In this edition of the reader story, we meet Suresh Murugan. In Dec 2019, Suresh 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. He published an update in Oct 2021: I felt worthless six years ago but have achieved financial stability today.
He has again kindly consented to present an update. A few weeks back, readers may have seen his contribution: How to create a family crisis management cheat sheet.
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 linked at the bottom of this article. You can also access the full reader story archive.
Opinions published in reader stories need not 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 necessary to convey the right meaning to preserve the tone and emotions of the writers.
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If you would like to contribute to the DIY community in this manner, send your audits to freefincal AT Gmail dot com. They can be published anonymously if you so desire.
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 have also started a new “mutual fund success stories” series. This is the first edition: How mutual funds helped me reach financial independence. Now over to Suresh.
This is my third audit. I want to share where I stand and what my goal is.
Current insurance & Other details:
- One crore tech term for me ( No change)
- 50 Lakh term policy for my wife ( added this year)
- 5 lakh health with 15 lakh top-up health insurance for family ( No change)
- 50 lakh accidental & 40 lakh accidental policy ( Last year it was 25 & 15 ).
- Post office accidental policy purchased this year because of OPD coverage in an accident ( personal accident policy doesn’t cover OPD)
- One-year emergency Fund in FD with an overdraft facility.
- 1 lakh non-health insurance bill & home appliance bill fund is used for debt reduction. I have to restore this year.
Insurance claims:
- I was admitted for kidney stones with cashless benefits. Only consumables were not covered rest, 1.25 lakhs, were covered.
- My daughter was admitted for flu with cashless benefits. Total 90% claimed of 30 thousand.
Zero Debt process:
- I closed my home loan. I know the home loan interest is low. But with the loan, I cannot sleep properly. So I have done it.
- Closed my employer loan.
- Currently, I have around 1 lakh FD overdraft loan. It is used for Home loan closure. I will close this as soon as possible.
- I am using a credit card for monthly expenses.
Goals stats:
- Retirement Fund – One flexicap & My EPF as debt component. ( No change in funds).
- Daughter Fund – One hybrid fund & My wife’s epf, daughter SSY & my wife’s PPF ( no change in funds)
- I am two years behind as per plan. I used all my income for debt closure. Hereafter I will invest aggressively.
Asset status: From Last year onwards, I started calculating my assets. ( I exclude jewellery because we are using it & I exclude my house because we are living in it, It includes the emergency fund & amount given to others)
I want to focus on reaching milestones based on assets only. Here is my status.
Asset milestones:
- 10 Lakhs asset – Achieved this year
- Next Milestones planned
- 10 lakh net assets without an emergency fund
- 10 lakh assets without debt component
- 25 lakhs asset
When I wrote the second audit, immediately my milestone was 10 lakh assets. When I achieved the milestone, I thought to write about the audit. I achieved it.
I didn’t know where I was going financially before. While I sleep, this question always comes to mind. Now I know where I am and where I am going.
Thanks to My wife for supporting all my financial decision. Proper planning helps!
Reader stories published earlier
As regular readers may know, we publish a personal financial audit each December – this is the 2021 edition: Portfolio Audit 2021: How my goal-based investments fared this year. 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.
- Twelveth 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.
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. They could be published anonymously if you so desire.
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Now watch Let's Get Rich With Pattu தமிழில் (in Tamil)!About The Author
Dr M Pattabiraman giving a lecture
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 14 years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free, AUM-independent investment advice. Connect with him via Twitter(X) LinkedIn YouTube Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (Published by CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. 
This book helps you ask the right questions and find the right answers. It also includes nine online calculators to create custom solutions.
(2) Gamechanger: Forget Startups, Join Corporate & Still Live the Rich Life You Want. 
Both the boy and girl versions of "Chinchu Gets a Superpower".
Most investor problems stem from a lack of poor decision-making. We made bad decisions and money mistakes when we started earning, and we spent years undoing them. Why should our children go through the same pain? What is this book about? As parents, what if we had to groom one ability in our children that matters not only for money management and investing but for every aspect of life? My answer: Sound decision-making. So, in this book, we meet Chinchu, who is about to turn 10. The story follows what he wants for his birthday and how his parents plan it, while also teaching him key ideas about decision-making and money management. What readers say! 
Feedback from a young reader after reading Chinchu Gets a Superpower!
Must-read book even for adults! This is something that every parent should teach their kids right from a young age. The importance of money management and decision-making based on their wants and needs. Very nicely written in simple terms. - Arun.
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