From Debt to ₹1 Crore Liquid Net Worth: My Journey of Financial Awareness

Published on / By M. Pattabiraman Twitter: @pattufreefincal

Published: August 19, 2025 at 6:00 am

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.”

About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits all of us. Some of the previous editions are linked at the bottom of this article. You can also access the full reader story archive.

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:

TypeDetails
Term Insurance₹2 Crore – TATA AIA
Health InsuranceNiva Bupa – ₹10 Lakhs base + ₹90 Lakhs super top-up
Personal Accident Policy₹50 Lakhs – HDFC Ergo
Emergency Fund6 months of expenses in a bank savings account
GoalTime HorizonEquity %Debt %Equity FundsDebt Instruments
Child Education (2 kids)10Y / 14Y5050Nifty 50 Index Fund (30%), UTI S&P BSE Low Volatility (20%)Money Market Fund (20%), Gilt Fund (10%), PPF (20%)
Retirement15 Years6040Nifty 50 Index Fund (35%), Parag Parikh Flexi Cap (25%)PPF (20%), Gilt Fund (10%), Money Market Fund (10%)
Child Marriage19 Years6040Nifty 50 Index Fund (30%), Nifty Next 50 Index Fund (20%)Gilt Fund (40%)
Car Purchase6–8 Years5050Nifty Large Midcap 250 Index Fund (50%)Money Market Fund (50%)
Short-Term Goal (Travel / School Fees)3–5 Years0100—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:

  1. Start with clearing debt, but don’t ignore future savings.
  2. Avoid emotional financial decisions, such as overspending on weddings or houses.
  3. Understand your NRI/RI status before investing.
  4. Get adequate term and health insurance first.
  5. Track your goals and update plans annually.
  6. 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.

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.