Late to investing, but hopefully on track for financial independence!

Published on / By M. Pattabiraman Twitter: @pattufreefincal
Default featured image for freefincal

Published: January 1, 2026 at 6:00 am

In this edition of the reader story,  we meet a 37-year-old who started late but has made up for it and is on course to achieve financial independence.

About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits us all. 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.

Firstly, heartfelt thanks to Pattu sir and the Freefincal team for creating a platform where investors like me can share our journeys. I am not sure if Pattu sir fully realises how deeply his wisdom and Freefincal’s content have influenced the financial lives of thousands of investors, including mine.

🔥Secure your future with our Robo-advisory tool trusted by over 3,500 investors and advisors. From effortless retirement planning to funding your children’s biggest dreams,  turn your financial goals into reality. 🔥

Subscribe for money management solutions via email! (Link takes you to our email sign-up form) Join 32,000+ readers in our community.

Introduction:
I am 37 years old and live with my wife, our 7-year-old daughter, and my dependent parents. We both have reasonably well-paying jobs. Other than a simple 2-bedroom house that my parents built three decades ago in my hometown in a remote part of Tamil Nadu, we do not own any real estate. I currently live in a rented house in Bangalore and prefer this arrangement for the flexibility it offers if we ever need to move.

Income and early mistakes:
By luck and grace, I have always had a decent-paying job, but I did not save or invest much in my early years. My only meaningful contribution was to the mandatory EPF. Although I have always lived a frugal life, the surplus money I had was neither invested in myself nor earmarked for retirement. That remains a regret even today!

Start of the investment journey:
I began taking my long-term financial health seriously only towards the end of 2021. Except for the EPF balance, the corpus we have today has been built over roughly the last four years through disciplined investing. I am a DIY investor and have never missed a SIP. I regularly top up investments every few months, regardless of market sentiment or valuations. My fund choices are based primarily on the pedigree of the fund house and my risk profile, and I have never chased recent top performers.
So far, I have not redeemed from any fund, and my list of funds has remained almost unchanged because I believe every fund goes through cycles. Every six months, I review how much I am investing on an average, instead of focusing over fund-wise returns.
Currently, my equity allocation has delivered about 15% returns, but I am aware that this is due to a bull phase and that returns will likely moderate over time.

Goals and investments:
We have set ourselves fairly ambitious goals, and I know that achieving them will require continued discipline and some luck. Above all, we need to remain relevant in our careers so that cash flows stay stable over the coming years.

Goal 1: Child’s higher education
Target: ₹2 crores by 2035
Current corpus: 45 lakhs with a 60:40 equity:debt allocation
Monthly investment: 80,000
Instruments: A large-cap index fund, a flexi-cap fund, a mid-cap index fund, PPF (maxed every year to maintain asset allocation), and a short-term debt fund.

I try to keep equity around 60% at all times. I plan to move this corpus gradually to safer debt options/FDs at least a few years before 2035. We treat it as a non-negotiable 5–7 year and the most critical goal.

Goal 2: Retirement + potential home

Target: ₹10 crores by 2045, including provision for buying a home for ourselves to spend rest of our lives
Current corpus: 80 lakhs with 65:35 equity:debt allocation
Monthly investment: ₹1.1 lakh
Instruments: A large-cap index fund, a flexi-cap fund, a large-and-mid-cap fund, a mid-cap fund, a gilt fund, and EPF
As the corpus has grown, I recently added a large-and-mid-cap index fund for an additional layer of diversification and safety, even if it introduces some portfolio overlap.

Goal 3: Daughter’s marriage expenses

Separately, I invest ₹10,000 per month in a large-cap-biased flexi-cap fund towards my daughter’s future marriage expenses. With a horizon of 20+ years, I intend to keep this goal 100% in equity for now.

Gratitude and support:
I must acknowledge my wife’s contribution across all these goals. Her role is significant both financially and emotionally in this journey, and will continue to be so in the years ahead. She trusts my judgement, allows a substantial portion of our combined income to be directed towards investments, and helps keep our expenses under control. We do not explicitly cap spending, but we are simply not in the habit of spending unnecessarily.

For anyone wondering about the basics: yes, we have them in place. We maintain an emergency fund and have adequate life and health insurance, as well as term cover.

Hopes, challenges, and faith:
Not a day goes by without me praying to the Almighty to guide us in this journey, keep us grounded, and help us stay relevant in our jobs, since our salary is our only source of income. We do not take anything for granted and work hard, while trying to maintain a reasonable work–life balance. I hope to explore secondary income sources in the near future.

Like many urban families, we also deal with our share of health issues, and we continue to face them as best as we can.

Once again, sincere thanks to Pattu sir and the Freefincal team for this opportunity. I closely follow Freefincal and draw a lot of inspiration from the journeys shared by other readers. My best wishes to everyone reading this—may your goals and wishes come true, and may you find the strength and clarity to stay the course in your own financial journey.

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.