“The satisfaction you get in giving something useful to someone is far greater than in getting something from someone.”
Read his Story in his own words & you can also download a personal finance guide created by Anil from end of this post.
My Journey – Anil Kumar Kapila
Hemant’s My Story inspired me to pen down My Journey. This is a journey which attempts to describe how I moved through the financial passages of my life. During this journey I have used different types of financial vehicles. I started my journey with one vehicle, got off at stops where I felt most comfortable, the ones most appropriate for my personal financial situation, to resume my journey again using another type of vehicle.
This journey has not been smooth. I had to take many detours and encounter several roundabouts. The speed of the vehicles had to be adjusted according to the traffic, the condition of the road and the presence of speed breakers. I had to remain flexible about my trip plan and reassess my actions on a periodic basis as different routes were available for reaching the same destination.
What made my journey easier is that for the most part, it followed a familiar pattern. I finished my engineering education and landed a secure job in a leading public sector undertaking. After a few years, I got married and had kids. The kids grew up and got educated. I did better at work and earned more. Eventually I retired.
This all sounds boring.Still, there are many things which provide excitement in life. For me this came from my profession. I must confess that in the initial stages of my life I did not do any serious financial planning because nobody ever mentioned this term to me when I started earning and because people like Hemant were not around then. I started my financial planning which is mainly investment planning only after my retirement when I came in contact with Hemant and TFL. I consider myself lucky as even without any meaningful financial planning during my early days I have not faced any negative surprises in my financial life so far.
Bachelor Days
Immediately after doing electrical engineering from Thapar Institute Of Engineering & Technology Patiala Punjab in the year 1969, I got my first job in a fertilizer plant, which took me to a small industrial township in a sleepy place in the coal belt of Bihar which has become part of Jharkhand now. Initially I did not like the place but eventually got used to it and spent 17 years of my life there.
My professional life started with a set of limitations. I joined as Junior Executive Trainee with a fixed salary of Rs 400/- per month. There was no DA applicable then. Those were pre-liberalisation days and one had to wait for years after booking a scooter or car. Fortunately I became the proud owner of a Pearl Yamha scooter which was manufactured for a very brief period in Ludhiana and had imported Yamha engine. Luckily my company gave me Rs 50/- per month as conveyance allowance for maintaining a scooter, which proved quite useful as the petrol was very cheap and my scooter hardly needed any maintenance.
Compared to the present generation, the lifestyles then were not very expensive and there was hardly any social pressure to spend and consume more than what you could afford and urgent financial needs were genuinely few. Hardly any store entertained credit card. So I was lucky to be free from financial poison in the form of credit card debt.
There was no deduction from any source as water,electricity, housing were provided free by the company. Nothing to pay for phone charges as nobody had heard about mobile phones. So I was able to save almost 50% of my salary, which was left in my savings bank account. Never felt the need to have any contingency fund as money was always available in the bank whenever needed.
Since I did not have any dependents, there was no need to have term insurance. My company had a very good hospital and all medical aid including medicines was provided free. The company had arrangement with other leading hospitals where the patients could be refereed for treatment free of charge. So health cover was also not needed. Equity mutual funds were not known then. So all savings were put in bank fixed deposits. Nobody talked about inflation.
Got Married
Got married to a full time house maker girl. So there was only one income. There was no drastic increase in household expenses. There were no big expenses to be planned. As the accommodation was provided free by the company, no need was felt to own a house.
Teaching and writing have been my passions. My company had a training centre for training employees and outsiders. I was a faculty for the training center. This provided me another source of extra income. I also used to write regularly for technical magazines like Electronics For You and used to get paid for that.
Starting a family also did not prove to be a considerable financial load. Did not have to plan for the medical bills of mother and kids as everything was taken care of by the company. Did not buy any special financial product for the kids.
Bought insurance policy for self. No thought process went in to selection regarding amount or tenure. It was bought simply for the purpose of saving income tax. Provident fund managed by the company was the main investment. Some voluntary contribution was also made to the provident fund. Only general purpose saving and investment products were used. Debt instruments used were post office deposits and bank deposits. Equity investment was done mainly in units of US 64 and Mastershares of UTI.
