2020

My Journey
Covering Questions about myself, Personal Finance, Stock Investing, Reading
and many other Questions.

@EWFA_
12/1/2020
 Background of this Work
In the past, there were various questions on Personal finance, stock investing and even about myself
through various tweet replies or over DM. This write-up is my response to those queries covering my
journey and some of my views on personal finance and stock investing.

Another aspect was that I have in the past seen many conducting “Rapid fire” kind of sessions in
Twitter, “Ask me anything in the next 45 minutes / 60 minutes”. I wished to do such sessions, but I
have constraints to respond quickly with a crisp answer. So, had asked for questions in the below two
tweets, which I could respond in this work:
https://twitter.com/EWFA_/status/1335834962679894016
https://twitter.com/EWFA_/status/1333320722698043393

Many of the questions that were asked has been covered by me in sufficient detail in my earlier works
though YouTube video or one of my ebooks. In which case, instead of repeating the contents, I have
given reference to my earlier works for you to deep dive.

The queries I have segregated under 6 headings as below

1. Personal details
2. My Investment Journey – Typically covers “What is your…”, “How did you…” kind of questions
3. Questions on Personal Finance
4. Questions on Stock Investing
5. Reading / Books
6. Other Topics – Not falling in any of the above

I have answered most of the queries except a few, which could be due to one of the reasons:

• Curiosity questions, where a response does not add any value to anyone
• Personally, Intrusive Questions
• Responses that require stock names

Not the entire contents would be useful to everyone. But you may skim through your areas of
interest.

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 Image courtesy: Slidecarnival.com

LinkedIn Landing Page

YouTube Channel

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 Contents
PERSONAL DETAILS ...................................................................................................................................... 5
ABOUT MYSELF..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
HOBBIES .............................................................................................................................................................................. 5
PASSION .............................................................................................................................................................................. 5
DAILY ROUTINES ................................................................................................................................................................... 5
MY INVESTMENT JOURNEY............................................................................................................................ 6
WHEN DID YOU START YOUR INVESTMENT JOURNEY? / WHEN DID YOU START INVESTING? .................................................................. 6
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO STOCK MARKETS? / WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION TO ENTER STOCK MARKETS? ............................................ 6
WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MORE ON YOUR JOURNEY TILL DATE, MOTIVATION, ASPIRATION AND DAILY HABITS LIKE HOW DO YOU SPEND TIME
ANALYSING COMPANIES, RESOURCE AND BUILD THE KNOWLEDGE AND SHARE IT ................................................................................. 6

WHAT WAS YOUR PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR INVESTMENT? / WHICH GOAL YOU WANTED TO ACHIEVE THROUGH INVESTMENT?................ 7
WHAT WAS THE FIRST STOCK YOU BOUGHT, FIRST LOSS AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM IT? ............................................................... 7
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST LEARNINGS FROM INVESTING? ................................................................................................................. 7
HOW DID YOU GET SO MUCH INTEREST IN PERSONAL FINANCE?...................................................................................................... 9
HOW HAS YOUR INVESTING METHODOLOGY CHANGED SINCE YOU STARTED? ..................................................................................... 9
HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT INVESTING? ................................................................................................................................... 9
HOW DID YOU INCREASE YOUR MARKET KNOWLEDGE? ................................................................................................................ 10
HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF RISK IN INVESTING? ....................................................................................................................... 10
HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHAT KIND OF INVESTMENTS YOU MAKE? ............................................................................................. 12
SHARE SOME INSIGHTS ON YOUR STOCK-PICKING PROCESS… ........................................................................................................ 12
YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK ON INVESTING AND YOUR INVESTMENT STRATEGY / PHILOSOPHY? ................................................................ 14
QUESTIONS ON PERSONAL FINANCE .............................................................................................................. 14
ONE ADVICE TO YOUNGER PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST STARTED EARNING TOWARD THE FINANCIAL FREEDOM JOURNEY................................ 14
WHAT ARE SOME STEPS/RULES IN MONEY MANAGEMENT YOU THINK WILL HELP THE SAVER GET THE BEST OUT OF HIS SAVINGS/INVESTMENTS?
........................................................................................................................................................................................ 14
MANY PEOPLE CLAIM TO HAVE ATTAINED FINANCIAL FREEDOM BY DEPENDING ON DIVIDENDS TO COVER MONTHLY EXPENSES. WHAT OPTIONS
DO THEY HAVE DURING A LONG RECESSION WHEN COMPANY STOPS OR REDUCES DIVIDENDS? I GUESS STOCK PRICES WOULD BE SUPER LOW
PREVENTING THEM FROM SELLING? ......................................................................................................................................... 15

KINDLY MENTION YOUR JOURNEY FROM NONE TO SOME, ESPECIALLY RELATED TO INSURANCE SECTOR KNOWLEDGE ............................... 17
WHICH IS BETTER? – DIRECT INVESTING/DIY INVESTING OR MUTUAL FUNDS................................................................................. 18
DO YOU BELIEVE IN ACHIEVING FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE USING DIVIDEND INCOME? HAVE U ALREADY ACHIEVED? ............................... 19
QUESTIONS ON STOCK INVESTING................................................................................................................. 19
I RECENTLY STARTED MY JOURNEY WITH STOCK MARKET. HOW CAN WE PASS OUR LEARNINGS TO KIDS? ................................................ 19
I AM A SMALL INVESTOR BUT A LONG TERM INVESTOR. I'M SITTING ON A PROFIT OF 1 LAKH ON A CAPITAL INVESTMENT OF RS1.3 LAKH WITHIN
A YR. SHOULD I BOOK PROFIT OR KEEP ADDING THE SAME STOCKS ON CORRECTION. PLEASE GUIDE. ..................................................... 19

WHAT ARE THE NEXT EMERGING LEADERS AND SECTORS.............................................................................................................. 19

HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT APPROXIMATELY TAKE FOR THE STOCK TO REACH ITS INTRINSIC VALUE. TO MENTION THE INTRINSIC VALUE ALSO
INCREASES WITH EVERY RESULTS. NOT A VALUE TRAP. ................................................................................................................ 19

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN TO SELL A STOCK? / WHEN DO YOU SELL, IF AT ALL?............................................................................. 20

