy, the insurer generally cannot refuse a claim for non-disclosure, except for proven fraud. Check your policy and the IRDAI rule that applies to it.
Example: Staying continuously insured matters.
Insurance ombudsman
A free dispute service for policyholders in India. You can go there if your insurer rejects or delays a claim and your complaint to it fails.
Example: Try the insurer's grievance team first.
This page is for education only. It is not investment, insurance, tax or legal advice, and it does not recommend any security, fund or policy. Saifu is not a SEBI registered investment adviser and is not an insurer, broker or insurance web aggregator, and it does not sell insurance or investments. Examples are illustrations, not promises. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks; read all scheme related documents carefully. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Rules, rates and product terms change, so check the current policy wording or offer document. Please discuss with a qualified financial adviser before taking any decision.
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