In this edition of the reader story, we meet a tax professional who started investing late but has admirably caught up.
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.
A Late but Intentional Start to Personal Finance
Join 32,000+ readers and get free money management solutions delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to get posts via email! (Link takes you to our email sign-up form)
🔥Want to create a complete financial plan? Learn goal-based investing? Exclusive access to our DIY tools? Increase your income with your skills? Use this link to enjoy massive discounts on our robo-advisory tool & courses! 🔥
I am 38 years old, based in Chennai, and work as a tax professional in the banking industry. My wife and I are both employed, and together we take home around ₹3 lakh per month. We live in a joint family with my parents and have two young children—a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter.
Like many salaried professionals, my relationship with money has always been rooted in security, peace of mind, and independence rather than wealth for its own sake. Ironically, despite working in finance, my personal financial journey took a long time to become intentional.
This is a story of that delayed—but deliberate—shift.
The Early Years (2010–2015): Survival, Not Strategy
I started working in 2010. My initial salary was modest, and whatever surplus existed largely went towards repaying my education loan and supporting my family. There was no real investible corpus during this phase.
Investing was not a priority—not due to aversion, but due to lack of awareness. In hindsight, it is uncomfortable to admit this as a finance professional, but professional exposure does not automatically translate into personal financial wisdom. Concepts like inflation, compounding, and long-term wealth creation simply did not register at a practical level.
Importantly, I did not make reckless mistakes. I also did not make deliberate ones. I simply drifted.
The Middle Phase (2016–2020): Home First, Portfolio Later
In 2016, we bought a 3BHK apartment in Chennai for about ₹83 lakh. This decision was driven almost entirely by family considerations—my parents’ retirement and the need for emotional security and stability. At that point, owning a home mattered more than optimising returns.
Soon after the purchase, I had an opportunity for a one-year on-site secondment. This turned out to be financially significant—not because of lifestyle upgrades, but because it allowed me to aggressively prepay the home loan during the early years when interest outgo is highest. The loan was fully paid off within six years.
In hindsight, this was not the most optimal financial decision. A better balance between equity investing and loan prepayment would likely have worked out better numerically. But at that time, certainty mattered more than efficiency, and I do not regret the peace of mind it brought.
During this entire period, equity investing took a back seat. Not because I distrusted markets, but because I had no framework around goals, asset allocation, or long-term planning. By 2020, excluding real estate, our liquid net worth was roughly ₹30 lakh, largely built through mandatory savings like EPF and PPF.
The Turning Point (2020 Onwards): Awareness Before Action
The real shift began post-2020 and accelerated after the birth of my children in 2022 and 2024. Parenthood, increasing work pressure, and the realisation that my productive career window is finite led to an uncomfortable but necessary conclusion: retirement for me is more likely at 50 than at 60.
This was aspirational, not guaranteed—but it demanded urgency.
I began consuming personal finance content more seriously—blogs, long-form writing, and discussions that focused on process rather than promises. This phase was less about discovering products and more about unlearning habits.
The first concrete step was increasing equity exposure through mutual funds. I deliberately kept things simple. Even today, my entire equity portfolio consists of just two funds: a Nifty 50 index fund and a flexi-cap fund. I started with SIPs and gradually moved to a monthly discipline of investing as much surplus as possible, increasing allocations year after year.
Alongside this, I put basic hygiene in place—adequate term insurance, separate health insurance beyond employer cover, and an emergency fund covering six to eight months of expenses.
Where I Stand Today
My current asset allocation (excluding real estate) looks roughly like this:
- Equity: ~40% (PPFAS Flexicap, UTI Nifty50)
- Debt: ~50% (primarily EPF, PPF, and SSY)
- Gold: ~3%
- Cash and arbitrage funds: ~7%
As of today, excluding the self-occupied house we live in, our combined net worth is a little over ₹1 crore. This has not been achieved through exceptional returns or market timing, but largely through a high savings rate, stable income, and a conscious shift towards disciplined investing over the last few years. For me, this has been an important reminder that starting late does not make progress impossible—it only makes consistency more important.
This allocation is not the result of conservatism, but of sequencing. I started equity investing late, and most of my debt corpus was built automatically over the years. My long-term target is to reach about 60% equity, and for now, new investments are doing the rebalancing.
I use only direct mutual funds. I do not track markets closely. My focus is on how much I can invest each month rather than what markets do in the short term. When there are meaningful corrections, I deploy some opportunistic lump sums—but discipline, not timing, drives my approach.
Behaviour, Risk, and Temperament
I did not have meaningful equity exposure during the 2020 crash, so I do not claim any heroics. My real behavioural testing has been limited to the smaller corrections of recent years.
So far, market movements have not affected my discipline. That is likely because my conviction is rooted in understanding rather than experience of returns. I am clear that equity is the only realistic way to beat inflation over long periods, and that higher risk does not automatically translate to higher returns.
In many ways, I am still building behavioural muscle—but I am comfortable with that.
Goals and Trade-offs
My primary financial goals are my children’s education, their eventual marriage, and our retirement. These goals themselves have remained stable, but my seriousness and execution intensity has changed dramatically.