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 HOW DO YOU EVALUATE QUALITY OF MANAGEMENT- TRUSTWORTHINESS/INTEGRITY, AMBITION, CONCERN FOR MINORITY SHAREHOLDERS?
........................................................................................................................................................................................ 20
HOW DEEPLY YOU HAVE FAITH IN VALUE INVESTING IN INDIAN MARKET? ........................................................................................ 21
IN LINE WITH ITC REPORT, WHICH IS THE NEXT COMPANY REPORT? ............................................................................................... 21
WHY WAS ITC ANALYSIS SHARED, IF YOU DO NOT DISCUSS STOCKS? .............................................................................................. 22
THE SHORTEST AND LONGEST HELD STOCKS AND WHY? / HIGHEST GAINER IN YOUR PF? (IF YOU CAN REVEAL THE NAME) ........................ 22
REGRETS IN STOCKS HAVING SOLD TOO EARLY OR HOLDING A DUD TOO LONG? ................................................................................ 22
SINCE YOU ARE FROM NON-FINANCIAL BACKGROUND, HOW DID YOU LEARN FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS. HOW MUCH TIME IT TOOK TO BECOME
GOOD AND HOW HOURS YOU SPENT DAILY TO LEARN IT? ............................................................................................................. 22

SO FAR I HAVE FELT LEARNING STOCK PICKING TAKES A LOT OF TIME WHICH I WANT TO SPEND GETTING BETTER IN MY PROFESSION (WHICH I
THINK WILL PAY MORE DIVIDENDS), DID YOU HAVE A MENTAL BLOCK LIKE THIS? HOW DID YOU GET OVER IT? ......................................... 23

WHAT BEHAVIOURS ARE NEEDED FOR SUCCESS IN STOCK INVESTING?............................................................................................. 24

READING / BOOKS ..................................................................................................................................... 24
YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK ON INVESTING .................................................................................................................................... 24
WHICH BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE WITH INFORMATION ON INVESTING IN INDIAN CONTEXT? ................................................................... 25
HOW DO YOU GET TIME FOR READING? ................................................................................................................................... 25
WHAT WERE YOUR BEST BOOKS/READ? ................................................................................................................................... 25
HOW MANY BOOKS YOU READ A YEAR? / HOW MANY PAGES YOU READ A DAY? .............................................................................. 25
OTHER TOPICS .......................................................................................................................................... 26
WHEN YOU THINK OF THE WORD "SUCCESSFUL", WHO IS THE FIRST PERSON WHO COMES TO MIND AND WHY? ..................................... 26
IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE GIGANTIC BILLBOARD ANYWHERE WITH ANYTHING ON IT, WHAT WOULD IT SAY?............................................. 26
WHAT IS THE BOOK (OR BOOKS) YOU HAVE GIVEN MOST AS A GIFT? .............................................................................................. 26
WHAT OBSESSIONS DO YOU EXPLORE ON THE EVENING OR WEEK ENDS? ......................................................................................... 26
HOW HAS A FAILURE, OR AN APPARENT FAILURE, SET YOU UP FOR LATER SUCCESS? .......................................................................... 27
WHAT IS THE WORST ADVICE YOU SEE OR HEAR BEING DISPENSED IN YOUR WORLD? ......................................................................... 27

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Personal details
ABOUT MYSELF
• Education: MBA
• Career: IT
• Where I live? I travel to Bengaluru, Chennai, Mysuru and Pune for career requirements,
though I primarily live in Bengaluru and Chennai
• Age: Don’t wish to disclose at the moment. But many of my personal tweets have ample hints
about it😊
• Language I speak: Tamil, English and bit broken Hindi!

HOBBIES
• Collection of stamps, coins and currencies
• Photography (Not a pro though! Just try based on tips from internet)
• Travelling (My other hobby photography greatly compliments here!)
• Watching nature scenery videos
• Listening to music & songs

PASSION
• I am passionate a lot about reading & learning new skill/knowledge needed for my career or
investment journey
• Writing blogs, articles, ebook on topics covering personal finance and stock investing
• Most important of all – Investing!

DAILY ROUTINES
How does my first 60 minutes of the day look like?

• Meditation
• Walking
• Any work that needs creativity or activities that need decision making (As will power is at the
maximum once we wake up. So helps in decision making)

I do not touch my mobile/get connected for the first 45 or 60 mins or till the above three are
over.

How does my last 60 minutes of the day look like?

• Time with family

• Create and visualize my plan for the next day
• Hearing light music/songs

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 No devices (TV, PC or Mobile) atleast 30 mins before going to bed (Scientific reason being:
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/put-the-phone-away-3-reasons-why-looking-at-it-before-bed-
is-a-bad-habit/ )

Thoughts dump: I do the related routine in the morning and evening. This is not a much known idea
and, if interested can have more details from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-minute-routine-
increase-your-clarity-creativity-benjamin-hardy-3/ )

My Investment Journey

WHEN DID YOU START YOUR INVESTMENT JOURNEY? / WHEN DID YOU START INVESTING?
• Investing: From 2000, Started the in a few months, I started to earn. The initial investments
were Bank FD & post office schemes
• Stock Investing: From Jan 2008

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO STOCK MARKETS? / WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION TO ENTER STOCK MARKETS?
• Even a month before starting to invest in stocks, I was a person who did not want to invest in
stock markets and stick with only bank deposits
• A saw some colleagues who trade and make a few thousands a day, in a few hours with a
mere 30-40K capital! – This was in December 2007 when the markets were hitting all-time
highs every day
• Seeing them, I made by up mind to invest trade in stocks in January 2008!

So “Greed” brought me into markets!

WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MORE ON YOUR JOURNEY TILL DATE, MOTIVATION, ASPIRATION AND DAILY HABITS LIKE
HOW DO YOU SPEND TIME ANALYSING COMPANIES, RESOURCE AND BUILD THE KNOWLEDGE AND SHARE IT
• My journey: Discussed in detail in various questions in this section!
• Motivation: A few points better net-returns than bank/debt
• Daily Habits: Part of the routines discussed in Personal details
• How do I spend time in analysis: I take lot of time to identify and analyze stock. Even ok to get
only one stock idea a year and invest on that one idea for the next one year, while I pick the
second idea!
• Build-up of knowledge: Discussed in detail in various questions in this Reading section!
• Sharing knowledge: That was when I read Robert Hagstrom of his motivation to write a book,
“Not to have an ego-death” - Dying without sharing the knowledge acquired in life time. This
provoked me to share the known knowledge, which did align with my vision (and had been
already doing in small circles) that everyone must be empowered to make their own financial
decisions.

