In this edition of the reader story, “I am Tamil Selvan (name changed), 38 years old, working in the Gulf region for the last 16 years. I come from a simple farming family in Tamil Nadu. My father had taken on significant debt due to farming, and when I started earning in 2009 with a salary of ₹25,000, my priority was to clear our family debts.”
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.
With discipline and focus, I cleared all of it. I also took full responsibility for the marriage expenses of my two sisters. In 2015, I got married — everything was done with my own income. But in hindsight, I now realise I made a mistake that many first-generation earners do: I spent nearly all my earnings without saving for the future. I spent around ₹10 lakhs for the wedding — purely from income — with no investments backing me up.
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After that, I made a similar mistake again. In 2019, I constructed a house for my family, spending ₹50 lakhs. I used up all my savings and even took a personal loan from the Gulf. By 2020, I was back to zero — no savings and fresh debt.
Then came the COVID pandemic. Like many others, I found myself with more free time. I started watching personal finance videos on YouTube. That was the turning point in my financial journey. Out of curiosity, I opened a Zerodha demat account and began investing in mutual funds and stocks — but without understanding the NRI vs Resident Indian (RI) investment rules. I was unknowingly making mistakes.
In 2021, through a random Google search, I stumbled upon the Freefincal website. That was the moment my financial literacy truly began. I started reading article after article. I also discovered the Asan Ideas for Wealth Facebook group and began following it actively.
Here, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. M. Pattabiraman (Pattu Sir) and Mr. Ashal Jauhari for their tireless efforts in educating investors like me. Through their guidance, I realized:
- I was using the wrong investment accounts (RI instead of NRI)
- My goals were not clearly defined
- I had no proper insurance coverage
- I wasn’t accounting for inflation accurately
With their help, I closed my Zerodha account, sold all the mutual funds and stocks I had purchased without a plan, and opened a new investment account via MF Utilities (MFU) linked to my NRI bank account.
I also bought adequate term life insurance and health insurance for myself and my family. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Mr. Chandan Singh Padiyar, who is very active in the Asan Ideas group and provides selfless guidance, and to Mr. Neeraj, whose insurance guidance helped me understand the importance of risk coverage.
After this, I set up proper goals:
- Child’s Education
- My Retirement
- Child’s Marriage
- Car Purchase (optional goal)
Initially, I used free goal calculators, but I realised I was making errors — especially with inflation and future cost projections. To fix this, in 2024, I purchased the Freefincal Robo Advisor Tool. It was one of the best financial decisions I’ve made.
My Financial Plan: Goals and Asset Allocation
After gaining clarity, I ensured my basic protections were in place, then aligned each goal with a suitable time horizon and asset allocation. Here’s a summary of my financial roadmap:
| Type | Details |
| Term Insurance | ₹2 Crore – TATA AIA |
| Health Insurance | Niva Bupa – ₹10 Lakhs base + ₹90 Lakhs super top-up |
| Personal Accident Policy | ₹50 Lakhs – HDFC Ergo |
| Emergency Fund | 6 months of expenses in a bank savings account |
| Goal | Time Horizon | Equity % | Debt % | Equity Funds | Debt Instruments |
| Child Education (2 kids) | 10Y / 14Y | 50 | 50 | Nifty 50 Index Fund (30%), UTI S&P BSE Low Volatility (20%) | Money Market Fund (20%), Gilt Fund (10%), PPF (20%) |
| Retirement | 15 Years | 60 | 40 | Nifty 50 Index Fund (35%), Parag Parikh Flexi Cap (25%) | PPF (20%), Gilt Fund (10%), Money Market Fund (10%) |
| Child Marriage | 19 Years | 60 | 40 | Nifty 50 Index Fund (30%), Nifty Next 50 Index Fund (20%) | Gilt Fund (40%) |
| Car Purchase | 6–8 Years | 50 | 50 | Nifty Large Midcap 250 Index Fund (50%) | Money Market Fund (50%) |
| Short-Term Goal (Travel / School Fees) | 3–5 Years | 0 | 100 | — | Liquid Fund (100%) |
Rebalancing and Monitoring
Each of these goals is tracked using the Freefincal Robo Advisory Template, which allows me to:
- Visualise my asset allocation across goals
- Review SIP adequacy
- Perform annual rebalancing within just 10–15 minutes
Even though it may seem like I have multiple mutual funds, each one serves a specific, well-defined goal. This keeps things simple and aligned, without the confusion of overlapping or redundant investments.
Key Lessons from My Journey:
- Start with clearing debt, but don’t ignore future savings.
- Avoid emotional financial decisions, such as overspending on weddings or houses.
- Understand your NRI/RI status before investing.
- Get adequate term and health insurance first.
- Track your goals and update plans annually.
- Use tools like Freefincal’s Robo Advisory Tool— they work!
Final Thoughts
Thanks to what I’ve learned from Freefincal, I now feel confident, stress-free, and focused. I may have started late, but my journey from financial uncertainty in 2020 to nearing ₹1 crore in liquid net worth by 2025 shows that it’s never too late to do the right thing.
I hope my story encourages others — especially first-generation earners — to take control of their financial future with a simple, goal-based plan.
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
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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About The Author
Dr M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over 13 years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter(X), Linkedin, or YouTube. Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. (2) Gamechanger for young earners. (3) Chinchu Gets a Superpower! for kids. He has also written seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free aum independent investment advice.Our flagship course! Learn to manage your portfolio like a pro to achieve your goals regardless of market conditions! ⇐ More than 3,500 investors and advisors are part of our exclusive community! Get clarity on how to plan for your goals and achieve the necessary corpus no matter the market condition is!! Watch the first lecture for free! One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos! Reduce fear, uncertainty and doubt while investing! Learn how to plan for your goals before and after retirement with confidence.
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