Meet Gowtham Paramasivam, a Software Engineer and 1% Club member since September 2024. 

After working at an MNC for three years, he realized he didn’t know much about investing. He had a good habit of saving 70% of his salary, but all of it was sitting in his savings account—no fixed deposits or investments.

In the interview, he said, “My father told me that investing in the stock market is gambling and that credit cards are scams.” This belief held him back for a long time due to these financial myths. 

It wasn’t until he discovered Shashank Udupa’s stock market session that he felt ready to invest and grow his money.

Want to know more about Gowtham’s financial journey? Read on! Edited Excerpts

When did you start to invest?

I got to know about stocks and stock market in the year 2017-18. But due to my family, I had the wrong perspective that stock marketers are gamblers. That is one of the reasons that I couldn’t start very early. 

I was parking most of my salary in the savings account. So during 2021 COVID there were all these influencers talking about investing on Instagram and YouTube. So, I got very curious and decided to enter the stock market in November.

And I really like the way Shashank used to do sessions on YouTube.

How was the stock market investment journey?

I learnt and applied things. I made good returns because of the after COVID rise in stock market. By the end of 2023, I had to sell off my stock due to some personal reasons. I was moving some assets.

But within 2 years, I made profits of over Rs 3 lakh.

What did you do next?

So, I was again back to zero with respect to my stocks. During this time, I was also exploring other options like Crypto & Nifty BeES.

And was into passive investing for the next few months.

Are you planning to get back into direct investing?

 Now I’m back to stocks again, actively investing. I took out the money to invest in something else. But again, I started building my portfolio from scratch.

So, that’s when I got to know about the club. I joined 1% Club in September 2024 and completed the modules in 2 weeks.

Also, I brought my portfolio back. I made Rs 3 lakh profits within 20 months. And the CAGR is 14% to 15%. 

Since you joined recently, what resources have helped you the most?

I think it’s the excel sheet. As I was able to find out the total investments I had and where my money was simply sitting and what things I must change.

I realized I need to surrender my ULIP policy and get a new term life policy. But everyone around had convinced me that anyway you did it, move forward with it and I continued it for four years now. 

But when I had a call with one of the insurance experts at 1% Club, I was able to decide that, okay, I need to surrender my policy and it’s not a loss. I mean, if I keep the ULIP policy, that’s where I’ll lose more money. 

So in November I’ll surrender my ULIP policy, get new term insurance and even optimize my health insurance policy. 

What are the other things that helped you?

I’m not a passive investor, & not that much into mutual funds. I love direct investing, trying to know about the stocks and stuff.

 So, that’s why the mix of Sharan and Sashank is perfect for me. There will be more insights and I am more confident as to where I am right now. 

I realized my debt funds and hard assets are more as compared to my liquid assets. So, that picture, I got to know through the financial planner sheet.

 I was actually able to analyze, okay, where I am over-invested, where I am under-invested, where I need to concentrate more. So, that really helped me out.  

Any goals that you are working towards? 

Currently working towards my FIRE number. I want to reach it in another 10-15 years. Apart from that I have no short-term goals. But, I’m planning to buy a credit card. As I said, my parents told me, Credit cards are a scam. 

But now, I know the reality and my credit card is on its way. 

Did you go through the club’s Credit Card Modules?

Yes. To be honest, the 1% credit card module is structured. It’s structured in such a way that people can make sense out of it. So, if I get a credit card, this is how I have to use it.

So I have a month or a yearly expense of 5 lakh, so this credit card will help me out. Or with this, I can get a free trip or a free app ticket or something like that.

I was looking for a credit card for a very long time because my major expense after COVID comes from flight travel. 

Based on the module I have applied for an American Platinum Travel Card. 

Do you think you’d make different choices if you had joined earlier? 

I bought my house somewhere in 2021 and a car in 2020. And, yeah, I got this house for a cheaper rate. So, I think that I’m lucky on that part.

Although the EMI is not more than 30% of my salary, but if I had this knowledge earlier I wouldn’t have rushed to buy them. 

What else are you learning here at the club?

The one major thing that 1% Club helped me with is structuring my personal finance. It was all scattered. I knew it, I knew what it was, but I was not picking actions on it.

But now with 1% Club I organized all my sheets, I have a proper folder for each and everything. So, if at all I have a doubt or something I have to go back to, I just need to open my Google Sheet and I’ll get the answer. So, this was not as before.

And one thing I understood about 1% Club’s joining fee. I feel we are getting much more for that price. You have the courses, bootcamp, community, and more if you wish to sort your finances.

But If you just want to pay your membership fee and simply sit in the community, then sorry no one can help you. 

Also Read: Here’s How This IT Manager Secured His Family’s Financial Future!

Would you like to share your asset allocation? 

My current allocation is 

57%- Real Estate

14% – Stocks

20% – Debt- PPF

Rest – Gold

Yeah, I need to reduce a lot in the real estate part. And shift to U.S. equity and domestic equity.

What value has this journey added to your life? 

Before this 1% Club journey I always had this question of how much is enough for my family and always doubted that whatever I was doing was not enough.

I was full of unanswered questions. But after joining 1% Club, the tools and sheets and active mentorship in terms of courses from Sharan and Shashank and others helped me sort my finances. I am pretty much confident in my financial journey and starting to tick all the boxes towards my financial freedom.

Now I have a clear path. So I would say 1% club is a major stepping stone in my financial journey.

Disclaimer: The above content is based on the information provided by Gowtham Paramasivam. The 1% News doesn’t independently verify non-public data reported by interviewees.