Excuse me for stating the obvious. Most people will not be financially independent when they retire. Here is why. Forget about early retirement; Most people will not become financially independent at normal retirement (55-60). Unlike early retirement, this is a mandatory retirement. Otherwise, our quality of life will significantly decrease, and we will depend on…

Each time a financially independent person is interviewed on YouTube or the media, many comments go, “Oh, this guy had a huge salary; she went on-site, that is why she can save so much. He says he is financially independent and retired, but his wife is still working so that does not count” and so…

In 2008, my expenses dropped to ‘normal’ levels after my father passed away (post a prolonged battle with cancer). By then, I  had been in a regular position for less than two years, taking stock of my cash flow and investible surplus (money net of all expenses). Immature me, I remember asking my mom a…

A reader says, “I was planning to retire in early 2025. The markets in the last few years have been good to us all, and I was confident about retiring early (I am 45). But now, I am not so sure. I have used your robo-advisor tool for the last four years and, with its…

I have tracked the amount invested for my goals in the same Excel sheet for the last 14 years (2011 to 2024).  This sheet only tracks the amount invested and not its current market value (for this, I use a Google Sheets Tracker). These are some lessons from the journey. Between 2010-11, my retirement planning…

We recently received two questions which would be interesting to discuss together: (1) How much do I need to retire at 40 in India? (2) What should be the portfolio size in terms of x(annual expenses) so that we could maintain 60:40 post FIRE/retirement (at early ages like 35-40)? How big must one have so…

The first step in getting rich is to believe without a doubt that we will be. It is just a matter of effort and time (in that order). Allow me to explain. How does one get rich? What is the first step towards financial independence? Crude as it may seem, the first step to being…

A reader writes,” I am 28 years of age and single and plan to remain so. I have no financial goals and only wish to create wealth. I have an aggressive risk appetite. How should I invest? Can you write an article about this?” Is it possible for a person to have no financial goals?…

A reader asked in response to the article – Why do you want more money? Don’t you have enough? Learn to say, “I have enough”!  – ‘Can you share some moments of your life when you had a low net worth? What did you sacrifice to achieve what you are now today?” I have mentioned…

Regular readers may be aware that we occasionally publish articles on rolling SIP returns and point out there is no point in expecting a certain return from an equity or debt mutual fund. Instead, we should focus on our target corpus and manage our portfolio accordingly. Many readers get perturbed by this reality and ask,…

A reader asks, “If you started investing one year and four months back with 60 -40 equity-debt, Its current value is 59 – 41. Should you rebalance now or wait for the further difference?” What is portfolio rebalancing? Asset allocation is the most important aspect of your portfolio. It tells you how much equity you…