In this edition of the reader audit, Arka and Rupali share how they are trying to balance their personal aspirations like travelling and exploring new opportunities with their quest for financial independence. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of readers. Some of the…

In this edition of the reader story, we meet 30-year old Phanindra. He explains how his style of money management changed from buying interesting or apparently useful products to building a robust goal-based investment strategy. This is the 31st such article published here. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about…

In this edition of the reader story, we meet a DIY investor who has transformed his approach to money management from making random purchases to a focused goal-based portfolio. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of readers. Some of the previous editions are…

In this edition of the reader story, we meet 31-year old GB. When family responsibilities were suddenly thrust on him, as a 24-year old, he realised his family had a five lakh debt to clear. He cleared it, arranged his sister’s marriage and his own marriage with proper planning and no debt. He is now on…

This time in the reader story we meet young Vidur who has just started his goal-based investing journey. His attitude towards mutual funds and equity investing has changed from “it is gambling” to “I want to hold 60% equity in my long term asset allocation”. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing…

In this edition of the reader story, we meet a young couple who prefers anonymity. They share their money management journey and how they wish to achieve a retirement corpus 50 times annual expenses. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the benefit of readers….

Last year in our reader story series, we met 30-year old Rohit, whose early struggles led him, to start investing early in a goal-based manner. He has been kind enough to share an update on his finances – how he handled short term goals last year and why he feels confident about his retirement planning. About…

In this article, a client shares how a SEBI registered investment advisor and fee-only financial planner (Swapnil Kendhe) helped him set his finances in order. Those wondering what to expect from a fee-only financial planner will benefit from this. The client prefers the pen name ‘safed pigeon’. About the advisor:  Swapnil is a SEBI Registered Investment…

This time on reader stories we meet a 24-year-old budding lawyer who prefers the pseudonym Mr Rakmo Hurtak. He believes his investment strategy is ‘okay’ (for his age and circumstances) but has a curious problem. He is not satisfied with “wealth creation” and needs a goal for his investments! This is of course fantastic as a…

As regular readers may know, we publish an annual personal finance audit every December – our  2021 audit was posted a few days ago. Since last year regular readers have been sharing their investment journey and portfolio reviews. Suhas who was among the first to do this shared an update last week: Why I hiked my…

As regular readers may know, we publish an annual personal finance audit every December – our  2021 audit was posted a few days ago. Since last year regular readers have been sharing their investment journey and portfolio reviews. Suhas was among the first to do this. He has most graciously agreed to share an update…

In this edition of the reader story, we start a new series – mutual fund investment journeys. We requested members of the Facebook group Asan Ideas for Wealth with more than ten years of mutual fund investing experience to share their journey. This is the first episode from an investor who prefers anonymity. Let us…

In this edition of the reader audit, 29-year-old Mr Yo (name withheld on request) explains in detail how he has structured his money management in a systematic manner and how he tracks his financial goals without considering returns. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives for the…

In Jan 2021, Gowtham Subramanian discussed how he had started goal-based investing, focusing on asset allocation and how it has made him feel more in control over his finances. In this follow-up audit, he explains why he had to make bold and tough choices, like increasing equity mutual fund investments by 275% and reducing PPF…