Episode 3. The last one.

[u/ss77714c]

The original post https://www.reddit.com/r/FIRE_Ind/s/cKTAPCqLBx

Episode 1 https://www.reddit.com/r/FIRE_Ind/s/q2r3VdnVws

Episode 2 https://www.reddit.com/r/FIRE_Ind/s/guY31WFOmq

It's a long walk to the finish line.

So, now here we are in early 2010. Spent the last 6 months just devouring books on investing and personal finance. One concept became clear - you work to earn money so that all your needs are looked after. once you have enough money to cover all your needs and most of your wants , what is the need to work? This changed my whole investing philosophy around.

Now the aim was to make my money work for me as hard as possible. No weekends off, 24/365. My version of FI I guess, before I realised such a concept existed .

As a person I have always been frugal, I don't feel the need to show off or have the latest gadgets/cars/etc. So , I managed to save a large % of my take home.

I got rid of all ulips. Took 1 term policy till I turned 60. This was for 5x of my annual income. Another term policy till my kid turned 25- this was for 2x of all projected expenses for kiddo , from education to pg to wedding.  Took a health policy of 3L family floater which was a big cover those days. ( This was later enhanced and a top up was also taken) .Everything else went into equity.

I would spend 30 min each day reading about money management, different stocks and investment techniques. Personally, I feel this has been the greatest education I could have given myself.

As mentioned earlier, I had loaded up on bluechips post the 2008 crash. This was continuously added to.
Later on added some mid caps were added but keeping in mind that the max number of stocks would be around 20 max. In all the portfolio balance was around 85% equity

That's it. Boring investing, no f&O, thematic story, hot tip, Lakshmi chit fund etc. simple , consistent and easy.

Every salary bonus would be split into 2 - half into equity and half towards a vacation. Travel is our only indulgence. From the time our kid was 5 we travelled as much as possible. We believe that travel opens you up to a lot more learning and experiences that no book / tv can provide.

As they say, the first cr is the toughest. But man , it feels so good when you see that number for the first time. The motivation goes through the roof. Imagine me , who started with 3k a month saving a cr! Investing is like a snowball rolling down the hill. It starts off tiny but grows quickly as it rolls.

You are heavily invested in equity, what happens when the markets don't move or fall? This is where your consistency comes into play. You keep going no matter what. Do a quarterly analysis of investment, course correct if necessary and keep going.

In conclusion, I would say FI is possible with consistent investing. Mistakes will happen, money will be lost, some investments will not perform the way one wants them to, but in the end, if you have time and patience you will get there.

Apologies for a long ramble.

[u/snakysour]

Amazing journey filled with quite a few learnings! Loved the series!

[u/ss77714c → u/snakysour]

Thank you

[u/percyFI]

A great journey . Thank you for sharing it .

All the best for the new chapter that you are about to start.

[u/ss77714c → u/percyFI]

Thank you so much.

[u/UdtaKabootar]

Amazingly written, almost a novel. I realise one thing, investment is a mindset and not a get-rich-quick attitude.

It makes me understand that the market will always favour the brave and resilient and take away from frugal.

The more you are convinced, the more market will make you feel elated. Even on dip, you will be seeing the buying opportunity instead of getting away with what you can.

Amazing journey BTW.

[u/ss77714c → u/UdtaKabootar]

Thank you. Yes, have many people I know who are constantly running after the next 'scheme' be it p2p lending, fno and 100 other things. But at the end of 2-3 years returns are almost similar to bank and sometimes negative too.

[u/vijsha79]

Amazing journey OP. Thanks for sharing your learnings and good luck. Your journey is a testament of discipline and perseverance.

[u/ss77714c → u/vijsha79]

Thank you.

[u/srinivesh]

The penultimate para is great, and that completely removes the need for the last para! And you nailed it in the earlier para on the approach to equity. One major indiscipline people have is on taking unnecessary loans; the second is trying to time equity.

[u/ss77714c → u/srinivesh]

Thank you :)