Last year when I stepped down as the CEO of nearbuy - I was a classic case of paper wealth with no cash in hand.

I had stupidly over indexed on equity, made terrible mistakes with money (see thread the end of this thread) and had no other income stream.
I realized the biggest mistakes I had made was investing in largely illiquid assets - startups and real estate. With extremely poor liquidity.

So while I had "wealth" I did not have any income.

The last year I have been working on changing that.
1. Term Insurance
A decade back I bought a term insurance plan for 25 years, for 10Cr.

Which means if I die in the next 25 years (by the time I am 55), my family will get 10Cr (over and above my ongoing loans).
If I don't die, I get nothing.
My logic at 30 was that by 55 I should be able to get to the 10Cr mark myself.
Until then I rely on an insurance plan.

This amount I believe takes care of all current and future needs of my family.

This gives me mental peace, should something happen to me ever!
Of the disposable income I have (after paying for my bills and needs) I split it into 40:40:20

The first 40% goes into buying stocks of individual companies; split into 25% and 15%.
25% in US stocks - I pick market leaders in emerging tech. So the 4 stocks I have currently are
Shopify
Square
Zoom
Tesla

Indians can invest upto $250,000 every year in international stocks (public + private), which is way more than I will ever have :)
I use @INDmoneyApp for investing - it is incredibly easy to use and helps me track.
Highly recommended.
The remaining 15% goes into Indian company stock. Again, I pick market leaders, but instead of emerging tech I go for established sectors.

My current picks are
ITC
HDFC
Reliance
Spicejet
Indian Hotels
Shree Cement
I use @zerodhaonline for all my stock investing. It is such an incredible product to use and while it is known to suffer from outages, it doesn't affect me since I do not actively trade.
Next 40% of savings rides on experts, who know their stuff :)
I am not a big fan of Mutual funds because of the opacity with which they operate.

So I started to use @smallcaseHQ
Think of it like a mix of stocks as per a strategy, where an expert is telling you what to buy/sell
I follow Momentum investing strategy on smallcase - which rides on stocks that are on an upward momentum.

The ones I picked were
Capitalmind Momentum
https://t.co/yvxGWXFvnH
and
Weekend Investing Momentum
https://t.co/vzijXXCDoE
I invest every month and if there is any surplus generated then as a one-time investment as well.
The last 20% is reserved for startup investing.
It is where I have lost my most money and made my most money as well.

I would not call myself an angel investor, since I do not have the capital depth to invest in all the good ideas I come across.
So I rarely invest directly in a startup (unless highly recommended or a founder I absolutely loved interacting with)

I mostly invest in startups through @AngelList
You can follow syndicates on AL, through which you get a deal flow. And most allow you to invest starting $1,000
I am yet to see any gain come through AL - this is more of a wild bet on my part.
In summary:
25% in US tech market leaders - with a 15 year horizon, through @INDmoneyApp
15% in Indian traditional market leaders - with a 15 year horizon, through @zerodhaonline
40% in momentum Indian stocks, through @smallcaseHQ
20% in startups, through @AngelList
PS:
I do not have any Fixed Deposits (hate them!)
I haven't invested in any debt funds (frankly, they arent that bad, but I am willing to take on risk)
My only liability is a (BIG) home loan
My investment strategy is aggressive for a 40 year old with a family of wife, 2 kids and 2 parents.
But that is just me.

This should ideally be the investment strategy for someone in their 20s
30% US Stocks + 40% Indian stocks + 30% Indian Debt (no startups please)
Here is a thread I wrote on mistakes I made with my money
https://t.co/yyvpkvNOv6

It has been converted into an eBook (thank you @shreyashah23)
https://t.co/mRdLJEtn5Y
PLEASE do not blindly copy this strategy - for that matter anyone's
Take inspiration from others - but eventually build your own.

Oh - almost forgot - the longest word in english language
mutualfundsaresubjecttomarketriskpleasereadtheofferdocumentscarefullybeforeinvesting
Ask me anything on the strategy or guide me further if you have some feedback

More from Ankur Warikoo

10 ways I am running my current startup differently from the ones before

A thread...

Difference #1
Bootstrapped as against raising money

https://t.co/RKWB3KfMZt was a venture funded company. We raised $43Mn from top investors, but I couldn’t give them a return that I would be proud of. In the process, learning how raising money works but also doesn’t work

My current startup is bootstrapped.
I do not intend to raise money for it.
It has been profitable from Day 1 and that is the way I hope it remains.

I have raised money from customers.

Difference #2
Slow and small

For the past decade, I was in the mode of fast and big.
Being fast was the only thing that mattered.
And you either go big or go home.

Today, I am taking it slow.
Slow to add costs, slow to take decisions that are irreversible.

I am patient because all good things in life take time!

You May Also Like

1/ Here’s a list of conversational frameworks I’ve picked up that have been helpful.

Please add your own.

2/ The Magic Question: "What would need to be true for you


3/ On evaluating where someone’s head is at regarding a topic they are being wishy-washy about or delaying.

“Gun to the head—what would you decide now?”

“Fast forward 6 months after your sabbatical--how would you decide: what criteria is most important to you?”

4/ Other Q’s re: decisions:

“Putting aside a list of pros/cons, what’s the *one* reason you’re doing this?” “Why is that the most important reason?”

“What’s end-game here?”

“What does success look like in a world where you pick that path?”

5/ When listening, after empathizing, and wanting to help them make their own decisions without imposing your world view:

“What would the best version of yourself do”?