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WHAT WAS YOUR PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR INVESTMENT? / WHICH GOAL YOU WANTED TO ACHIEVE
THROUGH INVESTMENT?
My primary motivation to invest, two parts:

First part:

• Avoid debt for basic needs

• Life goals of self and dependents
• Create some savings from my earnings to move beyond basic needs to discretionary (Travel,
vacation etc) needs for me and family
• Safety net: Emergency fund, Term and Health Insurance.
• Corpus for retirement

Second part: Journey to financial freedom

WHAT WAS THE FIRST STOCK YOU BOUGHT, FIRST LOSS AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM IT?
My first stock was Reliance Power! Everyone knows the lessons from Reliance Power. Nothing
specific for me to add.
When I started investing, I was buying and holding stocks for a few days or months with the intention
of selling it with some %-age of profit, say 20%. But almost from the time I started in Feb 2008,
markets were trending continuously down till the end of October 2008. So, there was no “first loss”,
everything was a loss. By October 2008, I was sitting on a loss of close to 85%. I did not have the
financial and mental strength to pursue any further investing.
What did I learn? Summarized in detail in the next Q!

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST LEARNINGS FROM INVESTING?

Success or big changes in our lives do not come from one advice, one learning, one activity or reading
one book. It is a series of such actions or advice or learnings which are inter-related is what brings
success or the big outcome. Below is the summary of my mistakes and learnings.

Mistakes Learnings
~75% exposure in Realty like Unitech, Ansal • No over exposure to one sector
Properties, Parsvnath, Omaxe etc. Most • Avoid hot stocks /sectors
were having high debt and badly butchered • Avoid companies with high leverage
in the 2008 downturn.
Before entering the game, understand the • Investing is a game of wealth creation
rules. • Understand the game well, its rules, pitfalls, the
knowledge, skillsets and various knacks to
In 2008, I was just buying whatever names succeed before starting the game
came up in TV or discussed by my friends
and media

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 • I had no business in investing, if I could not do my
own analysis and make decisions and asking
someone for stock names
• Investment based on names from social media or
friends or television is not a sustainable strategy
for success - By this strategy, have you learned
anything?
Sold out very early post the market • Timing the market is not possible consistently
movements in April 2009 (After the and is a random strategy for success.
election results). From there on markets • Time in the markets is possible, and a definite
gave a very huge return for the next few strategy for success.
years. Many of my sold picks rose by 3-10x!
The biggest mistake, not learning from our Why would me (or anyone) not learn from their
own mistakes and repeating the same mistake?
mistakes • Starting point is to first acknowledge a mistake
has happened, only after which the mental doors
open to identify cause of what went wrong
• We forget our mistakes and lessons soon
• To avoid that, document mistakes or learnings
from past investments in an investment journal
• Over a period of time, it becomes repository of
knowledge
• This helps us to look back the past and learn from
our own mistakes

WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND OF THE “EWFA” IN YOUR TWITTER HANDLE?

I used to guide new joiners in my work place (and relatives who start their career) in personal finance,
whoever was interested. I used to share small capsules of learnings over mail. The recipients would
debate on that topic with queries or sharing their personal views. It was very randomly made with
topics that group expressed interest to know. The main encouragement for me was that most of
them put the learnings to actions or had a healthy discussion for learning more. Since most of the
contents were ready, I continued this initiative with another 3 circles for the next 2-3 years. A glimpse
of those emails below.

This “Empowering with Financial Awareness” is an idea, which is close to my heart and hence used
the abbreviation in the Twitter handle.

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HOW DID YOU GET SO MUCH INTEREST IN PERSONAL FINANCE?
• When I started earning in 2000, I saw that there was a meagre amount to save
• I understood that there was a lot to understand in the area of personal finance and began to
read a few books and internet articles
• This lead to discipline in areas of personal finance i.e. Creating budget, recording expense,
having a financial plan, choose financial products for investments etc.
• From here comes all my current awareness on Personal Finance

HOW HAS YOUR INVESTING METHODOLOGY CHANGED SINCE YOU STARTED?

When Started 2008 – No Methodology!

• When I started there was no methodology and used to pick the names from my friends
(Whatsapp groups and Social media was not much there)
• It was a “hope investing”, where I used to buy stocks with the hope that I can sell it with 20%
gains in a few days
• This did not work out and then came the realization to have a methodology on own
• As with every beginner in their investment journey,
o I embraced with the traditionally flawed P/E ratio, with focus on low P/E
o Stocks that were hitting 52-week low
o Penny stocks

All this did not work out

In 2013, Initial thoughts on Methodology – Will continue to evolve in the years to come

Starting 2012, I started to learn and gain knowledge on investing. This is when, I had a serious thought
on a methodology. A methodology evolved over the next few years. I repeat “evolve” – It evolved
over a period of time, and will continue to evolve in future also:

• Initially (First few years till 2017) started with the science part, which was easy, definitive and
quantitative; number crunching from the financial statements
• Then (Post 2017) gradually added the art part, which was difficult, subjective and qualitative;
like reading annual reports, evaluating quality of business & managements, competitive
environment, understanding the sectors, the growth (The growth part is really a crystal
gazing!)

HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT INVESTING?

Post the carnage in 2008/2009, I exit stocks in 2010 only when most part of the portfolio was in green.
Infact then came the good days and markets were going up. I was afraid to re-enter the markets
again. All the while, used to read many online articles on investing. One particular article, from Value
Research “Adapting Buffet’s Approach” that I read is what became like a defining moment for me.

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The image of last para, suggested two books. (Though this article is dated 2011, I read it somewhere
in Jan 2012.)

My learnings started with reading these 2 books and then came the quest for more knowledge.
Having read and understood these 2 books (Which is widely believed tough to start with), further
reading of other books was easy. There are around 40-50 books that I have read. Here are the details
of all resources that I used in my investment journey.

HOW DID YOU INCREASE YOUR MARKET KNOWLEDGE?

• Most of the knowledge came from reading. There are around 50-60 books that I have read.
• There are plenty of books and YouTube videos on investing - Mere reading and not putting
the learnings to action is of no use (the details of all resources that I used in my investment
journey)
• I engaged myself actively by, (1) Making dedicated time for reading, (2) identify areas that can
be implemented in my investment framework and (3) Implemented them
• I made my hands dirty, which many don’t – Most don’t read, a few who read, stop with
reading…Very few make their hands dirty, implement and increase their knowledge
• Every successful or failed idea teaches you something:
o A successful idea reinforces your existing learnings
o A failed idea needs you to look in to your framework and what went wrong
• Learnings in recorded in an investment journal - record your learnings regularly and over the
years will be a repository of knowledge

HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF RISK IN INVESTING?