Householder
After spending 17 years in a public sector undertaking I decided to change my job .My new job took me to Mumbai. I worked as a manager in a Petrochemical Complex. My perks included a car and a furnished house. So I did not have to take a loan either for buying a house or a car. Medical expenses of self and all dependents were taken care by the company. So there was no need to buy a medical cover. Life insurance covers were bought mainly to save income tax.
I again started technical writing to make some extra money. Initially, I used to write and get my articles typed, which involved a lot of extra work of posting etc. Later on I started using PC for typing and sending soft copies of my articles.
Debt investments were done in PPF, Post Office Deposits,Bank Deposits.Lump sum amount received from PF of the previous job was invested in equity schemes of UTI Mutual Fund, BSL Mutual Fund, Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund, Principal Mutual Fund and Canara Mutual Fund.
Concepts of asset allocation, diversification, systematic investment were not known. No individual goals for kids education or marriage or retirement corpus were set. The only objective was long term wealth creation. Every year savings were converted in to bank fixed deposits or were used for buying units of various schemes of UTI Mutual Fund.
Retiree
After my retirement I have now moved to my home town Ludhiana. I have now understood that with longer life spans, retirement can be almost as long as your working life. This has a profound implication for the finances of the retired people. The impact of inflation must be considered by all retired people while investing their money. I consider myself lucky to have acquired a house from my father which is a source of extra income for me.
After getting my financial lessons from Hemant I have built my diversified investment portfolio keeping asset allocation in mind. So my portfolio includes diversified equity and balanced mutual funds, post office deposits, bank fixed deposits, gold and real estate. I do regular monitoring of my portfolio and do rebalancing if required once a year.
Personal Finance Guide
Hope you would also like to join me in thanking Anil Kumar Kapila for his great work.
Dear Mr. Kapalia your feat is indeed remarkable. You have helped many many investors with their questions expecting nothing in return.
Best wishes.
Thanks Pattu!
Hi Hemant,
Rightly said.. Anil has always been fantastic. Along with you he has always helped the TFL readers which includes me as well. As I gained experience, I too started to comment and tried to help the TFL readers in the best possible way I could and will continue it.
Thanks Manoj! Keep contributing.
Hi Hemant & anil ,
Saying thanks is the least thing I can do .
You guys have no idea how much help you did with this blog and the comments to people like me . I started reading this blog after I spent every single rupee for my medical emergency . This reading helped me to know how much I don’t know and the possibilities for taking better care of personal finance .
My heartily thanks and wishes for both of you and all our readers for making this active discussion &learning possible .
Thanks Jayachandran!
Thank you very much Mr Anil for sharing you life with us, I feel luck to be a regular reader of TLC, it has taught me so much about money and how to respect it.
Thank you again and keep writing.
Thank Tony!
Hi Hemant and Anil,
It is inspiring to read Anil’s story.
I can very well relate to the story because I also happen to have retired about 4 years back after an eventful life as an Engineer and a Manager. Children have grown up and are doing well.
I was saving almost 50% of my income every year but really did not know how to properly invest it properly.
I wish there was someone like Hemant to make people financially literate so that based on their risk profile they can allocate their savings properly to meet their future goals.
I will also actively participate and see how I can help people based on my experience and knowledge as we go through this beautiful journey of life.
Once again my sincere appreciation to Hemant and Anil.
Thanks Sudhir! Looking forward to your active participation.
Hi Hemant
Without your contribution this would not have been possible.1000 thanks to you!
Hi Anil,
You deserve it 100% – I have no contribution in this. There are N number of sources to learn & share views – TFL is lucky to have you here. Keep Rocking!!
Bravo!!! Good luck to both of you for keeping up the GOOD work.
May God bless you for much much more. 🙂
Thanks Shinu!
Congratulations Anil sir! you are indeed doing a great social service in this selfish world. Your advise is selfless and of great quality. I have learnt a lot about MFs from you by reading your comments in the “Best Mutual Fund for SIP” article.
Next time I visit Ludhiana, we are surely going out for a drink 🙂
You are welcome Vivek!Btw I don’t drink so a soft drink will do.
I just said drink sir, default value seems to be hard drink these days. 🙂 Anything of your choice would do.
