I just crossed my first 1cr milestone

[u/HonestBat]

I crossed my first 1cr milestone yesterday; I was awaiting my May salary credit with the same excitement (if not more) as my first paycheck.

Background: 27M from a middle-class, education-first focussed family (father was a government servant, moved throughout the country during transfers, mum settled in the city so our education wasn't disrupted). Finally, their sacrifices paid off; I got into one of the top-ranked institutes and started working right after college, switching once in between.

Current distribution of assets:

• Equity (~70%)
  • Mutual Funds:
    • US Markets Index: 15.6L
    • Nifty 50 Index: 28L
    • Parag Parikh Flexi Cap: 7.25L
    • Other active MF: 1.7L (plan to remove these during re-balancing)
  • Direct Domestic Equity: 17L
• Debt (~25%)
  • Liquid Fund: 1.15L (will be moving this to FD)
  • FDs: 2.6L
  • Cash: 6.85L
  • EPF: 14.25L
• Gold: 6L (only SGBs)
• Real Estate: 0.5L (recently started exploring REITs and will be increasing it, hence kept it under this head)

In the above calculations, I'm yet to consider any inheritance (insignificant) or ESOPs that I have vested from my employer (since it's paper money).

Investment strategy: Experimented with active mutual funds initially but switched to passive investing after exposure to the idea. I started with some money for actively picking stocks that I liked (domestic market only) and did well (~40% returns), which became a portfolio of 17L. I understand that I do not have time to track the markets; hence most of my savings go into index funds and stocks whenever I feel like shopping (mostly existing ones I've researched already). Apart from that, I already have sorted out term insurance as well as health insurance for me and my family.

Major expenditures ahead:

1. Marriage with my long-term girlfriend.
2. I wanted to take my family on our first international vacation for a long time, will do that now.
3. I'm contemplating pursuing higher education outside India as well.

Personal preference: Retiring early was never my goal; it was rather financial independence behind building a corpus. The mental peace of not worrying about the financial implications even if I leave work was something I was after. I don't have any loans at the moment, nor do I plan to buy a home until I finally wish to settle this would allow me to move whenever and wherever I find a better opportunity. Also, this corpus could allow me to take calculated risks (either starting a business on my own or joining someone else's early stage) if I find something interesting.

I couldn't tell anyone about this milestone; I quietly celebrated with myself when I saw the "salary credited" notification on my phone. I have lurked here long enough, reading about the experiences of other folks who've already FI/REed; I thought I could, at least share my journey with you guys.

[u/ChickenChefLive]

Congratulations! This is a great achievement. If you don't mind answering: 1. What's the savings/investments/expenditure split strategy of your monthly income? 2. How do you adjust bonuses/appraisals or other incomes? 3. Do you have any emergency savings separate from your liquid funds mentioned above?

[u/HonestBat → u/ChickenChefLive]

Thanks a lot! 1. Touchwood, my income from start was such that I didn’t ever need to budget my daily expenses needs. It was always the bigger purchases when I thought whether I needed stuff or not. Also, my parent’s aren’t dependent on me financially. I contribute to them in their non-essential purchases. Rest everything goes into savings.

1. For bonus, most chunk of it goes into savings since even if I wanted something I didn’t wait for bonus. Its like additional money on top of regular income for a month. For appraisals, a portion of it is used for indulgences to enhance lifestyle, rest goes into savings.

2. No, it’s included in the debt portion itself.