HOW I RETIRED 5 YEARS EARLY INSPITE OF STARTING 13 YEARS LATE?
Mr. Chandrashekhar Kadam recently ended his 20 year long journey in the gulf and has returned to his motherland to enjoy the golden years of his life in his own way. He shares with us his journey as an investor and what he did to retire early in life
Q). How has the investing journey been so far and what philosophy do you as an investor follow ?
Answer: My journey as an investor has been very exciting. I and Shri. Shashikant Patole my financial coach discussed these things for the first time 15 years ago and have been investing in Mutual Funds ever since. I saw two major turbulences in the market, several types of uncertainties, extensive bull runs and heavily lucrative gains but all of it taught me two things – Patience and Discipline. These two are the most important pillars of investing. It shapes your investment style and approach in the right direction.
Q). Why did you choose mutual funds over traditional investments like insurance or direct share trading ?
Answer: When I and Shashi spoke for the first time he explained me the reason behind investing for the future. He explained it is important to generate returns which can beat inflation as to attain my financial goals and more importantly for peaceful retirement. Where insurance and traditional methods like fixed deposits are nowhere near inflation, investing in direct equity requires a lot of knowledge, analysis, time, and dedicated study which I was not ready/capable to contribute. Like I am skilled for my job there are people who are skilled for their job, its better not to mix those things.
Q). Being investing for 15 years you must have sacrificed a lot of your lifestyle in your investing years so as to build the corpus you have reached today ?
Answer: Absolutely not, we had discussed this in the early stages itself with Shashi. We never compromised on our lifestyle. We lived a fulfilling life in the last 15 years. But what we did was, we meticulously made our idle money work for us, which in return made sure that we will have enough corpus in our retirement to continue the same lifestyle we were having when were working.
Q). Which news channels, websites, magazines, blogs, and other source of information do you follow to keep yourself updated with the recent happenings in the industry ?
Answer: I follow my coach. It’s his job to follow all the other things and explain it to me and its implications towards my financial goals. He conducts various educational webinars and seminars for investors like us in a simplified manner on relevant topics keeping us away from the noise. Of course I read on the subject and time to time check its applicability to me or my goals with Shashi.
Q). What according to you is the biggest hindrance for NRI investors when it comes to investing in India ?
Answer: There are many actually, awareness of options available, ignorance towards savings, tax ambiguity, improper guidance, mis-selling by bank representatives, or fear of risk taking all of it make it difficult for us to take any decision. But appointment of one right person to take care of all these challenges makes life so peaceful and the financial journey so rewarding. As an investor your challenge should only be in finding the right person who can handhold you and be answerable to you throughout your financial life. Fortunately, I got one.
Q). With the availability of Direct funds in Mutual Funds, what are the cost related factors you think should one consider while investing ?
Answer: Cost for me is not a major criteria as I believe no good product or service is/will ever available for free or at cheaper prices. Moreover, in this field of finance where one small advice can make or break your financial lives, investing without proper help is the biggest risk one could take. Once you compare the cost to benefit ratio, you will notice how the cost is nothing when it comes to the benefit you get for it.
Q). How is your experience with the portal provided to you by NJ India Invest, the biggest MF distributor platform ?
Answer: Clear, Crisp, & Clutter free. You get exactly what you need on your dashboard, and the overall platform is so well categorized as per their utilities that it makes it very easy for any investor to navigate through it. Backing to AddOn by NJ is just an icing on the cake as it gives them the right muscle to execute their ideas and philosophies.
Q). What are your thoughts on MARS the Asset Allocation and Rebalancing tool dearly advocated by AddOn ?
Answer: MARS is an absolute boon for investors looking to park lumpsum amounts. It follows the Asset Allocation philosophy with such conscientiousness that it sweeps you away from market noise and sentimental decision making. Moreover, they have been doing this for past 7- 8 years now exhibiting the foresightedness and customer centric service the team is willing to offer.
Q). Now that you have retired, what financial plans have you made ? Parked all the money in safe instruments ?
Answer: I have retired, my money has not. I don’t want to work for money but my money can work for me forever. Why keep it all in safe instruments ? I have adequate health insurance for my family, I have set aside my short term needs and emergency corpus and the rest is kept in growing money instruments like MARS. This is the major mistake I believe most retired individuals do, keeping all money in safe instruments after retirement. Keep all your short term and emergency funds into safe money instruments and let all your long term money grow through tools like MARS or even Equity Mutual funds for that matter.
Q). What wisdom would you like to give to fellow investors reading this ?
Answer:
- Live in today but have a robust plan for tomorrow
- Money should make money for you, it should not be sleeping in your bank deposits
- Hire Experts – Chartered Accountant, Financial Coach, Lawyer (For Will). It will make a substantial difference
- Investing is boring in the beginning, but it gets extremely exciting as it ages.
- Do your financial Goal Planning, stick to those plans.
- Stay away from greed when markets are rising and fear when markets are falling
- Talk and review your portfolio with your coach periodically.
- You will always need a coach to control your behavior and balance between Fear & Greed while Investing.
- Patience and Discipline are the oxygen of your investments.
With best Wishes,
Chandrashekhar Kadam
