Readers' Corner: Financial planning

A financial plan is all about putting in some financial discipline

Which category of equity funds is good for first-time investors who are wary of stocks? I have read in some places index funds are the best and in other places balanced funds are the best. Request you to provide reasons for your answer?

Knowledge and conviction are the two things that will make an equity investor successful. Knowledge that equity funds invest in profitable companies and conviction that you must hold this investment even when the economic environment is not favourable. Index fund is a passive mode of investment in equities and you may not see good returns for many