In 2024, with interest rates expected to go down, will debt funds take the crown? What is the outlook for gold and equities in 2024? Will gold continue to rally with geopolitical tensions rising? Will equities continue outperforming or take a backseat? This is where financial planning and asset allocation are important.
As an investor, your focus should be on financial planning and not chasing returns. The new year brings a lot of enthusiasm and optimism. Use this opportunity to streamline your financial freedom journey with these 12 financial planning rules.
Take expert help to make smart decisions
In this era of Do It Yourself (DIY) platforms, a qualified and experienced investment expert’s importance must be recognised. The expert can handhold you for listing financial goals, making goal plans, making investments, and regular reviews till the goals are achieved.
Adopt budgeting
Budgeting helps you free up financial resources for investing towards financial goals. For example, the 50/30/20 budgeting method allocates 20% of income towards savings and investments. Automate your investments through SIPs, and insurance premium payments through auto-debit instructions. Keep the SIP date around 2-3 days after your salary date so that the investments are taken care of, and you can spend the remaining amount on needs and wants.
Gain knowledge of risk and reward
Usually, the higher the risk, the higher the expected reward, and vice versa. An investment expert can help you identify suitable financial products based on risk, investment time horizon and other factors.
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Understand the impact of inflation and compounding
Inflation is a silent monster that erodes the value of your money. On the other hand, compounding, which Albert Einstein called the world’s 8th wonder, helps you grow your money. Long-term investing helps you benefit from the power of compounding and earn inflation-beating returns.
Set clear goals
You should set SMART goals: (S)pecific, (M)easurable, (A)chievable, (R)elevant, and (T)ime-bound. It helps pursue them till achieved. Setting up SMART goals will help you stay focused on achieving them.
Take informed risk
Taking measured risks in investments is important. Investing in a product that gives you 12% annual growth vs a low-risk product that gives you an 8% annual return can have a significant (2-3 times) impact on your final accumulated corpus. Take informed risk for your long-term goals keeping this in mind.
Build tax efficiency
While investing for goals, maximise the deductions under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. For example, a Nifty 50 Index fund (ELSS) can give an annual deduction of up to Rs. 1,50,000 compared to other Nifty 50 Index funds (non-ELSS). Similarly, you can save tax with NPS contributions (Section 80CCD), and health insurance premiums (Section 80D) for self and family.
Regular reviews
Sit with an investment expert to review the progress of your financial goals every 6-12 months till they are achieved. A review helps to replace underperforming investments with appropriate new ones.
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Don’t time the market
Time in the market beats timing the market. Rather than speculating on the entry and exit points, stay invested for the long term till your goals are achieved.
Invest systematically
The SIP mode makes you invest regularly in a disciplined manner. Using step-up SIPs, increase the monthly investment amount annually in line with your increasing income.
Focus on investing behaviour and process
Greed and fear are an investor’s biggest enemies. While investing, keep your emotions aside and trust the investment process to sail through the tough times and enjoy the good times.
Don’t chase returns
As long as your investment returns meet the expected rate of return in the long run, you don’t need to chase schemes with the highest returns in 1, 3, or 5 years. The table toppers will keep rotating every quarter. Adopt a strong investing process that provides resilience for staying invested despite market volatility.
The financial planning journey is a marathon and not a sprint. Hence, following these 12 financial planning rules will keep you in the race for the long haul till the financial goals are achieved.
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Mayank Bhatnagar is Co-founder & COO, FinEdge.
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Cornell University administrator Warren Petrofsky will serve as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ new dean of administration and finance, charged with spearheading efforts to shore up the school’s finances as it faces a hefty budget deficit.
Petrofsky’s appointment, announced in a Friday email from FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra to FAS affiliates, will begin April 20 — nearly a year after former FAS dean of administration and finance Scott A. Jordan stepped down. Petrofsky will replace interim dean Mary Ann Bradley, who helped shape the early stages of FAS cost-cutting initiatives.
Petrofsky currently serves as associate dean of administration at Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
As dean, he oversaw a budget cut of nearly $11 million to the institution’s College of Arts and Sciences after the federal government slashed at least $250 million in stop-work orders and frozen grants, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.
He also serves on a work group established in November 2025 to streamline the school’s administrative systems.
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Earlier, at the University of Pennsylvania, Petrofsky managed capital initiatives and organizational redesigns in a number of administrative roles.
Petrofsky is poised to lead similar efforts at the FAS, which relaunched its Resources Committee in spring 2025 and created a committee to consolidate staff positions amid massive federal funding cuts.
As part of its planning process, the committee has quietly brought on external help. Over several months, consultants from McKinsey & Company have been interviewing dozens of administrators and staff across the FAS.
