The starting point

Client: 29-year-old software engineer, unmarried, working at a product MNC. Take-home ₹2L / month. Living in Bengaluru.

Status when we started:

  • ₹6L in two ELSS funds (both bought for 80C, never reviewed)
  • ₹2L in a savings account doing nothing
  • ₹4L in a tax-saver FD
  • Employer-provided health insurance only (lapses if he changes jobs)
  • No term insurance
  • No NPS
  • No international exposure
  • Goal: financial independence by 44

The problems

  1. 100% rupee-denominated wealth + INR salary = massive concentration risk
  2. No personal health cover — between jobs, he's exposed
  3. No term insurance — premiums will only get more expensive with age
  4. No NPS — leaving ₹15,600+ of annual tax savings on the table
  5. ELSS chosen for tax, not portfolio fit — both funds had high overlap

The plan we built

1. Protection layer (month 1)

  • ₹1 Cr term insurance, 30-year tenure → ₹9,200/year
  • Personal family floater health insurance ₹15L + ₹50L top-up → ₹14,500/year

2. Tax shelter (month 1)

  • NPS Tier I — ₹50K/year self-contribution (80CCD(1B))
  • Requested employer to enable NPS 80CCD(2) — adds tax-free ₹80K/year shelter

3. Long-term wealth engine (month 2 onwards)

Monthly SIP plan: ₹85,000/month

  • ₹40,000 — Flexi-cap equity fund (Indian core)
  • ₹15,000 — Mid-cap fund (growth tilt)
  • ₹15,000 — International equity fund (US-focused)
  • ₹10,000 — Short-duration debt (for the stability layer + dry powder)
  • ₹5,000 — Gold ETF (small inflation hedge)

4. ELSS cleanup

One ELSS retained, one switched out (after the 3-year lock-in completed). Consolidated holdings, eliminated redundant exposure.

The 15-year projection

Assuming a blended 11% CAGR on equity + 7% on debt, with 8% annual SIP step-up:

  • By age 35: ~₹1.4 Cr corpus
  • By age 40: ~₹3.0 Cr corpus
  • By age 44: ~₹5.2 Cr corpus

At a 4% safe withdrawal rate, ₹5.2 Cr supports ~₹17.3L/year in today's purchasing power — comfortably above his current spend.

Review cadence

  • Quarterly check-in (15 minutes)
  • Annual deep-dive review with written report
  • SIP step-ups every April aligned to salary increments
"FIRE stopped feeling like a Reddit fantasy when I had it written down with actual numbers."

Names and identifying details changed. Book a free call to build something similar for yourself.