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SqueakyNugget
SqueakyNugget
TCS

Wasted 15 years of my life. What is the way forward?

I'm a 37-year-old IT gurl from Bangalore. I recently had a massive freak-out session because I realized my entire savings were locked up in fixed deposits (FDs). I felt like a complete fool. You know how FDs are; they don't even keep up with inflation. My parents had forced me to put money in FDs when I started my first job and I kept doing that over the last 15 years.

I always wanted to invest in property, dreamt of buying plots or an apartment. I even came close a few times, but it never panned out. Now, I'm sitting here thinking, "What have I done with my life?" I'm married for two years, no kids yet, and my husband works in accounting, so she doesn't contribute much.

I know, I'm quite late to the investment game. My goal is to create some serious wealth now. What's the best way forward? Stocks, mutual funds, real estate? I need a strategy to make up for lost time.

Please don't age-shame me. Life took over, and I couldn't plan my finances well. How do I make up for it now? Any advice is much appreciated!

18d ago
20Kviews
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FluffyCupcake
FluffyCupcake
Amazon18d

Do a favor to yourself - Hire a professional advisor. Getting advice on anon platform is one thing, executing investment needs lots of hand-holding, hence go for a paid PF professional.

SqueakyNugget
SqueakyNugget
TCS18d

You have any recommendation?

DancingMochi
DancingMochi
American Express17d

@MissyMiss I'd recommend "Samasthithi Advisors". I had taken their services a few years ago

JumpyPretzel
JumpyPretzel
Stealth18d

21 lakh is hardly much amount to worry over. At any point, you should keep that kind of amount in FD, definitely about 10 lakhs at least. I would suggest that just take out 10 lakhs of that and distribute into a few good mutual funds. And then start sip ing every month from your salary.

If you don’t know about mutual funds, index fund / etf is a good place to start blindly. Like NiftyBEES etf which just follows nifty50 companies. You can choose best mutual funds just by comparing them on any comparison making sites, look at last 10 yrs return in xirr. And choose 3-4 types of funds, like small cap, mid cap, largecap, flexi; and then by researching and comparing a bit on those sites, come up with 3-4 good mutual funds. Even if you choose bad ones, that too will provide 9-10% return in long run, and anyway, you can always observe them and stop and change the SIP at few yrs interval if you observe something wrong about them.

JumpyPretzel
JumpyPretzel
Stealth18d

For ex, I had started and stopped these two fund houses mutual funds- Axis mf’s midcap and elss, and Tata AMC’s Digital India fund.

BubblyMochi
BubblyMochi
Stealth18d

But 21 Lakhs in FD is a good. Atleast you have saved something. Now you can invest lumsum in a MF and start SIP.

SwirlyKoala
SwirlyKoala
Stealth18d

How much money do you have in your FD right now?

SqueakyNugget
SqueakyNugget
TCS18d

21L

QuirkyCupcake
QuirkyCupcake
Sprinklr16d

Is your husband also a woman?

FDs are one of the safest assets, so don't worry, plan on allocating some money towards more riskier instruments (MF, equities, etc).

Think of breaking it in a good split (maybe 60-40) and put some money in growth oriented assets.

Property rates are so inflated atm, think of your future and invest. Most of the REs are tough to sell, so plan well and invest.

All the best 👍

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