The economic concept of FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) has recently become popular among working professionals. The concept of FIRE focuses on empowering individuals to retire early through meticulous financial planning and investing their income early in their careers. SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans) can be an excellent way to kickstart your FIRE journey in order to reach financial independence by the age of 40 years. In this article, we’ll take a look at some SIP investment strategies you can use to implement FIRE.
Understanding your financial requirements
The first step when it comes to planning your financial independence is to understand your monthly/yearly expenses. For instance, if your family’s yearly expenses are ₹6 lakh, you will need to have savings of approximately ₹1.8 crore (30X of your annual expenses). This ₹1.8 crore corpus will help generate enough passive income while keeping your original investment intact, considering the 4% withdrawal rule, while accounting for inflation. This process assumes that your investment returns continue to beat inflation by a rate of 2-3% every year.
Thus, once you’re sure of the final corpus amount you will need at 40 years of age, you can start the proper financial planning to save up and invest to reach your financial goal.
Start early with SIPs
In order to reach financial independence by the age of 40, you will need to start your investing journey quite early in your career. For instance, if you’re 25 years old with the aim to save up ₹2.4 crore by the time you reach the age of 40, you will need to invest approximately ₹55,000 every month, assuming a 12% annual return on investment. However, if you start your investing journey at 30 years of age, the required monthly investment to reach your financial goal would go up to a considerable sum of ₹1.2 lakh. Thus, set up your SIP investments as early as possible and let them grow over the years through the power of compounding.
Strategic asset allocation of SIPs
A major factor that investors need to consider is optimal asset allocation for maximum returns over time. Financial experts recommend that for a long investment horizon, a majority of your funds (60-70%) should be invested in equity mutual funds (including large-cap and mid-cap funds), as equity assets have offered consistently high returns over time.
A small portion of your investment (20-25%) should be invested in debt instruments such as government & corporate bonds and debt mutual funds, as they will provide a level of stability to your portfolio.
Lastly, the remaining portion of your investments (10-15%) can be invested in alternative avenues such as gold, REITs, and international equity funds to enhance diversification and hedge against domestic market risks.
So, ensure that you set up your SIPs with the most optimal asset allocation in mind to target all of the above asset classes in the right proportions.
Risk management with insurance
Even with the most rigorous planning, unfortunate accidents and life’s uncertainties can get in the way. To have a financial security net for your family and dependents, consider getting a term or life insurance policy that will payout a lump sum of money in the event of your unfortunate demise. This will ensure that your family’s financial goals remain intact, even in your absence.
To conclude
It’s certainly possible to achieve financial independence for yourself and your family by the time you are 40 years old. It needs a mix of disciplined financial planning, a high rate of savings, and most importantly, uninterrupted SIP investments that compound over time. Start investing in SIPs early on in your career and adjust your rate of investment depending on the returns. Consider optimising and rebalancing your portfolio periodically to remove underperforming assets for sustainable growth to reach your financial goals on time.