Category: Personal Finance

  • Thematic Mutual Funds for NRIs: How to Invest in India 🚀

    Two years after we moved back to India from San Francisco, I made one of my smartest investment decisions. I was at a coffee shop in Koramangala. My former SuperMoney colleague texted me about how well his US tech stocks were doing. I felt that familiar FOMO creeping in. Then I remembered something. I was…

  • Hybrid Mutual Funds in India: NRI Investment Guide

    Hey there! Mani here. Back in 2019, my wife asked me a question that completely changed how we invest our money. “Why can’t we have something that gives us growth like equity but safety like debt?” I was working remotely for a US client then. We had just started feeling comfortable with our move back…

  • NRI Gift Deed: A Comprehensive Guide

    When I moved back to India in 2017, my mom had a surprise for me. “Beta, I want to gift you the Thiruvananthapuram property that your dad bought before he passed away.” I was touched. But also completely clueless about gift deeds. Fast forward to 2024. I’ve helped dozens of NRI families in our BacktoIndia…

  • Can OCIs Take Health Insurance in India? The Truth

    When we moved back from the US in 2017, my wife asked the million dollar question. “What about health insurance for our family?” My older son had his US citizenship. My younger son (born in Dallas) was getting his OCI card processed. My wife was an OCI holder. And honestly? I was completely confused about…

  • Term Insurance for NRIs: Process, Claims, Documents and More

    When I was working at SuperMoney in the US, I had this nagging worry. What if something happened to me? How would my family back in India manage financially? My mom was already alone after dad passed away during my college years. The thought of leaving my wife and two sons (one born in the…

  • Dividend Stocks in India: Guide for NRI Investors

    Hey there! Mani here. Back in 2018, a year after I moved back to India, my wife asked me a question that changed our investment strategy completely. “Can we get regular income from our Indian investments like we used to get from our US dividend stocks?” I was stumped. We had built a nice dividend…

  • Understanding IRS Form 1040: Complete Guide for NRIs

    Let me tell you about my most stressful tax season ever. It was 2017, the year we moved back to India. I was juggling Form 1040 for my US income, Indian tax returns, and trying to figure out which country I was a resident of for tax purposes. My wife Priya was eight months pregnant…

  • What is Form 1099? Complete Guide for NRIs

    Let me tell you about my first encounter with Form 1099. It was 2011, my second year at Citrix in the US. I had just started some freelance consulting work on weekends to earn extra money. Come tax season, I was expecting my usual W2 from Citrix. But then I got this mysterious form called…

  • PPF for NRIs: Complete Guide

    Let me tell you about one of my biggest financial mistakes when I moved to the US back in 2010. I had a PPF account that I completely forgot about. For seven years, I didn’t make a single contribution. When I came back to India in 2017 to take care of my mom, I discovered…

  • ITR for NRIs: The Complete Guide That Saved Me ₹45,000 in Penalties

    Picture this. March 2018. I had just moved back to India from the US with Priya and our two boys. Dhruv was asking me why we had to file taxes in two countries now. Good question, beta. That’s when I realized most NRIs are completely lost when it comes to ITR filing in India. The…