Background
- Name: Dnyanesh
- Age: 33
- City: Mumbai
- Family: Wife and mother (second mother); planning for one child in the future
- Closest extended family: elder sister, brother-in-law, and nephew
- Current dependents: wife and mother (future child planned)
FIRE Target Number
- Primary FIRE target: 25× annual expenses. Equivalent to ~300× monthly expenses.
- Personally targeting ~33× as a conservative buffer
- Child education, higher studies, and other long-term goals are planned separately, not mixed with core FIRE corpus.
How I Started My FIRE Journey
Started working in 2015 at age 23, immediately after graduation, and began investing from my first salary (~₹25,000/month).
My initial investments were through regular mutual fund plans, was (₹6000-8000/month), guided by a trusted mutual fund distributor who helped me understand the foundations of investing — goal-based planning, asset allocation, discipline, and long-term thinking. I still value and maintain that relationship.
Over time, curiosity turned into deep interest. I consumed podcasts, books, articles, and research obsessively, to the point where investing became a big part of my life. With experience, I’ve realised that while knowledge is essential, detachment is equally important — too much involvement often leads to unnecessary decisions.
My early portfolio was simple but diversified, with a mix of large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap funds. Investments increased gradually through consistent SIPs rather than big one-time bets. Post-2020, after building sufficient understanding, I shifted largely to direct plans and index funds.
Professionally, I work in a teaching / test-prep role — a stable but slow-growing field with no extraordinary income spikes. There were years of salary stagnation and even cuts, especially around COVID.
Across the last four years of marriage (since Aug 2021), I’ve managed an average savings rate of ~35-40%, driven more by discipline than high income.
A meaningful part of my financial position today is also shaped by unfortunate personal losses. I lost my mother in 2016 and my father during the second COVID wave in 2021, just before my marriage. My wife has also lost both her parents. Because there are only two of us, some assets eventually came to us through inheritance — not due to extraordinary wealth, but due to the absence of dependents.
I believe it’s important to acknowledge this honestly. My current ~25x position in my early 30s is a result of early investing discipline, steady saving, parental support, and circumstances, not financial genius.
Income Sources
Income growth in recent years has been uneven but meaningful:
- 2022 → 2023: ~30%+ increase
- 2023 → 2024: ~35–40% increase
- 2024 → 2025: ~25% increase
Double-digit % growth in income is largely due to starting from a relatively modest base. Working in a slow-growth industry allowed for higher percentage appraisals (around 20–25%) during my early years.
Beyond my salary, I have focused on building a direct blue-chip stock portfolio for dividends. However, because dividends are taxed at slab rates in India, I pivoted my incremental investments in 2025 toward REITs and InvITs to build a more efficient passive income stream. Currently, this passive income covers about 1 month of post-tax expenses. The long-term goal is for these distributions to cover all our monthly expenses in 10–15 years. Additionally, I recently started writing for The FynPrint, which provides a small side income.
It is important to note that income is not linear. We currently receive rent from one property, but since it was purchased for self-use, that income will eventually stop. Furthermore, my wife is on medical leave and we are planning for a child, so our household income may dip while expenses rise. This is why I am aggressively building interest, bond, and distribution-based streams now – to ensure our portfolio remains resilient during these phases.
Study Material: 22 Different Income Source Ideas to Start With – Click Here
How Far I’m from FIRE
- Without factoring child education & other future goals, I am technically FI at ~25× today.
- Personally targeting ~33×+ before calling it fully comfortable.
- FIRE for me is about optionality, safety, and simplicity, not quitting work at the earliest possible moment.
Current Portfolio Snapshot (Dec 2025)
- Direct Stocks (India): ~27–28% | XIRR ~12.6%
- Indian Equity Mutual Funds: ~17% | XIRR ~15%
- Short-term Debt Funds: ~11% | XIRR ~7%
- International Equity (ETFs + MFs): ~10% | XIRR ~22%
- REITs & InvITs: ~4.5% | XIRR ~24%
- Gold: ~15%
- ~12% physical
- ~3% via ETFs (to be increased gradually)
- Capital Gain Bonds: ~15%
- From house sale proceeds
- Maturity in 2028, to be reinvested largely into debt funds
Overall Portfolio XIRR: ~16.8%
Portfolio Philosophy
- No leverage.
- No F&O or speculative trading.
- Built for survivability first, returns second.
Key Lessons Learnt & Suggestions
- Investing in yourself (skills & health) has the highest ROI.
- Asset allocation matters more than fund selection.
- Simplicity and patience beat constant optimisation.
Top Suggestions for Someone Starting Today
- Invest in skills and income growth first — savings compound only if income grows
- Respect asset allocation — don’t go all-in on equity
- Separate insurance from investments
- Adequate health insurance, term life cover, emergency fund
- Avoid traditional endowment / ULIP-style products
Life After FIRE
- Helping people simplify and understand their finances
- Reading more books
- Playing badminton regularly
- Exploring and experimenting with different kinds of coffee
- Living a low-stress, low-noise, low-envy life
One Advice to My 18-Year-Old Self
Build skills early, invest early, and never compare your journey with others.
More discussion on FIRE while living in India, inside SIR Community – Click here