My basic and simple measure of risk is, if I can sleep peacefully at end of the day…Is my investments spoiling
my sleep? 😊

The very definition of risk is subjective, a few most common ones being:

1. English dictionary: danger or exposing to hazard

2. Personal finance and financial planners: Difference between expected and actual returns
from an investment
3. Many investing Guru’s say it as “permanent loss of capital”
4. Short term investors or traders would see risk as volatility in stock prices

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 5. Aswath Damodaran sees it as “Danger + opportunity”

It is quite possible that you and I have a completely different understanding of risk. Hence for a
common understanding, I see risk as:

• The English dictionary meaning would be of little use to investment world – Ignoring it
• I am not a trader or a short term investor and hence the volatility is not a concern – Ignoring
it
• So, the biggest concern in an investment is “permanent loss of capital” – This is what I see as
risk

This is the only risk that I need to worry and take care. This is how I see further:

• Even with a concentrated diversification of a few stocks, is it possible that invested capital in
all this ‘n’ number of stocks become “permanent loss of capital”? Not possible/Low probability
• Is it possible that a few stocks in the portfolio have “permanent loss of capital”? Yes. Possible
• How to avoid or mitigate this risk? Proper analysis to avoid companies with can suffer
“permanent loss of capital” entering the portfolio

Here are a few things, which I believe will keep me away from the risk of having stocks that may
suffer “permanent loss of capital”

• Invest only in something that I understand very clearly and have answers for a few basic
things:
o What is the raw material?
o What are their products?
o How money is made?
o Who are the competitors?
o Would the sales plunge, if price of the product is increased (Evaluating the pricing
power)
o Would the company products have growing demand in the years to come etc.
• Financial numbers: No bench marks, but look for the companies having the highest RoE, Net
Margins, market share, no debt etc. So that even, if there are situations like the one we are
facing now…and expected to be prolong, these companies will be the last to die
• Some kind of safety: Atleast 10-15 years of profitable history, good dividend yield, asset light
model, huge cash generated, cash and investments on books
• At last, I do follow a methodological analysis which I discussed in my recent YouTube video
serials “How to Analyse a Stock”, and don’t hesitate to discard an idea which does not meet
the requirements of any of the stages of this framework.

I believe and have witnessed since 2016, that the above ensures that there is no “Permanent loss of
capital.

Even if such a low probable event should happen i.e. Permanent loss of capital in all the invested
stocks, I have made necessary arrangements in my personal finance, such that it does not have any
impact on any of my financial plans or life goals atleast for 3 years.

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HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHAT KIND OF INVESTMENTS YOU MAKE?
A few pointers to determine the kind of investments, I make are:

• An industry or sector where I have a good or reasonable understanding and poised for a
reasonable to good growth in future
• Few companies in that industry – Monopoly or Duopoly (in the listed space), leading to less
competition, better pricing power and healthy profits for all players
• Past proven performance in terms of sales growth, profit growth, margin expansion and
betterment of operational metrics
• Not interested in mid or small caps, nor hunt for multi-baggers or 100x
o Both the above ideas are closely related
o Multi baggers most come from successful mid or small caps when identified much
early in its life cycle
o These are extremely low probability situations in my opinion and was also numerically
illustrated in one of the MOSL wealth creation studies
• High RoE coupled with (1) low dividend pay-out, (2) reinvestment opportunities and (3)
same/better returns from reinvested capital
• Avoid companies which are in debt, making loss, past poor growth, asset heavy, dubious
management etc
• In the end, it should pass through all stages of the framework that I discussed in my YouTube
Series “How to Analyse a Stock”.

All the above combinations may not fall in line for every stock. A few compromises with majority
falling in line is ok.

SHARE SOME INSIGHTS ON YOUR STOCK-PICKING PROCESS…

I discuss this in detail, as many had questions on my strategy and process. Below is a high-level
overview:
1. Creating Investible Universe
Create a universe of stock names, which could come from any one of the below

• Wealth Insight magazine by ValueResearch

• Holdings by Mutual Funds / Famous investors
• The products that I come across
• Something that is hitting the news frequently for good and bad reasons (One stock is famous
for that now!)
• Running screeners – I sometimes run screeners based on some parameter(s) that comes in
mind
From these names, I spend an hour or two to glance the annual report and quickly check a few
financial parameters in screeners to see, if I am comfortable to add these in my investible universe.
A few parameters could be Debt levels, Growth in Book Value, Earnings and Profit, Profitability ratios

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etc. At this point, it is NOT a buy. Activities in this stage is more random and do as and when I come
across names.

2. Detailed Analysis
While the previous stage is random, this stage is more focussed and dedicated covering the below
activities:

• Data collection (Annual Reports, Previous call transcripts, competitor annual reports)
• Financial Statement Analysis: I do my own calculation from the numbers in annual report
rather than referring online databases
• Accounting forensics: Check for possible manipulation of numbers with a few models
o This and the previous activity “Financial Statement Analysis” may go hand in hand
• Study Annual Reports – a few years report of this company and report of a few competitor
companies
• Competitive Analysis
o How this company stack up in comparison to competitor?
o Who is stronger? The company that I am analysing or the competitor company?
• Management Analysis
o Executive Compensation
o Related Party Transactions
o How efficiently are the retained earnings used?
o Concall (or its transcripts)
• Opportunity Analysis – Size of the opportunity, growth rates that can be expected and how
many years would that growth sustain etc. (This more of art part, based on my understanding
and subjective)
This analysis takes 6-8 weeks (or even more!). I do all activities myself and hence take time. I do not
hurry at this stage. Though the above are sequenced, I may go back and forth based on requirement.
As I complete, each activity above, I ask myself, “Am I satisfactory?”. If am unclear or not satisfactory,
I put that idea to hold or ignore without further analysis, i.e. What use is analysing a company, if the
reported numbers itself were under suspicion based from the models of “Accounting Forensics”.

3. Valuation:
If the above analysis is successful almost in all parameters, then valuation is less important. But still
do valuation to see where the current price stands. Infact when all the above analysis is successful,
there is some value that comes up in mind (A kind of intuition), even without use of any valuation
models.

After the above I may get a very few ideas a year, which are worth investment. I am happy even with
one good idea, that I am confident, I will invest over the next one or two years.

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YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK ON INVESTING AND YOUR INVESTMENT STRATEGY / PHILOSOPHY?
• Favourite book: Check this question
• Investment strategy / philosophy: Discussed in the previous three responses, please refer
them.