Retiring at 50 is aspirational. To even have a chance at it, I have started investing with urgency—cutting lifestyle creep, dropping the pursuit of finer luxuries, and prioritising savings over visible consumption.
This has been a conscious trade-off, not a sacrifice.
What Helped Me Reframe Investing
Content from FreeFinCal resonated with me not because it offered strategies or products, but because it reinforced restraint.
A few ideas that stuck with me:
- Keeping portfolios simple and uncluttered
- Being realistic about return expectations and factors outside one’s control
- Focusing on target corpus for goals rather than market narratives
- Cutting through noise and avoiding FOMO
Lowering my equity return expectations to around 10–11% was surprisingly liberating. It forced me to increase my savings rate substantially instead of hoping markets would do the heavy lifting.
Closing Thoughts
My journey is not one of early starts or exceptional returns. It is one of delayed awareness, course correction, and growing conviction.
If there is one lesson I would share, it is this: getting serious about personal finance is less about intelligence and more about humility—accepting what you do not control, simplifying decisions, and doing the same sensible things repeatedly for a long time.
I started late. But I have finally started intentionally—and that, I believe, still counts.
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.
Use our Robo-advisory Tool to create a complete financial plan! ⇐More than 3,000 investors and advisors use this! Use the discount code: robo25 for a 20% discount. Plan your retirement (early, normal, before, and after), as well as non-recurring financial goals (such as child education) and recurring financial goals (like holidays and appliance purchases). The tool would help anyone aged 18 to 80 plan for their retirement, as well as six other non-recurring financial goals and four recurring financial goals, with a detailed cash flow summary.
🔥You can also avail massive discounts on our courses and the freefincal investor circle! 🔥& join our community of 8000+ users!
Track your mutual funds and stock investments with this Google Sheet!
We also publish monthly equity mutual funds, debt and hybrid mutual funds, index funds, and ETF screeners, as well as momentum and low-volatility stock screeners.
You can follow our articles on Google News
We have over 1,000 videos on YouTube!
Join our WhatsApp Channel
- Do you have a comment about the above article? Reach out to us on Twitter: @freefincal or @pattufreefincal
- Have a question? Subscribe to our newsletter using the form below.
- Hit 'reply' to any email from us! We do not offer personalised investment advice. We can write a detailed article without mentioning your name if you have a generic question.
Join 32,000+ readers and get free money management solutions delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to get posts via email! (Link takes you to our email sign-up form)
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!! 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.
Increase your income by getting people to pay for your skills! ⇐ More than 800 salaried employees, entrepreneurs and financial advisors are part of our exclusive community! Learn how to get people to pay for your skills! Whether you are a professional or small business owner seeking more clients through online visibility, or a salaried individual looking for a side income or passive income, we will show you how to achieve this by showcasing your skills and building a community that trusts and pays you. (watch 1st lecture for free). One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos!
Our book for kids: “Chinchu Gets a Superpower!” is now available!
Must-read book even for adults! This is something that every parent should teach their kids right from their young age. The importance of money management and decision making based on their wants and needs. Very nicely written in simple terms. - Arun.Buy the book: Chinchu gets a superpower for your child!
How to profit from content writing: Our new ebook is for those interested in getting a side income via content writing. It is available at a 50% discount for Rs. 500 only!
Do you want to check if the market is overvalued or undervalued? Use our market valuation tool (it will work with any index!), or get the Tactical Buy/Sell timing tool!
We publish monthly mutual fund screeners and momentum, low-volatility stock screeners.
About freefincal & its content policy. Freefincal is a News Media organisation dedicated to providing original analysis, reports, reviews and insights on mutual funds, stocks, investing, retirement and personal finance developments. We do so without conflict of interest and bias. Follow us on Google News. Freefincal serves more than three million readers a year (5 million page views) with articles based only on factual information and detailed analysis by its authors. All statements made will be verified with credible and knowledgeable sources before publication. Freefincal does not publish paid articles, promotions, PR, satire or opinions without data. All opinions will be inferences backed by verifiable, reproducible evidence/data. Contact Information: To get in touch, please use our contact form. (Sponsored posts or paid collaborations will not be entertained.)
Connect with us on social media
- Twitter @freefincal
- Subscribe to our YouTube Videos
- Posts feed via Feedburner.
Our publications
You Can Be Rich Too with Goal-Based Investing
Published by CNBC TV18, this book is designed to help you ask the right questions and find the correct answers. Additionally, it comes with nine online calculators, allowing you to create custom solutions tailored to your lifestyle. Get it now.Gamechanger: Forget Startups, Join Corporate & Still Live the Rich Life You Want
This book is designed for young earners to get their basics right from the start! It will also help you travel to exotic places at a low cost! Get it or gift it to a young earner.Your Ultimate Guide to Travel
This is an in-depth exploration of vacation planning, including finding affordable flights, budget accommodations, and practical travel tips. It also examines the benefits of travelling slowly, both financially and psychologically, with links to relevant web pages and guidance at every step. Get the PDF for Rs 300 (instant download)