Do you have mutual fund and personal finance-related queries?
Please ask your questions HERE and rediffGURU Nitin Narkhede, founder Prosperity Lifestyle Hub, and Association Of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI)-registered financial planning advisor, will answer them.
Vishwanath: Request for Financial Planning Guidance Hi Sir, I am 43 years old, working in the IT sector along with my wife. We have a 1.5-year-old daughter.
Below is our current financial profile: Income: My monthly salary: Rs 1.78 lakhs. My wife's monthly salary: Rs 75,000
Investments & Savings: NPS: Rs 4 lakhs corpus (Rs 50,000 annual contribution) Equity: Invested Rs 28 lakhs, current value Rs 20 lakhs (Rs 8 lakhs loss) Mutual Funds: SIPs of Rs 36,000/month (Rs 18,000 each), current value Rs 2 lakhs PF: My PF Rs 15 lakhs, wife's PF Rs 1 lakh
Assets Residential property in a non-metro city worth ~Rs 1.2 crore Agricultural land in my village worth ~Rs 1 crore (no regular income generated)
Loans Home Loan: Rs 75 lakhs, outstanding Rs 55 lakhs; EMI Rs 68,000/month @ 7.6% Principal: ~Rs 30,000/month Interest: ~Rs 38,000/month Car Loan: Rs 9 lakhs; EMI Rs 22,000/month @ 7.8%
Expenses & Savings Monthly household expenses (rent, groceries, etc.): ~Rs 30,000 Net savings after all commitments: Rs 75,000-Rs 80,000/month
Upcoming Commitments Daughter's schooling expenses will begin in ~1.5 years
My Queries I am considering selling the agricultural land (worth ~Rs 1 crore) and constructing a house for rental income (construction cost ~Rs 1 crore). Is this a wise decision?
How can I repay my home loan faster and reduce interest burden?
Given the current uncertainty in the IT sector, what would be a better strategy to build long-term wealth and secure my family's future? Kindly suggest the best course of action.
You and your wife together earn Rs 2.53 lakh monthly, with a home loan EMI of Rs 68,000, car loan EMI of Rs 22,000, and household expenses of Rs 30,000. Net savings are about Rs 75,000-Rs 80,000 monthly.
Investments include EPF/NPS of Rs 20 lakh, mutual funds with Rs 36,000 SIPs, equity of Rs 20 lakh, and other savings.
Assets include a residential property worth Rs 1.2 crore and agricultural land of Rs 1 crore.
The key focus should be clearing the car loan quickly, building a Rs 10-12 lakh emergency corpus, and prepaying the home loan whenever possible.
Avoid constructing a rental house as yields are low.
Consolidate mutual funds into a focused portfolio, increase NPS gradually, secure adequate term and health cover, and start a dedicated education fund for your daughter.
Anonymous: Need your advise on my current investment portfolio where I invest up to 64,000 monthly. Currently I am 43 years old and targeting my investment to 2 cr. Are my investment in the right track. Please advise.
Scheme Name distributed across and current value at 12 lakhs.
Have I chosen the right investments Axis Midcap Fund Growth Kotak Multicap Fund Growth Tata Digital India Fund Growth Kotak Large Cap Fund Direct Growth Kotak Small Cap Fund Growth Tata Balanced Advantage Fund Growth ICICI Prudential Equity Savings Fund Growth UTI Multi Asset Allocation Fund Plan Growth Axis Midcap Direct Plan Growth Kotak Arbitrage Fund Growth Axis Large & Mid Cap Fund Direct Growth UTI Large & Mid Cap Fund Plan Growth Tata Digital India Fund Direct Growth Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund Direct Growth ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund Growth Invesco India Largecap Fund Growth Nippon India Gold Savings Fund Direct Growth Kotak Manufacture in India Fund Growth Kotak Small Cap Fund Direct Growth Kotak Large Cap Fund Growth Axis Large & Mid Cap Fund Growth Nippon India Flexi Cap Fund Growth
At 43, you have built a corpus of Rs 12 lakh and are investing Rs 64,000 monthly with a target of Rs 2 crore. Your portfolio is spread across 20+ funds, with heavy overlap in midcap, smallcap, and largecap categories, along with sectoral and hybrid exposure.
