March’2020 – My FIRE Monthly Investments Update

My monthly investment updates towards financial independence and retire early for the month of March'2020. I have saved 2.77% of Rs.5 Crore goal so far
Financial Independence Journey - My monthly Investment Progress update for March 2020

As of March’20 I have reached a total of Rs.13,82,000, about 2.77% of my Rs.5 crore target to get financial independence and retire early. Littlesaves.com too has been picking up momentum among readers and social media followers. As of now, the community is over 8,000 strong followers across Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Youtube. Lots of youngsters who are joining the workforce and even some moms who are home makers have reached out to me on Twitter and Facebook. Common questions are how P2P Lending works, is it feasible, how to earn passive income etc. I will focus on these topics for this month and write my experiences, thoughts and tips on them.

March’20 In a nutshell:

  • Stock market is down and these days, as much as 100+ companies are making new lows
  • I have added Rs.1,50,000 to my stock investment portfolio. I have not made any purchases yet. I am waiting for things to stabilize a bit. Most importantly, see how the Corona situation pans out in India. Modi and team are doing a great job so far!
  • A UN Trade report says World economy will enter recession this year. India and China are the exceptions!
  • We are nearing 10,00,000 Corona cases and 50,000 Corona related deaths
  • I have been working from home completely for the past month. Stepped out of the house just twice for getting Pampers and milk. We have stocked groceries till the 15th of April’20.
  • RBI and banks announce a morartium on loans and debt for upto 3 months. I did not take it, and advice you not to either (unless you are in a financially in a bad position) as it will only increase the interest you end up paying.

My Overall Investments and Progress as of March’20

Final GoalRs.5 Crores
Total InvestedRs. 12,79,454
Current ValueRs. 13,82,545
Goal Achieved2.77%
Passive Income in Mar’20Rs.5,258
ROI%8.06%
Time left139 of 144
My investment Scorecard as of March’2020

New articles and Tools& Calculators added in March’20

My office work has been a bit hectic in March’20. We had to plan BCP (Business Continuity Plan) situations incase Corona pandemic continues for a long time. I have not been able to write much on the side as I had to work through Saturday and Sundays too. But I did manage to put together a few useful Tools and Calculators. Here is the list:

Value of Investments and breakdown as of Mar’2020

Total Total Invested 2019 Jan’20 Feb’20 Mar’20 RoI%
Stock Market Investments 300,000 145364.95 132,894 132,894 225,920 -55.70%
Mutual Funds Investments 125,513 105,871 131,879 128,699 102,545 5.07%
Alternate Investments 805,510 903400 923,400 963,100 968,750 15.00%
P2P Lending Investments 48,431 2,777 26,383 26,618 44,743 -45.52%
Cashbacks, Rewards and Points 0 41133.99 45,080 47,354 40,587
Total 1279454 1198547 1259636 1298665 1382544.6 8.06%

Passive Income earned in March’2020

TotalTotal Invested2019 TotalJanuary’20Feb’20Mar’202020 – Total Passive Income
Alternate Investments200000300002500250031508150
P2P Lending Investments272314747235365647
Cashbacks& Rewards Redeemed0981569393113671743.1122503
Dividends0000525525
Total22723112820311940141025258.1131300

Stock Market Investments Update for March 2020

With the stock market falling steadily, my current investments are over 35% down. I am adding Rs.1,50,000 into my total stock portfolio. I’m just keeping it as cash at the moment. Once the Corona situation is under control and the market is stable, I will be picking up some blue chip stocks for relatively low prices.

One thing to remember is that, the prices are not going to go up in the near future. Any investment now will take 2 years at the minimum to show good returns. The havoc wreaked by COVID-19 virus will have a lot of companies reporting major losses the coming 2-3 quarters. Plus that also means, not much in terms of dividends from these investments.

