Last Updated on January 17, 2026 at 12:04 pm
In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 34-year-old who has achieved financial stability from humble beginnings.
Opinions expressed in reader stories do not necessarily represent the views of freefincal or its editors. We must appreciate multiple solutions to the money management puzzle and empathise with diverse views. Articles are typically not checked for grammar unless it is necessary to convey the right meaning and preserve the tone and emotions of the writers.
If you would like to contribute to the DIY community in this manner, send your audits to freefincal AT Gmail dot com. You can publish them anonymously if you wish.
Please note: We welcome such articles from young earners who have just started investing. See, for example, this piece by a 29-year-old: How I track financial goals without worrying about returns. We also have a “mutual fund success stories” series. See, for example, how mutual funds helped me achieve financial independence. Now, over to the reader.
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From a Dry Village in Tamil Nadu to Financial Stability at 34: My Journey of Struggle, Survival & Slow Growth
At 34 (in 2025), when I look back at my life, I don’t see just years — I see struggle, sacrifice, survival, and a deep hunger for stability. This is the story of a boy from a rain‑dependent farming village who walked miles for education, failed products, empty stomachs, missed opportunities, and yet kept moving forward.
Growing Up in a Farmer’s Home: My Father’s Sacrifice
I was born into a lower‑middle‑class farming family in a dry part of Tamil Nadu — a place Tamil comedian Vivek jokingly described as “வானம் பார்த்த பூமி”.
In 1990, my father made a life‑changing decision:
He left his government job to take care of our agricultural land. While all my uncles settled in government jobs or the Gulf countries, my father chose farming.
In 1996, he bought a tractor and has been farming 20 acres ever since — even today at age 63.
But farming in our area is a gamble. Rain is the only irrigation source. Many days we struggled for even three meals — often surviving on kanchi and pickle.
My father regretted his decision to leave the secure job. That regret shaped his advice:
“You should never come to the field. Study well. Whatever money needed for school, I will give.”
I studied hard, but being a village topper doesn’t make you a city topper. Still, I kept trying.
College Life & the Harsh Reality
I got into a good engineering college, performed well, and missed a distinction by just 1% — mainly because of low lab marks from asking too many questions.
But there were no campus placements.
I had marks, but not enough engineering skill. What I did have was a deep love for electronics.
Unfortunately, my father got his first heart attack while ploughing the land in my college’s first year.
First Job: Bengaluru Struggle Years (₹5,000/Month)
My cousin offered me my first embedded role in his startup:
Salary: ₹5,000 → ₹7,000 after 3 years
Shared room rent: ₹6,000 total split with friends
Walking 8 km daily to the office
Eating two meals a day to survive
I couldn’t visit home for 3 years — not because I didn’t want to, but because I simply didn’t have money.
Eventually, the product failed. My father wanted me to go to China (where my brother‑in‑law offered ₹50,000 salary) or to the Gulf, like many from our village.
But then came the moment that broke me —
My mother called crying, saying she would send ₹1,000 so I could visit home after 3 long years.
That call pushed me to change everything.
Breaking Out: New Job & New Cities
I attended interviews, got a ₹25,000/month job in Chennai, and then moved to:
Hyderabad
Coimbatore
And finally returned to Bengaluru, where I’m now settled
These experiences taught me one thing:
The value of 1 paise.
After earning 25k, I kept sending ₹10,000–₹30,000 back home depending on the farming situation, and sometimes they won’t ask for 6 months if there are good returns from farming.
My Insurance Foundation
I built my basics right:
Health Insurance
Corporate: ₹5L family + ₹3L for parents (Father is a heart patient)
Personal: ₹10L family floater + ₹90L super top‑up (Niva Bupa)
Term Insurance
Corporate: ₹1.1 Cr
Personal: ₹1 Cr (Max Life)
Accidental Insurance
Corporate: ₹37.5L
Debt, Support & Early Investments
Took ₹2.2L education loan, cleared ₹4.2L by 2018
Supported father with ₹10L for house construction (till 2020)
Started investing in large‑cap stocks in 2020
Portfolio grew from ₹2L → ₹4L
But I redeemed everything for marriage expenses
Biggest mistake: selling stocks, not the marriage!
Marriage & Reset (2021)
Got married in Jan 2021 — spent ₹10L including gold.
After everything, I was back to zero, except for a ₹2L FD.