Questions on Personal Finance

ONE ADVICE TO YOUNGER PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST STARTED EARNING TOWARD THE FINANCIAL FREEDOM
JOURNEY.
Spend less, save more, start early, invest regularly, have discipline…all such advices are there in tons
from many social media influencers.
This being simple, still many are not able to make the cut. Why is it? Two important dimensions here
(Both are related to each other!)
1. Do not Procrastinate:

• Everyone has all the information, tons of advice are available from many social media
influencers
• Every information you want to know or the topics learn is available in the internet
• Many just do not take the efforts, act on the information and “Just Procrastinate” endlessly
• The more you delay, the more number of years of compounding you lose
• Even a simple (But important) activity of recording expenses many don’t make it a habit

2. Make a Financial Plan:

• In our professional life, we make project delivery plans, to a daily (or even hourly) level and
adhere to it and do everything needed to meet the dead lines
• So, planning is something that we know and do in our professional life…But unfortunately
most do not make such planning in their financial life
• For a beginner, this is the right time to think and create ‘Your Own Financial Plan’ from the
month they start earning
• Have a proper financial plan with the minute details at least for the next 5 years and stick to
the plan, whatever comes across

WHAT ARE SOME STEPS/RULES IN MONEY MANAGEMENT YOU THINK WILL HELP THE SAVER GET THE BEST OUT
OF HIS SAVINGS/INVESTMENTS?
Basic rule is Expenses < Income, only then can you think of savings/investment.
This is very simple rule, but a powerful one and unfortunately the most overlooked one as well. Many
do not appreciate the importance of this rule, much early in life.

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Based on this equation, we fall in one of the two categories:
1) Category 1: Many people where Expenses > Income, can be only be lifelong debtors and
not savers/investors. By the time they realize the mistake, it could be sometimes very late.
They need to realize this and soon move to the next category, there is no option to
save/invest.
2) Category 2: Few people have their Expenses < Income. They qualify to be savers/investors,
but do not have a proper plan and a framework. For them to succeed, and make their
financial life best/big, a few rules are a must:
a. Have a proper financial plan with the minute details at least for the next 5 years
b. Stick to the plan, whatever comes across – Do not procrastinate
c. Even before investing, focus on the below priorities
i. Plan for your short & long-term goals,
ii. Make the required insurances i.e. Term & Health
iii. Create emergency fund
No hurries to invest, before finishing such priorities
d. Whatever may be your investing asset class i.e. Stock, Real estate etc, start only
after you have the sufficient knowledge. Investing is a game of wealth creation.
e. Understand the game well, its rules, pitfalls, the knowledge, skillsets and various
knacks to succeed before starting the game.
f. It is very enticing to invest in equities. But first understand it well and have a clear
framework and strategy for your investments.
g. Do spend time and money on reading good books, listening to successful investors,
going to workshops etc. We want to be successful in investing, but do not want to
spend time or money in learning about investing.

MANY PEOPLE CLAIM TO HAVE ATTAINED FINANCIAL FREEDOM BY DEPENDING ON DIVIDENDS TO COVER MONTHLY
EXPENSES. WHAT OPTIONS DO THEY HAVE DURING A LONG RECESSION WHEN COMPANY STOPS OR REDUCES
DIVIDENDS? I GUESS STOCK PRICES WOULD BE SUPER LOW PREVENTING THEM FROM SELLING?
Ideally this question must be posed to those, for their thoughts. But I can share my views, which is a
multifaceted answer!

Facet 1: Matter of Belief

By using the word “..claim..”, you indicate that a person says something without proof, which you
are not able to believe it. – Going by the dictionary meaning for “claim”.

• If you find hard to believe someone, just ignore them. It would save lot of energy for you –
This is the simplest thing to do, and I would do the same
• If you say that you believe them, this question itself is not needed. What they do at times of
long recession or stock prices going super low is their worry and not ours.

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Seeing from the lens of the person who makes such a claim, his thoughts would be why should he
prove you? Take it if you believe, else leave it.

Facet 2: Lack of Understanding of the Person

In Social Media, we completely don’t know the other person’s life style, other income, taxation
status, how much they inherited, financial strength and background of spouse/spouse family etc.

To know these many details is too much intrusive for anyone to find answers to such questions, even
if the person might be known to you personally.

Facet 3: Are they not competent enough to figure this out?

See the situation at a basic level. A person says has achieved financial freedom with dividends. That
case they no doubt have done a good job in picking the right stock(s) that gives the dividends. He/She
would have the necessary skill and financial knowledge to do the necessary ground works:

• To estimate how much dividend is needed to meet their ‘X’ expenses (which again will
increase year on year).
• To get this dividend how much money is needed to invest in such stocks? etc

Being knowledgeable to this extend, don’t you think they would have put their thoughts on risk
management as well? i.e. Situation in case of long recession etc. YES, they would have the necessary
safety nets in place.

Facet 4: Let us not be fixated on other's journey. We really cannot ride another person’s journey.

This want to illustrate with 3 cases, whom I came across personally in life or know them well.

Case 1 • Earlier in his career, he got onsite opportunity to work in US

• Lead a frugal life there, and made huge savings every year
• Through that brought a few fields near Vellore regularly
• This was less than a decade journey – All through that he was dedicated in
work as well as saving/investing
• Few fields were sold for good profits and few fields are leased – This income
is sufficient to take care of his expenses
Case 2 • Had an own start up with few employees
• Worked hard to develop and bring it as profit making
• Sold that company stake for a good consideration
• The stake sale money in various in investment, which brings dividends,
interest, rental income etc
• The above sufficient to take care of his expense

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 Case 3 • He has good knowledge on real estate & most relatives, i.e. Land broker, Civil
engineer, lawyer, material supplier (Sand, Steel, Cement etc) are in
construction field
• Approach: Buy a land, agreement with prospective buyer with plan for an
individual house, construction part is taken care by relatives, sells the same
and post settling amount to relatives for their efforts, he retains a tidy profit
• Thing to note: His effort is very less, most activity handled by respective
relatives i.e. Broker for getting land, prospective buyer, Lawyer for litigation
aspects, civil engineer to construct etc, in the ecosystem
• He does max. 3 such houses / year, though he can do more – He is satisfied
with it and this money is more than enough for his expenses!
• A mix of real estate and construction - A classic case of using Other People
Time

All the journey above is no doubt enticing and now question myself for each of the cases

Case 1:

• I did not get the opportunity for long term onsite

• Even if I got, doubt, if would have been so frugal in saving money
• I also would not prefer going onsite for years, leaving my family
• Finally the savings, I would not have invested in fields with confidence, as my knowledge is
very much limited

Case 2:

• I have no idea for a good start up

• Nor my risk profile helps to take such an adventure of a start up

Case 3:

• My competency and knowledge in real estate is nil

• I even cannot imagine this kind of life for me

So in all the three cases, their journey is inspiring. But my own personality, family situation,
competency, comfort zone, interest, risk profile and many other factors, does not permit me to take
this journey.

