Dattatray Dagale

5 Ways ChatGPT Changed How I Work (And Why I'm Not Celebrating Yet)

Last Tuesday morning, I was stuck. I had a spreadsheet of mutual fund performance data — 47 rows, incomplete NAV entries, scattered across three different CSV files from three different fund houses. My task was to build a comparative analysis for a client pitch at Morningstar. Normally, this takes me about 4 hours: manual data cleaning, pivot tables, cross-…

Should You Park Your Money in Gold or Chase Stock Returns?

My mom called me last week asking if she should buy more gold. Her reasoning ? "Sona kabhi kharab nahi hota" (gold never loses value). I laughed, but only because I've had this exact argument with myself at least fifteen times in the last three years . Here's the thing — I work at Morningstar analyzing financial data all day, I've studied…

5 Money Moves I Wish I'd Made Before My First Year Ended

Dear 23-year-old me, You're sitting in that Kalyan apartment right now, staring at your Morningstar salary slip. It's your first real job. The number looks huge—₹35,000 in your account—and you're convinced you'll figure out money naturally. Spoiler alert: you won't. Not without a system , anyway. I'm writing this from five years ahea…

How RBI Rate Cuts Actually Change What You Earn and Spend

Last year, I sat in my apartment in Kalyan after a particularly frustrating day at work. My savings account was earning 3.5% interest. My Zerodha brokerage account showed me equities that had been flat for months. My CRED wallet had ₹2,400 sitting unused. And yet, I couldn't figure out why my purchasing power felt weaker despite no major life changes. I b…

Your Credit Score Isn't Magic. Here's Exactly How to Fix It

I didn't understand my credit score until I needed a loan. Two years ago, I was looking at a ₹25 lakh home loan for a flat in Kalyan. The bank's relationship manager asked for my CIBIL report, and I realised I'd been completely ignoring this three-digit number that apparently controlled my entire financial life. My score was 710 — not terrible, …

Three Years Without an Emergency Fund — And the Month It Nearly Broke Me

It was a Tuesday morning in July 2019 when my laptop stopped working. Just like that. Black screen. No warning. I was sitting at my desk in the Morningstar office in Mumbai, staring at what essentially looked like a paperweight, and my stomach dropped faster than sensex during a correction. The repair would cost ₹28,000. I didn't have ₹28,000 lying aroun…