Petrofsky will also likely have a hand in other cost-cutting measures across the FAS, which is facing a $365 million budget deficit. The school has already announced it will keep spending flat for the 2026 fiscal year, and it has dramatically reduced Ph.D. admissions.
In her email, Hoekstra praised Petrofsky’s performance across his career.
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“Warren has emphasized transparency, clarity in communication, and investment in staff development,” she wrote. “He approaches change with steadiness and purpose, and with deep respect for the mission that unites our faculty, researchers, staff, and students. I am confident that he will be a strong partner to me and to our community.”
—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at amannsm.38. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.
My spreadsheet reviewed a WalletHub ranking of financial distress for the residents of 100 U.S. cities, including 17 in California. The analysis compared local credit scores, late bill payments, bankruptcy filings and online searches for debt or loans to quantify where individuals had the largest money challenges.
When California cities were divided into three geographic regions – Southern California, the Bay Area, and anything inland – the most challenges were often found far from the coast.
The average national ranking of the six inland cities was 39th worst for distress, the most troubled grade among the state’s slices.
Bakersfield received the inland region’s worst score, ranking No. 24 highest nationally for financial distress. That was followed by Sacramento (30th), San Bernardino (39th), Stockton (43rd), Fresno (45th), and Riverside (52nd).
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Southern California’s seven cities overall fared better, with an average national ranking of 56th largest financial problems.
However, Los Angeles had the state’s ugliest grade, ranking fifth-worst nationally for monetary distress. Then came San Diego at 22nd-worst, then Long Beach (48th), Irvine (70th), Anaheim (71st), Santa Ana (85th), and Chula Vista (89th).
Monetary challenges were limited in the Bay Area. Its four cities average rank was 69th worst nationally.
San Jose had the region’s most distressed finances, with a No. 50 worst ranking. That was followed by Oakland (69th), San Francisco (72nd), and Fremont (83rd).
The results remind us that inland California’s affordability – it’s home to the state’s cheapest housing, for example – doesn’t fully compensate for wages that typically decline the farther one works from the Pacific Ocean.
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A peek inside the scorecard’s grades shows where trouble exists within California.
Credit scores were the lowest inland, with little difference elsewhere. Late payments were also more common inland. Tardy bills were most difficult to find in Northern California.
Bankruptcy problems also were bubbling inland, but grew the slowest in Southern California. And worrisome online searches were more frequent inland, while varying only slightly closer to the Pacific.
Note: Across the state’s 17 cities in the study, the No. 53 average rank is a middle-of-the-pack grade on the 100-city national scale for monetary woes.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
The up-and-coming fintech scored a pair of fourth-quarter beats.
Diversified fintech Chime Financial(CHYM +12.88%) was playing a satisfying tune to investors on Thursday. The company’s stock flew almost 14% higher that trading session, thanks mostly to a fourth quarter that featured notably higher-than-expected revenue guidance.
Sweet music
Chime published its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results just after market close on Wednesday. For the former period, the company’s revenue was $596 million, bettering the same quarter of 2024 by 25%. The company’s strongest revenue stream, payments, rose 17% to $396 million. Its take from platform-related activity rose more precipitously, advancing 47% to $200 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
Meanwhile, Chime’s net loss under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) more than doubled. It was $45 million, or $0.12 per share, compared with a fourth-quarter 2024 deficit of $19.6 million.
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On average, analysts tracking the stock were modeling revenue below $578 million and a deeper bottom-line loss of $0.20 per share.
In its earnings release, Chime pointed to the take-up of its Chime Card as a particular catalyst for growth. Regarding the product, the company said, “Among new member cohorts, over half are adopting Chime Card, and those members are putting over 70% of their Chime spend on the product, which earns materially higher take rates compared to debit.”
Today’s Change
(12.88%) $2.72
Current Price
$23.83
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Key Data Points
Market Cap
$7.9B
Day’s Range
$22.30 – $24.63
52wk Range
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$16.17 – $44.94
Volume
562K
Avg Vol
3.3M
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Gross Margin
86.34%
Double-digit growth expected
Chime management proffered revenue and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) guidance for full-year 2026. The company expects to post a top line of $627 million to $637 million, which would represent at least 21% growth over the 2024 result. Adjusted EBITDA should be $380 million to $400 million. No net income forecasts were provided in the earnings release.
It isn’t easy to find a niche in the financial industry, which is crowded with companies offering every imaginable type of service to clients. Yet Chime seems to be achieving that, as the Chime Card is clearly a hit among the company’s target demographic of clientele underserved by mainstream banks. This growth stock is definitely worth considering as a buy.