Remember that other’s journey can be inspiring, but you cannot copy/paste and replicate in your life.
So focus less on other’s journey, draw inspiration though, but focus on your journey which suits your
personality profile.

KINDLY MENTION YOUR JOURNEY FROM NONE TO SOME, ESPECIALLY RELATED TO INSURANCE SECTOR
KNOWLEDGE
• My Journey: See the responses to various questions in My Investment Journey

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 • Insurance Sector Knowledge: Sorry, I don’t know much on Banking, Finance and Insurance
sector

WHICH IS BETTER? – DIRECT INVESTING/DIY INVESTING OR MUTUAL FUNDS

Need to answer a few questions in your context.

• What is your ticket size? For a small amount of equity investing (in relation to your net worth
say <10%), would suggest Mutual Funds
• Do you have the needed time, knowledge and competency for direct investing? In short you
need to have the answers for “When to buy/sell a stock”, “Why to buy/sell a stock”, etc., and
not asking others – If YES, this question itself is redundant!

Be brutally honest to yourself to answer this.

WHAT VIEWS WOULD YOU SHARE FOR DIY INVESTOR FROM YOUR JOURNEY?
• DIY investing is not about investing money in stocks that come in media or social media
• You own the process end-to-end i.e. analysis and decision making (Both to buy and sell)
• If you are buying a stock or selling a stock, your thought process must be clear as to why you
brought a particular stock or why you are selling it.
• DIY Investing would cost you time and money (apart from investment money) in getting
knowledge - Give both of it liberally
• Spend money and time in good books and investing related workshops
• If you do not have the needed knowledge or time, best is to stay away from DIY investing and
resort to Mutual fund or PMS route

HOW WAS YOUR MINDSET DURING BEGINNER DAYS IN SHARE MARKET, GOING ALL AT A TIME ON STOCKS OR ONE
AFTER OTHER? HOW COULD YOU JOIN DOTS OF MARKET I.E. AR, VALUATIONS, TIPS, LESSON FROM FAILURES,
PATIENCE, CAPITAL, CONTROL OVER STOCKS INTO A WELL-SHAPED CIRCLE?

• Mindset in beginning: Don’t remember, it is nearly a 20 years journey

• Connecting all the dots into a well shaped circle – A discussion may go for half a day! Suggest
that you check my video on How to Analyze a stock, where I have discussed most of this in
detail
• Tips: This is one aspect, that I have ignored (Infact hate!) in the last 10 years. There is no Tips!
If there was one, the person who tells us will be exploiting it the maximum rather than telling
us.
• Lessons from failures: Check the response to this question
• Patience: Developing in the last few years
• Control over stocks: This is a myth, none have control over stocks!

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DO YOU BELIEVE IN ACHIEVING FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE USING DIVIDEND INCOME? HAVE U ALREADY
ACHIEVED?
• Yes, it is possible.
• Myself already achieved or not, would not help others in any way, so I choose not to answer.

Questions on Stock Investing

I RECENTLY STARTED MY JOURNEY WITH STOCK MARKET. HOW CAN WE PASS OUR LEARNINGS TO KIDS?
• My wishes for your journey in stock
• First and foremost, suggest focussing on mastering this journey – Before we teach others, we
ourselves need to be familiar if not master
• Passing on the knowledge to your kids: Depends on how young they are. In my personal view,
I would not prefer teaching or discussing stocks below 15 years old. Let them enjoy their
childhood, which they lose once they grow up. Having said this, it is perfectly ok to
discuss/teach personal finance after they cross 12 years
• How to teach: You know about your kid the best, teach the way they will understand or learn.
I would prefer to share as stories, talk about my experience or practically show them
• The last one is most important, they learn by seeing what you do
• Encourage curiosity questions and answer them patiently, recently my children were asking
the importance of pricing a product as 199, 299 etc…I explain them patiently. Next time they
look at such a pricing they will be able to connect with what I said.

I AM A SMALL INVESTOR BUT A LONG TERM INVESTOR. I'M SITTING ON A PROFIT OF 1 LAKH ON A CAPITAL
INVESTMENT OF RS1.3 LAKH WITHIN A YR. SHOULD I BOOK PROFIT OR KEEP ADDING THE SAME STOCKS ON
CORRECTION. PLEASE GUIDE.
Sorry, I am not good in timing markets. So not able to guide.

WHAT ARE THE NEXT EMERGING LEADERS AND SECTORS.

Sorry, I do not know.

HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT APPROXIMATELY TAKE FOR THE STOCK TO REACH ITS INTRINSIC VALUE. TO MENTION
THE INTRINSIC VALUE ALSO INCREASES WITH EVERY RESULTS. NOT A VALUE TRAP.
First, the idea of intrinsic value is a very subjective one. If you bring in 10 successful investor or analyst
and ask to estimate intrinsic value for the same stock, you would get 10 different values, many of
which are poles apart. It depends a lot on what is factored (i.e. Asset, future earnings growth,
business model, quality of management etc) into the evaluation of intrinsic value. This varies
between individuals, based on their understanding of business.

How long does it take for a stock to reach its intrinsic value? 😊

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 • As I told, different people can come out with different value
• So the question of how long it takes depends on the IV arrived
• Even with good and conservative estimates, none can say how long it is going to take to reach
IV – Should the answer of “How long…” is known, then all will buy, push the prices to IV
immediately
o So remember well “How long…” can never be estimated
o If “How long…” is known, then the price not be depressed (or elevated) for long and
will soon reach IV
• Also it depends on the type of stock, if it is junk, it may never come to IV

This is more of hypothetical question which does not have a precise answer. Unfortunately, most of
us want, a stock to go up the next day we purchase. It does not happen this way!

IV increases with every results – Yes

Not a Value Trap – This line, what you meant is not clear to me

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN TO SELL A STOCK? / WHEN DO YOU SELL, IF AT ALL?
I have discussed in detail about sell triggers in one of my Video. Check this for details of sell triggers.
Even before buying I ensure that I have the sell triggers.
In brief, I sell when fundamentals deteriorate or I have done mistake in the initial analysis and the
stock does fit my framework or expectations.

