

Isn’t this like a dream come true for all of us? Atleast for those of who are not working for themselves but for somebody else?

This post is about a person, with whom I had a casual chat over lunch some two years back. At that time, I (in my wildest dreams) could not have imagined that this talk would have such a big effect on his life.

But as it has been rightly said in Alchemist,


…in hindsight, it now seems that our little chat was the catalyst for something big which was about to happen in that person’s life.

He called up last Sunday to thank me for the little chat I had with him two years back.

At first, I did not realize what he was thanking me about. But when he told me everything, it was like a jaw dropping moment for me.

I will share this story in two parts…

And the first part of the story goes like this…

While doing my MBA internship in an organization, I came across a guy who looked quite old for his age and was a quite frustrated with his life. One day while having lunch together, he became aware of my interest in stocks and wealth creation in general.

And this got him started. He then told me quite a lot about his personal and financial life.

Frustrated Man At Job

He had been working in that organization for last 15 years. He was frustrated because though he was earning well, he was still barely breaking even every month end. He stayed in a decent 2BHK flat in New Delhi, which he had purchased 2 years back using home loan. The loan still had almost Rs 70 Lacs of unpaid amount. And this is what ate up almost 60% of his salary. Apart from the house, he had almost nothing to show for savings. To be exact, he just had a couple of lacs in PF, and less than a lac in fixed deposits.

But he had something else which could be a game changer.

Sometime back, he had inherited a plot of land.

And this plot of land was worth almost Rs 7 Crores at that time!! Yes. You read it right. It was worth more than 7 Crores! And as of then, that plot of land was lying vacant and was not suitable for cultivation.

I was surprised when I came to know of this. I was surprised that even after being a big Crorepati (many times over), he was still working for someone else, and was unhappy with his finances!

What I then told him was simple common sense and none of the usual financial gibberish you get to read on this site 😉

I told him that if he was ready to take a decision based on simple common sense, his life would change for the good. But for that he would have to part with something which he had inherited. And that in itself would require a lot of emotional will power.

He seemed quite eager to know what I planned to tell him. And what I told him is listed in 5 steps given below:

  1. Sell that plot of land and use the money as described in step 2, 3, 4 and 5.
  2. Pay off the home loan of Rs 70 Lacs
  3. Create an emergency fund
  4. Set aside money in fixed deposit which would provide monthly interest equivalent to his monthly salary.

This is what I suggested him two years back. And last Sunday, I received a call from him.

But I will share rest of the details about why he wanted to thank me in part 2 of this Post.



  1. A stupid guy gets blessed with an enormous bounty which was the result of the hardwork of his ancestors. Uses that money, and retires with the proceeds.

    Somehow, I don't see a story of great achievement here.

  2. Hmm… you are right that its easy for somebody who inherited something big. But sometimes its not easy to just monetize your inheritances. There are aspects like emotional will power and that you need to convince your family members about the same. But yes, inheritance is the key here.

  3. Indeed. Inheritance is the key here.
    And to be honest, my main contribution was about the common sense advice. The honor should entirely be that person's who eventually executed the common sense based plan.

  4. True. It seems to be a good time to sell stocks of bad businesses which have risen because of rising tide.
    I join you in your prayers of market crash. But like you, even I have a feeling that fall might not be as steep as Sensex going to 8K.

  5. It is easier to earn all the money yourself. But if you already have a lot of money, it is much more difficult to protect/retain it.

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