A single mother who secured her family’s life through financial independence!

Residing in Mumbai’s suburban Andheri, Ritu Dayal and her husband Siddharth Dayal lived a comfortable life. Siddharth was a merchant navy officer while Ritu a homemaker.

Their daughter Sonia loved sports. She aspired to play tennis like her idol Sania Mirza for India. Ritu and Siddharth were pleased that she found her calling at an early age. The couple did all they could to fulfil their child’s passion.

Sonia started training for tennis and went on to play at state level. As coaching for tennis costs a fortune (around Rs 10 lakh per annum) Ritu had to plan their finances meticulously. Setting aside money for training, equipment, and travel required a holistic approach to money management.

Siddharth bumped into Vinod at the tennis court in 2003. Vinod had just started his journey as a financial adviser. Being a merchant navy officer, Siddharth used to spend much of his time on voyage and thus couldn’t spare enough time to plan his finances. Siddharth was looking for a trusted adviser.

Vinod started drawing up a financial plan to achieve the family’s goals. Siddharth had purchased an apartment in Panvel, Navi Mumbai as an investment. His other investments were some fixed deposits in banks, junk bonds and shares. Siddharth had savings of Rs 12 lakh. Vinod got this Rs 12 lakh corpus invested in mutual funds.

After entrusting his finances with Vinod, Siddharth, 51, set sail on his voyage. Unfortunately, Siddharth succumbed to cardiac arrest on the ship. His family was devastated.

Siddharth left behind his wife and a young daughter Sonia. Vinod, 21, was taken aback from this news. Vinod was there with the family to sail through this difficult journey.

Turning Point

Ritu Dayal was worried as to how she could manage everything.

Vinod apprised Ritu about the late Siddharth’s finances. Ritu received Rs 50 lakh from life insurance claim. Siddharth’s brother recommended Vinod to put this corpus in a safe instrument. Heeding his advice, Vinod put this Rs 50 lakh corpus in RBI Bonds which yielded 6% per annum, offering Rs 3 lakh per annum as interest.

Ritu didn’t want Sonia give up her dream of becoming a tennis star. Keeping this mind, Vinod chalked out a plan which could help the family get regular cash flows to meet day-to-day expenses, fund tennis coaching and her education.

Modus Operandi

• Liquidation of Siddharth’s investments in junk bonds, shares, his property in Panvel. The proceeds worth Rs 21 lakh were invested in mutual funds, which consisted of large, multi-cap and debt funds in 2003.
• The income from RBI Bonds, Rs 25,000 per month and systematic withdrawals from mutual funds was used to fund the family’s daily expenses and pay for Sonia’s school fee. The tennis coaching fee was also funded by this corpus and from mutual fund SWP. Sonia pursued tennis coaching for six years from 2012 to 2018.
• The corpus from RBI bonds which matured in xxx was reinvested in mutual funds and in Vinod’s Portfolio Management Services in 2012. The PMS corpus has grown from the initial investment of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 1.10 crore, generating a CAGR of approximately 16% per annum.
• The mutual fund portfolio (comprising equity and debt) generated a CAGR return of 11%.

Vinod’s judicious planning and portfolio in PMS helped Ritu manage the household expenses, fund Sonia’s education and tennis training.

Unfortunately, Sonia’s dreams were shattered when she hurt her ankle during training for tennis. The injury put a break on her pursuit to play at national level. Nevertheless, Sonia gave her best shot and took things in her stride.

Takeaways

Ritu’s unwavering commitment to build a nest egg helped the family lead a comfortable life with zero debt.

Throughout this journey which started in 2003, the stock markets saw many ups and downs. But Ritu remained invested and reaped the benefit of power of compounding. Today with Ritu’s portfolio we also manage the 2nd generation of her family (Sonia & her husband).

This story is a shining example of how remaining invested in markets is essential to build long term wealth and achieve financial independence.