HOW DO YOU EVALUATE QUALITY OF MANAGEMENT- TRUSTWORTHINESS/INTEGRITY, AMBITION, CONCERN FOR

MINORITY SHAREHOLDERS?
This one-line question need an answer which can well go for hour or a Book in itself! Hence sharing
a quick reference for you to deep dive

• My own videos
(https://youtu.be/7IbEncmTXho?list=PL9QC_19RB6uWQ3lQPSviGI5Pe77aGXson and
https://youtu.be/PsETCuyabak?list=PL9QC_19RB6uWQ3lQPSviGI5Pe77aGXson ) where I
have give some details
• Read: Chapter 7 to 9 from the book “The Investment Checklist” by Michael Shearn

Other pointers

• Education, experience and expertise

• Executive compensation
• Related Party Transactions – What are the related parties? What kind of transactions does
the company have with them? Buying raw materials, assets like land, lease from related
parties can be a concern as they might happen over the market/fair value

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The above are well covered in Annual Reports.

One Observation
Many are looking some structured way or kind of metrics/ratios for analysing Management integrity.
It does not happen that way. It has got to do more on the art part of investing, while most are
comfortable with science part of investing. It is very subjective area. While one feels that
management is good, another person would have a completely contrary view. This idea of
Management integrity is very subjective and personal. So, do not look for perfection.

HOW DEEPLY YOU HAVE FAITH IN VALUE INVESTING IN INDIAN MARKET?

• Value investing, Growth investing are academic terms
• Even the definition of value investing has been changing over the years from:
o The times (nearly a century back) of Ben Graham, where he used to buy stocks below
value of asset or cash holding (to)
o The current times where his student Warren Buffet, is focussed “Great business at fair
prices”
• Even Warren Buffet also has evolved (an apt image below) over the years – So the very
meaning of what I and another person sees as Value investing is different!

Source: http://mastersinvest.com/investment-tutorials-11-20

• At a common ground, as Charlie Munger says “All sensible investing is value investing”
• That way a sensible investing approach (which is value investing), does work in India - As India
has a huge potential in the coming years

IN LINE WITH ITC REPORT, WHICH IS THE NEXT COMPANY REPORT?

• I don’t discuss stock name, as most of you know
• The recent ITC report is an exception or one odd deviation ( If the report is not seen, the link
is https://twitter.com/EWFA_/status/1331443884350599170 )

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 • This again was to show how one should approach stock analysis and the questions one should
ask before committing money

So, there would be no further reports on any other Indian listed company 😊

WHY WAS ITC ANALYSIS SHARED, IF YOU DO NOT DISCUSS STOCKS?

I have discussed it in Disclaimer (Page 2) and Purpose of the work (Page 5) of the report ( If the report
is not seen, the link is https://twitter.com/EWFA_/status/1331443884350599170 )

You may check the detailed reasoning from the report, but in a nut shell - Many in the past had asked
for a practical approach on approaching stock analysis. ITC was widely discussed by investing/trading
community. Many widely know many aspects on ITC. So, a report on ITC will bring a good connection
of what information to look for and what questions to ask.

THE SHORTEST AND LONGEST HELD STOCKS AND WHY? / HIGHEST GAINER IN YOUR PF? (IF YOU CAN REVEAL
THE NAME)
• This response is not possible without mentioning the stock names
• Apologies. I do not discuss stock names – Hence choose not to answer this

REGRETS IN STOCKS HAVING SOLD TOO EARLY OR HOLDING A DUD TOO LONG?
Many

• Sold too early, in 2010, when Indian markets picked momentum after the 2008/09 carnage
• Though my picks were just random and not based on any skill, I was lucky to have some good
companies – So the pick part was more of luck and less of skill
• But I spoiled the show by selling much early in 2010, only to see them going up several folds
in the next few years and one of them even becoming 100x

As one of the big investors (Don’t know the name) says, that we are good in making profits, but not
good in riding the profits and make wealth!

SINCE YOU ARE FROM NON-FINANCIAL BACKGROUND, HOW DID YOU LEARN FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS. HOW
MUCH TIME IT TOOK TO BECOME GOOD AND HOW HOURS YOU SPENT DAILY TO LEARN IT?
First step and then the next! Read line by line, para by para, chapter by chapter, book by book.
How did I manage being from Non-finance background?

• Being from an engineering background, it was tough and took a slow approach in reading to
understand the meaning, word by word, line by line, para by para
• Infact would read the next paragraph only after understanding the current paragraph

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 • If I was not comfortable or understood a chapter properly, I would not move to the next
before I re-read the current chapter.
• I spend close to 3 – 4 months to read and re-read these 2 books
• Mere reading is of no use, as the contents were out of memory in no time…So implemented
it
• I did not read for the sake of reading, but for the sake of understanding and implementing.
• So it is apt to say “I understand the book”, rather than “I read the book”.
• For implementing, I used to print the financial statements, sit with a pencil and calculator
(Purposely did not do in excel) and calculate these learnt ratios/ideas for every company I
owned previously and compare/verify my results with the numbers in money control
• This way, I did not stop merely with reading, but try them out in some companies of interest

The details of all resources that I used in my investment journey.

How much time it took?

Before answering this…I wish to express, many aspects cannot be fit into an equation or a numerical
formula or measured upon or put as a process. In my view, learning is not complete even after 8
years! To answer specifically, I took 2-3 years to learn FA, is what I will put roughly. But that depends.
If someone can put 8 – 10 hours a day, the same could be done in 2 months. This 2-3 years would
appear quite long, but all the way, I was not only reading, but understanding the idea, concept, and
create a framework for my analysis.

How many hours, I spend daily?

How much ever I could and whenever time was there. Time is plenty, only we need to utilize it.
Minimum 1 to 1.5 hours/day during my travels to office. I travel a lot for official reasons: travel to
Airport, the waiting time for flight and in flight, were all utilized. In short, I used every opportunity.
Undoubted, it was bit difficult in the initial days to move out of comfort zone. But my personal
determination help.

SO FAR I HAVE FELT LEARNING STOCK PICKING TAKES A LOT OF TIME WHICH I WANT TO SPEND GETTING BETTER IN
MY PROFESSION (WHICH I THINK WILL PAY MORE DIVIDENDS), DID YOU HAVE A MENTAL BLOCK LIKE THIS? HOW
DID YOU GET OVER IT?
• I did not have any such mental blocks
• Money works for you (In stock investments), you work for money (by getting better in your
profession) – No right or wrong answers, best left to the individual to choose
• If you feel getting better in your profession gives more dividends than stock investing: Forget
stock investing, upskill yourself and climb up your professional ladder – In the end, do what
your inner self says…

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WHAT BEHAVIOURS ARE NEEDED FOR SUCCESS IN STOCK INVESTING?
A few:

• Patience: While entering, holding and exiting a stock.

