As the new year unfolds, Monika turns her attention to a deeper structural problem in India’s retail finance ecosystem — a market where households are still expected to fend for themselves against complex, opaque, and often mis-sold products. Drawing from her interaction at a pre-Budget discussion with the Prime Minister and insights from the RBI’s Financial Stability Report 2025, she lays out why rising commissions, mis-selling in insurance, and weak accountability have made “buyer beware” dangerously outdated. This episode argues that retail finance, unlike everyday goods, fails consumers because products are invisible, payoffs are delayed, disclosures are unreadable, regulation is fragmented, and financial innovation consistently outpaces literacy.

Monika makes the case for a radical but necessary shift to a “seller-beware” framework — one that prioritises suitability, long-term outcomes, and harm prevention over commissions and sales targets. She explains how fixing incentives and enforcing suitability checks can transform finance from a product-pushing industry into a genuine problem-solving service. Using mutual funds as a case study, she shows how better-aligned incentives and simpler products unlocked massive household participation, and warns that as millions of new investors enter the system, India cannot afford to flood them with toxic financial products. Finance, she stresses, must solve for lives — not bonuses.

In listener queries, Brig Vikas Gupta, a retired Army officer, asks how to exit underperforming mutual fund schemes without taking a heavy tax hit; Dinesh Kumar from Unjuani, Tamil Nadu, seeks validation of his conservative portfolio while grappling with FOMO, lifestyle balance, and risky temptations like crypto; and an anonymous listener from Bengaluru shares his journey to financial stability and asks whether it makes sense to transition into a fee-only financial planning career later in life.

Chapters:

(00:00 – 00:00) From Buyer Beware to Seller Beware in Retail Finance

(00:00 – 00:00) Why India Needs a Suitability-Based Financial System

(00:00 – 00:00) Switching Underperforming Mutual Funds Without Letting Tax Hold You Back

(00:00 – 00:00) Balancing Saving, Spending, and Risk for a Young Family

(00:00 – 00:00) Building a Second Career as a Fee-Only Financial Planner

If you have financial questions that you’d like answers for, please email us at ⁠mailme@monikahalan.com⁠

Monika’s book on basic money management

⁠⁠⁠https://www.monikahalan.com/lets-talk-money-english/⁠⁠⁠

Monika’s book on mutual funds

⁠⁠https://www.monikahalan.com/lets-talk-mutual-funds/⁠⁠

Monika’s workbook on recording your financial life

⁠⁠⁠https://www.monikahalan.com/lets-talk-legacy/⁠⁠⁠

Calculators

⁠⁠⁠https://investor.sebi.gov.in/calculators/index.html⁠⁠⁠

You can find Monika on her social media @monikahalan.

Twitter ⁠⁠⁠@MonikaHalan⁠⁠⁠

Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@MonikaHalan⁠⁠⁠

Facebook ⁠⁠⁠@MonikaHalan⁠⁠⁠

LinkedIn ⁠⁠@MonikaHalan⁠⁠

Production House: ⁠⁠www.inoutcreatives.com⁠⁠

Production Assistant:⁠⁠ Anshika Gogoi⁠