Built for one. Shared with many.

The origin

I've been obsessed with personal finance since I got my first payslip and realised I understood almost none of it. Not the PF deduction, not the HRA exemption, definitely not what to do with what was left over. Most of what I found online was either too generic ("invest in index funds!") or too salesperson-shaped to trust.

So I started building my own tools. Spreadsheets at first — a SIP model here, a tax estimator there. They worked but they didn't talk to each other, and sharing a Google Sheet with a friend always ended in confusion. At some point the gap between what I wanted and what existed felt small enough to close. This site is that attempt.

What this is

Asymmetrica is a small, opinionated collection of calculators and reading notes focused on Indian personal finance. Every calculator here grew out of a real question I was trying to answer — often in the middle of a tax return, or while trying to explain to a family member why their insurance-linked savings plan was a bad deal.

The calculators show their work. The math is in the open. If a number surprises you, you can see exactly why — which I find more useful than a black box that hands you a "corpus target" with no trail.

The reading list is even more selective. A link goes in when I've read it carefully and think it teaches something durable — not because it's new or trending. If an article hasn't aged well, it gets removed.

Who I am

A software engineer by trade, a finance nerd by inclination. I live in India, invest primarily in low-cost index mutual funds and direct equities, and spend too much time thinking about tax efficiency, asset allocation, and why most financial products are structured the way they are.

I don't manage anyone else's money, I'm not a registered investment adviser, and nothing on this site is financial advice. These are the tools I built to think clearly about my own finances. Use them the same way — as a thinking aid, not a decision engine.

Why share it

Mostly because I got tired of explaining the same things over and over in conversations — how SIP math actually works, what the difference between old-regime and new-regime tax really means for your salary, why a mutual fund's XIRR and its advertised return are different numbers.

If this site saves someone three hours of spreadsheet work or one bad financial product decision, it's done its job. I don't run ads, I don't sell anything, and I don't have a newsletter to push you towards. The site is free, public, and will stay that way.