In this edition of the reader story, we meet Suresh Murugan. In Dec 2019, Suresh had shared his first financial audit with us: I met with an accident the day I got married and learned key money lessons. Since then, Suresh’s life has changed for the better significantly. About this series: I am grateful to…

In this edition of the reader story, we meet Mr Sailor (real name withheld on request) who, despite several mistakes (judged in the comfort of hindsight, to be fair), is on course to achieve financial independence by age 45. His journey teaches us to not wallow in regret, move forward and be consistent. About this…

In this edition of the reader story, we meet Vasu, who is two years away from financial independence. He explains his approach to personal finance: “Own what you know, Loan  (to) who you know” to maximize risk-adjusted rewards or minimize reward-adjusted risks. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about…

In this edition of the reader story, we meet Vamshi and learn how he created his own financial plan with a conservative mindset. I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of readers. This is the 19th such reader audit. Previous editions are linked at the bottom…

In this edition of the reader audit, we meet Shrawan, a computer science engineer working in IT since Sep 2012. He explains how he adopted a goal-based investing approach and utilised the current bull run for pruning his mutual fund portfolio. I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the…

In this edition of the reader audit, we meet a 39-year old unmarried male working in the private sector. He explains how he plans to achieve financial independence, quit his job and move to his native place. I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of readers. This…

In the previous article, Anil explained how he achieved financial independence without mutual funds or stocks by building a 70X portfolio in fixed income ((where X is the annual expense that will persist in retirement). In this sequel, he discusses how he wishes to invest in the future, lessons he learnt about financial independence and…

Is it possible to achieve financial independence without investing in equity? Yes! In this edition of the reader audit (part one of two), Anil explains how he did it.  In March 2020, I received an interesting comment from a reader in response to The Financial Arrow of Time (an account of how I wasted money…

In this edition of the reader audit, we meet a 34-year-old with a family of six. He describes his mistakes over the last ten years and lessons learned from them in a candid essay.  We feel proud and blessed that readers come forward to generously share details about their financial life to help and inspire…

In this edition of the reader audit, we consider the financial journey of a 31-year-old software engineer (who prefers anonymity). This is how he moved from bank deposits to goal-based investing with mutual funds.  We feel proud and blessed that readers come forward to generously share details about their financial life to help and inspire…

In this edition of the reader audit, we consider the financial journey of a 34-year-old male (who prefers anonymity) working in the private sector. This is how he moved from negative net worth to goal-based investing.  We feel proud and blessed that readers come forward to generously share details about their financial life to help…

One of the best aspects of the freefincal reader community is their willingness to write about their experiences and portfolio details to help and inspire fellow DIY investors. In our 12th reader audit, we have an academic (name withheld on request) sharing his personal money management journey. Previous articles in this series are linked at…

Mr X is a US-based NRI. In this episode of reader-story, Mr X explains his current investment strategy with a bit of history and reasons to finalize this strategy. It might help a fellow investor in the same position. The investment choices were heavily influenced by the websites mentioned in the references section at the…

In this episode of reader-story, Mr G (anonymity on request) discusses his personal financial audit. Thanks to disciplined investing for more than a decade, he has seen his net worth double in the last financial year. It is inspiring to see such meticulous tracking of investments with a long term vision on the future corpus…