• Decisive: You own the decision of buy/sell and not based on others' inputs. Simply be on your
own. As Muthukrishnan sir (@dmuthuk), often says… If you are asking stock ideas to others,
you are not ready for self-investing
• Ownership/Responsibility: Take ownership of both good and bad decisions. In case of bad
decisions, introspect what went wrong. Don’t blame others (COVID, Economy, Govt. etc) for
your mistakes. If you picked a stock based on someone advice and it is in loss. Don’t blame
the person who recommended. Blame yourself, for believing in the other person and
committing your hard-earned money
• Confidence: Related to decision making... Any decision, take it with confidence and not in a
dilemma
• Clear thought process: Need to answer yourself, why you are buying/selling a stock
• Humility: This is an idea that I came across a Google talk by William Green. Be humble for the
possibility that you could be wrong. Be open to other opposite views, as the other person
could be correct.

Reading / Books
YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK ON INVESTING
1. Security Analysis
2. Intelligent Investor

Reason: I started my investment learning from these two books

These two books would be a tough for anyone to understand, if there was no prior knowledge on
investing or an accounting background. Having read and understood these 2 books, further reading
of other books was easy. I would have read close to 40-50 books in my investment journey. However,
these two being the initial books are my favourite and regularly re-read it every year. Every time, I
read, there are new takeaways.

But, the idea of asking for One or top 3/ 5 best books in investing is a myth or flawed one.

• This is a hypothetical question

• A Engineer or Doctor studies close to 50+ subjects in their 4-year curriculum
• Reading one book or a top 3 or 5 books do not make them professionals
• Every subject has an importance which they use at some point in their career
• Why would it be any different for an Investor?
• The learnings related to investments do not come from one book or top 3 books.
Having started from scratch, every book that I read helped in some way or the other. My entire list
of my readings can be seen in this file

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WHICH BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE WITH INFORMATION ON STOCK INVESTING IN INDIAN CONTEXT?
• Stocks to Riches: Insights on Investor Behaviour - Parag Parikh
• Value investing and Behavioural finance: insights into Indian stock market realities - Parag
Parikh
• The Unusual Billionaires - Saurabh Mukherjea
• Coffee Can Investing - Saurabh Mukherjea
• Of Long-Term Value & Wealth Creation from Equity - Bharat Shah
• The Thoughtful Investor - Basant Maheshwari

HOW DO YOU GET TIME FOR READING?

Time is plenty to everyone. It all depends, where we focus our time or which activity to prioritize.
Given a choice between reading and hearing a song, would prefer reading. Now if given a choice
between reading and meditation, I would prefer meditation. So ultimately, it what you wish to
prioritize your time.

One simple option without affecting any other schedule of mine is while travelling to office by cab. I
spend close to 2 hours a day for travelling. On a ~250 working day a year, I get here ~500 hours for
learnings, which is full 20 days! It depends on what you choose, to do when travelling in cab. Some
here songs, some chit chat with co-travellers, some hear music, some are into social media. But I
choose to listen to reading/video lectures on investing.

Time management is a very vast subject and would be glad to share a ebook or YouTube videos on
Time management techniques, if many (not any) of you are interested!

WHAT WERE YOUR BEST BOOKS/READ?

What is best for one will not be suitable for others due to numerous difference in factors, a few being:

• Purpose of read / expectation from a reading: Entertainment/time pass, just reading for some
knowledge, better job prospects, run a business etc.
• What one wants to achieve from the read? Knowledge, learning a new skill, understand a
concept, Implementing in some areas in life etc.
• Previous knowledge level of the subject: One may know financial statement analysis well and
has read “Financial forensics” may find it very useful. But for the other who does not know
“financial statement analysis”, a good read of “Financial forensics” is of little value.
My entire list of my readings can be seen in this file

HOW MANY BOOKS YOU READ A YEAR? / HOW MANY PAGES YOU READ A DAY?
• Read a certain number of book/year or pages/day is a myth and flawed approach
• You might read 20 books a year, but if you only read and take no action, then that knowledge
goes waste and is also forgotten

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 • Much better is even if you read one book, fully understand and implement the learnings in
your life and reap the benefits
• We are not just reading to flash some quotes from these book in social media or social
gathering, but having invested time and money and book, we need to get benefitted
• No fixed numbers for me: I just don’t read for the sake of reading, but to understand and most
importantly implement the learnings in my life (Be it career or investing)
• Infact, I don’t “Read a book”, but “Understand an idea/concept”
• This implementation does take time – Need to make hands dirty, only after successful
implementation of an idea or feel that I have a fair knowledge of that idea, I go to the next
book.

Other Topics

WHEN YOU THINK OF THE WORD "SUCCESSFUL", WHO IS THE FIRST PERSON WHO COMES TO MIND AND WHY?
Well it not Ambani or Warren Buffet or famous investor (While I do admire their success and respect
them). For me it is my Father, reason:

• He started with a modest background in terms of finance and education, worked hard to come
up in life and achieved whatever he set as goals.
• For him time is money and would not waste a single minute.
• He is my main motivation and inspiration.
• Without proper educational background, he could make me a MBA, apart from other
achievements in financial, personal and social life.
• Then how much should I be achieving with my MBA, is how I have been drawing inspiration
from him.

IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE GIGANTIC BILLBOARD ANYWHERE WITH ANYTHING ON IT, WHAT WOULD IT SAY?
Be optimistic. Believe in yourself and take confidence. You have the power to achieve anything in life.
Cast all doubt, take confidence in yourself and put the necessary effort need to succeed. – You are
born to Win.

WHAT IS THE BOOK (OR BOOKS) YOU HAVE GIVEN MOST AS A GIFT?
All my ebooks shared in social media

WHAT OBSESSIONS DO YOU EXPLORE ON THE EVENING OR WEEK ENDS?

• Week ends are mostly with family
• Aligning to my hobby or travelling, I mostly travel over week end with family

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HOW HAS A FAILURE, OR AN APPARENT FAILURE, SET YOU UP FOR LATER SUCCESS?
• Portfolio loss > 80% on entering the market in 2008
• Changed my approach / Behaviour towards markets
• Did not give up and focussed on knowledge and a strategy
• How big I win will be known only in future – But I am satisfied in what I am doing!

WHAT IS THE WORST ADVICE YOU SEE OR HEAR BEING DISPENSED IN YOUR WORLD?
• Living house an asset: No, A living house is a not an asset. It is a pitfall to go (With this belief)
for any amount of EMI even to the extent that you don’t have a monthly savings! Please read
the detailed reasoning my newsletter 17 to 23 for my views
https://twitter.com/EWFA_/status/1288410618798645248
• Fixed deposits carry less risk and Equities are risky: On a long-term horizon, it is just the
other way round!

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