SymbolBuy PriceCurrent PriceCurrent ValueUnrealized P&LP/L
HINDZINC20004.3155.414,452-5552.3-27.8%
IOC34690.181.722290-12400.11-35.7%
NATIONALUM15039.529.110185-4854.5-32.3%
OLECTRA11066.649.23100-7966.6-72.0%
WELENT8250.039.83975-4275-51.8%
YESBANK9258.022.53367.5-5890.5-63.6%
BANKBARODA26220.053.6267755552.1%
MOTHERSUMI30425.061.1305251000.3%
CASH IN HAND111251.0111251
Total266204.5225920.5-40284.01-35.1%

Mutual Fund Investment Updates for Mar 2020

TotalTotal InvestedValue Dec’19January’20Feb’20Mar’20
Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund1577610896153231544815571
SBI Focused Equity Fund3167231000335683306225569
Axis Midcap Fund3999833969424274177733439
Nippon India Small Cap9900809510754101477093
L&T Midcap Fund80006167860082586070
HDFC Small Cap Fund80005869822476515316
L&T India Value Fund66645186700965454701
DSP Midcap Fund40003144442242533219
Nippon India Liquid Fund15031545155215581567
Total125513105871131879128699102545

From them previous highs of 17% ROI, my Mutual Fund portfolio is currently showing a return of -23.7%.

The coming month, I will add another Rs.25,000 and buy up more to average down my costs.

Alternate Investments Update Mar’20

This month I am planning to buy some Bitcoins. Bit coin prices have come down quite a bit and is currently around Rs.4,50,000 for 1 bit coin. I plan to buy worth Rs.5000, so set this sum aside and will buy it once the price falls below USD 6,000 per BTC.

All other alternate investments remain the same. Sun exchange investment is showing a little return. Only one out of my 3 projects on Sun exchange are live. So it will take another 3 to 4 months before I start seeing the 12% promised returns.

TotalTotal InvestedDecember’19January’20Feb’20Mar’20
Loan to Family Friend @ 15% pa200000200000200000200000200000
Sun Exchange31400340034003210032750
Loan to Friend100000100000100000100000100000
PF269110420000420000431000431000
Investment/Insurance Funds300000300000300000300000300000
Loan Taken @ 7% pa-100000-100000-100000-100000-100000
Bitcoins50000005000
Total805510923400923400963100968750

P2P Lending Updates for Mar-2020

I have increased my investments in Mintos in March, adding another Rs.21,000. This time instead of investing in loans from Kazakhstan, I have picked up a few loans from EU countries such as Poland and Belarus. The main reason is that due to the Corona outbreak in EU regions, capital is low and loans are available for as much as 20-21% interest for Euros.

Keep in mind that the Risk in these are very high as things could go very bad quickly if the Covid-19 cases are not bought under control. Hence me adding only a small amount.

TotalTotal InvestedDecember’19January’20Feb’20Mar’20
Mintos484312777263832661844743
Total484312777263832661844743

Rewards and Cashbacks in the month of March’20

TotalTotal InvestedDecember’19January’20Feb’20Mar’20
American Express Points06491.527161.848357.168140
Cashkaro02832.582860.42871.42897.64
CRED04091.44171.44772.575834.19
Airmiles013437.513437.51333513335
Flipkart Supercoins & Vouchers02764286018081920
Hotels & Stay points02593259325932593
Other points programs0700200200200
Quickride02032203215803414
IOC Rewards0207.9224.7249276
Play Rewards0125.97146.18221233.66
Total035275.8735687.0235987.1338843.49

I continue to generate a tonne of money as cashbacks and rewards. I am hoping to go on a good long holiday by the end of this year. The points I have been hoarding will be useful at that time.

Usual cashbacks for the month. I make about Rs.1,000 in a month purely as cashbacks from my monthly expenses.

No Quickride this month due to all the working from home. I picked up a Rs.279 coupon from Flipkart for 50 super coins.

TotalTotal InvestedDecember’19January’20Feb’20Mar’20
American Express Points010000000
Cashkaro05117000
CRED08337.7803800
All other Credit Cards00407830619
Flipkart Supercoins & Vouchers0100001300279
Other points programs0500000
Quickride043990800080000
Paytm Cashbacks0221316.445118.11
Amazon Pay Card+Cashbacks026,938970812727
Play Rewards060000
Total098155.789393.35113671743.11

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Abhi

Abhi

Abhi is a 29 yr old Indian, on FIRE to retire by 40. He has been investing and learning Finance for the past 12 years. After completing Mechanical engineering, he started working in a multi-national Bank and grew to become an AVP. Currently with an IT MNC as a VP. He lives in Bangalore with his wife and their 1 year old daughter. In his free time, Abhi loves to game on the Xbox, watch movies, read and blog.

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