Guides
A growing collection of how-to guides and reference notes.
- How to start your first SIP (mutual fund) in India
Step-by-step procedure for starting your first SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) in a mutual fund in India. Covers mandate registration, first installment, NAV applicability, and tracking the first debit confirmation.
- How to set your SIP amount from goals (mutual fund)
Step-by-step procedure for deriving your monthly SIP amount from financial goals. Covers the future-value formula, the assumed return, inflation adjustment, and a worked example for retirement and child-education goals.
- How to set up your first liquid fund investment (emergency corpus)
Step-by-step procedure for setting up your first liquid fund investment in India. Covers the emergency-corpus use case, instant-redemption framework, comparison with bank savings, and the post-Finance Act 2023 tax treatment.
- How to set up your first international mutual fund investment (India)
Step-by-step procedure for setting up your first international mutual fund investment from India. Covers FoF route, SEBI foreign-securities cap, currency risk, and the tax treatment of international FoFs.
- How to set up your first index fund investment (India)
Step-by-step procedure for setting up your first index fund investment in India. Covers index selection (Nifty 50, Nifty Next 50, Nifty 500), tracking error, expense ratio, and the simplest passive investment setup.
- How to set up your first hybrid fund investment (India)
Step-by-step procedure for setting up your first hybrid mutual fund investment in India. Covers aggressive vs balanced advantage vs multi-asset, the simplified-portfolio advantage for first-timers, and the tax treatment.
- How to set up your first equity fund investment (India)
Step-by-step procedure for setting up your first equity mutual fund investment in India. Covers scheme selection within equity categories, plan and option choice, and the simple equity starter template.
- How to set up your first ELSS investment (Section 80C tax-saver)
Step-by-step procedure for setting up your first ELSS (Equity Linked Savings Scheme) investment in India. Covers the Section 80C deduction, 3-year lock-in, old vs new tax regime considerations, and the scheme selection framework.
- How to set up your first debt fund investment (India)
Step-by-step procedure for setting up your first debt mutual fund investment in India. Covers debt sub-categories, the post-Finance Act 2023 tax treatment, and the conservative starter template.
- How to set up SWP (Systematic Withdrawal Plan) for mutual funds
Step-by-step procedure for setting up an SWP (Systematic Withdrawal Plan) in a mutual fund. Covers the retiree-cash-flow use case, fixed-amount vs fixed-units variants, tax efficiency vs IDCW, and the corpus-longevity calculation.
- How to set up STP (Systematic Transfer Plan) for mutual funds
Step-by-step procedure for setting up an STP (Systematic Transfer Plan) in a mutual fund. Covers the staggered-equity-entry use case, source-target scheme selection, frequency, and the tax treatment of each transfer.
- How to set up step-up SIP (top-up SIP) for mutual funds
Step-by-step procedure for setting up a step-up SIP (also called top-up SIP) that automatically increases the SIP amount annually. Covers the percentage / fixed-amount choice, mandate ceiling planning, and the power-of-compounding effect.
- How to set up a UPI Auto-Pay mandate for mutual fund SIPs
Step-by-step procedure for setting up a UPI Auto-Pay mandate for recurring mutual fund SIP debits. Covers the in-app OTP authorisation, ceiling configuration, supported banks, and the comparison with NACH eMandate.
- How to set up a flexible SIP (variable-amount SIP)
Step-by-step procedure for setting up a flexible SIP (also called Flex SIP or Variable SIP) where the installment amount can be varied month-to-month within a pre-registered ceiling. Covers AMC availability and mandate planning.
- How to set SIP frequency for mutual fund SIPs (monthly, weekly, quarterly)
Step-by-step procedure for choosing your SIP frequency (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly) for mutual fund investments. Covers the empirical comparison, cash-flow alignment, and the simple default for most investors.
- How to set off mutual fund capital losses in ITR
Step-by-step procedure for setting off mutual fund capital losses against capital gains in ITR. Covers same-FY offset rules (Section 70/71), short-term vs long-term distinctions, and the order of offset.
- How to sell an ETF on NSE
Step-by-step procedure for selling an ETF on NSE / BSE secondary market. Covers limit order placement, iNAV reference, settlement timeline, and the tax treatment.
- How to select an international mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting an international equity mutual fund. Covers fund-of-fund structure, geography choice, USD-INR currency exposure, RBI LRS interaction, and the tax treatment.
- How to select an index mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting an index mutual fund. Covers expense ratio comparison, tracking error, index choice (Nifty 50, Nifty Next 50, Nifty 100, Nifty 500), and the ETF vs index fund trade-off.
- How to select an ELSS (tax-saver) mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting an ELSS (equity-linked savings scheme) mutual fund. Covers SEBI categorisation, 3-year lock-in mechanics, scheme selection criteria, and the regime trade-off.
- How to select a small-cap mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting a small-cap equity mutual fund. Covers SEBI categorisation, liquidity considerations, AUM cap, drawdown profile, and the satellite allocation rationale.
- How to select a multi-cap mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting a multi-cap equity mutual fund. Covers SEBI's mandatory 25/25/25 allocation, the difference from flexi-cap, and the forced-diversification implications.
- How to select a mid-cap mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting a mid-cap equity mutual fund. Covers SEBI categorisation, benchmark comparison, drawdown tolerance, fund manager continuity, and the volatility-return trade-off.
- How to select a liquid mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting a liquid mutual fund. Covers credit profile, expense ratio, Instant Redemption Facility, yield-to-maturity, and the role as emergency-fund / cash-parking vehicle.
- How to select a large-cap mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting a large-cap equity mutual fund. Covers SEBI categorisation, benchmark comparison, expense ratio, fund manager continuity, and the active vs index trade-off.
- How to select a hybrid mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting a hybrid mutual fund (aggressive, conservative, balanced advantage, equity savings, arbitrage). Covers each sub-category, equity-debt mix, tax treatment, and the use cases.
- How to select a flexi-cap mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting a flexi-cap equity mutual fund. Covers SEBI categorisation, market-cap-agnostic mandate, manager flexibility advantage, and the core portfolio role.
- How to select a debt mutual fund
Step-by-step playbook for selecting a debt mutual fund. Covers SEBI's 16 debt sub-categories, credit profile, duration, yield-to-maturity, expense ratio, and the post-2023 tax treatment.
- How to save view in ChartIQ (Kite)
Step-by-step procedure for saving a ChartIQ view on Zerodha Kite. Covers the views feature (ChartIQ-specific), persistence, and the relationship with templates.
- How to save TradingView layouts and templates on Kite
Step-by-step procedure for saving TradingView layouts and indicator templates on Zerodha Kite. Covers layout (full chart state) vs template (indicator set), the apply flow, and the cross-platform sync.