Tax free bonds : A must for any retirement portfolio

Tax free bonds have been coming out in droves over the last year.  The Indian government empowered multiple companies to issue tax free bonds to help generate working capital.  This has given a unique opportunity for retail investors to lock in an almost risk free guaranteed rate of return for long periods of time.  For early retirement enthusiasts like myself, tax free bonds provide a much needed route to invest a part of the portfolio to generate risk free returns.  There are three big concerns for any early retiree, that he or she has to solve to enable a successful exit from the usual salary based working environment.  Tax free bonds solve two of these concerns in the most efficient manner possible.  This makes tax free bonds a no brainer key component of each and every early retirement portfolio.

SENSEX fails to deliver: Six Sideways Years

The last few years have been rather disappointing for most avid stock market investors, when compared to the boom period that we experienced earlier.  The India shining story seems to have been put on hold, as we struggle with rising inflation and slowing growth.  Political inaction, which was always a concern, has morphed into political paralysis, with the government seemingly unable to take any action at all, let alone the right economic actions.

In this scenario, it is instructive to take a look at the last 6 years from a stock market perspective, and see how the benchmark SENSEX index has performed, and what strategies we could or should have used to build on our investments.  I did not necessarily follow some of these principles myself, which has led to my sub-par portfolio results.  However, this exercise is useful to figure out what actions I should take in the future to keep my portfolio moving at the right pace in the right direction to hit my financial goals.