Started again — equity + mutual funds. No goals. No plans. Only wealth creation.
Fatherhood & Realization
First daughter: Feb 2022
Second daughter: March 2025
Until then, I was not a goal‑based investor.
My second daughter’s birth gave me clarity:
I needed a plan.
Building Passive Income for My Wife
My wife doesn’t prefer to work — and that’s absolutely fine with me. She came up with a great idea:
Construct two shops on the land she inherited in Trivandrum.
My contribution: ₹8L
Her parents: ₹5L
Result: ₹18,000/month passive income for her
Because of this, I paused investment for 2022 – mid 2024.
Yes, I missed the bull market.
But family comes first.
Restarting the Wealth Journey (2023–2025)
SGB: 32 grams
PPF: Started 2023 (₹1.5L/year)
Emergency fund: 1 year of expenses
Asset allocation (2025):
50% Equity
50% Fixed income
In April 2025, I bought Pattu Sir’s Goal‑Based Robo Advisory.
Not surprising — I’ve followed him since 2021. His sheet gave me confidence and structure.
I also follow Ashal Sir’s Asan ideas — simple and powerful.
Career Path
Since I work in a Tier‑1 automotive embedded company, there are no ESOPs.
My only way to grow was:
Switch jobs every 2 years.
Now I’m into automotive cybersecurity, which added strong value to my profile.
Wherever I go, I get good appreciation for my work.
A readers salary hike year on year
A reader’s salary-increase year on year
Assets Overview
10 acres agricultural land (inherited) + own house in Tamil Nadu
18 cents of land (wife’s inheritance) worth approx ₹2.5 crore in Kerala
Zero EMIs
Monthly 70% investment and 30 % expense.
50% in equity and 50% in fixed returns – 2025 end
A reader’s portfolio break-up
A reader’s portfolio break-up, part two
Goals for 2026 & Beyond
Achieve ₹1 crore financial net worth (excluding land & gold) by Dec 2026
Shift to 60% equity / 40% fixed
Buy a car in mid‑2026 (Having 2 kids and to satisfy my father’s desire)
Trying to buy land in Bengaluru for 3 years
Worst case: 3BHK apartment in the next 3 years
Still learning every day. Still improving.
Slow, steady, disciplined.
Final Words
From a drought‑hit village to embedded electronics to automotive cybersecurity, from a ₹5,000 salary to managing multiple financial goals — the journey has not been easy, but it has been meaningful.
I missed many bull runs.
I restarted multiple times.
I fell. I rose. And kept going.
If life taught me anything, it’s this:
Even if you start with nothing, you can still build everything — one disciplined step at a time.
Reader stories published earlier:
As regular readers may know, we publish a personal financial audit each December – this is the 2024 edition: Portfolio Audit 2024: The Annual Review of My Goal-Based Investments. We asked regular readers to share how they review their investments and track financial goals.
- First audit: How Suhas tracks his MF investments and reviews financial goals.
- Second audit: How Avadhoot Joshi evaluates his investment portfolio.
- Third audit: How a single mom is on track to financial freedom
- Fourth audit: How Gowtham started goal-based investing & took control of his money
- Fifth audit: Why my financial independence & early retirement plans were postponed by four years
- Sixth audit: How Abhisek funded his marriage & is on track to financial freedom.
- Seventh audit: How Rohit’s early struggles defined his investment journey
- Eighth audit: Why my investments are still on track despite job loss and lower income.
- Ninth audit: How a retirement planning calculation scared me to take action
- Tenth audit: I made several investment mistakes but have turned my life around.
- Eleventh audit: My net worth doubled in the last financial year, thanks to patient investing!
- Update: How I achieved investing nirvana.
- Twelfth audit: My financial journey: from novice to goal-based investor.
- Thirteenth audit: My journey: from a negative net worth to goal-based investing.
- Fourteenth audit: From Fixed Deposits to Goal-based investing in MFs.
- Fifteenth audit: My 10-year financial journey – mistakes made and lessons learnt.
- Sixteenth audit (part 1): How I achieved financial independence without mutual funds or stocks.
- Sixteenth audit (part 2): Lessons from my financial independence journey and future investment plans.
- Seventeenth audit: How I plan to achieve financial independence and move to my native place
- Eighteenth audit: I used the current bull run to reduce my mutual funds from 14 to 4!