Dear Anil ji, Hemant, and TFL Readers
It is really an astonishing feat from both Anil ji and Hemant to have shared so much to help so many. I give my hearty congratulations and extend my regards to both Hemant and Anil ji for their insights, efforts and untiring conviction to keep the posts lively and informative.
Special thanks to Hemant to provide us with this platform where we can keep ourselves abreast with latest in the world of personal finance and actions/policies/events that may affect our financial decesions. As Anil ji has mentioned in his post there are many speed-brakers, round-abouts, jams, diversions in out journey. But an ol’hand who has treaded the path earlier (Anil ji) or a person who knows about the all the insections and lights on the way as he is sitting in the control room (Hemant) can help the newbees like us immensly.
I belive that the journey from point A to point B seems to be same for each one in the hindsight but the circumsances are different for each traveller. One can (and should only) take a cue and not blindly follow others. This Hemant has been advising since time immemorials.
Regards,
PS: This post is only to convey amy wishes to Mr. Kapila and not for contest. Although I am not able to post anything in last few months, coinciding with my winning a fantastic book from last contest, I did not write for the sake of prize.
Hi Mudit
Glad to hear from you after a long time. You are being modest by calling yourself a newbee. You have displayed a lot of wisdom in your past comments though we are not having the pleasure of your comments these days.
Sir,
I am an avid reader of Osho and many other Life Gurus and My Parents and an Aunt (Bua ji) have also been great influence on me. Their words of wisdom have really helped me shape my thoughts by clearing a lot of dust and cobwebs. Although they do not talk about material pleasures or wealth, but they do say that spiritual ascent is possible only for a mind free from worries. Only exceptional people like Kabi das can ascend those heights of spirituality without having tasted the wealth and knowing its futility. The life is a series of karma that we all are to perform, whether we make blessings or curses out of them is our own choice.
When you call me modest, I take it as a compliment and thank you. But I know that I have just started my financial journey and you are near your destination, having passed through many midways and motels on the highway to financial nirvana. Life may not be simpler as Mansoor has mentioned later in post, but it us who have to decide if we want to make it simple or complex.
Although there are many preassures on my mind as well but i try to keep things simple by not getting into the mad race of earning more by sacrifising my family time. i try to make play simple games with my son on road with his friends like badminton, sitoliya, cricket and so on. As a college teacher I always have quries from students for private tutions but most of the time i deny them and ask them to contact me within college. That way I can keep my head up and have a sound sleep at night.
The gadets and and all that stuff also really attracts me, but then i ask my self that do i really need it or is it just the attraction of new! I ask if this new thing will really make me connect with my family or friends will it prove to be a disconnect between us. and most of the time i do get a correct reply.
As for writing on this blog, sir i really think that one needs to have sufficient information to write about something and although i try to keep up with happeniings around but i could not gather much to contribute. As and when i have something to share i will certainly do that.
Regards,
Hi Mudit
I am glad that you are fond of reading spiritual books. I have not read many spiritual books but I do watch some spiritual Gurus on the TV. What I have found is that all Gurus have basically the same message. If we act on the preachings of the Gurus we will not only be happy but we will also be successful in our investments.
The first thing is to lead a simple and uncomplicated life. Not to be egoistic. To remain detached and avoid getting emotionally attached to anything.
As for as gadgets are concerned, I am very fond of good cameras and powerful PCs.
Regarding writing I always tend to write a lot and leave it to Hemant to decide what to publish and what not to publish. Most of the times he publishes everything that I write.
1000 and still going strong. AnilJi you are an inspiration to all of us.
Thanks for sharing your financial story. Envy you..those times seem so simple. It is so similar to my parents story..
Hats off Sir! Keeping it short as I want to read the lessons you have learnt from TFL 🙂
Thanks Kirti!
Anilji,
Congrats and thankyou for taking time and answering queries of all the readers.
A lot of them have been benefited by your advise.
God Bless.
Thanks Rakesh!
Thanks for sharing Anilji’s story Hemantji. His story and picture gives an identity to all the comments that has been flowing in this blog. You deserve a big thanks for scoring 1000 but deserve a bigger thanks for helping answer so many questions relentlessly. Indeed it’s a selfless act.
