Indian personal finance
Straight answers on Indian money
Banking, credit cards, loans, deposits and tax — worked through the way you actually meet them: an application form, a rate table, a disputed payment, a notice from the department. Every number here carries the date it was checked and a link to where it came from.
Every figure sourced and dated. Read from the bank, the RBI or the department — never from memory.
Written under a real name. Vinoth Kanna researches and writes all of it.
Paid links disclosed above the fold. Tables still list what pays nothing.
All 15 calculators
Calculator indexInvestments
Retirement & salary
Credit cards
All credit cards- Credit cards
Axis Neo credit card review: the fee, the caps, and what Axis's own value chart assumes
Axis prices Neo at ₹250 to join and ₹250 a year in its Key Fact Sheet of 18 August 2026. What the discounts are capped at, and what changes on 1 November 2026.
-
Best travel credit cards in India — matched to the kind of travel you actually do
Lounge access is now a spend test and the markup usually outranks the miles. What three issuers' own pages and fee documents say, read on 10 September 2026.
-
HDFC Millennia credit card review: what the 5% is worth once the cap is applied
Millennia pays 5% at ten named merchants and 1% elsewhere, each capped at 1,000 CashPoints a month. What it is worth in rupees, read from HDFC on 10 September 2026.
Loans
All loans-
Current home loan interest rates across major lenders
Compare current home loan rate cards, benchmarks, borrower bands and fees, then use the KFS APR and spread to judge your personalised offer.
-
Current personal loan interest rates across major banks
Compare current personal loan rate ranges, actual-rate disclosures, processing fees and KFS APR before choosing a bank or accepting an offer.
-
Fixed versus floating home loan: choose the risk you can carry
Fixed buys payment certainty; floating follows a benchmark and preserves reset choices. Compare APR, spread, EMI stress and prepayment terms before choosing.
Savings
All savings- Savings
Axis Bank fixed deposit interest rates, by tenure and deposit size
Axis Bank’s own rate card of 27 August 2026, read in full: the general and senior schedules, why a bigger deposit can earn less, and what early closure costs.
-
Axis Bank RD interest rates: the twelve rungs, and the tenures the card leaves out
Axis Bank pays 6.50% on any RD from 18 months to ten years and 7.25% to seniors at five years. The rungs, the ₹10 late fee, and what ₹5,000 a month becomes.
-
Bajaj Finance FD rates, and the risk the extra yield pays for
Bajaj Finance pays up to 7.40%, and 7.75% for senior citizens, from 1 May 2026. None of it is DICGC-insured, and an AAA rating is an opinion, not a payment.
Banking
All banking-
DICGC deposit insurance: count by depositor, bank and holding capacity
After lawful set-off, DICGC covers eligible bank deposits up to ₹5 lakh, including interest, per depositor per bank in the same right and capacity.
-
How to file an RBI Ombudsman complaint under RB-IOS 2026
Complain to the institution first, then use RBI CMS after an unsatisfactory reply or the applicable response period. The filing window is 90 days.
-
Unauthorised UPI or card transaction: the first ten minutes matter
Report the debit to your bank immediately, block the payment channel and call 1930. Here is the RBI liability framework and the evidence to preserve.
Credit score
All credit score- Credit score
How to dispute a CIBIL report error and use the 30-day correction clock
Raise the factual error with CIBIL and the lender, attach precise evidence and track one 30-calendar-day clock. Delayed correction may attract ₹100 a day.
-
How to check your CIBIL score free — and the three other free reports you are entitled to
Checking your CIBIL score free is an RBI entitlement — and it runs to four free reports a year, one per bureau, not one in total. Where each link sits.
-
There is no SBI CIBIL score — here is what SBI actually gives you
State Bank of India does not produce a credit score. What SBI, SBI Card and TransUnion CIBIL each actually do, and where a genuinely free report comes from.
Tax
All tax-
Form 16, AIS and Form 26AS are three different records
Form 16 explains employer payroll, AIS shows reported income and transactions, and Form 26AS checks tax credit. Here is how to reconcile them.
-
HRA exemption under the old and new tax regimes
HRA is exempt only under the old regime. See the least-of-three formula and why the metro list differs between AY 2026-27 and Tax Year 2026-27.
-
Which ITR form to file: ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3 or ITR-4
Choose the correct ITR form for AY 2026-27 by income type, residence and disqualifiers, including the new two-house-property rule.
Books
All books- Books
Rich Dad Poor Dad, summarised — and reviewed honestly for an Indian reader
A chapter-wise Rich Dad Poor Dad summary in plain language — the six lessons, what genuinely holds up, what fails in India, and who should actually read it.
-
The best personal finance books, ranked for a reader managing money in India
The ten best personal finance books ranked for Indian readers — which to start with, which classics survive translation to Indian money, and which pages to skip.
-
The best money management books — for the part of money that is not investing
The seven best money management books for Indian readers — budgeting systems, debt clearance and spending control, with the US-only chapters honestly flagged.
How this site works
Every figure is sourced
Interest rates, fees and tax thresholds are read from the bank, the RBI, the Income Tax Department or the relevant notification — never from memory. Each page lists what was checked and when.
One person writes it
Vinoth Kanna researches and writes everything here, under a real name and a monitored address. If something is wrong, there is somebody to tell.
We say when we are paid
Some links earn a commission. Comparison tables still list the products that pay nothing when they are the better answer, and every page that carries a paid link says so above the fold.
It is information, not advice
Nobody here is a SEBI-registered investment adviser and nothing on this site is a personal recommendation. It is the background you need to ask a bank or an adviser better questions.