# Learning to Invest Early can Change the Fortune of your Life | Nimesh Mehta | TEDxSVKM Intl School

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds6kjTdZ6Zs
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/ds6kjTdZ6Zs
Generated: 2025-12-22T16:30:46.155+00:00

---
## Quick Overview

Learning to invest early fundamentally changes one's financial fortune, as demonstrated by Nimesh Mehta, whose family savings were depleted shortly after retirement due to poor investment choices like endowment policies, contrasting sharply with the massive wealth growth achieved after reallocating funds into equities following professional financial planning education.

**Key Points:**
- The speaker's parents exhausted their life savings within two years after retirement because 50% of their money was in LIC endowment policies and the rest in cooperative banks/post office instruments, none of which beat inflation.
- Implementing Certified Financial Planner (CFP) learnings, the speaker realized the purchasing power of money meant the family's wealth was actually diminishing over 35 years because investments did not beat inflation.
- The speaker took the difficult decision to close all existing policies and bank instruments at a loss, recognizing that recovering from a 50% loss requires a 100% growth, leading to a shift toward equities.
- After deciding on an asset allocation starting at 30-40% in equities, the family reallocated 100% into equities during a market fall, and the portfolio tripled in seven years, enabling them to buy a 3BHK flat.
- The speaker strongly warns Gen Z students against trading in Futures and Options (FNO), citing personal experience where he lost 14 lakh rupees in one transaction, noting that SEBI data shows nine out of ten FNO traders make negative net losses.
- Actionable advice includes identifying an independent financial advisor for family investments for the first 10 years and ensuring insurance and investments are kept separate, urging everyone to buy a term cover as soon as they start earning.
- Investors must focus on the purchasing power of money (returns post-inflation) and should plant the seed of investment knowledge today, as the best 20 years of India's growth and wealth creation are ahead.

**Context:** Nimesh Mehta shares his personal investment journey, motivated by the financial crisis his family faced immediately following his parents' retirement, where their 35 years of savings were completely exhausted. Having worked in the consumer industry before shifting to investments, Mehta began his learning process by studying for Certified Financial Planning (CFP), which prompted him to analyze his family's physical investment records and fundamentally change their financial strategy.

## Detailed Analysis

Nimesh Mehta argues that learning to invest early is crucial for changing one's life fortune, detailing how his parents, despite working for 35 years, were left with nothing post-retirement because their savings were entirely tied up in low-growth instruments like LIC endowment policies and post office savings, which failed to outpace inflation. After studying CFP, Mehta applied the concept of purchasing power of money, realizing their wealth was eroding. He made the tough choice to liquidate these underperforming assets at a loss to redeploy capital into equities, which he identified as the asset class capable of recovering losses and growing wealth beyond inflation. Following a disciplined asset allocation strategy, which included investing heavily in equities during a market downturn, the family portfolio tripled in seven years, allowing them to purchase a substantial home. Mehta outlines five key actionables for Gen Z: never trade FNO (due to high loss rates), hire an independent financial advisor, finalize asset allocation (suggesting mutual funds via SIPs/lumpsum into equities for 20 years), focus relentlessly on post-inflation returns, and enroll in an investment course like CFP. He concludes by emphasizing that the best time to invest is today, especially given India's anticipated growth period.

### Personal Financial Catalyst

- Parents exhausted savings two years post-retirement
- Childhood marked by money scarcity in a 300 sq ft house
- Shifted career from NBFC to investment industry after starting CFP studies

### Initial Family Investment Analysis

- 50% of family money was in LIC endowment and tax-related insurance policies
- The balanced 50% was in cooperative banks and post office instruments
- Realization that none of these investments beat inflation, causing purchasing power to diminish

### Investment Strategy Overhaul

- Closed all insurance policies and bank instruments at a loss to chase 100% recovery growth
- Learned to keep insurance and investment separate
- Implemented asset allocation, starting with 30-40% in equities

### Results of Equity Allocation

- Reallocated 100% into equities during a market fall
- Portfolio doubled or tripled in seven years
- Used proceeds to acquire a 3BHK flat in Vile Parle East, bringing parents to tears

### Five Actionables for Gen Z

- 1. Never trade FNO; Mehta personally lost 14 lakh in one FNO trade
- 2. Identify an independent financial advisor for at least the first 10 years
- 3. Finalize asset allocation and invest via SIP/lumpsum into equity mutual funds for 20 years
- 4. Focus on purchasing power of money (post-inflation returns)
- 5. Enroll in an investment course like CFP

### Importance of Early Action

- Urged audience to buy a term cover immediately upon earning income due to lower premiums locked in for the policy tenure
- Concluded with the proverb: 'The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago and the second best time is today'