I was reading your story and realized how simple life was, it’s amazing to know. Today’s world is all about material competition – buy a car, an ipad, that gadget, fancy phone, a mac and the list just never ends. This is an unnecessary pressure to go over consumption. Shame on us. Living a simple life is the answer and I hope we all realize this. Thanks for sharing your story.
Thanks Mansoor! Yes, simple living and high thinking is the answer but young people are entitled to all the fun.
What a great story – so much to learn here and to me there were three key highlights from the story.
The first one was that thrift is the foundation of a good financial life, if you save more than you earn and you don’t get into any ridiculous debt, then you will do well for yourself no matter what.
Secondly, on and off I’ve been thinking about longer lifespans will impact retirement but have never spoken to anyone who is dealing with right now. From your story, I think owning a house that can be rented out sounds like a great thing to have during retirement. This will be different for different people but I think owning a house as a means to earn income is a great asset to have when you are retired.
Finally, I think your story is a great message on how being proactive has no age or time limit. I’m not sure how many people will think of financial planning post retirement like you and that’s just a mental block that most people (including me) have when they think that they have missed the boat for one thing or the other and now it is too late to act on it.
Great story – loved to read – thanks for sharing!
Thanks Manshu!
1001 THANKS TO DEAR ANIL, FOR HIS SELFLESS SERVICES TO READERS OF TFL.
I have also personally benefitted from your views and advice. Till my retirement about 9 years ago, I was mostly investing in Stocks apart from FDs. Since I started reading your views, I started investing in Mutual Funds Now I have a portfolio of top Large cap, Large/Mid cap, Balanced and ELSS MFs through SIP. apart from FDs, Bonds and some excellent stocks invested long ago. I live in USA mostly but follow this blog.
Pray God gives you strength and motivation to provide your selfless services to your fans like me.
Bless you.
Thanks Ramesh! Your kind words are definitely motivating.
Heartiest congrats to Anil sir.
Sir, U have really shown us youngsters the way to go ahead… Simple living is the key mantra… Thanks for inspiring us… & also thanks a lot for answering all those queries….looking forward to many more bits of advice from u….
Thanks Sameer!
Hi Anil sir,
Thank you so much for your valuable suggestions and directions for a risk-free financial planning. I came to know about this blog through internet around 1 year ago, from then I used to browse regularly and follow the suggestions. After reading this site only I am able to understand the concept of Financial Planning. Thanks to Hemanth sir for all his efforts to educate people.
Thanks Satish!
Dear Mr. Kapalia,
Indeed true:
“The satisfaction you get in giving something useful to someone is far greater than in getting something from someone.”
I would be greatly appreciated if you can share your portfolio with as much as details.
I am very interested to see your asset allocation.
Thanks to all of you.
Hi Atul
Apart from owning the house where I live, I have roughly 65% in Debt, 30% in equity mutual funds and 5% in gold. I do not invest directly in stocks. Debt portion consists mostly of bank fixed deposits, post office schemes and balanced mutual funds.
Thank you so much for your quick comment reply.
What % of your assets you allocate in equity mutual fund in today’s low market if you are 35 years old?
Hi Atul
Your asset allocation depends on your requirement and not on the condition of the market.Around 60% equity allocation should suit 35 year old. Apart from age many other factors have to be considered for asset allocation.
Dear Mr.Anil,
Thanks for all your valuable contribution to us. Tonnes of Thanks to you and Hemant. I still remember the day when i started reading this blog. After this i started SIP in 3 Mutual fund. Apart from these SIP’s i made some amount has to be contributed regularly at the end of month.
Finally thank you once again.
Regards,
Karthik Chennai
Thanks Karthik!
Respected Anil Bhaisaab, Really Incredible, Inconceivable and Truly Admirable and in my view your tenacity is unmatchable…Certainly your Life has evolved with such an incredible reservoir of talent and such fantastic diversity, it isn’t been completely Rewarded….From the numerous comments, I can fathom and comprehend your another hidden Talent & Endowment –You are Real intellect- that you have been so generous and kind, and has helped so many people. I feel I’ll feel honoured, if I receive some Tips on how to create the diversified portfolio…….Our Best Wishes.
Hi Ashok
Welcome to TFL. Looking forward to spending time with you during my visit to Delhi next month.
Thank you so much for your quick comment reply.