- Nineteenth audit: How a conservative investor created his financial plan
- Twentieth audit: I plan to achieve financial independence by 46; this is my master plan
- Twenty-first audit: I have made many investment mistakes but am on course to financial independence by 45.
- Twenty-second audit: I felt worthless six years ago but have achieved financial stability today
- Twenty-third audit: My financial journey was directionless until age 40: this is how I made up for lost time
- Twenty-fourth audit: Why I increased equity MF investments by 275% and reduced PPF contributions.
- Twenty-fifth audit: How I track financial goals without worrying about returns
- Twenty-sixth audit: I am 24 and started investing 1Y ago, but what am I investing for?
- Twenty-seventh audit: How we plan to achieve a retirement corpus 50 times our annual expenses.
- Twenty-eighth audit: I thought equity investing was a gamble, but now I aim to hold 60% equity for retirement
- Twenty-ninth audit: My journey: From 5 lakhs in debt to building a corpus worth six years in retirement
- Thirtieth audit: My investment journey: From random purchases to a goal-based portfolio
- Thirty-first audit: My investment journey: from product-driven to process-driven
- Thirty-second audit: How a young couple is trying to balance travelling and investing
- Thirty-third audit: My journey: From Rs. 30 bank balance to financial independence
- Thirty-fourth audit: Our journey: From scratch to a net worth of 18 times annual expenses.
- Thirty-fifth audit: From a net worth of Rs. 6000 to auto-pilot goal-based investing
- Thirty-sixth audit: How I retired from corporate bondage at 46, two years ago!
- Thirty-seventh audit: How I learnt to keep it simple and build a net worth 19 times my annual expenses
- Thirty-eighth audit: How Abhineeth plans to achieve financial independence and build a house.
- Thirty-ninth audit: How Sahil plans to achieve financial independence by efficient tracking
- Fortieth audit: My Journey to a Ten Crore Portfolio
- Forty-first audit: Burdened with debt for several years, I am now aggressively investing in equity
- Forty-second audit: From Engineer to Librarian after Financial Independence and Early Retirement (FIRE)
- Forty-third audit: I lost six months’ income in F&O and ditched it for systematic investing
- Forty-fourth audit: My retirement plan to handle the harsh realities of the IT industry
- Forty-fifth audit: My investment journey: mistakes, 10 years of MF investing and recovery
- Forty-sixth audit: My MF portfolio is worth six crores despite multiple mistakes
- Forty-seventh audit: Saving, Investing, and Running Marathons: My 25-year Journey to Financial Independence
- Forty-eighth audit: Never Too Late to Start: How I Became Financially Savvy at 40
- Forty-ninth audit: My Investment Journey to a net worth 29 times my annual expenses
- Fiftieth audit: How I audit my portfolio without tracking returns
- Fifty-first audit: Financial Lessons Learned During and After a PhD
- Fifty-second audit: Investment & Financial journey of a 23 year old
- Fifty-third audit: The system I use to draw income and spend after retirement securely
- Fifty-fourth audit: From Start-Up Employee to Millionaire: A Success Story of Resilience and Smart Investing
- Fifty-fifth audit: 25-Year-Old Software Engineer’s Investment Journey: From Stocks to Mutual Funds and Beyond
- Fifty-sixth audit: Crossing the Million Mark: Our Journey to the First Crore
- Fifty-seventh audit: Navigating Market Volatility: How an IT Professional Transformed His Investment Approach for Retirement
- Fifty-eighth audit: How Sahil achieved a 10X retirement corpus by efficient portfolio tracking
- Fifty-ninth audit: How I achieved financial freedom by 45 without onsite assignments or ESOPs
- Sixtieth audit: Building Wealth on a Government Salary: Lessons Learned
- Sixty-first audit: Minimalism, Index Funds, and Staying Calm: My Investing Journey at 28
- Sixty-second audit: Building Wealth and Breaking Barriers: How Swati Took Control of Her Financial Future
- Sixty-third audit: My financial journey: How I missed the Compounding Bus!
- Sixty-fourth audit: My MF investment journey: From thematic funds to a 3-fund portfolio
- Sixty-fifth audit: From Debt to ₹1 Crore Liquid Net Worth: My Journey of Financial Awareness.
These published audits have had a compounding effect on readers. If you would like to contribute to the DIY community in this manner, send your audits to freefincal AT Gmail. You can also publish them anonymously.
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