Last Updated on January 31, 2026 at 8:40 am
In this edition of the reader story, we encounter a 12-year transformative personal finance journey.
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.
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This is Rayan – Private Employee, Age: 45 (Housewife, 2 Daughters, Gr 10 & Gr 7) working @ Nasik since 2013 in a rented house.
Native: Perambalur (own house – ground floor; 1st Floor rented Rs 6000)
I closed my existing PF (while shifting those amounts helping me, there is no other option for me) and moved from native to Nasik to start a new career with fresh PF forms.
Without knowing, I have selected 3% VPF since 2013.
During these periods (2013-2020).
I wasn’t much aware of my home loan EMI until 2015. I was shocked and realised it was 9 lakhs in LICHFL at a 14.5% interest rate.
I worried and started to pledge a jewel loan (former loan) and paid the principal amount. And every month I gradually repay to get back this routine habit.
I have closed my home loan 2020 Feb 1.
While locked down, I keep on watching COVID news. Those times affected Western countries, but I’m bad at the same time, monitoring my mutual fund NAVs as well.
I forgot those two ICICI mutual fund names, the bank recommended paying each Rs 2000 due to panic. I have closed both mutual funds since 2014.
After 6 months I have received a call from an ICICI MF person, he had mentioned that when I was closed MF that day was the bottom tip of covid crash.
Sometimes I regret it but it happened.
Due to covid I moved to native place with my family (paying rent in a Nasik home).
I remember in-between Aug-20 to Dec-20, I was influenced by badminton friends who always talk about share markets.
So I started investing through Grow without researching, just buying based on my friends’ guidance.
I may have invested Rs 35000 and just went down within a month to Rs 28000 due to panic. I sold-out all my investments.
And again in 2021 between Feb to March invested Rs 17000 and booked loss again Rs 5000~6000 due to panic.
One good thing is I never do options and trading.
After the above mistakes; I started to listen to podcasts related to mutual fund and share markets.
Luckily I started to hear “Money Petchu” Anand sir. After his several videos my views about the share market have totally changed. No more panic about market fall.
I learned one thing about his videos: financial discipline and consistency are prime factors other than anything.
Again I have started investing slowly buying 1 or 2 gradually. Whenever markets are in blood I more happily enter and purchase 1 and 2 even my portfolio -16% that time. Slowly my portfolio recovered from -16% to 20%, I remember; I sold Titan 30 nos share and paid my daughter 1 term fees (each share profit Rs 1100 approximately).
Due to some technical issues with Grow, I am trying to connect with their customer care due to several times I fed up and I exited from Grow approximately 4 lakhs.
One fine day, I got fed my YouTube Pattu Sir and Boosan interview. The first time I got to know about Pattu sir, I liked his appearance without shaving instead of a full shave. I admired his speech about retirement, health insurance and term policies. Again my life turning to finance is not only sharing the market before that we have to do many things.
Once I started to hear Pattu sir’s + Anand Sir’s video, I kept on watching all his videos and learned a lot even though I have guided many of my juniors and colleagues.
In 2024 – I opted for term insurance and Health policy and I have increased my VPF 24%.
He mentioned in one video “Kanna Pinnanu semikanum” this is my keyword.
Once my salary was credited, the same day I parked my money.
My portfolio
Edelweiss Flexi cap fund Reg – Rs 5000/Monthly
ICICI Pru Manufacturing fund Reg – Rs 5000/Monthly
Kotak Multicap fund (G) – Rs 5000/Monthly
Mirae Asset great consumer fund reg (G) – Rs 5000/Monthly
I knew the above thematic funds are highly risky as of now 18 months paid so far cumulative of above funds return 6.85% invested 364000 now 383180
Above funds are under my Wife accounts. I plan to exit gradually in the next 12~15 months. I need this money at least for my daughter’s education.
Apart from that I have invested Rs 6000 (Rs 1500/weekly) through my account to erstwhile ICICI Prudential Value Discovery fund – direct growth so far profit 8.12% invested 91500 return 98927
Under my in-laws account Fixed deposit Rs 500000 at 7.25% interest monthly return Rs 3100 approximately
Under my wife demat invested Rs 400000 in bond market 11.75% monthly return Rs 3200 approximately
Under my wife demat invested Rs 6000/monthly so far Rs 66000 gradually in share market so far 7% profit
In my PF accounts Rs 4125158 as of now
For my daughters couple years itself I started to invest more in SSY each Rs 10000
Now SSY1: Rs 314848 (age 15) and SSY2: Rs 316857 (age 12)
This year I may modify slightly Rs 15000 and Rs 5000
NPS1: 10% so far 463332 (E20%, C40% & G40%) the reason behind due to thematic fund I slightly modified here; once exited above point 1 to 4 and change my strategy
NPS2: Monthly Rs 5000 as of now 87633 at 4% returns (E35%, C35%, G30%)
This is my own strategy, I need some bulk money every 3 months so I regularly pay 5 nos of RDs. This money helps for train tickets, Diwali purchases and many things and picnic and term policy and health insurance.
And recently buy second hand car Rs 500000 to pledge jewel loan so far paying 2.5 lakhs monthly Rs 25000
Passive income: Rent 6500 + Bond + FD interest 6000 = total 12500; Nasik home rent Rs 11000
All investments directly Rs 68000 + RDs 21500 = Total Rs 89500
Indirectly PF + VPF = Rs 38000 + NPS: Rs 13000 = Total Rs 51000
Bank balance: Rs 65000
I am not much in share market technical but I believe in discipline and consistency.
Invest first then expense.
Above is my secret of success thanks to all gurus like Anand and Pattu and many influencers like Boosan, some others.
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
- Sixty-fifth audit: From Debt to ₹1 Crore Liquid Net Worth: My Journey of Financial Awareness.
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.