Do you have a guide that can guide you to find asset allocations as per known factors?
Thanks,
Atul
Hi Atul
Apart from your age, your risk appetite and capacity to take risk, investment horizon, income, savings and dependents etc are to be considered.
If your investment horizon is small, your income and savings are low and you have financial dependents then obviously your equity exposure is going to be low irrespective of your age.
On the other hand if your disposable income is high and you don’t have any financial dependents you can take more risk and your equity exposure can be high irrespective of your age.
Thank you Hemanth and Thank you Anil, this site has helped me understand how to respect the money. I would not even imagine what my financial literacy would be, had not I seen this site.
Thanks Pradeep!
Anil Sir,
You are doing such a wonderful job. I have become a big fan of you after reading your prompt reply for each and every query asked by the readers in tfl.
Really you are a great person.Keep up your good work sir.
Regards,
Karthick.R
Thanks !
Hi Anil Sir,
To be frank I’ve been thinking of investing in mutual funds since two days and have been googling for investment advisory sites. Going by the comments left in this article and few others have made me take the cue and thank you for you’re enormous contribution in shaping so many strange individual’s personal finance who you haven’t even met. Kudos! Wish you joy and good health in abundance.
Thanks Suprith!
Hello Sir
I am from Ludhiana and owns investment awareness website
I will be grateful if you can visit the website and give your valuable feedback,
I also have a Mutual Fund Query Corner where i am doing similar thing what you are doing.
Thanks
Salil
Hi Salil
I am glad to know that you are also from Ludhiana and have your website. Please provide me the link of your site.
Hi Salil
I have visited your website and gone through a few posts. I am impressed with the quality of the articles. I will definitely give my feedback after going through the posts.
Sir
It will be great if you can write a guest post for readers on website investment-mantra
Salil
Dear Anilji,
You have replayed the life events of my life. I started my life like you in 1970 with Bhilai Steel plant as Graduate engineer. I was never worried about any thing like owning a house of my own, medicals, children education etc. After 10 yrs of work there, I moved to Gulf and earned a lot. But no one like Hemant was available then, to guide me for the future. After I came back in 2001, I realised my blunders of not having planned for retirement. I started knowing about Financial planning concept. Now during my retirement I am advising people not to repeat the same mistakes which I did. I am settled at my farm near Bangalore.Your story reminds me of my days at Bhilai. Hope that I shall also try to post my memoirs on this Blog in future. My blessings to Hemant.
Hi C.RKESVAN
Thanks! Many of my batchmates are still working in Gulf. Looking forward to your contribution.
Dear Anil Sir,
–
Another thing i want to add apart from wht others have said abt u is ur appreciation & encouragement if any one has done a good thing…thanks for all tht Sir !!!
Here”s my query – How do we calculate returns from endowment policies?? hw do we decide if i have to discontinue any one o them? I am talking abt LIC jeevan Shree, LIC Jeevan Saral & LIC Jeevan Asha II…..
kindly help me…thanks……..
Dear Anil Ji,
Fantastic job you are doing on TFL. I did not know the difference between insurance and investment but TFL and people like You have changed my thinking. Earlier investment means only LIC (I am still 36 year old). I did some home work and start insument (insurance and investment). Still I am not able to follow all your good advises.
Kudos to Anilji and TFL team.
Thanks! Hopefully, you will learn something from the Personal Finance Guide.
Sure Anil Ji.
Thanks much Anil Ji for sharing your life story with us. And many many thanks for contributing to tfl. I am regular reader of this forum , every time I read an answer from you I learn something new about the financial world. I have managed to invest 20000 pm in Mutual fund even I am paying 45% of our salary as home loan . It just because of the tfl and people like you and Hemant Ji . I was aware of importance of saving , but I only came to know about the value of proper investment and planning of our saving , when I came in contact with this site .again
regards
Thanks much
Thanks Sangeeta!
Sir
Those days were very good & simple without mobile & traffic jams.
I am also B E Electrical 1987 batch from Gorakhpur. I also like to teach & learn.