While diversification is good, excess duplication dilutes returns and adds complexity.
You are overexposed to volatile mid/small caps and sectoral funds, while debt and hybrids are relatively underweighted. Simplifying into 6-7 quality funds -- mixing large/flexicap, midcap, smallcap, balanced advantage, gold, and limited sectoral allocation -- will provide better balance.
With current investments, you are on track to cross Rs 3 crore in 15 years. Gradually shift part of equity into hybrid/debt after 50 and maintain an emergency buffer.
Anonymous: Sir, I am 45. Have 75 lakh in pure equity mutual funds. No loan or other liability. Monthly expense is Rs 50,000. I have a house which I will sell and get 45 lakh. Job is not certain... I may work for 5 years maximum.
1. How should I allocate my 45 lakh among mutual funds? I am planning to put 35 lakh in debt funds (short and medium term) and 10 lakh in Gold ETF. Please suggest right approach.
At 45, with Rs 75 lakh in equity mutual funds and Rs 45 lakh expected from a property sale, financial stability and diversification are crucial given job uncertainty in the next five years. A balanced allocation strategy would be to keep Rs 25-30 lakh in short-duration or dynamic bond funds for stability, Rs 5-7 lakh in gold ETFs for inflation hedge, and Rs 8-10 lakh in balanced advantage or equity hybrid funds for growth with reduced volatility.
Maintain 6-12 months expenses in liquid funds. This approach ensures safety, growth, and liquidity while gradually reducing equity exposure to around 60% as retirement nears.
Anonymous: I am 40 years old with wife and one daughter. I have 2cr in Bank FD, 1.5 cr in post office schemes, 50L cash and 30L in MF, with monthly 20k SIP.
What is the best way to retire in 6 months? No liabilities, and flat in Bangalore and 3 plots of land in my native. What is the maximum that can be earned with this distribution?
With a strong debt-heavy portfolio of FDs, post office schemes, cash, mutual funds, and property, you are financially well-placed to retire early. Current assets can comfortably yield around Rs 1.6-1.8 lakh monthly through interest, sufficient for expenses now, but inflation will erode purchasing power over decades.
To sustain long-term retirement, diversification is essential.
Allocate 25-30% of funds into equity mutual funds for growth while retaining 3-5 years of expenses in safe debt or liquid funds.
Use systematic withdrawal plans alongside interest income for stability.
Property holdings act as an inflation hedge, though selling one to rebalance can strengthen your portfolio further.
Anonymous: I am 53 with a corpus of 1.2cr in MF, monthly sip of 60k. My take home salary is 1.5 lakh, I have 60 lakh in post office various schemes. PF 24 lakh, insurance investment 30 lakh, NPS 4 lakh, equity 10 lakh. We are a family of 4 -- one son is still in school has 16 yrs to be independent and one son is working in a private job. Want to retire by age 55. Monthly expenses 65k.
You have built a corpus of around Rs 2.5 crore spread across mutual funds, post office schemes, PF, insurance, and equities. With a monthly surplus after expenses, continuing systematic investments is key.
To sustain a comfortable lifestyle beyond 55, factoring inflation, you’ll require at least Rs 4-5 crore.
To achieve this you will have to maintain current SIPs, shift some low-yield assets into higher-growth mutual funds and aim for a balanced equity-debt mix (around 60:40).
Create a bucket strategy with 2-3 years’ expenses in safe assets and the rest in growth instruments. With disciplined investing and prudent allocation, retirement goals can be comfortably met.
- You can ask rediffGURU Nitin Narkhede your questions HERE.
Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this QnA or an attempt to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients.
Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
© 2025