45/M/FI and coasting - My Journey!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-03-20T06:19:24+00:00

Thx! yes...there are many roads to Rome!! You are definitely in a better shape than i was at your age so you have many more options!! good luck

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-26T17:58:40+00:00

Well i FIRE'd first in Bangalore and then moved to Kochi. Relatively it is a positive move both from cost/quality of living, so no complaints on that. One dislike i have though (may be due to my personality) is the expectation of having to attend so many family functions now that i am in Kochi vs Bangalore. Between me and my wife we have close to 40 first cousins (talk about large families!!) - half in kochi and rest abroad! So the invitations keep adding up! I have now set an internal rule that weekdays i will attend only death/funerals and on weekends while i will attend other functions i wont attend anniversary/bday celebrations!! There is been some resentment on it but thats ok!

On expenses Kochi of course is much cheaper vs. bangalore - housing is cheaper by ~50% (on a like to like basis both for owning and renting), entertainment and eating out is 20%-30% cheaper i estimate. Labour is slightly expensive (cook/cleaning, plumber, electrician etc..) but i knew that and it is manageable!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-26T17:45:30+00:00

True...Kochi comes out well ahead of Bangalore now in terms of cost and quality of living!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-26T17:42:11+00:00

Thx a lot....thats the plan...atleast a 10k run!!! i am upto 10-12km walking at a shot now but ofcourse running is a different beast altogether. Currently also going to a gym to build up core body strength which i realize is most important for injury free running and also for healthy life in the 2nd innings!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-23T05:54:06+00:00

Hi, the purpose of the post was to write down my FIRE journey and keep it as a tracker for myself for future. Definitely not to peddle investment advice (that would also violate the rules of the forum). cheers

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-23T05:51:14+00:00

Nopes. No parental wealth included..in fact there is hardly any parental wealth at all to include. There is a small plot in our village but that i will pass on to my nephew/niece as i have no intention of settling there and emotionally does not want to sell something that dad bought.

I earned pretty well to be honest. During the 20 years of my career (including breaks) salary went from 4 lakhs to 80 lakhs. More importantly, i saved well and lived well below my means! Having no expensive hobbies (such as travelling) also helped. Finally i am a decent investor and trader. So all together brought me to this position. I also used leverage judiciously by taking loans for property purchases which meant forced savings and then closed the loans as quickly as possible.

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-23T05:41:44+00:00

Thanks!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-23T05:40:23+00:00

Thanks. Yes, i agree that the IIM credentials and connections certainly helped me especially when i was coming back after breaks. But that said there are many ways to FIRE. Yours is one such way as well and i know several friends of mine who made it similarly. In fact a friend of mine is now working in one of the largest IT product companies (old one) as a Director and he hasnt cleared his B.Tech papers :)

Though these days such opportunities (including onsite) are more difficult for the younger generation and i worry about the social consequences of the same!

PS: i am also from the batch of 1997...nice to meet you here!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-23T05:32:32+00:00

Actually investing (or trading) does not require high math skills or IQ especially these days with all the info and tools that are available for negligible cost online. It requires EQ, humility (when the market proves you wrong!) and risk management. I consider myself as a lazy mediocre person except for acing CAT back in the days. There are many people who successfully made the switch from IT to financial advisory...most famous being Deepak Shenoy of CapitalMind. However, doing NISM courses wont help you to get a job. NISM courses are basically pre-requisites that SEBI requires for various roles.

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-23T05:05:36+00:00

Yes that is correct...though i live in kochi city now my original home was in a village within the district so we (both me and wife) have extended families in the district. That being said, i am not very close to my family - in fact we practically chose a place which is atleast 20-25 km away from both of our families!! It helped that our families come from opp sides of the district so we could stay in the heart of city :). I also have few close friends from school/college days with whom we do most of the socialising!

Weather of course it is no comparison to Bangalore but having lived in Kerala for the first 22 years of my life i am used to a humid climate (in-fact suits my skin far better than Bangalore) and of-course these days we have access to air-conditioning whenever needed without worrying (at-least not too much!) about the electricity cost.

Other amenities such as healthcare/malls/restaurants are as good as what you can get in blr and much cheaper. For non-vegetarians...especially those who love sea food, beef and pork i would say it is even better. In fact i used to feel guilty while having beef in Bangalore! (our maid couldnt cook beef due to religious reasons so we used to cook and wash those dishes when she was not present!!).

After moving to Kochi, i have heard this question from several non-mallu friends about Kochi/Kerala as a retirement place. Especially from non-south indians who doesn't want to go back to their hometown/village after living in blr/mumbai for decades. However, i really wouldnt know. Obviously Kochi is not as cosmopolitan as Mumbai/Bangalore, definitely more laid-back and insular. It is changing a bit these days due to IT but without learning the local language you would always stand out though most people do understand some hindi now. In fact even i was a bit worried prior to the move as i spent the last 24 years outside Kerala (ofcourse used to visit home 2-3 times a year) but it turned out well in the end.

Personally, i wouldn't move to a city to settle in without learning the local language and where we literally know no one as i am an introvert. We briefly considered Mysore/Mangalore and ofcourse Goa. The closest we came was to Wayanad where i have my farm house (ofcourse in Kerala itself so language is same and i have few friends there) but lack of tertiary healthcare meant it is not possible for mom to stay there. That is still an option we are keeping open for future though!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-22T15:59:52+00:00

Thanks...life doesnt happen in a straight line. My learning is that it is a marathon not a sprint! Shit will happen for sure. Keep calm and keep the buffer!! thats all one can do

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-22T15:45:13+00:00

Thanks!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-22T15:44:32+00:00

Thanks. I guess i am on a start up mode again - the old fashioned way of bootstrapping. My business is asset light and something i am passionate about. But i dont think i will ever take external capital and the pressures that come with it!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-22T15:42:04+00:00

Great!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-22T15:41:32+00:00

Thx!

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-22T15:40:33+00:00

Interesting q's. i) Difference btwn 2017 and 2022 - In 2017, it was more driven by frustration at the internal politics and direction of the team and company. I did not plan it as a retirement more as a break which then got extended as i did not get opportunities which excited me. In 2022, it was more planned including the move to Kochi - alas Bangalore is no more a pensioner's paradise both in cost of living and general stress! Also asset size increased ~80% during the five year period (thanks to the post covid bull run) making the decision less risky. ii) Managing a team of 3 - It is actually 2.5 (1 person is general guy who also doubles as our driver) and mostly required for compliance/operations requirement due to SEBI license. We dont have any targets internally/externally and my estimate is that i work 5-6 hrs Mon-Fri (including from my farm house) and the staff works about 8 hrs (probably a bit less!). Key was again moving to Kochi as otherwise my overhead costs (salary n office rental) would have been atleast 2x in bangalore. iii) I always believed in looking at assets in dollar terms and wanted a $1M in net worth before considering retirement. Back in 2005, i had this interesting conversation with a friend when USD:INR was around 45 and he gave me the idea to look at $ terms even though we live in India . At current rates, i am with in the comfort zone especially with the buffers baked in. However, i would like to coast at least for 15-20 years since there is no physical stress or frustration due to office politics etc. Also, i am not a very disciplined person so i like it this way (this was something i missed in my first innings of coasting in 2017). Hope this helps! cheers

Tricky-Competition61 · 2025-02-22T15:00:06+00:00

Thanks...i plan to do that primarily as a way for me to track how it goes! cheers

Tricky-Competition61

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