Nowadays I have my own workshop for manufacturing PLC panels. But my main interest is in finance & Insurance. I am insurance & Mutual fund advisor. I find very few knowledgeable & honest advisers in this field. after getting my ARN number I was searching internet for some knowledge on financial planning when i came across TFL. I feel myself lucky that I have learnt a lot from TFL. Many people have benefited from TFL & Mr. Anil is one of few who made this platform a success. So my salute to you all. keep rocking.
with regards
Indrajeet Singh
Hi Indrajeet Singh
It is always good to know someone from your own field. My specialisation has been in Instrumentation and Control Systems and I have written several articles on PLCs in the past. Thanks!
Thanks a ton Mr. Anil.
Thanks Rahul!
Congrats Anilji
Thank you for taking time and answering our queries. Lots of us have been benefited by your advises. Please keep advising us 🙂
Thanks Satheesh!
Anil Ji,
To be very frank when ever i read your article I thought that how you have that much knowledge and now Iam am very lucky that through tfl I get the guidance from the person who is a person of real life experiences. Sir if you dont mind can i get the guidance from you on PLC programming. This is not the right place i know
but i can not control after reading the above information of your professional experience. Can you share where I can take guidance from you which is not financial related but electronics related.
Many Many congrats !!!!!!!!!
Hi Munish
My experience is basically in design, engineering, installation and commissioning of process control systems in fertilizer, chemical and petrochemical complexes.I worked on PLCs 25 years back. I am not in contact with my subject for so many years. I am sure a lot of developments must have taken place in this field and I have not kept track of those. Hence my knowledge must be outdated now.
TO be Frank, I initially thought Anil Kumar was also working with Hemanth on tfl. Until i jumped to this post, a thank you blog dedicated to Anil.
Great going Anil . Please continue ur good work
Thanks Sachin!
Kapilji
Can you please advice my fund selection for wealth management mentioned below. Please suggest whether these funds are good performing and my planning is on right track ?
ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity – Rs 4000/-
UTI Opportunities – 5000/-
Quantum Long Term Equity – 4000/-
IDFC Premier Equity – 2000/-
Regds
Vikram Kumar
Kapilji
Can you please advice my fund selection for SIP for 15 years for wealth management mentioned below. Please suggest whether these funds are good performing and my planning is on right track ?
ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity – Rs 4000/-
UTI Opportunities – 5000/-
Quantum Long Term Equity – 4000/-
IDFC Premier Equity – 2000/-
Regds
Vikram Kumar
Hello Vikram
You need to make sure you evaluate fund performance every 6-8 months. If you are investing for long term there can be instances wherein you need to switch the fund which is performing well now but may consistently under perform 5 years from now.
At this point of time , you have excellent portfolio in place. So keep investing.
Thanks
Salil Dhawan
Hi Vikram
You are on right track.
Hi Mr. Kapija,
Please accept my heartiest thanks for your much valuable comments which are in detail and very helpful.
A few days back I posted a query on a topic and I was expecting your comments but still awaiting your response. I am quoting here the same. Please respond.
“Hi Hemanth,
I would like to thank you for this excellent article. I came across your website a year ago and since then I am reading your articles every now and then. I must thank Mr. Kapila for his comments which are indeed much valuable.
Last time also, I had a similar query about investment but I also had some debt at that time and Mr. Kapila suggested me not to invest until I pay off my debts. So worked on that suggestion and first paid off my debts.
I am 32 years old, bachelor with a monthly income of Rs.25000/-. I want to invest at least Rs.8000/- per month for at least 5 years. Please suggest me the best mutual funds which I should opt with the breakup of the amount. I would be highly thankful if you please suggest that what should be my financial planning. I haven’t saved anything till now. ”
Thanks and regards
Deepak
Hi , I am investing for first time in mutual funds for tax savings. Kindly suggest what are the factors to be looked before investing in mutual funds ?
Dear Kapilji
Many thanks for all your previous inputs. Can you please advice my fund selection below for SIP for 15 years for wealth management mentioned below. Please suggest whether these funds are good performing and my planning is on right track ?
HDFC Mutual fund (tax saver growth)- Rs 1000
SBI – Magnum TaxGain Scheme -Rs 1000
ICICI Prudential Focused Bluechip Equity Rs.5000
UTI Opportunities Rs. 5000
HDFC TOP 200 Rs 3000
IDFC Premier Equity- Rs 3000
Regds
Vikram
Comments are closed.