A reader who prefers anonymity asks, “Am I on track to achieve Financial Independence (FI) in the next 13 years?  I intend to continue working in a corporate setup for as long as my mind, body and employer (current or future) allow. The FI target is more to ensure that money is no longer an…

While most of us talk about living in the moment or focusing on happiness instead of money, financial freedom is a mandatory goal. It ensures that we have enough in times of need, and we can go without slogging to survive for some years of life. Financial freedom is mostly about saving enough to sustain…

I often get emails from readers who wish to achieve financial independence as soon as possible and retire early from their salaried jobs. The first question I ask is, “why do you seek early retirement?” Some people offer a crisp, clear response: “I have always wanted to pursue my passion in the fine arts; I…

A reader who wishes to be anonymous wanted to know the corpus need to retire in India by age 45. Before we get down to the calculation, “retire by 45” requires some clarification. This means goodbye to regular employment, to a salaried job. This does not mean the person will sit around all day doing…

Raghu asks, “Dear Pattu Sir, I have just started my career as a school teacher in a tier II city. I also take tuitions to supplement my income. Thanks to our families frugal existences and early initiation into personal finance, I have been able to comfortably make ends meet and invest the rest (thanks to…

We present a beginner’s guide to financial freedom dispelling common myths and misunderstandings on the subject. 1 What is financial freedom (FF)? A period of time when a person is not compelled to work for a living. This means having enough money to pay for known and known expenses, recurring and one-time expenses and associated…

Here is a simple formula to check your progress to financial freedom. It can tell you how long you need to be a salaried employee and shift the focus of portfolio review from returns to the corpus worth and, in the case context of retirement, how long would it last. It will work in any…

When I wrote the last article about how a minimalistic lifestyle can help you save money, people had some obvious questions and apprehensions. Some were sceptical that a lot of skimping may take the joy out of living and some others were worried about society and extravagant families waiting to judge them. About the author:…

In this article, author Smriti Tuteja explains how a minimalist lifestyle will help you save money as well as time to do things that give you joy. About the author: Smriti is an author, freelance content writer and avid reader. She quit her six-year-long IT career to embrace her love for writing. Her previous article…

Many of us cannot stand the thought of losing money; we cannot stand the thought of not getting regular income. This prevents us from taking career risks or investing risks. Some recognise that they are making a mistake but cannot break out of this mental barrier. The “logic” is quite simple: If you do not…

In this article, author Smriti Tuteja explains why having a baby doesn’t mean ending your financial independence and discusses options to earn money from home after a maternity break. About the author: Smriti is a freelance content writer and an avid reader. She quit her six-year-long IT career to embrace her love for writing. Her…

In the seventh edition of personal finance audits by readers, we meet 30-year old Rohit whose early struggles led him, to start investing early in a goal-based manner. As regular readers may be aware, we publish a personal financial audit each December – this is the 2020 edition: How my retirement portfolio performed in 2020. This…

In this article, Venkat describes how an incident in a “Xerox shop” changed his outlook on financial independence and financial literacy.  Venkat, 32, changed his perspective towards personal finance when he came across the idea of FIRE – financial independence and early retirement. He then invested more than ten hours as a hobby and went on…

In the sixth edition of personal finance audits by readers, we meet Abhisek; learn how he achieved his first goal – fund his marriage 100% and use that as education and inspiration to move towards financial independence. As regular readers may be aware, we publish a personal financial audit each December – this is the…